President’s Introduction

Kia ora all. It was great to be back with the orienteering community at the recent club nights and I'm looking forward to reconnecting with even more of you over the coming weekends. This is a really important time for all members to connect, especially with new members. Long-time members, look out for the new faces, and newer members, look out of the NWOC shirts at your next event.

Newsletter Contents

There are a couple of key closing dates to note in this newsletter;

• • Katoa Po entries close tomorrow, Sunday 8 March
  • Early Bird entries for Tūāraki Champs close on Tuesday 10 March

• Auckland Calendar of Events
  • Next Forest Event - Sunday 22 March
• Club Nights
• Key events coming up around New Zealand in 2026
  • Katoa Po - March
  • NZ Champs - Easter
  • Tūāraki North Regional Champs - April
• Coaching Resources
• Schools Orienteering
  • AKSS Sprint Series
  • North Island Secondary School Champs
• North West's Bivouac Outdoor Rogaine Series 2026
• Member News
  • Club Membership Fees due now
  • New Members

Auckland Calendar of Events 

Sunday 22 March is the next forest event hosted by North West Club. The venue is the Okiritoto Stream, Muriwai. Used for the Auckland Relays last year, this beautiful area is exotic forest on sand dune terrain with a network of tracks, ideal for the white, yellow and orange courses. Areas of contour detail, hills and "greenish" vegetation provide challenges for the longer red courses. Event details here

Enter here Standard entry fees apply until 11:59pm on Wednesday 18 March. Entry fees increase after this time.

Club Nights

Gene Beveridge will be leading a series of club nights at 6:30pm to 8:30pm every second Wednesday in Epsom. These are open to all members and non members. We expect these to be well attended by AOC, CMOC and NWOC members. Each night will have a main topic communicated in the days prior.  More info, including dates for 2026 here

Other Auckland Events

All upcoming events in the wider Auckland area for 2026 will be added to our NWOC website here New Zealand wide events are on Orienteering New Zealand’s website here

Key events coming up around NZ

Katoa Po - Entries close Sunday 8 March 

Dates:  14 & 15 March 2026
Details: here

North West invites members of all abilities to make up our club teams. 

• This event is not hardcore or elite, it is fun, social and spectator friendly.
• There are 3 competitions:
• Warmup novelty competition starting at 3pm on Saturday
• Katoa Po Relay starting at 8pm on Saturday
• 90 minute rogaine starting at 9am on Sunday
• NWOC will cover the cost of the relay and will enter this event for you. Please fill out this form so we can put you in a team.
• Please enter the warmup and rogaine events yourself on enterO.
• Camping on Saturday night at the event is free and convenient. Camping is part of the tradition of this event, but staying in Taupo is also convenient.
• Orienteering at night time requires a torch, ideally a head torch.
• Navigating at night time can be harder, but the courses are easier to account for this. If you are a beginner we will put you on an easier leg and since the race is a mass start there will be others competitors around you.

New Zealand Orienteering Champs 2026

Nationals 2026 are not far away now! The 2026 Champs will be held in the Wairarapa area over Easter weekend, Friday 3 to Monday 6 April. There are 4 main events (Sprint, Middle, Long, Relay), one each day.  The NZOC website has all the information on Nationals 2026. 

Entries close 15 March - enter here 

Are you new to orienteering? Don't be put off by the name National Champs - this is an event for everyone with courses for all levels. 

Tūāraki North Regional Champs, 25-27 April 2026

Entries are open now for this event. Early Bird fees apply until 11.59pm on Tuesday 10 March. Fees increase after this time so enter NOW and SAVE. Enter here

• The champs will be comprised of three multi-day-length events with each day visiting some of the best Woodhill terrain - there is so much variety and most of it has never been used before.
• There will be chasing starts for most grades on the final day. 
• Camping is available close to the event centres in a beautiful deer farm, ideal for those picking up a small camper van or who are willing to stay in a tent. It is 20 minutes drive to the Parakai hot pools and food places.
• Event info here

New members, with this event being close to home, maybe this is your opportunity to experience a multi-day orienteering event?

Help Please

As event hosts, NWOC will need a team of helpers over the three days. A number of members have already been assigned to roles. There are a few special roles required, one of which is towing portaloo trailers to Event Centres. Tandem portaloo trailers weigh approx 800kg when empty; if you have a vehicle capable of this and are willing to help, please contact Tūāraki Event Director Jenny Cade at jjcadenz@gmail.com or 0211882468.

Coaching Resources

Keen to refresh your forest skills ahead of upcoming events?  Orienteering NZ has a number of options.

•  Workbooks for White, Yellow, Orange and Red level orienteers  

Schools Orienteering

AKSS Sprint Series

AKSS Sprint Series is well underway - the numbers at each event continue to increase each year proving the value of these events as an introduction to orienteering. The series culminates in an Auckland Regional Final (2 events on one day) for the top students qualifying from each region. Finals Day for 2026 is Sunday 29 March.  Details of this event will be posted on the Auckland Schools Orienteering website here.  

For more information about the Schools Series email info@schoolsorienteering.co.nz and/or talk with your School Orienteering Sport Coordinator.  You can also follow Auckland Schools' Orienteering on Facebook here. 

North Island Secondary School Champs 2026

Orienteering Taranaki will host the North Island Secondary School Champs in New Plymouth from 17-19 April. All events are close to New Plymouth. Details including Bulletin 1 are here Entries close 1 April.

Bivouac Outdoor Rogaine Series 2026

It's back for 2026 - our annual Bivouac Outdoor Rogaine Series. Three 90-minute Foot Rogaine Events will be held on:

• Sunday 10 May, Barlow Road, Riverhead Forest
• Sunday 24 May, Leighton's Farm, Woodhill Forest
• Sunday 14 June, Grass Track Road, Woodhill Forest

All event info is on the Rogaine Series section of our North West website here 

Entries will open very soon on enterO - be one of the first 50 people to enter all 3 events and go in the draw to win an Osprey pack donated by Bivouac Outdoor.  Thanks to a wonderful new sponsorship deal with Bivouac Outdoor we will have more prizes than ever before!

Thanks to a new sponsorship deal with Bivouac Outdoor we will have more prizes than ever before!

Member News

North West Membership Fees for 2026 are due now please

NWOC membership fees remain unchanged for 2026 and are due NOW please. Thanks to those who have paid already. 

To ensure you get members’ rates at all orienteering events, please pay your fee as soon as possible.

Existing members can simply credit NWOC's club bank account (WESTPAC Account 03-0243-0247251-000 and include your name in the reference field.) No need to log in or re-register. 

New Members

A warm welcome to new members Cooper Marshall, Manaia O'Connell, Tymon Kowalczyk, Adam Zhu, Jayden Zhu, Milena, Marija, Lucia and Zeb McCosh, Poland family of Samantha, Tyler, Zara and Joe.

We hope to see lots of members at an event soon.