Innehållsförteckning för February/March 2021 från Great Walks

HAVING walked from Penguin at the top of Tasmania, to the bottom of the Overland Track it was time to tackle the Frenchmans Cap Track. Day 1 starts with a 29km shuttle bus drive from Derwent Bridge to the trailhead on the Lyell Highway. As we walked across the swing bridge over the Franklin River we noticed that the previous day’s rain had swollen the river significantly. This put in doubt our ability to ford the river in three day’s time at Irenabyss downstream. The high water level on the South Loddon River confirmed these fears. The walk to Lake Vera hut was about 15km with 787m of ascent, so we got a good sweat up along the trail. Day 2 involved an ascent over Barron Pass, which neither Shannon…

I’M a wildlife ecologist and expedition leader at Bush Blitz, an Australian species discovery program. I love solo hiking and have slowly built my confidence and skills hiking alone and with others. I am a scientist and have brought this questioning and analysis into my hike planning and ultralight gear selection. I’m extremely passionate about the Australian wilderness and through my YouTube videos I hope to share this passion and encourage others to get outdoors and sleep under the stars. I have solo hiked many of Australia’s iconic trails including the Larapinta, Carnarvon Great Walk and Cape to Cape. My favourite hike is the Great South Coast Walk, an informal 700km hike from Sydney, NSW to Mallacoota, Vic. My local hiking areas are the Budawangs and Ettrema Wilderness in Morton…

THIS year marks 40 years since a Cessna 210 aircraft with the call sign VH-MDX disappeared as it flew from the Gold Coast to Bankstown airport on the night of 9th August 1981. The plane was carrying five friends home from a long weekend fishing trip plus the pilot. It is hard to imagine how in this day and age, with the quality and extent of modern technology, that there is a silent resting place for these men, that remains hidden from the rest of the world. Great Walks carried the story of this mystery in 2016 and like the aircraft itself, hidden from sight, the work and commitment of Police and emergency services volunteers may seem invisible, however as this updated article will show, the tireless research and investigation…

HUNDREDS of flying foxes are hanging from trees everywhere above my head, their deafening shrieks drilling into my skull. I’ve lost the path in this smelly, claustrophobic mess of creepy vines and pointy wings. There’s a rush of air behind me, something clammy brushes against my arm. Spooked, I hunt for the exit. I have just completed a 175km walk in the spirit of explorer Clement Hodgkinson (1818-1893). But it is only at the finish line, when I dip into the lowland rainforest on Bellingen Island, that I understand how much harder the journey was for Hodgkinson. Only 21 years old, newly qualified as a civil engineer and with an inheritance in his pocket, Clement Hodgkinson arrived in Sydney in 1839. Heading north, he worked as a contract surveyor and…

Making National Geographic’s list of 21 must-travel destinations for 2021 is no mean feat. However, anyone who has visited Lord Howe, 780km northeast of Sydney, will know why it’s been labelled the Tasman Sea’s ‘last paradise’. “The island’s Protecting Paradise Program takes a holistic approach to biosecurity, enlisting the help of community volunteers and technology to remove destructive invasive species and protect endemic ones like the critically endangered Lord Howe Island phasmid or ‘walking sausage,’ a big-as-your-hand stick insect thought to be extinct until 2001,” wrote National Geographic. And congrats to Lord Howe’s Pinetrees Lodge becoming Australia’s first full-service hotel to be certified carbon neutral under Canberra’s Climate Active Program. “We wanted to demonstrate that small businesses like ours can lead on environmental and social issues, and still be profitable,”…

SOME say the hike up Mount Superbus to reach the wreck of a Lincoln Bomber is haunted. It’s certainly a difficult trek and there’s an eerie feeling being surrounded by the thick vines and near impenetrable forest. The mountain seems to place obstacles every time a new hiker sets out to look for the wreck. We tried, we searched, we found it and we think some of those beliefs may be true. The hollow fuselage of the plane dominates the landscape. Twisted metal remains strung in trees and litters the forest floor, becoming one with the mountainside amid moss and fallen leaves. It’s as if the mountain is protecting the wreck by hugging the remains with its vines and overgrown trees, stopping it from sliding any further down the 60º…

THERE is no shortage of accounts of long-distance walks changing lives, the tales of which are often powerful enough to end up the subject of a book or movie. Cheryl Strayed famously resolved grief and addiction on the Pacific Crest Trail in Wild, Anthony Sharwood realised epiphanies about the state of the environment on his journey on the Australian Alps Walking Track in From Snow to Ash, and I personally overcame anxiety and a lack of self-belief through hiking New Zealand’s Te Araroa Trail, documented in Bewildered. If tales of life-changing walks are starting to sound like a familiar storyline, there is a reason for it. Walking in nature is incredibly powerful. It’s a combination of simple living, fresh air, peace and quiet, and the rare opportunity to be distanced…

THEY say you must learn to walk before you can run. In my case, after a serious sailing accident which saw me unable to walk for six months, I first had to re-learn to walk before my husband and I could make the decision to hike. The milestone of our 25th wedding anniversary was set to stretch expectations about any track we had ever trekked together before. Sun-bathed, blue water bliss celebration options never appeared on our ‘trip advisor’, as we considered the challenge of a first-time long-distance hike. Sifting through alternatives to the heavily trodden El Camino de Santiago, as experienced hikers, we were looking for an adventurous track less travelled. The Fränkischer Gebirgsweg (Franconian Hiking Trail), crystallised as our idyllic island. There was no ‘spiritual wasteland’ or ‘ditch…

WITH lockdown 2.0 looking imminent in Melbourne, I was determined to get out for one last overnighter to see me through the next few months. I had been thinking about a solo overnight hike for a while and when the three stars of weather, teenagers and work aligned, I quickly booked my campsites. I was finally going to do it! I have been harbouring grandiose plans for some time to complete many different and varying solo hikes – everything from the Bibbulmun Track in WA to the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I first really needed to confirm if I actually enjoyed being solo as well as overcome any fears that I held. There was only one way to find out. The spectacular Wilsons Promontory southern section had been on…

GENE Hardy emerges from the underwater limestone ledge, a mask-and-snorkel-wearing hunter with a spiny crimson West Australian crayfish gripped in his gloved hand. And that’s when he sees the great white shark. “A big one, 10 metres away, and it scared the crap out of me,” enthuses Gene, the founder of Cape To Cape Explorer Tours (CCET), a Margaret River-based company with 11 years specialising in hiking adventures on the Cape to Cape Track, which is embedded in Leeuwin-Naturaliste NP of WA’s rugged southwest. “I swam so fast I just about walked on water!” We’re perched on a granite boulder after a swim in a gorgeous coastal rock pool named The Aquarium for its effervescent water and teeming fish. It’s day two of an 8-day guided hike traversing the 124km…

Maclehose Trail, Hong Kong Peter Koopman, Auchenflower, QLD Camera: iPhone XS Peter: “I braved the long-distance Maclehose Trail in Hong Kong, battling wild boar, heat, humidity and salivating mozzies. Rounding a corner on the coast path, I was rewarded with a gorgeous view of Ham-Tin beach and Sharp Peak. Beauty and solitude can be found, even in a metropolis like Hong Kong.” Hartz Mountain, Tas Kathy Davies, Devonport Tas Camera: Samsung S 20 +5G Kathy: “I really wanted to venture down to Tasmania’s southern park’s and discover some new scenery. Hartz Mountain didn’t dissapoint, a light snow storm numbed my finger’s and face but so worth the effort. Me on the Summit of Hartz Mountain before the snow storm.” Kahurangi NP, NZ Amanda Antcliff, Raworth, NSW Camera: iPhone Xs Amanda:…

IT may seem like a while off but hopefully sometime this year our international borders will reopen and we’ll be able to head overseas – maybe not to everywhere but certainly a number of key low COVID risk destinations such as NZ. Great Walks spoke to six walking tour operators about an overseas destination they are looking forward to getting boots on the track. Auswalk What one destination are you excited about? We are really excited by the prospect of walking in New Zealand again. The walk I’m itching to get back to is the Abel Tasman as it’s one of those moderate walks with fantastic accommodation and food. The beautiful golden beaches and views out over the ocean are real highlights. Having a swim in the crystal clear water,…

WE love trail mix – or as some of us call it, scroggin – it’s lightweight, portable and full of energy-dense ingredients like dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate. Just perfect for trailside noshing. There are no rules for trail mix – combine whatever sounds good! Let’s start off by looking at what goes in trail mix and then we’ll give you a dozen trail mix combos. NUTS: These pint-size nutritional dynamos are loaded with healthy unsaturated fats, protein, fibre, antioxidants, vitamin E, and other essential vitamins and minerals. Whether they’re raw or roasted, go for unsalted, unsweetened nuts to keep sugar and sodium under control. Our favourites: almonds, pistachios, cashews, peanuts, and walnuts (higher-calorie macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, pecans, and pine nuts are also good options in moderation). SEEDS:…