Here’s sneak peek of the cover for this year’s Great Walks Annual.
The theme of the issue is ‘Action Stations’ and it’s all about exploring many of our classic multi-day walks such as the Heysen Trail in South Australia.
Our writer Julia Patten talks about her strong connection to this walk: “Through many years hiking this region, I have felt a connection to this land, offering me an eternal gratitude for the custodians who have preserved this landscape for tens of thousands of years. Isolation and a sky full of stars is almost guaranteed, as are days of more yellow-footed rock wallabies than human encounters.”
But she gives a word of warning that this long-distance walk is challenging: “Thanks to Friends of The Heysen volunteers, trail maintenance and monitored water tanks have been incorporated. This offers a degree of reassurance in a rugged wilderness that has been known to shock even hardened hikers, perhaps those expecting a Bibbulman-style experience, of a large shelter every 15-20km. This my friends, is not that.”
We also look at the family-friendly Wild South Coast Way that is a small part of the southern coastal section of the Heysen. Our writer took his kids and within a day or two he had worked out the best way to keep the kids going.
“The kids become instantly energetic once we settle in, running and climbing around the campsite, a pattern that repeats each evening. We go to sleep with nightfall, my son dropping off instantly while my daughter and I lie awake, listening to a small creature chewing on something nearby.”
Other walks featured in the Annual are The Pilot and Cobberas on the Vic-NSW border, Pantoneys Crown at Gardens of Stone NP in NSW and Samoa’s Robert Louis Stevenson Trail.
We also head to the Snowy Mountains to discover some classic alpine huts and then over to Japan to walk the Kunisaki Spiritual Trail.
The good news is you can win this Japan walk for two people in our latest competition, thanks to Life’s An Adventure!