Blue Mountains Navigation Retreat

Learn to navigate with Caro Ryan OAM, author of ‘How to Navigate’ from LotsaFreshAir

An immersive 4 day / 3 night navigation retreat in the beautiful Megalong Valley, Blue Mountains, NSW. An inspiring destination and learning environment, this small group course combines on-site navigation theory and hands-on fieldwork. 

• Dates: noon Saturday 30 May to noon Tuesday 2 June 2026

• Venue and accommodation: Werriberri, Megalong Valley

• Meals: catering provided by the award winning team at Lot 101 / Megalong Tearooms, plus local treats

Pricing

• Course cost: $1,500 (inc GST) + accommodation + optional extras

Includes expert course tuition, group first aid kit and all meals and snacks. Each participant also receives a full size topographic map, compass and copy of Caro’s book How to Navigate to keep - plus a few surprise extras!

• Accommodation: on-site options to suit all budgets - please contact jools@lotsafreshair.com for further details

• Optional experiences: morning wellbeing activity and post retreat pub lunch and bathhouse session - please contact jools@lotsafreshair.com to register interest

Who is this course for?

Designed for bushwalkers, hikers, canyoners, trailrunners or any outdoor lover, with little or no experience; or those who need to brush up on their map, compass and navigation skills.

What will I learn?

Over 4 days we’ll cover map reading and interpretation, contours, gridlines, reading the land, using a compass, time and distance, route planning and learning to walk with the land. We’ll also look at apps and digital navigation and more advanced techniques like triangulation.

Course program / itinerary:

Day 1

Meet noon, welcome lunch and afternoon walk. Evening: Theory part 1. Meals: lunch and dinner.

Day 2

Free time before breakfast*. Theory part 2, short walk. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Day 3

Free time before breakfast*. Full day practice in the beautiful Blue Mountains. Meals: as above.

Day 4

Flexible schedule based upon student needs (eg. focus on particular aspect of navigation, extra practice OR combo if time allows). Meals: breakfast. Concludes noon.

Day 4 post retreat (optional)

• Delicious group lunch (at own cost) at The New Ivy hotel in Blackheath

• 2 hour bath, sauna and steam session at Aqua Ignis Bathhouse (tbc)

*morning wellbeing to be confirmed (optional)

• 5 x cabins nestled in a bushland setting

• Each: 1 x queen room and 1 x twin room

• Self-contained, all linen provided

• Air-con and cozy wood fire

Our accommodation is nestled in private bushland and spread across five comfy cabins. Each has a queen room and twin room, offering a range of options to suit budgets and sleeping preferences. Tastefully decorated, the cabins are fully self-contained and all linen is provided. To top it off, a cozy wood fire and roomy lounge area create a relaxing space for sharing navigation learnings and travel tales!

What’s not included?

• Travel insurance

• Personal hiking equipment (more information and packing list provided upon booking)

• Alcoholic or soft drinks

Interested? Save your space at the inaugural Blue Mountains Navigation Retreat:

• For course booking queries, contact climb@climbingschool.com.au

• For general queries, including accommodation and optional experiences, as well as dietary and other requirements, contact jools@lotsafreshair.com