China Mug, pictured on Mt Ohlssen Bagge, Wilpena Pound, South Australia
Tassie’s Turn
Some of you may have heard it’s our turn again at hosting the Australasian Rogaining Championships, this time in 2027. Given that our small state punches above its weight in interstate comps, it’ll be awesome to welcome our fellow interstate and international rogainers to our apple isle.
What’s been happening?
A small team consisting of Gary Carroll, Bass Burgess, Peter Tuft, Ross Kelly, Bernard Walker, Nick Bowden, and myself (China Mug) has met a couple of times, has started the initial process of identifying possible areas and dates, has started discussing the event documentation required (e.g. event management plan), and is identifying key roles.
We are currently exploring locations in the Midlands, for an event to be held in Autumn 2027. This will be 5 months before the World Rogaining Championships which are being held in South Australia in September 2027.
Who the heck is China Mug?
It’s vital we have someone take the lead very early on as 2027 is really not that far away, and as we all know, planning, organising and preparing for a successful event takes an awful of a lot of time, patience and perseverance, all of which rogainers are well known for.
We searched high and low, through prickly box and scoparia, and we ended up with some dude called China Mug. China is new to Rogaining Tasmania, having first volunteered as a First Aider, with his wife Margaret, at the 2024 GorgeUs Metrogaine and then at the 2024 Deddington Dilemma and recently at the 2025 Coffee Bean Metrogaine and Roche’s Rumble. He became a Committee Member last February.
China comes with more than 30 years of instructing bushwalking in Scouts and has managed large Scout events. He also has extensive project management experience, which should be useful for a complex event like an ARC. Next time you bump into China, say hello and have a yarn!
What’s next?
The BIG next step is to start seeking volunteers to join our merry ARC2027 team. Roles required include Setters, Vetters, Logistics, Electronic Scoring, HH and Camp, Secretary, Event Administration, Volunteers Management, Safety, First Aid, Social Media (must be able to tweet faster than Donald), Promotion, Website, Presentations, Out-of-State Participants Coordination, Grants and Sponsorships, Merchandise and Photographer. Possibly more!
This is an excellent opportunity to take part in organising and managing a significant national rogaining event. If you are enthusiastic and energetic, have a chat with us. We can be contacted on email using
See you at the next knoll.
China Mug - ARC2027 Event Coordinator
