Bushwalking is an activity anyone can get involved in to explore and see different areas of Victoria and sometimes other parts of Australia. Trips can range from an easy day hike to the more popular overnight weekend bushwalk where hikers will carry all their camping gear and food on the trek.

The types of hikes vary from location to location. Wilsons Promontory and the Otways National Park offer a coastal alternative, while hikes in the Alpine region are challenging around Mt Bogong, Mount Feathertop, and the Bluff to name a few. The Grampians and Cathedral Ranges involve a bit of rock scrabbling, and there have been trips to Tasmania to do the Overland Track.

Dependable and comfortable shoes for walking is required. Camping gear such as tents, sleeping bags and stoves are available for hire if you are missing a few items or don’t have anything at all. If you have a track in mind, feel free to contact the bushwalking convenor. The convenor is always open to new suggestions and will help organise a trip!!

Orienteering involves navigating to a number of checkpoints. You are given a map with checkpoints marked and use a compass to navigate from one checkpoint to the next. At the checkpoint, there is a hole punch which you must punch a card with to prove you visited the checkpoint.

Some events have a fixed course, where you must visit the checkpoints in a set order. Winning involves following the correct course back to the finish line in the least possible time.

There are also score events, often held in suburban streets and parks, where checkpoints can be visited in any order, and each one is worth a different number of points depending on how hard it is to reach. You visit as many checkpoints as you want to within a given time. The winner is the person with the most points.

Orienteering events usually have courses of different distances to cater for different fitness levels. There is often also a separate entrance category for power walkers. Some of the park events event have categories for roller bladers and scooters.

The orienteering events the Outdoors Club participate in fall into two main categories – Bush events and Street events. Click here to see a sample bush orienteering map with explanation, and click here to see a sample street orienteering map with explanation.

In Victoria, most Orienteering events are organised by the Victorian Orienteering Association.

Click here to see the orienteering events in our calendar.

In Rogaining, checkpoints are scattered over a larger area and there is no set course to follow. The positions of checkpoints are all marked on the map. Checkpoints are worth different numbers of points depending on how difficult they are to reach and to locate. The event lasts a fixed amount of time, typically 6 to 24 hours during which you try to amass as many points as you can by visiting checkpoints, but you don’t have to stay on the course the entire time. Many teams will take an overnight break to sleep during a 24 hour event. In a bush rogaine teams travel entirely on foot, navigating by map and compass between checkpoints in terrain that varies from open farmland to hilly forest. However, the Victorian Rogaining Association also runs a few events on bikes, in metropolitan areas, on cross-country skis, and even in canoes!

Rogaines are team events, and the team with the most points at the end of the event win. The skill in rogaines is in selecting a route which will visit as many checkpoints as possible and still allow you to get to the finish on time. You must decide whether to spend time going after high scoring checkpoints that are hard to reach or rely on being able to visit enough lower scoring checkpoints to make up. There is a ‘hash house’ at the start/finish area where you can get food and drinks (all included in your entry fee) at any time during the event, and an area nearby where you can camp if you want to get some sleep during the longer events.

In Victoria, Rogaining events are organised by the Victorian Rogaining Association