June-July 2024

Great Walks

Australia’s ultimate walking magazine

Great Walks1 min read
Great Walks
Editor Brent McKeanP: 02 9213 8274brentmckean@yaffa.com.au Advertising Bobby ButlerP: 02 9213 8265M: 0405 594 303bobbybutler@yaffa.com.au Subscriptionswww.greatmagazines.com.auFreecall: 1800 807 760Email: subscriptions@yaffa.com.au Subscription R
Great Walks2 min read
The Pilgrim’s Progress
THE Camino de Santiago, or The Way of St. James, is a 1,000-year-old pilgrimage route through Spain, Portugal, and part of southern France leading to the Cathedral of Santiago located in the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain
Great Walks6 min read
Range Roving
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
Great Walks3 min read
The Trail Provides
LOOKING back at those coincidences it was the days before starting the French Camino from St Jean Pied de Port that pointed to what would be an ongoing sense of grace and giving. On day one I’d rendezvoused, just, with my hiking buddy at Biarritz tra
Great Walks1 min read
A Right Royal Walk
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 exp
Great Walks5 min read
Carry On Camping
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 k
Great Walks7 min read
Paradise Found
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
Great Walks2 min read
Picture Perfect
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 t
Great Walks10 min read
Show Me The Way
WHAT’S it like to take on a long-distance pilgrim walk? How do you cope on cold wet days? What’s it like meeting other pilgrims? There are so many questions people ask before they take on their first Camino and it would be easy to disappear down an o
Great Walks6 min read
Rome-ing Around
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
Great Walks2 min read
Perfect Pilgrims
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
Great Walks7 min read
The Agony And The Ecstasy
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 everythi
Great Walks5 min read
Come This Way
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 o
Great Walks3 min read
Dare To Dream
FOR Tanzanian, Eliakeney Njau, setting up the first and only all-female owned and operated company leading tours up Mount Kilimanjaro is a dream come true, but it’s been a long road to success. Co-founder of Kilimanjaro Wanderwomen Tours, Julia Mante
Great Walks6 min read
Coast To Boast
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 or
Great Walks1 min read
Making Memories
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. The Routeburn Track Guided
Great Walks5 min read
What’s In My Pack?
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 s
Great Walks2 min read
Power To The People
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. Befor
Great Walks3 min read
Track Tested Treats
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 tha
Great Walks7 min read
Pack ‘N Go
FOLLOWING on from last issue’s ‘trail running shoes for hiking’ review, Great Walks is staying ultralight by looking at the new generation of sub-200g, seam-sealed hard shells. First, a caveat – these jackets are not primarily designed for hikers. Th
Great Walks4 min read
Freeze Frame
WITH our Wilderness Photographer of the Year presented by Mountain Designs up and running we thought we’d offer ten tips for better photography. Light is the key to all photography – whether you’re indoors or outdoors. See how it hits your subject, a
Great Walks3 min read
Northern Exposure
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 adve
Great Walks7 min read
Live And Learn
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 t
Great Walks3 min read
Stick It To The Tick
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 M

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