Walking
and hiking are great ways to experience
culture, landscape and local traditions.
Australia's vast distances make walking
not a means of getting from A to B but to
enjoy some side attractions and often the
only means of access to some parts of national
parks, gorges and chasms. Almost all parks
will have nature walks of varying distances
so you can be very active.
WHAT
TO TAKE
As little as possible goes without saying.
Packs somehow seem to weigh more at the
end of the day than the beginning. Try and
stash non-essentials in a place you can
return to at the end of the trip.
FOOD
AND WATER
Check your route before you leave. If clean
water and essential food supplies are not
available on-route then you need to hike
them in. There are enough packet foods around
now that make quick and easy meals. Fruit
is great but it is heavy as are tins. Take
a trail mix for nibbles along the way. This
can be made up of anything (nuts, chocolates,
sweets, dried fruit etc).
ACCOMMODATION
Bring your own tent for the most budget
of walking trips, otherwise investigate
on options along the way – there may
be small villages, refuges or cheap places
to stay. We recommend the Lonely Planet’s
“Walking In…” series available
through www.amazon.co.uk We have a list of other accommodation
that you can book online through our
online engine
INDEPENDENT
WALKERS
If you are planning an independent walking
holiday trip you need to be prepared. Here
are some handy hints and absolute essentials:
- comfortable, well cusioned footwear suitable
for the terrain you will be walking on and
that you have walked in before over some
distance (don't bring new shoes!)
- extra snack food and water (it can be
a long way between towns in some parts,
particularly if you get marooned with an
injury or lost).
- pack light! You can buy extra food as
you go and you really only need basic walking
gear and a change of clothes for evenings
in town.
- maps (detailed for side roads and routes
that you might take)
- itinerary - give someone a copy of your
itinerary and check in with them every few
days so they know you are okay.
- learn a little of the local language for
use in small towns.
- helpful hints - there are lots of people
that have walked through Oceania and a lot
of them have put up details on websites.
Australia Safety Concerns
All national parks have walking tracks.
Take due care when walking in Australia.
Remote areas that are uninhabited surround
national parks and if you wander from tracks
and become lost it can make it hard for
search parties. Generally it is recommended
to:
- have good walking shoes
- take extra water and food
- carry a first aid kit
- carry a mobile phone. Satellite recognises
emergency calls to 002 (check) even with
no signal. However they can not locate your
position so you will need to be able to
explain to them in some detail.
- never leave the track unless you have
a compass and can read maps well
- inform someone where you are going
- never hike alone. It is usually recommended
to hike in numbers of four and above. That
way if someone is injured someone can stay
with the person and two can go for help
so no one is left alone.
- be prepared for all weather, including
cold overnight temperatures, rain and leeches
(salt is a good measure against these).
- 10-15-20-25-30-35-40-45
comfortable high risk temperature
- walking in high temperatures can be dangerous,
always check the temperature before you
start. Remember temperatures on escarpments
raise approximately 10 degrees above those
at river level. Overheating and dehydration
is risky and can lead to heat exhaustion
or heatstroke.
- Drink at least one litre of water per
hour, take sufficient supplies on all your
walks
- wear a broad rimmed hat
- wear sturdy boots
- apply sunscreen
Read our health
and safety page for more information
about the dangers of the Australian bush
and various poisonous animals.
MAPS
A range of maps are available through stores
like www.amazon.co.uk in the Lonely Planet series for example. Take a good map
with you and make sure you know how to read
it.
DESTINATION
Read below for some walking holiday suggestions.
Please email your walking tips, stories
and tales to oceania@backpackglobe.com.
There are many famous walks in New Zealand
and Australia and we've named some of them
here.
Routeburn Track, New Zealand
A 3 day hike from Milford Sound to Queenstown
over a variety of terrain encompassing forests,
rivers, lakes, even crater lakes, mountains
and more.
The
Milford Track, New Zealand
New Zealand's most well known track is this
5 day / 4 night hike. It is also possibly
one of the world's best known trails traversing
the Fiordland National Park.
The Overland Track, Tasmania
Possibly the best known of the Australian
tracks that runs 80km through the Tasmanian
wildnerness to Cradle Mountain and Lake
St Clair.
Stewart Island treks, New Zealand
There are about 250 kilometres of walking
tracks on Stewart Island that range from
10 mins to a fortnight.
Kokoda
Trail, Papua New Guinea
This trail links the southern and northern
coasts of PNG and is a challenge to all
walkers. It has a history in the bitter
fighting between Australian and Japanese
armies during WWII who fought along the
trail. The 96 km Kokoda trail passes through
rugged mountainous country of rainforest,
jungles of fern, orchids, birds and clean
mountain streams which tumble into steep
valleys.
O'Reilly's, Queensland (Australia)
This national park in south east Queensland
has numerous walks. Almost all can be completed
in a day so it is popular with day trippers.
However a lot of people also camp in the
national park or stay in the guesthouse
and do day walks. The artic beeches is one
of the more spectacular and interesting
of the walks. The return trip to Binna Burra
can be done overnight and takes you past
the aircraft wreckage of the Stinson. This
flight came down in the national park and
took a long time to discover, in which time
many of the original survivors had died.
Glasshouse Mountains, Queensland
(Australia)
If you want to do a day trip from Brisbane
or from anywhere along the sunshine coast
north of the capital these series of mountains
are a good option. Almost all of them can
be climbed but the tracks really require
people that have some level of fitness.
Some parts are steep or can be dangerous
in wet weather.
Mt Kosciusko, ACT
(Australia)
This is Australia's highest peak and is
a popular walking destination in summer
when the cooler reaches become alpine with
flowers and green meadows.
Mt Warning, New South Wales
(Australia)
This is a popular day walk in northern New
South Wales. The walk usually takes about
3 hours to the summit and should be attempted
earlier in the day. The track is well maintained
but there are lots of roots and rocks so
take good shoes and you will need some fitness.
Towards the top there is no track but a
chain to help you up the steep rock faces.
At the top there is a small area where people
do sleep at night but it is not officially
allowed. It also gets misty and cold at
the top. Mt Warning is so known because
due to it's position as the highest peak
in the area, electrical storms often play
out overhead and according to Aboriginal
folklore these were the Gods fighting out
their grievances.
Wilpena Pound, South Australia
(Australia)
This national park in South Australia has
some great walks that go into, on top or
around the Pound, a huge crater in the park.
Choose from walks signposted in the park.
Uluru Base Walk, Northern Territory
(Australia)
You can walk the 9 kilometres around the
base of Uluru (Ayers Rock) as an alternative
to climbing the rock. It takes about 2-3
hours to traverse the base and the holes
and unusual rock formations are interesting.
