Latest Glam Multi-day Walks in Australia

Latest Glam Multi-day Walks in Australia

Comparing two of the latest guided multi-day walking experiences in Australia 

Scenic Rim Trail, southern Queensland

Looking for something more than a day walk, but not sure you want the hassles of carrying a large pack and tent? Want to finish a day's walk with a hot shower, comfy bed and a glass of wine, not a packet of two-minute noodles and a thin mattress on the ground?
Great Walks of Australia has a growing list of Australia's best multi-day walking experiences, but with strict criteria to get on their list: there must be private accommodation along the way, an emphasis on quality food and wine, and walks must be guided by knowledgeable guides.
I've walked parts of nearly all the walks listed by Great Walks of Australia, and this year, through my work for various publications, I was blessed to enjoy two of the latest walking experiences on offer in the great walks group. Here's a little compare and contrast, in case you were considering either. Please note both trips were provided gratis to me.

Scenic Rim Trail
This is the newest and cheapest of the Great Walks of Australia - but don't be fooled into thinking this is a shonky operation. Established by the classy Spicer's brand, the highlight here is definitely the food and the accommodation. Much of the walk is on the company's own beef farm in south-east Queensland, wandering through forests, woodlands and up mountains, occasionally dipping into national park. There are some great views to be had, and some lovely ancient hoop pine forest. It's pleasant, but for the most part, the walking isn't what you'd call spectacular. It's at the other end of the Scenic Rim to the renowned Lamington National Park, which for my money offers more beautiful terrain in this part of the country.
The mid-year season means that the weather on this three-night trip will almost always be pleasant too, with cool, crisp mornings (surprisingly cool for Queensland because of the relatively high altitude) and dry and warm days. The walking days are not too strenuous, although the uphill hikes will certainly make you feel like you are justified in having an extra glass or three of something at the end of the day. You don't have to carry any gear, apart from a camera, water and lunch, so the walking is wonderfully free and invigorating.

View from my plush bed at sunrise at Spicers Canopy.

The first two nights of the experience are spent at the exclusive Spicers Canopy glamping tents. These large, safari-tents have huge comfy beds in them, lounges and luxurious bath robes. You can leave the canopy doors wide open and watch the stars from the comfort of your huge bed, or seal everything up. Food and wine are divine, and only superseded by the final night, when you stay at the luxurious five-star Spicer's Peak Lodge, the highest lodge in Queensland, and are treated to a sumptuous seven-course degustation dinner, with matching wines. It's an extraordinary way to finish the trip, and certainly worth walking up a couple of mountains.

Spicers Peak Lodge. Ahhh.

Overland Track – in winter!
Since 1987, Cradle Mountain Huts has been guiding people 65km along the iconic Overland Track in the Central Highlands of Tasmania, past the craggy shape of Cradle Mountain, over passes and through sodden valleys all the way to Lake St Clair. It can be super wet, super cold, super muddy and some people have done the whole trip without ever seeing a mountain because they were shrouded in thick mist and rain the whole time.

View from Cradle Mountain Hut of Cathedral Mountain after heavy snowfall.

For the first time ever, Cradle Mountain Huts decided to trial a winter experience this year. Allowing an extra night (so now six nights), it wanted to see if guests were keen to see this gorgeous part of the world when it is at its coldest. And stunning it was. The rivers were thundering, the snow was thick and soft and deep in places, and the forests with snow in them were a fairy land. I can't show you many photos, because my story in OUTBACK magazine is still to come out (keep an eye out for the Oct/Nov issue), but sufficient to say it is probably the most beautiful long-distance bushwalk I have ever been on. We had wind that knocked us over, rain that soaked us, and snow that filled our packs, but it was worth it.

Top of Pelion East in winter.

This is not a walk for non-walkers. Some days were taxing, and because there is no other access to the huts, you need to carry a reasonable load (at least 15kg), including snow shoes, crampons and emergency sleeping gear. But at the end of each day, you get to the secluded and private Cradle Mountains Hut, to have hot showers, a glass or two of wine, and a delicious and nutritious hot meal cooked by your guides. There is certainly no degustation menu, but the food is plentiful and surprisingly good, with three or four courses every night. The huts are welcoming, but it is not five-star. The bedrooms were iceboxes, and you need the warm sleeping bags provided.

Overall, the experiences couldn't really be more different: one is perfect for casual walkers who want a different experience and to enjoy some top-class food and accommodation; the other is an incredible walking experience, with the comfort and safety of guides and huts, but in the wilds of a Tasmanian winter and whatever it decides to dish out.
Or to put it another way, one is perfect for my wife, the other perfect for me.

See you on the track
www.kensbigbackyard.com.au

How outdoor shops are stopping people going outdoors

Outdoor shops stopping people going outdoors

Our capitalistic, narcissistic obsession with "stuff" is making it too expensive and too damn hard to go bush.

An amazing camping experience, without all the latest "essential" gear: North West Island, Queensland.

Back in the Middle Ages, when I was studying at the University of Technology, Sydney, advertising 101 included the basic aim of advertising in a capitalist economy: to sell people stuff they don't need. It's pretty simple really – if people actually need things, they either have them already, or know how and where to get them (and are simply prevented by circumstances such as finances). So advertising's only purpose is to convince people that they actually need more than they currently have, in order that they will buy stuff and keep this strange, environment-destroying economy going. Economic growth is purported to be the ultimate good, and the sign of a "strong" politically adept society, as opposed to a malfunctioning catastrophe that is continuing to plunder resources to create things we don't actually need.
Been to an outdoor/camping shop lately? Seen the extraordinary range of goods on offer? I'm talking about Kathmandu, Mountain Designs, Paddy Pallin, etc, etc. The range is bewildering at best, and the prices, in many cases, extraordinary.
My elder sister (now the high side of 50) received a Duke of Edinburgh award when she was at school. She had a simple, two-pole A-frame hike tent that I was still using 20 years later, a fairly crappy, heavy sleeping bag, and a rough, framed pack. My folks weren't rich, but could afford all of that, and encouraged her to go, despite her tiny size and lack of experience.
Today, I hear of parents not allowing their kids to do the excellent Duke of Edinburgh program, because it simply costs too much. By the time the kids buy all the gear, and pay for the increasingly heinous and compulsory costs for the school to employ an outside company to run the program (in most cases now, it's not considered acceptable for a teacher with great camping/hiking experience to run the course), the cost can be well over $1000. This is just for kids to get out in the bush and go for a walk for a couple of days. I think it is obscene.
My encouragement in my book, Top Walks in NSW, and in fact whenever I get the chance, is to just get out in the bush with a few simple things, and down the track work out if you'd like to upgrade something.

Start simple, and add things as you feel you need them.

If you are not doing something extreme (such as off-track camping in the high country in winter), and take a few simple precautions, you really don't need a lot of "stuff" and you don't need to spend hideous amounts of money, despite what the outdoor shops will tell you. Yes, you need something on your feet. If the track you're planning isn't particularly stony, try your sneakers if you have nothing better. Heck, the old Dunlop Volleys was used to set some of the most classic rock climbs in the Blue Mountains.
Yes, you need a pack to carry stuff in, but I wouldn't recommend spending hundreds of dollars until you know what you want. My wife just bought a $40, 65-litre pack from Aldi for my son. I loaded it up with some heavy weights and took it for a field test . It has pockets in the right places, a rain cover, padded hip straps, and certainly on a three-hour walk was as comfy as my $250 pack. I don't expect it to last as long, or to be as good in all conditions, but heck, maybe that's all you need. And why spend $250 or more on a pack if you use it once every two years?

A $40, 65-litre Aldi backpack. No worries.

You will need a raincoat, but I find little difference between $70 raincoats and $300 raincoats. I get slightly damp (but not wet) in both. You will need something to cook on, and something to sleep in, but you may not need to get the most recent ultra-light, Himalayan standard sleeping bag if you are just going car camping a couple of times a year. In fact, if that's the case you may not even need a bag at all - often a doona and sheets will be more comfortable anyway.
Some of the staff in outdoor stores are incredibly knowledgeable and keen hikers/climbers/canyoners/campers themselves. Their advice can be invaluable. But just don't get sucked in to thinking that you need the latest and greatest thing in order to get out in the bush. You don't.
I'm about to hit the Overland Track mid-winter, during a predicted fierce cold snap, with snow down to 200m. I'll be interested to see how my conglomeration of assorted gear from various previous outdoor sports over the years (skiing, canyoning, hiking etc) stands up to the challenge. The only thing I bought new was $40 gaiters, as I've never previously had the need to buy them, although I did once borrow a friend's pair of gaiters for hiking through spinifex in the Kimberley.

Hope to see you out there sometime.
www.kensbigbackyard.com.au