Rogaining is a beefier Australian take on orienteering. It is slightly different in that it is designed for team participation, usually longer duration, and checkpoints are assigned varying score values depending on difficulty to reach.

Our first taste was the ACT 6-hour Paddy Pallin event held in Oallen, NSW (basically the middle of nowhere). The course was a good mix of open farm land and covered woods. We only managed to see about a third of the course area. Navigation was tough in the middle of thick brush trying to find a checkpoint the size of pumpkin!

No fancy GPS gadgets allowed for this - all you take is a map, compass, whistle, small first aid kit and food/drink. Fortunately there are water drop points around the course. The accuracy of map detail was questionable. By end of day you learnt what features you could trust and what were conjured up by the cartographer's imagination.

115 teams competed with each group consisting of between two to five persons. Our aim as novices was not to finish last and I'm happy to report we finished 107th! Next time we'll be aiming for further up the ladder. All in all a fun day out which you can make as challenging as you want.