The Dunedin Orienteering Club celebrated their 50-year Jubilee on Waitangi weekend 2026.  It has marked the growth of the club from humble beginnings in 1976 to a thriving club of over 200 members today. The club formed the same year that the NZ Orienteering Federation became incorporated, joining the IOF to send the first NZ team to the world championships that year in Great Britain.

Dunedin Orienteering began after Leo Homes mapped Bethunes Gully and ran an event with Janet Dobbie. They then advertised in the Otago Daily Times for interested members to turn up to the Harrier rooms at Chingford Park. Nine people attended the first meeting including Leo and Janet Homes, Peter and Judy Wilson, Pat and Chris Ehrhardt, Pat and Tony Masters and Elizabeth Duke. In a Dunedin 10th Anniversary publication, Anitra Dowling recalled how they drove all the way from Invercargill to attend the inaugural meeting, only to arrive 10 minutes late and discover that it had already concluded because it was so brief. Nevertheless, a committee was formed with Janet as president and by the end of the next year, Elizabeth Duke was able to report that while the club remained ‘very informal’, the club already had 45 senior members and a few juniors over the age of 12. Their most successful courses had been in the Town Belt ‘on fine days (well that sounds very familiar!) 

The 50th celebration at Middlemarch Hall officially kicked off on Saturday evening of Waitangi Weekend, with the venue opening earlier in the afternoon to give people time to explore the memorabilia displays. The celebration had a warm, social atmosphere and sparked plenty of conversation and memories. There were old newsletters, photo albums, magazines, t-shirts, maps and trophies, and amazingly, two bottles of APOC wine have survived all these years – unopened! Perhaps, as someone joked, that’s because by now they’d be better suited for salad vinaigrette than for drinking. Jacinda Baker had spent hours devising how to put orienteering history on a large one metre wide cake with outdoor scenes including rocks and flags depicted in icing. The catering was by the local swim club organised so well by Helen Thayer, with all the meals subsidised by the Dunedin Orienteering club. This encouraged 149 people to dine and fill up the hall which had a 150 capacity limit. The hall became a social hub on Saturday afternoon, and it was good to see a mix of older families and younger orienteers sharing many sport stories. The club celebration had an article in the local news where Myles Thayer discussed the early days of orienteering “Originally, they would paint the lids of tin cans and put them out with a two-digit number or two letters on it, and you had to use a pencil and paper to write it down.”

At the Jubilee celebration, two of the club’s founding members, Judy Wilson and Pat Ehrhardt, joined the evening’s festivities, along with many families who were part of the Dunedin early sporting community who were helping out on Saturday, George and Eunys McLeods, Alan and Anne Grant and the Brownings, as well as other members who visited for the day. Judy Wilson spoke about In the early days, how the club maps were simple, hand-drawn black-and-white sketches, with events that were informally organised. The events were advertised in the local paper and results were pinned to a fence, with finishers receiving a candy bar. Around the late 1970’s, Anitra and Ken Dowling joined after returning from orienteering in Europe, bringing higher standards and new expectations. This sparked a rapid learning phase for the club. Mapping became more professional: aerial photographs were sent to Sweden to have contour lines added, experienced Australian mappers helped field-check terrain details, and maps were carefully hand-drawn using light boxes and layered paper. Although it was hard work, it was an enjoyable and exciting period of growth and development for the club. After gaining experience, the Dowlings encouraged the club to host a major international event — the Asia Pacific Orienteering Championships (APOC). This marked a turning point, requiring an overseas controller, multiple venues, and accommodation for more than 600 competitors from around the world, with Naseby chosen as the main location. A trial event was held at Victory Beach beforehand. By around 2010, when the club hosted the National Secondary Schools Championships at Seacliff, technology had transformed mapping and planning, with courses set digitally and supported by large, experienced organising teams. Judy reflected on the club’s early hand-drawn maps and Peter Wilson’s book ‘Orienteering‘, which supported skill development in the sport.

Tane Cambridge spoke about his family’s involvement in the club and how it has encouraged him onto bigger adventures. Pat Ehrhardt was a sport-cordinator at Tane’s school and very influential, but he also remembers being mentored by Dave and Judy Browning,. Owen Cambridge drove Tane and fellow orienteers long distances so he could run at events like the Canterbury Champs. Tane also remembers long standing members such as Bryan Buschl, Bunny Rathbone and Ian Holden at many Dunedin events. 

Alister Metherall who attended some of the earliest events spoke fondly of the club and how it has started a life-long pursuit of navigation events. His first event was a ’come and try it’ day at Ross Creek in March 1980 after hearing it advertised on the local radio. After completing all the 3 courses he was immediately hooked by the sport. Alister’s map from that day with the hand copied white and yellow courses is below. Alister mentioned the huge effort put into arranging APOC from a small club. Cassette tapes were sent to overseas federations to encourage them to come! He has a big shout out to the early members of DOC, especially Ken and Anitra Dowling and Peter Wilson, who encouraged involvement with the club and sport. Jeni Pelvin (nee Martin) also spoke about her involvement in the sport, and Antonia Wood collated a lot of photos and material for the jubilee displays.

Dunedin members have competed internationally, including at World Championships in Victoria (1986) and APOC in Tasmania (1988), with some progressing to represent New Zealand and become national champions.

Over the decades, the club has hosted major events including the Asia Pacific Championships (1984), the Milo 7 Day (1987), National Championships (1998 and 2010), Southern 6 Day (2004), and several South Island Championships. Rogaining and Mountain Bike Orienteering have grown significantly, with the club hosting NZMTBO Championships in 2021 and 2025.

Today, the club runs around 20 events annually, with members across Otago from the Wānaka / Queenstown regions to Dunedin, including the strong Central Otago Orienteers  COO) subgroup. This has sparked the committee to think about alternatives to the name of the club to be more Otago-wide and inclusive. As part of the Jubilee celebrations, founding and younger members cut the cake, and members were invited to consider a proposal to adopt a more Otago-wide and inclusive club name.Read the Otago Daily Times article on Dunedin’s 50th celebrations:
https://www.odt.co.nz/the-star/club-navigating-50-years

Above: Early members of Dunedin Orienteering