Innehållsförteckning för June-July 2024 från Great Walks

MOUNT Mistake or my mistake? The refrain becomes an annoying earworm as departure looms. At 60km the four-day Spicers Scenic Rim Trail is one of Great Walks of Australia’s longest trips and one of the few rated moderate to hard, with a 700m ascent of the Mount Mistake Range on the first day. I’m concerned about climbing in Queensland’s humidity. Then I bruise the ball of my right foot. I ramp up squats in lieu of training walks and oscillate between planning and postponing. But this is my first luxury, pack-free walk, so I don stiff-soled boots, a stiff upper lip, and hope for the best. Spicers Scenic Rim Trail starts in Thornton, about 110km southwest of Brisbane. It tracks south across the lands of the Yuggera Ugarapul people, over…

THIS MONTH’S WINNING PHOTO Catlins Coastal Heritage Trail, NZ Steven Genesin, Colonel Light Gardens SA Camera: Olympus OM1 with the Olympus 12-100mm Pro lens Steven: “The Nugget Point Lighthouse walk at the bottom the South Island of New Zealand affords some stunning views. As you wind your way to the lighthouse on the Catlins Coastal Heritage Trail the sea appears on both sides and you have a sense of really being amongst the elements... wind, seals, birds and fantastic vistas!” Overland Track, Tas Deb Kahn, Albury NSW Camera: Samsung S20 + Deb: "We'd started day 1 of the Overland Track early, to avoid the hordes of day trippers on Marion's Lookout. The clouds had just lifted as I sat and watched, across a small tarn, Barn Bluff expose herself. Perfect…

MONICA (65): “I first met Alison about 25 years ago when I started a new job and I was also fairly new to Brisbane. I needed some friends. I wasn’t much of a walker at that time, but Alison and some colleagues used to go on bushwalking social outings so I decided to go along. Encouraged by Alison, I discovered a love of walking, and set myself a goal to do a walking holiday in Tuscany. I did that and loved it! Alison and I went on to do many walking holidays together. We have completed many self-guided package walks including white hill towns of Andalucia, Dordogne River Valley, Malerweg in Swiss Saxony, King Ludwig’s Way in Bavaria, the Luberon Valley in Provence and the Cotswolds Way. We have also…

BEHIND THE SCENESROAM MY earliest memory is of walking the trails of Rangitoto Island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf. As a child, my family had a small yacht called Cool Change. During the summer months, we would sail to an island in the gulf, row ashore and explore it. Before starting Roam, I was an investment analyst in the corporate world but outside of work I enjoyed running trails. It provided an outlet filled with adventure, fun, and the kind of challenge that road running couldn’t match. The concept of Roam came to life on the trail. I was travelling around New Zealand, running and hiking amazing tracks. I quickly grew tired of relying on overly sweet bars, lollies, and gels. In search of something natural and genuinely satisfying, I turned…

Roam Energy Nut Butter Some years ago I completed the Oxfam Trailwalker. The idea was to walk 100km through thick bushland as a group of four. No sleeping, just rest stops. It took us a gruelling 33 hours (and only two of us made it – long story…) but one of the things that kept us going was a brand of energy gel where you ripped open the sachet and squeezed this goo down your throat. It was full of caffeine, sugar, amino acids and sodium, and it was sickly sweet. Not once did I enjoy using it but it did give me an energy boost when I needed it. After that event I always wondered if one day something would come on the market that was similar to this…

DECISION MAKING HIBISCUS red, dragon fruit red, bougainvillea red. Or is it more blood red emerging from the black wisps of horizontal cloud? An apocalyptic and hypnotic sunrise seen through a snow blizzard at 14,000 feet (4267m). Frighteningly beautiful, I lament the photo I can’t take. A nanosecond of observation is all I can spare. My memory, its only record. Three hours earlier I had left my campsite beside Guitar Lake at 2.30am. Yesterday’s weather report predicted a 30 per cent chance of rain. Other hikers agreed it was still possible to summit Mt Whitney under these conditions. It would take me several hours to climb precipitous switchbacks, reach the junction to the summit, watch the dawn from atop the mountain and then descend a further 8km via the Whitney…

Three hour’s drive from world-famous Uluru is Watarrka NP, home to the mighty Kings Canyon – a majestic destination featuring 300m high sandstone walls, palm-filled crevices, and views that stretch across the desert. Lace up your hiking boots and explore the iconic Kings Canyon Rim walk. The 6km circuit will take you down into the Garden of Eden, a beautiful rockhole surrounded by rare plants, before ascending to 360° panoramic views over the red sand dunes. Suitable for most bushwalkers, the first 500 steps of the Rim Walk is the most challenging, but the view from the top is what will really take your breath away. Featuring iconic locations along the famous walk, like Priscilla’s Crack (made famous by the classic Australian movie Priscilla Queen of the Desert), the weathered…

K’GARI (Fraser Island) means ‘Paradise’ to the Butchulla people. But the first colonial settlers to arrive didn’t see the Island with the same vision as the traditional owners. Their vision was a paradise for exploitation. The tall trees of blackbutt, satinay and kauri were chopped down for valuable timber and the sands, which are the very core of the island, were mined and shipped to the mainland. Thankfully, times change and after long conservation battles in the ‘70s and ‘80s, K’gari is now protected with National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Status. It’s a paradise once again for the many tourists who visit. Most of those visitors are either having a whistlestop coach trip or are driving their own 4WDs on stunning 75 Mile Beach. But, to my mind, K’gari…

AFTER meeting briefly at a writers festival, 27-year-old Elizabeth Best (Eli), pairs up with an historical fiction writer Colin Bowles in a last-minute undertaking to complete a shared goal. The two, barely acquainted, seize the day and drop everything to retrace one of the oldest pilgrimage routes in the Western world, through the heart of Spain. It was meant to be an exciting adventure, but under-prepared and carrying too much baggage, in every sense, the two soon discover the hidden magic of the Camino… Chapter 3. COLIN: ELI GETS A WOBBLE ON We descend into the valley of the Rio Arga. The road takes us down through the pine forests beside cool running streams where Papa Doc Hemingway once fished for trout and where local Basques still do. There are…

HISTORY, diversity, wildlife, and Indigenous culture; the Light to Light walk in Beowa National Park is a special and colourful walk located in the far-south of NSW near the former whaling town of Eden. Logistically, the hike can be a challenge to organise as it goes from point to point from either Green Cape Lighthouse to Boyds Tower or vice versa. For this hike my hiking partner and I chose to start from Green Cape and end at Boyds Tower. Without two cars this hike isn’t really possible without acquiring the help of one of the local tour operators in the area. Fortunately for us we were both travelling at the time and were able to organise ourselves independently. Firstly, we dropped off one of our vans at our finishing…

ELISE Marcianti is a 24-year-old adventurer and artist living in Bright in North East Victoria. When she’s not trail running in the mountains, riding or climbing you’ll find her with paint in her hair. Since finding Bright after doing a snow season she fell in love with the mountains and the endless ways to move through them. She did her first overnight hike at Mount Feathertop and continued exploring during both the summer and winter season. The day after completing an ultra-marathon in Kosciuszko, Elise set foot through the Australian Alps Walking Track (AAWT) to raise awareness for eating disorders after seeing the impact it had not only on her but her family too due to the lack of funding and awareness. She named the journey ‘Moving for The Mind’…

WORDS OF WISDOMSHANNON BRATTON TICK-INDUCED Mammalian Meat Allergy (MMA) is increasing hikers’ need to be vigilant against these nefarious arachnids. Do you know the best ways to prevent tick bites or how to remove ticks safely? Hikers with Alpha-Gal Syndrome, known as Mammalian Meat Allergy (MMA) fear tiny ticks more than any other peril of bushwalking, more than snakes, spiders, leeches or stinging plants. MMA is a weird allergy, difficult to believe without scepticism. Australian Professor Sheryl van Nunen declared Australia as the most affected country globally for MMA and tick anaphylaxis. Alpha-galactose is a sugar molecule found in tick saliva. People can develop an allergic reaction to it after a larvae, nymph or adult tick bite. The allergy presents any time after the initial tick bite, even months or…

THE call of the wild is perhaps stronger than ever before, with more and more of us longing to escape our daily lives and immerse ourselves in the beauty of the natural world. For some, ideal forays may be weeks in the wilderness, hiking, biking or kayaking from one remote campsite to another. For others, it’s a weekend of bush glamping in easy reach of urban life. Everyone’s definition of a nature-based escape differs, as does their comfort zone within it. The common denominator is that it feels good. So with this in mind check out these five amazing and unique camping and glamping places in the Sunshine State. Nightfall Camp Lamington NP, SE Qld One of Australia’s cleanest freshwater creeks meanders alongside Nightfall Camp, bouncing between smooth, sun-drenched boulders…

THERE’S complete silence except for birdsong and distant church bells. Spring has sprung and the countryside is ‘raining’ with white blossom in the breeze. The track is lined with purple wildflowers and red poppies are scattered over the magnificent rural landscape. Small lizards are sunning themselves on rocks and scurry off, rustling in dried leaves as we approach. With the warm sun on our backs too nothing can dent the joy of being on this delightful pilgrimage path, following in the footsteps where nature-loving Saint Francis of Assisi roamed more than 800 years ago. It’s hard to believe we are walking in such peace in a country as populated as Italy! Our days are dominated by mother nature as well as medieval history and frescoed art. It’s easy to stop…

TOUR OPERATORS HOW you walk your Camino is completely up to you. You may be a purist and want to walk the whole thing independently with just your possessions on your back and stay in dorms with other pilgrims? You might want to do a self-guided tour where a tour operator carries your luggage from hotel to hotel, but you do the walk on your own. Or you might want to do the Camino pack-free, fully guided and stay in gorgeous accommodation. All options offer a memorable experience. And with the last two options in mind we profile seven tour operators who offer various levels of comfort. Life’s An Adventure The traditional Camino routes can be up to 1000km in length, taking a month or more to complete. Life’s An…

SWAPPING the South Coast for the South Island, a group of 10 girlfriends booked a group tour on Ultimate Hikes’ 3-day Routeburn Track guided walk. Here they share some of favourite photos and favourite memories of the trip. NEED TO KNOW The Routeburn Track Guided Walk is a 3 day/2 night all - inclusive guided walk through Fiordland and Mt Aspiring National Parks. More info: ultimatehikes.co.nz…

GUIDED GETAWAYSSAIKIM WAN MY earliest bushwalking memory is walking amongst wombat burrows on the Nullarbor plain with my mum, brother and sister when I was 11. We were driving from Adelaide to Perth and stopping in the desert for a bush walk was an exhilarating and wild adventure! I have been bushwalking and hiking for the last nine years in outback South-West Qld, as well as around Tasmania. In addition, I have enjoyed multi-day self-guided walks overseas including Hadrians Wall in the UK, Tuscany and Umbria in Italy, the Douro Valley and the Portugal to Spain Camino Walk. These invigorating and refreshing day and multi-day walking experiences have inspired me to want to share my love of walking in pristine nature in my home island of Tasmania with likeminded people.…