Indholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2017 i Great Walks

WELCOME to the April-May issue of Great Walks – and may I say it’s one of our most varied issues yet, covering so many interesting and contrasting walks. We start off in South Africa’s Drakensberg Range (pg16), where Mark Daffey puts up with challenging terrain, mixed weather and annoying tourists until he discovers one of the most amazing views he’s ever witnessed. “I plonk my bum down on the rocks as the clouds disperse, hanging my heels over the edge of the escarpment while I gaze out over a heavily creased valley formed by ancient volcanic upheavals,” he writes. From there we head to Lamington NP in SE Qld (pg 26) to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Australia’s most famous bush rescue. In February 1937 a Stinson airliner crashed in…

Summer sojourns My husband and I will be in Surrey, UK, at Goodwood from July 31 – Aug 7. We were hoping to then do some trekking on the Camino de Santiago, but have been advised it will be too hot. Would you have any suggestions for walking options in August anywhere in Europe? Fiona Langley, Via email Hi Fiona, August is summer in Europe so everywhere’s going to be hot – although if you fancy hiking in the UK it would be cooler than in Spain. You could consider any of Britain’s national trails ( nationaltrail.co.uk ). Most of these walks can be done, guided or unguided, where you carry all your gear or get your bags delivered to your next accommodation. The best thing will be…

ON the 3rd of January, we began the Australian Alps Walking Track from Tharwa to Walhalla, taking 37 days for the 700km trail. Being remote, most of our food drops were concealed near the roadside in sealed buckets. Minimal marking, extensive regrowth after the 2003 bushfires and indistinct trails make it memorable and challenging, for experienced bushwalkers only. The first two weeks (to Thredbo) were the easiest in terrain and trail conditions. There were many huts along the trail, mainly built by graziers and gold miners. We saw many herds of brumbies in the High Country; once we were even charged at by a stallion protecting his herd! We were happy to find our first resupply; friends were concerned that the food wouldn’t be there when we returned, but it…

“ONE OF THE GUIDES SET THE PACE AND THE REST OF US FELL IN BEHIND, MARCHING LIKE MUTED SOLDIERS.” I’M seated in the lobby of my Drakensberg Mountains hotel, opposite two men I’ve never met, listening to the rain teeming down outside. All of us are kitted out in waterproofs, with our backpacks on the floor, awaiting the departure signal from our respective hiking guides. At a time when each of us is no doubt questioning the sanity of leaving a warm, dry lodge to go hiking in such appalling conditions, a portly South African gent, still wiping breakfast crumbs from his mouth, spies us across the room. “You guys must be Europeans. Who else would go hiking in this weather?” he bellows, with typical South African candour. There’s no…

“DANNY CREATED A LUNCHEON FIT FOR KINGS, THEN WE WERE IMMEDIATELY OFF TO TACKLE THE MOUNTAIN.” FROM sheer escarpments, boulder strewn and daunting, to the whitest sands lapped by turquoise waters, Maria Island, off Tasmania’s east coast, is a diverse paradise, a walker’s delight. Its history is as varied as its ecology: now home to thriving communities of Tasmanian devils, a unique species of wombat and wallabies, pademelons, kangaroos, geese and penguins, Maria has seen many communities come and go in its chequered past. Maria was originally settled in the 1800s by camps of whalers and seal hunters; the first convict settlement was built by 1825 and occupied by 1830. In the 1880s it was leased for the establishment of a wine and silk industry, and in the 1920s Portland…

For more info visit: forwardtravel.com.au/aysen…

TASMANIA Parks and Wildlife Service’s (PWS) Working on Country Program is aiming to increase the representation of Tasmanian Aboriginal people in the State Service, caring for country. “It’s a really comprehensive program that provides flexibility to people making sure that there are options qualification-wise and location-wise, and to consider personal circumstances and commitments,” says Iris Todd, who is managing the Working on Country (WoC) Program and the current recruitment process on behalf of PWS. “So it’s a really good example of providing a program built for success.” The WoC program is a funding agreement with Canberra to employ up to five Aboriginal trainee rangers at any one time, for a four-year term, as part of the partnership program between the Tasmanian Government and the Federal Government's Working on Country Program.…

“MY SORE FEET ARE ACCUSTOMED TO BALANCING ON ROCKS, ROOTS AND 70-80° GRADES OF EARTH.” LIGHT beneath the rainforest canopy dims as I trudge north along an undulating trail alongside the south branch of Christmas Creek, which flows west and then north from Queensland’s McPherson Ranges. The rocks, roots and fallen trees that made my outbound journey somewhat tricky are no longer obstacles. After nearly 9.5 hours on this 14km return trail, which travels from the end of Christmas Creek Rd, first along the creek and then steeply up to the remains of the ill-fated Stinson VH-UHH airliner and the peaceful graves of her occupants, my sore feet are accustomed to balancing on rocks, roots and 70-80° grades of earth, and my hands are well versed in clinging to sturdy…

“TELL ME THAT THE THOUGHT OF WALLOWING YOUR WEARY FEET IN HOT MINERAL SPRINGS... ISN’T AN INCENTIVE FOR THIS WONDERFUL DAY OUT!” IT may well be a long, long way to Tipperary, but it’s a perfect length walk from Daylesford to Hepburn Springs in the heart of Central Victoria’s Gold Country. Part of the 210km Goldfields Track, which travels cross country from Ballarat to Bendigo, the Tipperary Walking Track is a highly doable and picturesque 16km section that undulates through Hepburn Regional Park alongside Sailors and Spring Creeks, finishing at the gloriously renovated Hepburn Bath House. Starting out from pretty Lake Daylesford, in the heart of the popular tourist town of Daylesford, the track winds past the lake and along the creek, past Victorian mineral springs and towards Twin Bridges…

HIKING is more than one foot in front of the other; it’s a combination of pace and speed. What’s the difference? Pace, regular and methodical, has more to do with rhythm than speed. Rhythm is how it feels; fast or slow, speed is the end result. The right pace for you will get you to your destination having enjoyed a great day out. The right approach For some, hiking is a gentle stroll along an easy and well-formed trail; for others it’s a sprint to get there first – wherever ‘there’ is. It’s important to realise that the longer the walk, usually over three hours, the more of a mental exercise it becomes. Maintaining a positive mental attitude and the right rhythm will help you to achieve what you might…

“OUR VOLUNTEERS HAD THEIR WORK CUT OUT FOR THEM AT HOWITT HUT.” WORKING bees have recently been undertaken to restore three historic huts in Victoria – McNamara’s Hut in the Alpine NP, and Howitt Hut and Bindaree Hut Hut in the southern Alps in Gippsland. Parks Victoria and Victorian High Country Huts Association (VHCHA) have formed a partnership over the past 15 years, and a series of working bees have been undertaken to restore many of the historic huts. The works to restore McNamara’s Hut, which included an archaeological recovery, drainage works, rebuilding the chimney and reframing of the Chaff House, have now been completed. “In early 2016, the volunteers worked together to undertake an archaeological recovery, rebuild the chimney, hut reconstruction and complete the drainage works,” Parks Victoria Ranger…

“A DAY PACK WITH WET WEATHER GEAR, SUNSCREEN, SNACKS AND A THERMOS SUFFICED FOR THE DAY.” THE Wicklow Way is a 132km long-distance walk that passes through some of Ireland’s finest landscapes. Officially starting at Marley Park on the southern outskirts of Dublin, it wends its way through brooding forests and thick woodlands, across silent moorlands, past tranquil pastoral vistas and over rugged mountains to finally finish at Clonegall. The Way can be walked in five or six days and attracts walkers from all over the world seeking to experience the special beauty of this part of Ireland, a beauty punctuated by neat hedgerows, ancient stone walls and secluded coppices. Due to time constraints we started from Tinahely in the south and walked almost 100km to Enniskerry in the north,…

“ON THE WAY UP WE CROSSED A FEW IMPROMPTU STREAMS THANKS TO THE PREVIOUS RAINY WEEK.” Day 1: Mount Vincent and Mount Cuthbert My wife and I set out to hike to the top of the three tallest hills around Perth in a bid to get in shape for an upcoming trip. Following the South West Highway, our set-off point would be Sullivan’s Rock, a geological anomaly 35km from the southern suburb of Armadale. Sullivan’s Rock is a massive, granite monolith known as a monadnock, and the area we would hike was contained within Monadnocks Conservation Park. When we got there at 9am we could see the parking lot was already filling up as it was a beautiful day and the trail we planed to hike that day is well…

NITMILUK NP, 244km SE of Darwin, lies around a series of gorges on the Katherine River and Leilyn Falls. Previously named Katherine Gorge NP, its northern edge borders Kakadu. The gorges and surrounding landscape have great significance to the local Jawoyn people - Nitmiluk means "place of the cicada dreaming". There's a range of trails from day walks, like the Windolf walk (8.4km/3.5hr) to overnighters like the Eight Gorge walk (33km). However Nitmiluk's iconic walk is the 66km/5 day Jatbula Trail from Nitmiluk Gorge to Leilyn Falls. The trail features stunning scenery, waterfalls and fine rock art. More info: nt.gov.au/leisure/parks-reserves…

LORD HOWE ISLAND’S Pinetrees Lodge has won the title of Number 1 Hotel in Australia in TripAdvisor’s 2017 Travellers’ Choice Awards. One of Australia’s oldest family businesses, Pinetrees offers guests a subtropical beach holiday with swimming, diving, snorkelling, surfing, kayaking, fishing, and walking in the milder months. Sixth generation owner Dani Rourke and her husband Luke Hanson took over the business in 2011 and have since completed major renovations, changed the style of food and introduced a long list of successful event weeks. pinetrees.com.au TASMANIA HAS RECEIVED more medals than any other state at the 2016 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards, held in late Feb in Darwin. The Three Capes Track received a gold medal in the New Tourism Business Category, The Tasmanian Walking Company took out gold in Ecotourism, and…

“THERE ARE MOMENTS OF ISOLATION WHEN THE ONLY PEOPLE AROUND ARE YOU AND YOUR GROUP.” THE Incan city of Machu Picchu dates to 1450AD, so it’s ironic that it’s listed as one of the seven “new” wonders of the world, decided by a poll of more than 100 million votes a decade ago. But alongside the Great Wall of China, Christ the Redeemer, the Colosseum and Petra, the Inca Trail is now on many adventurers’ to-do lists and rightly so. What quickly becomes clear is that it’s the overall experience of this trek that makes it great, not necessarily each section of the trail. Machu Picchu was built for the great Inca Emperor Pachacuti at a time when the Incan Empire stretched 2500 miles across the South American continent from…

THIS MONTH’S WINNING PHOTO Overland Track, Tas Ruth Faulkner, Mission Beach QLD Camera: Olympus Stylus TG4 Ruth: "Our first day on the infamous Tasmanian Overland Track in spring. The freezing conditions, the ominous dark clouds and the deep level of snow on the trail tested our nerves en route to Kitchen Hut. The ever impressive sight of Cradle Mountain kept us motivated as we navigated the plateau." Mount Barney, SE Qld Louise Noble, Withcott Qld Camera: Panasonic Lumix Louise: "Kids on top of the world! Mac & Dale (12 & 13) on top of Mount Barney. We climbed up the day before, camping near the top, so we could watch the sunrise after a final ascent. Fantastic views, and they had a blast sliding down the mountain.” Mount Maroon, SE…

WHETHER you’re rolling out of bed to go to work or rolling out of a tent to get back on the trail, there’s no doubt that sore muscles can be a problem after a big walk. There are plenty of simple and effective actions that can help you offset the effects of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). According to the Australian Institute of Sport, there are four components to minimising muscle damage from exercise and aiding muscle recovery: refuelling your body, replacing fluids and electrolytes, repairing muscles and having a strong immune system. Refuelling your body During moderate aerobic exercise such as walking, glycogen is the main fuel used by the body. Once the body is supplying oxygen to the muscles to create energy, it will take glucose direct from…

1 Our Wednesday Hump Day pic was well received. 2 Just in case you wanted to be a zombie... 3 A video of Yosemite NP’s ‘Firefalls’ went down a treat on the website. 4 Hollywood hard-man Vinne Jones showed us how to perform CPR – to the tune of Staying Alive. 5 Our Facebook friends told us what their favourite non-fiction adventure book was. 6 Great Walks sponsored and attended the Telluride Mountainfilm festival in Sydney. 7 Our photo gallery on Kakau proved a hit. 8 This person was really trying hard to avoid getting out of bed. 9 These beer glasses are ideal for someone having “just one drink”! 10 A bit of Kiwi ingenuity, bro!.…