Recommended hiking, treking and bushwalking related sites

John Chapman - Australian Guru who has published many hiking guidebooks

Love in a Tent - Michelle Waitzman is the author of "Sex in a Tent: a wild couple's guide to getting naughty in nature" (Wilderness Press, Oct. 2007) She lives in Wellington, New Zealand although she is originally from Toronto, Canada. She loves spending time in the great outdoors. This is her blog.

Freezer Bag Cooking - The best site we have found for creating hiking food. Excellent instructions and pictures.

Hiking Blogs : This blog is a unique way to browse through and discover new hiking, backpacking, trail running, and trekking related blogs. You can rate the quality of each blog listed on this site.

Aushiker: Great West Australian site. Good information on the Bibbulmun Track and other great walks in W.A.

Bushwalk Tasmania: This is the online community for friendly and helpful discussion of topics of interest to bushwalkers in Tasmania and a reference of bushwalking related information submitted by bushwalkers, for bushwalkers. Highly recommended.

Backpacker's Barn : A quote from Cathy, the owner, says it all! "I love to share my wealth of knowledge from a lifetime in this beautiful paradise island. I can help you with information on anything from bus timetables to the weather in the mountains, where to find wombats, fairy wrens or penguins, where to go caving or kayaking, the way to the bank or the nearest pub ………and if I don’t know something, I know who to ask to find out for you!" Also, a great outdoor gear shop in Launceston, Tasmania.

Guide to short walks in Victoria: This Guide contains details of walks the auther, Bob Padula, has completed in the period from March 2005, and most can be completed by anyone with a moderate level of fitness. Some walks are suitable for persons with limited mobility.
Most walks described are located in the general area around Melbourne, but there are many further afield! Recommended, a great resource with detailed information.

Weatherzone: The best Australian weather site to check out expected conditions for your next walk.

Ultra-lightweight hiking and backpacking: A great UK site exploring the world of lightweight hiking with plenty of good yarns about gear and trips in the UK.

Walkweb : A great Australian and UK hiking resource. As Jeremy describes it, Bushwalking, Hiking, Rambling, Tramping … A site dedicated to exploring the world on foot.

Wollangarra :Wollangarra is an independent non-profit outdoor education project established in the firm belief that young people and mountains are natural partners with a great deal to offer each other. Gets young people out into the bush

Best Hike : Canadian based site that that is an excellent resource. Rick constantly updates the site with fantastic hikes, treks and tramps from across the world.

maccamusings : The ramblings of an eccentric Aussie. Some fantastic posts on the South Coast Walk in Tasmania (yet to be completed!) Well worth a read. Funny and very accurate.

Real Tasmania : An interesting , developing site about "all things Tasmania and much, much more" There is an active forum and excellent photo's of our favorite State. Well worth a look as this site grows and provides a great place to discuss Tassie and all the things that make it such a wonderful place.

Desert Mandala: Life In Central Australia : A highly opinionated and mildly confusing commentary about life in Central Australia through the eyes of a park ranger and an anthropologist. And yes … they're always on the lookout for good coffee and raisin toast.

A great blog that chronicles the lives of a couple and their family who live in central Australia.
Gary is currently acting as the Chief District Ranger of Watarrka (Kings Canyon) National Park, and splits his time between Alice Springs and Kings Canyon. Amanda lives in Alice Springs, and until recently was the one and only anthropologist for Parks & Wildlife. As of March 2008, she’s on secondment to the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (the Sacred Sites Authority), where she travels all over Central Australia, recording and registering Aboriginal sacred sites and doing work area clearances on these sacred sites.
There is lots of excellent information about hiking and camping in the outback.

Bushwalking Blog -a great site, maintained by Neil, that has a huge amount of information about hikes in Victoria, Australia. Neil has includes track notes, distances, time and grade for all the walks. He has also added some fancy Google mapping to help you get on your way. Check it out.



Back to "Our Hiking Blog"

Welcome to "Our Hiking Blog"

This blog (with it's silly name) was started following a wonderful trip we did in March 2006 to the South Coast Track in Southern Tasmania. Sue was so taken by the walk she found it cathartic to write a track report of the trip for her diary. We then decided it would be great information to share and the blog was created.

The name described what it is , Our Hiking Blog, a blog about our hikes.

Since then we have expanded the blog to include topics such as gear reviews, the best clothing to wear on multiday hikes, food organisation and preparation and many other areas related to getting out and enjoying "the great outdoors". We have also been lucky to have many "guest posters" who have shared their knowledge and experiences with us. Thse have been great additions to our Hiking Blog as we have learnt much new information and been able to share some fantastic adventures with our readers.

As background, we are a couple in our early 50's who live in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Over the last 4-5 years we have rediscovered hiking and get out into the bush as often as possible. Our focus is usually on multiday hikes and our preferred location is in Tasmania. With the advent of cheaper airfares it is relatively easy for us to fly the one hour to northern Tasmania and be in pristine wilderness a couple of hours after that.

Frank has been hiking since he was in the Boy Scouts in the 1970's and was lucky enough to achieve his Queen's Scout Award. Sue has had a love of the bush instilled in her since she was a young girl helping out on her grandfather's farm. We did our first multiday walk together (with Clare) in late 2003. It was the Overland Track in Tasmania. We loved it so much, just Sue and Frank returned and did it again in early 2004. From then on we were hooked.

We have three young adult children who also love getting out into the Australian bush. They have been camping with us since they were babies.

Clare , the eldest, has completed the Outdoor Education Degree at La Trobe University in Bendigo. She is probably the most experienced hiker in the family. She has contributed to "Our Hiking Blog" on a post about vegetarian hiking food and has joined us on several trips.
In late 2008 she paddled the Franklin River in Tasmania as the last exercise for her degree. She has guided on the Overland Track with Cradle Mountain Huts, and is currently working at Someset Ourdoor Education Centre in N.S.W.

Hannah took an extended break between Year 12 and commencing University. She spent 2007 and 2008 in the UK and is currently studying International Relations at Monash University in Melbourne . Hannah undertook a walk with Wollangarra and she wrote a trip report about the Bogong High Plains and the Australian Alps Walking Track

Tom is currently "studying" for year 12 and when we can get him away from his computer games, enjoys a camping or hiking trip. He joined us on our trip to Hinchinbrook Island and the Thorsborne Trail in 2007 and in late 2008 completed a walk with us between The Walls of Jerusalum and Cradle Mountain.

In this blog we are sharing our experiences so that anyone else who attempts these walks might get some practical information about them or just to have a bit of fun reading our stories. We also encourage guest posters who have undertaken walks so that their experiences can be shared with our readers. Please contact us by email if you would like to contribute.

In addition, because we cannot hike all the time, (unfortunately) we also post a few tit bits about other great sites we have stumbled across or just information that appeals to us.



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