The Navigators Nine
FRIDAY 24th July, 2026
Our next adventure is heading to Litchfield National Park, and as always, selecting the date involves a highly scientific process. We consider the recent wet season and resulting grass growth, competing events, volunteer availability, and the all-important moon phase. Some people use complex algorithms. We use grass height and lunar illumination.
Because our bush events are traditionally a day-and-night affair, we like to ensure there is enough moonlight to add a little magic and a little atmosphere,
Friday 24 July
Maps will be available from 12:00 noon, with the main start at 2:00 pm.
You have two ways to enjoy:
The 9-Hour Rogaine
Start: 2:00 pm
Finish: No later than 11:00 pm
Go hard for the full nine hours.
Or return to the Hash House for dinner, a brief reminder of civilisation, and then head back out.
Either way, be back by 11:00 pm. The organisers would quite like to go to bed eventually.
The 5-Hour Rover
Start whenever suits you.
Spend up to 5 hours on the course.
Still be back by 11:00 pm.
July should bring some cooler conditions, and the moon ought to provide enough light for you to occasionally switch off your torch and admire the landscape. You'll be able to navigate by the contours of the terrain, the silhouette of distant hills, and the reassuring sight of your teammate pretending they know where they're going.
Important Civilised Things:
- Dinner on Friday night provided.
- Breakfast on Saturday morning provided.
- Camping available at the Hash House.
- Portable toilet available (which immediately elevates this from "survival challenge" to "luxury wilderness experience").
What is Rogaining?
Rogaining is a sport involving long-distance cross-country navigation, teamwork, endurance, strategy, and map reading.
In simpler terms, it's spending hours in the bush with friends, making ambitious plans, discovering new shortcuts that aren't actually shortcuts, and having a fantastic time while doing it.
It's suitable for all ages and fitness levels and encourages respect for the bush, self-reliance, navigational skills, and teamwork. It also teaches valuable life lessons, such as:
Never trust the person who says, "It's just over this ridge."
Everything looks closer on the map.
Food tastes approximately 300% better after several hours in the bush.
So, stay happy, get your team organised, start sharpening those navigation skills, and begin negotiations over who will carry the snacks.
 Navigators Nine Entry Form.xlsx | [ ] | 415 kB |
What is Rogaining?
Rogaining is the sport of long distance cross country navigation. Teamwork, endurance, strategy and map reading are features of the sport. Rogaining is a team activity for people of all ages and levels of fitness, which aims to support and encourage people to develop respect for and enjoyment of rural and bushland environments, and to encourage the development of navigational skills, self reliance, general fitness, and the ability to work in a team.
About the NTRA
Rogaining found its way to the NT in 1999 (about a quarter of a century after the sport's invention in Victoria), courtesy of the energetic Andy Black and David Palmer who organised the first NT rogaine, the Croc and Rock, at Litchfield National Park in August of that year.
With their rogaining experience from southern states, Andy and David spent much of early 1999 battling Wet season humidity, flooded creeks, thick high grass and the almost totally unroaded bush of Litchfield National Park to set the course for what turned out to be an historic (and for many competitors very tough) 24 hour event.