Great Walks

YOU’VE heard of the slow food movement well now there’s the slow travel movement. According to traveller.com.au, the concept revolves around travelling mindfully. “It’s about being increasingly in the moment, and taking your time to absorb everything

FROM a highschool mate’s invitation, my husband and I along with our kids (aged 17 and 16) had committed to completing Kokoda, Anzac Trek, 2018. On a personal level, my grandfather had served along the beachheads near Buna, so this trek was in his ho

HAVING never been to Cradle Mountain my husband and I arrived at the carpark at 7am rearing to start our day hike. Unfortunately the office to purchase entry did not open until 8am. What to do? Wait an hour, or walk the 8km to the start of the hike?

THE plover put on a classic performance. In the middle of a grassy patch adjacent to the Red Cliff lookout, she swooped, squawked, strutted and threatened anyone who went near her precious eggs. It was day two of a four-day hike along the Yuraygir Co

OFTEN enshrouded in white pillows of cloud, Mt Anne in Tasmania’s South West National Park is one of the state’s longer and more difficult day walks, taking 8-10 hours return to cover the 15km of walking and boulder scrambling. The summit of Mt Anne

BIG walks like the Larapinta Trail are pipe dreams for many people. You enjoy folding them up neatly, putting them into your chest pocket and taking them out every now and then to look at, dream over, maybe hazily plan for. For my own ‘End to End’ it

THE 223km Larapinta Trail, in the West MacDonnell Ranges, just west of Alice Springs, is well known for its iconic desert landscapes and the great news for walkers is that the best ways to truly appreciate this ancient and beautiful country is on foo

I’M sitting cross-legged on the floor of a traditional inn in rural Japan, sipping sake and contemplating my existence. In the last eight days I’ve walked 115km of the Nakasendo Way – a picturesque trail used by Japan’s Imperial warriors since the 17

“ALL by yourself?” the little man at the dam had said. It is a nasty question to answer, the way he put it. It is the question of gregarious, colonial man, and it contains outrage, and it means: What the hell’s the matter with you? Few people are wi

A GLOSSY blue-black bird is assiduously arranging the scenery of its performance space. Blue petals and bottle tops are placed centre stage and anything that isn’t blue is briskly flicked aside. This remarkable scene, starring a satin bowerbird, is h

Lying off the north coast of Queensland, Hinchinbrook Island is part of an important marine nature reserve, encircled by mangroves, dugong, green sea turtles, snubfin dolphins and the occasional estuarine crocodile. The Thorsborne Trail stretches alo

LAST year we showcased the gripping intros of 10 iconic non-fiction adventure books so this year we’re quoting the gripping opening paragraphs of 10 iconic fiction adventure books, so without further ado... “For many days we had been tempest-tossed

REGION X specialises in guided walking tours of the magnificent NSW South Coast, an area where there’s so much to see and experience. Immerse yourself in a spectacular 3 day/2 night walk featuring pristine beaches, rock platforms and temperate forest

SITUATED in Victoria’s northeast, the High Country region includes six shires: Alpine, Benalla, Indigo, Mansfield, Towong and Wangaratta, plus the three major alpine resorts of Falls Creek, Mt Buller and Mt Hotham. The High Country ticks all the boxe

Dean: “One photo for each walking pole! On a recent solo walk to The Labyrinth in Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair NP, I had the camping spot at Lake Elysia all to myself for two nights. Many hours were spent sitting in absolute silence watching the col

MANY of us have a warm and cozy relationship with our sleeping bag that we hope will last for many years to come. With these care and cleaning tips, you can make sure you and your bag stay together for the long haul. 1 Down products, whether they a

TODAY the outdoor gear and the materials from which it is made may have significantly changed, but the principles espoused here remain as true as when Paddy Pallin tramped through all those hills and rivers in the 1930s. Some walkers go to significan

BEFORE you head off for that fabulous day walk you’ve been dreaming about or even that spontaneous burst of hiking enthusiasm whilst on a country drive, here are ten must-haves to ensure you have a great day out – and a safe day! If you’re new to hik

MODERN lightweight tents are awesome. The fact that you can carry a shelter as little as 1kg on your back that will not only let two people sleep in it, but will have the room to dry yourself off and get changed, store your gear and wait out a multi-

FOR over 30 years I have been known as “Captain Contingency” by my best man and walking companion, Mark. That moniker came about when we were cross-country ski touring one year and one of our party’s pack straps came adrift. Now most experienced walk

Before getting into the commercial varieties, it’s worth noting that food you dehydrate yourself will almost always be tastier and far cheaper than commercial brands (for DIY check out: trail.recipes/food-dehydrating-class/). However for most people

I’VE been taking local and international visitors to Kashmir for 22 years. I’ve wanted to be a tour guide most of my life. I grew up in Kashmir and come from a family that has been running travel business for years, including operating luxury housebo

I THINK often of how the early mariners first saw this obdurate coast. Of what they thought, looking across the choppy, windswept sea to the sandy beaches, the veiled shape of what would later be called the Ironbound Range, and the many teeth-like pr

“A summer storm rolls over the High Country near Mt Feathertop (R), illuminating the last hours of Christmas Eve. Taken just east of Diamantina spur, my wife and I delayed dinner to take in nature’s show. As the stars began to appear in the dimming l

MY childhood was full of exploration along the banks of the Murray River while yabbying or fishing. When dad bought our first aluminium dinghy in the early 70’s we’d go fishing in the little creeks around Renmark. I remember vividly the 1974/75 flood