Adventures in Real Life

Category: Hiking

  • I followed my passion and it didn’t go as planned

    I followed my passion and it didn’t go as planned

    The media is full of inspiring stories of people turning their passions and hobbies into businesses, but is it always the key to happiness?

  • Highs and lows on the Kepler Track, Fiordland NP, New Zealand

    Highs and lows on the Kepler Track, Fiordland NP, New Zealand

    We have a hard time explaining our travel choices to our friends. When we landed in Queenstown, Fiordland National Park was in the middle of an extreme weather event. The Kepler Track had only just reopened after an unseasonal dump of snow the week before. The snow had since melted but heavy rain now fell…

  • On the Thorsborne Trail, Hinchinbrook Island

    On the Thorsborne Trail, Hinchinbrook Island

    If you live in North Queensland, a visit to Hinchinbrook Island is a must. If you are physically able, walking the Thorsborne Trail along the length of this iconic island takes it to the next level. It’s been a long time since I was there, and my efforts to walk the trail again were thwarted…

  • Nanguluwur Art Site, Kakadu NP

    Nanguluwur Art Site, Kakadu NP

    We’d come to the art site via the Barrk Sandstone track, through some of the best Kakadu scenery you can see. I walked around taking in the rock art pieces and their stories. I looked at the hand prints for a few minutes, they were clean and simple, just hands like any others. Except for…

  • King’s Canyon Rim Walk, Watarrka National Park

    King’s Canyon Rim Walk, Watarrka National Park

    There is something about a canyon I find hard to resist. Life clings to little cracks and ledges often defying both physics and biology, and their landscapes hide details that are overwhelmed by the grandeur of everything else. Walking around them is the only way to fully appreciate the meagre along with the mighty. The…

  • The Inca Trail – the start of things

    The Inca Trail – the start of things

    When I was a child, my grandmother was a constant traveller. She would go off to distant lands and have adventures, and when she came home all us grandchildren would sit on the floor while she dispensed trinkets and talked about her trip. Archaeology was a particular interest of hers, and her descriptions of the ruins…

  • Piccaninny Gorge, Purnululu National Park

    Piccaninny Gorge, Purnululu National Park

    A hard day’s slog ends with a just reward.

  • Mt Bartle Frere – Western Ascent

    Mt Bartle Frere – Western Ascent

    This is the trip that first gave me aching knees, so it seems appropriate that it be the first track I discuss here. I’ve been up the mountain three times in all, and each time left me with a lingering physical reminder that I am an all too breakable human.