Indholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2019 i Great Walks

A May inquest into the death of 55-year-old bushwalker Trevor John Tolputt, who died on Tasmania’s Overland Track in the winter of 2016, found he “tragically brought about his own demise by a series of poor decisions”. On Tuesday May 21, 2019 Coroner Olivia McTaggart handed down her findings and found that Mr Tolputt died on July 14, 2016, as a result of hypothermia while walking alone in what the coroner describes as “freezing, snowy conditions” on the physically and psychologically challenging Overland Track. He had been walking for six days and was about a kilometre from the Narcissus Hut at the Lake St Clair end of the track. From the hut he would have caught the 40-minute ferry to the Lake St Clair visitors centre. Ms McTaggart said a…

Island life I I read with interest the article on the Cocos Keeling Islands (Reef Encounters, GRW June-July 2019). I’m soon heading to Cocos, and would like to do the walk, but have some questions for Rik such as, if the walk connecting the chain of islands takes 10 hours and can only be done at low tide, how is it logistically possible to get low tide the whole way? Thanks, and congrats on a very nice magazine. Peter Koopman Dear Peter, firstly, great news that you are planning to visit Cocos. It is an incredible destination. Your question regarding the walk and the appropriate tides is a terrific one. The walk itself can really be broken up into three different sections. The initial section from Home Island to South…

NZ’S 10TH GREAT Walk, the stunning Paparoa Track, opens this December and you can register now to be one of the first people to experience the walk. It’s the first new Great Walk to be established since the Department of Conservation (DOC) created the network in 1993. Subtropical palms line the 55km trail as it works its way across mountaintops and down through the Pororari River Gorge. Limestone cliffs carpeted with moss make way for ridgetop views of the surrounding coastal forest, part of Paparoa NP. doc.govt.nz SPEAKING OF NZ, Life’s An Adventure are now offering four guided pack-free walks there. The first lets you explore four famous Fiordland walks over five days – the Hollyford, Kepler, Milford and Routeburn tracks. The other walks are at the top of the…

GUTHEGA, high up on the headwaters of the Snowy River, is surrounded by mountain ranges, and was where the Snowy Mountains Scheme first appeared on the landscape. Guthega Dam, built by a Norwegian firm starting in 1951 nestles comfortably in its surroundings. Many walks radiate from the village, however the walk to Mount Twynam is a classic Snowy Mountains walk which follows the Snowy River valley and then climbs steadily to the rounded mountain top prominently on the horizon for most of the journey. Leaving the village, take the well-marked track to Illawong Lodge (2.5km), firstly crossing the small Blue Cow Creek by bridge. This is adjacent to the old flying fox with its heritage plaque alerting modern day walkers that this was the way walkers, skiers and their provisions…

THIS MONTH’S WINNING PHOTO KATHY WINS A SET OF LEKI WALKING POLES WORTH $210! Lord Howe Island, NSW Kathy Davies, Stony Rise, Tas Camera: LG 6 phone Kathy: “After seeing Lord Howe Island special (Seventh Heaven, GRW Oct-Nov 2018) I needed to go climb Mt Gower, so when my friend Sally invited me to her 50th birthday I was booked! All week I watched the clouds never shifting from the peaks. After our challenging climb, we made the summit. While having lunch the clouds lifted and this was the spectacular view we were rewarded with, amazing!” Great Ocean Walk, Vic Vicki Armstrong, via email Vicki: “This photo was from our recent Great Ocean Road walk, which I completed with my sister. There were so many sights it was hard to…

THIS year marks the 25th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia. It’s a great time to celebrate by visiting Gondwana rainforests in NSW and taking a walk through ancient landscapes. Here are some our favourite walks that showcase the timeless beauty of our Gondwana rainforests. “GIBRALTAR-WASHPOOL WORLD HERITAGE WALK PASSES THROUGH DRAMATIC AND EVER-CHANGING NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS.” Brindle Creek Walking Track Park: Border Ranges NP (inland from the Byron/ Tweed coast) Distance/time/grade: 6km one-way, 3-4 hours, Grade 3 If you love waterfalls and ancient rainforest, then you can’t go past Brindle Creek walking track in the high country of Border Ranges NP. Following the creek line, this medium grade walk passes through unspoilt wilderness from Brindle Creek picnic area to Antarctic beech picnic area…

“I like this!” Judy declared at the top of the fifth hill along Telecom Track, “but, it’s like a rollercoaster!” Leonie and I agreed as our hair was blown by a welcome cooling breeze. Views again and again were of farmland and distant hills. Yellow paper daisies, grevilleas and other wildflowers were delightful. The woodlands were beautiful with birdsong, pobblebonk frogs, wallabies and kangaroos. This 19km day walk doesn’t require an early start if you’re driving from Melbourne (100km) or enjoying a weekend in the wine, cider, antiques, music, arts, mineral springs, food and gold region of Castlemaine (10km) and Malmsbury (8km). Fryerstown, once home to 15,000 people, hosts an annual popular antiques and collectables fair. We left our car at the intersection of Old Coach Road and Fryerstown Road…

THE use of hammocks dates a 1000 years, but the last decade has seen much innovation in comfort and capability. Modern fabrics and designs have created ultralight, durable hammocks suitable for resting and camping in all weather. While not a complete replacement for tents, hammocks offer a different set of options and comfort, as long as you have something to hang one from. But you need trees right? Not necessarily. On a guided trip in 2015 through the Red Centre I woke up in my canvas swag to what I thought were mosquitoes. Mozzies would have been nice, as I was actually covered in ants. Biting me everywhere, I tried not to wake my fellow campers up as I performed an ants-in-your-pants dance. I shook out my sleeping bag and…

AN initiative by the Dept of Conservation (DOC) to control visitor numbers on some of NZ’s Great Walks has been seen as a success. The seven-month trial sought to provide info on the effectiveness of pricing as a tool to manage visitor pressure. Basically, international visitors have to pay almost double the price for camping and huts fees as NZ citizens. The results show a 37 percent increase in NZ adult bookings and a 10 percent increase for NZ children. International adults and children dropped 31 percent and 35 percent respectively. The number of Kiwis across all Great Walks increased by 27 percent. The trial has been labelled a success by DOC, and has brought in $2.4 million more than last season. DOC’s differential pricing trial, on Milford, Routeburn, Kepler…

ONE of the most famous navigators to explore WA was Frenchman Louis de Freycinet (1779-1841) who not only circumnavigated the earth, but in 1811 published the first map to show a full outline of the Australian coastline. He spent a lot of time around southern WA, collecting botanical specimens and exploring the inlets and coastal areas. Standing on Lights Beach in William Bay NP on the last day of our Bibbulmun walk I could imagine Louis de Freycinet staring at this peaceful bay from his ship Uranie sharing this magnificent view with one special person he managed to sneak on board... William Bay NP is one of many highlights on the Bibbulmun Track and if you had the time to walk all 1000km you’d see the lot. But for most…

IN 1811, French explorer Louis de Freycinet was the first person to map the entire coastline of Australia (see pg14), a vast area of dramatic rocky outcrops, imposing cliffs, endless bays and pristine beaches. Many parts of this coastline are truly remote, even dangerous, but there are plenty that can be explored safely on foot. So here we present 16 spectacular walks that showcase mainland Australia’s southern coastline. WESTERN AUSTRALIA Cape to Cape Track Best for: Variety and doing it your own way on an iconic WA trail. The Cape to Cape has to be one of the most famous trails easily accessible from Perth. With stunning blue seas lapping at sheer cliffs, wildflowers blooming in bright clumps in the spring, white sands to flop your weary self onto and…

SOLO bushwalking may sound a bit intimidating to some people but being alone in the wilderness can be incredibly powerful. However before your pack your rucksack and head off there are number of things to consider so you can have a safe and enjoyable walk. 1 First, research. Find out all that you can about the track and where you are going. Google is an amazing tool to use! You will want to know about the track conditions, weather, terrain etc. 2 Be realistic. Be honest with yourself about your skills, pain threshold and endurance level. Don’t put yourself beyond your own personal limits. 3 Learn basic map-ready skills. If you are planning to head out bush, whether solo or not, do have up-to-date maps and know how to read…

MY earliest bushwalking memory is of my dad (a trapper at the time, now one of our guides!) taking my younger brother and I to the Coromandel Peninsula on the North island’s southeast to climb Mt Kaitarakihi. I was nine and my brother seven. At 6.6km return, an 852m summit and elevation of around 400m, this track is an advanced hike for most adults. I’ll never forget the scramble over the boulders and chains to the top. To this day, a good scramble brings out the inner mountain goat in me. During our travelling years, my husband Steve and I hiked in many different countries. We chose to spend all the pennies we saved sampling local cuisine and eating like royals. Our travel plans quickly became about food and walks…

Trail notes: There’s a river crossing on a rock chute just above a 4-metre waterfall … the water is flowing fast down the chute and if you lose footing, you go over the waterfall. THE morning is cold. Isabel and Liam are still asleep. I pull on a down jacket and wander barely 100 metres from the hut to find a hidden tarn. All is quiet and still, the tarn’s surface a mirror reflecting the dark forest crowding the water’s edge. The pale trunks of dead trees poke like ghostly fingers from the watery depths. A thin blanket of mist hovers above the lake, heavy and silent in the windless air. This is what I’m here for, these moments of stillness and beauty. Where all I can hear is the…

Last year marked 100 years since the end of the Great War. In the early years following WWI, three very special gifts were made to the UK’s National Trust to look after on behalf of the nation. The first mountain to be gifted to the people of Great Britain was Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain, by Lord Leconfield. Then Castle Crag was given as a memorial to ‘the men of Borrowdale’, a popular local town. Shortly afterwards, 12 Lake District summits were given to the Trust by the Fell and Rock Climbing Club in memory of the fallen. This included famous climbing crags and a large gift of land surrounding the iconic peak of Great Gable. It was described at the time as the “world’s greatest war memorial.” You won’t…

A year before my 60th birthday, I decided a challenge would be the best way to celebrate my ‘coming of age’. I sent out an invitation to about 17 friends, gathered over my lifetime, to see if any were interested in joining me on the four-day Three Capes walk in Tasmania. I thought maybe three or four would be willing and able, but to my surprise twelve others, from four states, committed to getting fit for the journey. For some it was their first time camping or hiking, and for most it was the first time carrying a pack. We had fun planning the equipment required and working out yummy but lightweight food. One of my friends, partway through the training and planning phase, suggested a cruise would be a…

WITH such a diverse range of habitats across the trail, the Bibbulmun offers rich opportunities to discover a new world of flora and fauna. Here are some of my favourite flora and fauna facts. Pig Face Like aloe vera, the leaves can be used for minor burns and stings. However, the leaves of pig face can also be eaten – they are perfect sliced thinly and blanched before cooling and adding to the salad beside some locally caught dhufish from Peaceful Bay. Some say they can be eaten raw, but they leave a floury taste in the mouth that I am not partial to. The pièce de résistance is the fruit, indeed, the Latin genus for the plant means ‘edible fruit’. Look for a smooth red swollen ‘double leaf’, pinch…

SAY the word, ‘Snowys’, and most Aussies will immediately think of either ski resorts or the Main Range megalith. Classic hiking icons of Feathertop or Bogong; Kosciusko or Twynam (see pg 26) have been in the spotlight for many years, whilst a quiet corner of the region has been developing an impressive multi-day bushwalking track, away from the ridges and breathless ascents of it’s brash eastern neighbour. Stretching 426km from Yass to Albury, the Hume and Hovell Track is a route I’ve never been able to picture exactly where it goes. It calls the green space between the Great Dividing Range to the east and the Hume Highway to the west home, hiding itself within a mix of state forest, Crown land, private land, local council and national park. On…

CENTRAL Australia holds many mysteries; such as the exotic palm trees of Palm Valley, a 2hr, west of Alice Springs. However, the valley is only accessible in a high clearance 4WD so you can navigate the rocky offroad terrain through Finke Gorge NP. Once in the valley, there are three trails which vary in length for a beginner, and can easily be included on a day trip. Your first stop is Kalarranga lookout, a 1.5 km uphill walk which takes about 40 minutes. It’s not too steep, but it prepares you for the Palm Valley trails. Once at the top; 360° views of the amphitheatre are your reward as you try to spot the Pangkalanga Devil Man, an Arrernte Dreaming character, hidden in the sandstone rockface. The Arankaia and Mpulungkinya…

IT was rude to say it to Tim Macartney-Snape, but I did. Just months before, he and Greg Mortimer had pulled off what was called “the mountaineering coup of the century”. They had climbed a new and difficult route on Everest without using bottled oxygen. Back then, in 1984, only two others had climbed Everest without bottled oxygen; one of them superstar mountaineer Reinhold Messner. On the summit they’d been at their limit, but Tim, at 8848m, acted as if he was at sea level. He got out his tape recorder and made a passionate and eloquent ten minute plea for nuclear disarmament. Back at Base Camp I asked him whether he could have made it if Everest had been a few hundred metres higher, and he thought he could…

“On a cold winter’s day in late June I went for a walk in a quite rugged area of Namadgi National Park, just outside Canberra. I had planned a walk that was mostly off-track, basing the route around a series of geocaches, saving waypoints for each of them using GPS applications in my smartphone. I successfully navigated my way along a trail and then off through some dense bush and successfully found the first geocache. Navigating across to the next waypoint I ended up back in some very dense scrub. I put my phone in my pocket while scrambling over a fallen tree. About 20 metres on I went to check my GPS again and realised the phone had fallen out of my pocket. The bush was so dense that…

“I came from a real tough neighbourhood. Once a guy pulled a knife on me. I knew he wasn’t a professional, the knife had butter on it.” – Rodney Dangerfield “If a book about failures doesn’t sell, is it a success?” – Jerry Seinfeld “GO TO HEAVEN FOR THE CLIMATE, HELL FOR THE COMPANY.” – Mark Twain “I LIKE LONG WALKS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE TAKEN BY PEOPLE WHO ANNOY ME”. – Fred Allen “Knowledge is like underwear. It is useful to have it, but not necessary to show it off.” – Bill Murray “DON’T BE SO HUMBLE – YOU ARE NOT THAT GREAT.” – Golda Meir “EVERYTHING IN MODERATION, INCLUDING MODERATION.” – Oscar Wilde “THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STUPIDITY AND GENIUS IS THAT GENIUS HAS ITS LIMITS.” – Albert Einstein…