April - May 2023

Great Walks

Australia’s ultimate walking magazine

Great Walks3 min read
Comfort Factor
IN September 2022, my walking buddy and I set out on a 14-day trek to Nepal’s Mount Annapurna Base Camp. We planned to trek in the Himalayan spring, after the monsoon season, and booked the ‘comfort’ option, which was a no-brainer for two ‘seniors’!
Great Walks3 min read
Good News Week
THE INCA CITADEL OF MACHU PICCHU reopened to tourists in mid-Feb after entry was suspended in December and January amid social unrest in Peru. Protests broke out around Peru in December when the country’s president, Pedro Castillo, was ousted and rep
Great Walks6 min read
Little Track, Big Views
THE summer just gone brought an extremely wet season that caused widespread flooding and horrific damage all over the East Coast of Australia; the trails were not immune. It was a time to let nature run its course and to be there to help pick up the
Great Walks5 min read
School Of The Outdoors
ONE of the most rewarding parts of being a Duke of Edinburgh Award leader is getting to visit some pretty special places within NSW and around Australia. With La Nina graciously offering us a break in the seemingly constant wet weather, 40 eager and
Great Walks5 min read
La Grande Aventure
IN June 2022, I set off on my third solo walk in France, walking for four weeks through the south west, inland from Bordeaux. The landscape varied from rolling hills to imposing cliffs with magnificent gorges and winding rivers. The walking was on ma
Great Walks3 min read
How’s The Serenity?!
KERRY (57): “Jan and I are work colleagues, plus we both love bushwalking. We’ve explored the Perth Hills, Stirling Ranges, Yanchep National Park, Walyunga National Park, Dwellingup, Paruna Wildlife Sanctuary, 1/3 of the of the Pilgrim Trail from Sub
Great Walks6 min read
Heavenly Hotham
PEOPLE often ask me, “what’s your all-time favourite hiking destination?” Out of respect, I always take a moment to contemplate this question. I look towards the sky and stroke my chin to give the impression that I’m deep in thought and that I’m seri
Great Walks5 min read
Wild At Heart
IT was 5am when an elbow to the ribs woke me and the enticing words, "I'm getting excited." Numerous possibilities danced before my mind's eye. My wife's elbow found its target once more, and I heard Maggie say, "I'm getting excited … about hiking th
Great Walks2 min read
Picture Perfect
Photo: Gavin Kellett, Ainslie, ACT Camera: Canon 5D Mark 3 Gavin: “Legoland, an above ground cave structure in Namadgi NP, ACT was transformed into a winter wonderland when we were hit by a snowstorm. The temperature plummeted but luckily we headed t
Great Walks6 min read
Journey To Lands End
AS one of the four points of Australia, Land’s End is dramatically known as the most southern tip of the mainland. It is also not the easiest point to reach involving a two-day hike and an overnight camp with no vehicle access. Located in Victoria’s
Great Walks8 min read
Follow The Light
EVERY bushwalker needs a headlamp. We’ve come a long way since the first modern, hands-free lighting, the Petzl Zoom in 1981. While we can joke that wearing the Zoom was a bit like mounting a flickering candle in a mixing bowl on one’s head, it was t
Great Walks2 min read
Carry On Camping
OVER the past year, seven of the older style campsites along the Bibbulmun Track have received much needed upgrades with funding provided by the WA Recovery Plan, the Forest Enhancement Fund and the Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Bio
Great Walks8 min read
Training Day
“STOP! Think about what’s working and what’s not,” instructs my friend Hilary. There’s a lot for our small group of 60+ year-old women to think about. In a few weeks we’ll be walking an average of 20km per day for six days on a multiday pack-free gui
Great Walks2 min read
Into The Wild
THE Arkaba Walk is an exclusive opportunity to brave the wilds of the Ikara-Flinders Ranges and Wilpena Pound by foot, over four nights and five days, disconnecting from the everyday and re-wilding on this private 60-000-acre wildlife conservancy. On
Great Walks5 min read
Be Prepared
IN 2005 I walked the Overland Track on my own. I flew to Launceston on Boxing Day and was on the trail within a few hours. The whole process was quite seamless because I had done my research. But there were a few things I wasn’t sure about, such as i
Great Walks4 min read
Getting The Message Out
Producer by trade, Caro started lotsafreshair.com to inspire people to get outdoors and remove barriers to bushwalking. WHAT does it mean to be a responsible walker? If we stick to the messages of the Think before you TREK campaign (which I do!) carr
Great Walks2 min read
Action Stations
AS a kid I did not do much bushwalking, but over the years I developed a passion for the outdoors and the physical challenge of hiking in wilderness areas. My first serious hike was in Nepal on the Annapurna Circuit, followed by the Darien Gap linkin
Great Walks5 min read
The Best Laid Plans
EMBARRASSED by it all now, so long ago it was, that I was going to throw this newspaper photo from May 1999 out when my husband Les handed it to me the other evening. Then I thought to write it up, as it was a most interesting adventure – overall. In
Great Walks6 min read
On The Track
TWELVE days, 12 hikers, 12 months in the planning. Our Great Queensland Rail Trail Adventure began in Kilkivan (100km north-west of Noosa) and ended at Ipswich (45km south-west of Brisbane). The 305km we walked consisted of the 161km Brisbane Valley
Great Walks2 min read
Silver Anniversary
IN Albany, on September 13th 1998, Hon. Cheryl Edwards, Minister for the Environment, cut the ribbon to open the “New Bibbulmun Track”. This symbolic act marked the culmination of a four-year project entitled “Building a Better Bibbulmun Track” heade
Great Walks2 min read
Silly Business
THIS may be the April-May issue but this story is no April Fool’s joke. The inefficient style of walking like the buffoons at the made-up Ministry of Silly Walks could help you achieve your daily physical activity targets in just a few minutes, finds

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