School student entries have closed, but public entries are open longer – until 13 July.  Enter hereThere are also several training courses available in Bottle Lake, please visit the website for maps and information:  www.nzssochamps.nz 

Peninsula and Plains Orienteers welcomes you to the 27th annual Heights of Winter, to be held in Banks Peninsula, Canterbury on Saturday 13 June 2026. With several sponsors on board this is going to be a fun event very close to Christchurch but well away in the hills to be remote.  Two courses: The 12 hour will run from […]

Peninsula and Plains Orienteers welcomes all Year 7–13 students from all over New Zealand. You are invited to four epic days of navigation sport in Canterbury from Thursday 16 to Sunday 19 July 2026 for the NZ Secondary Schools Orienteering Champs. Challenge your navigation skills, cheer on your friends in some seriously fun and unique terrain. For more details see […]

Peninsula and Plains Orienteers welcomes you to the 27th annual Heights of Winter, to be held in Banks Peninsula, Canterbury on Saturday 13 June 2026.  Courses: 12 hour or 6 hour options. Location: Banks Peninsula with the start / finish at Orton Bradley Park, Charteris Bay, Lyttelton Harbour – a previous HoW location in 2009. Event centre: We will be using Base Camp, […]

Peninsula and Plains Orienteers have opened applications for the Coach position. The position is for the summer of 2026/27.  Please share it with any overseas clubs and orienteers who you think maybe interested to apply . More details here 

Waitangi weekend was a relaxed affair with a great turnout from other clubs (especially from PAPO). A relaxed vibe is how the club started 50 years ago, so it was fitting that the weekend followed through with this once again. There were no start times and everyone was camping or staying nearby, and incorporating the […]

Four Dunedin Orienteering families attended the Youth Orienteering Camp, December 20-22, in Christchurch. PAPO did an outstanding job of organising over a hundred kids who came from all over the country with great exercises, coaching and fun activities. The camp was based at Spencer Park Top 10 Holiday Park. Day one training was a short […]

A winter rogaine turns an ordinary navigation event into a full-on adventure! This 12 hour and 6 hour rogaine in Banks Peninsula will be more challenging, way colder, darker, and way more memorable than your average rogaine. Your map-reading and compass skills will really get tested. This year’s winter rogaine will be in unmissable scenic terrain […]

Many of you may have already met Anna Taksdal who is visiting from Norway and coaching PAPO members. Anna (left) is pictured above with Phoebe Hunt.   1. How did you start orienteering?My parents since I was a little kid always went orienteering.  For every holiday and vacation we went away as a family to competitions […]

What began as a casual 2023 bus-ride chat between PAPO member (& school bus driver) Raymond Nicholson and the Deputy Principal of St Joseph’s School has grown into a funded programme. In 2025 more than 600 students from Years 4-13 across Mid Canterbury will be introduced to orienteering. Raymond’s passion for orienteering, combined with his […]

1. What was your overseas orienteering and study goal? I’d heard good things about orienteering and life in Sweden so I thought I’d try and experience this while still studying towards my degree. 2. How did you choose your exchange destination? What was the criteria? There were only a few destinations that allowed me to study civil engineering papers while […]

PAPO will be hosting the 2025 Canterbury Champs over Canterbury Anniversary weekend in Ashburton and the Oamaru area. Sprint on a new map of Ashburton domain and high school. Run on a challenging map in Kuriheka  (Oamaru) created for Nationals 2019, last used in 2022. Friday 14 November: Canty Champs Sprint. Ashburton.Saturday 15 November Canty Champs Long Distance. Kuriheka Sunday […]

What? A parent-led 3 day residential orienteering training camp at the start of the summer holidays, supported by Peninsula & Plains Orienteering Club (PAPO).   Who? All keen young orienteers, of any level/experience, up to school year 8.   When? Starting 9am Saturday 20 December, ending 2pm Monday 22 December.   Where?Spencer Beach Top10 Holiday camp, 20min north […]

After taking over the role of PAPO OY statistician, in 2021, Ryan started developing a new OY points system to account for the new OY rules for that year. The new system was designed to calculate points automatically as opposed to manually having to update the points in a spreadsheet, and also had a web […]

The 2025 Nationals competition will feature new maps to explore, incorporating several areas that have never been used before. Enter before Monday 31 March 2025 for standard entries, entries close on Wednesday 9th April 2025. Entry fees must be paid by credit card.We have some local sponsors already on board: Every entry receives a 10% discount […]

Add these significant inter- regional competition dates in your diary: • Friday 25 April 2025: North Island Secondary Schools Champs, Wesley College & Muir’s farm.• Friday 25 / Saturday 26 April 2025: South Island Secondary Schools Champs, Cromwell & Alexandra• Friday 11 July 2025 NZ Secondary School Orienteering Champs, Auckland What’ we’ve seen happening around the regions […]

The Nationals Bulletin is out! Peninsula and Plains Orienteers have the areas in the Bulletin to prepare for your travel and accommodation purposes. Also do check into the website for all the latest news, and there will be updates on the NZ champs facebook

Look out for the Nationals Bulletin coming out very soon in early November. Peninsula and Plains Orienteers are just sorting out final logistics for some competition areas. In the meantime keep your eye on the website and follow the updates on facebook

Explore the diverse Canterbury region of the South Island for Easter 2025. All the New Zealand nationals championship events will be within 90 minutes of Christchurch International Airport. Join us for challenging orienteering across a variety of terrain with newly mapped areas. The nationals website is undergoing small updates but in the meantime we also have brief […]

After JWOCC & NZSSOC, we are excited to continue events for youth sport. The South Island Secondary Schools Championships (SISS) and the Canterbury Orienteering School festival weekend have combined for a two-day competition. This has something for everyone. You can choose to orienteer on your own in a competitive grade if you have orienteering experience; or […]

Do you know of a coach who would enjoy coming to spend the Summer in South Island? This coming NZ Summer PAPO is offering a scholarship for a Coach in Residence. The scholarship is aimed at University aged orienteers from outside of New Zealand who are looking to improve their Orienteering and Coaching skills. (p.s. […]

A weekend of navigation & riding is waiting for you in Ōtautahi / Christchurch.Saturday 13 April  Enduro | Bottle LakeSeveral short MTBO courses linked together using the Bottle Lake MTBO map and other maps nearby. More info here Sunday 14 April  MTBOOY  | The WillowsMountain bike orienteering on the Willows map, mostly gravel roads with a sprinkling […]

What? A parent-led 3 day residential orienteering training camp at the start of the summer holiday.Who? All keen primary school orienteers, of any level / experience, up to and including yr 8 (yr 4 and below should be accompanied by a parent).When? Starting ~5pm Friday 15th December, ending ~3pm, Sunday 17th December (exact times TBA)Where? […]

Entries close on Friday 30 October 2020 for the ONZ Regional Champs – South/Taitonga. Includes: ONZ National Orienteering League Races for elites. The weekend lies on Canterbury Anniversary weekend 14-15 November 2020. Saturday 14 November 2020: Long distance at Acheron, near Lake Lyndon, Canterbury High Country. Sunday 15 November 2020: Middle distance at Kairaki, north of […]

In this issue: GM’s foreword View from the Chair ONZ Covid-19 Update  Club Spotlight – PAPO NZ Champs Update Oceania Update Major Events Update Expressions of Interest for Junior Camp Manager and Coaches Medal Survey Slack resource sharing platform Minecraft Orienteering GM’s Foreword Hi all, In recent weeks we have entered level two.  For most […]

PAPO will be hosting an orienteering training camp, for those in Years 5-8 at school, from 21st-23rd Dec 2019 in Christchurch. The camp will teach skills and have exercises catering from beginners to advanced (white to red level). The camp is two nights and three days based at Spencer Park holiday park.

Peninsula and Plains Orienteers are excited to be able to offer three new maps around Oamaru for the 2019 NZ Orienteering Championships in a part of New Zealand that has rarely been mapped or used for orienteering before, and to supplement them with an area first used for Oceania in 2009 with the quirky but cute name of “Humpy Bumpy” near Earthquakes for the relay.

Bulletin 1 for the Alpine-O IOF World Ranking Event being held on Sunday 23rd October 2016 during New Zealand’s Labour Weekend has been published and is available for download now.