Tag: trekking

Photo story: Tahune AirWalk

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Tahune is an Aboriginal word that means ‘peaceful place by running water’.

Tahune AirWalk

Last weekend, while in Tasmania, my friend Mary and I visited the Tahune AirWalk to ‘walk amongst the giants’. This attraction is located in the Tahune Forest Reserve, which is a 90-minute drive south of Hobart. We had a leisurely day and, along with the AirWalk, enjoyed a handful of short forest walks.

The AirWalk Tree Top Walk, which is perched 37 metres high in the canopy, is 0.6 km and takes about 30 minutes, depending on how long you linger to enjoy the views across the top of the forest to the Huon and Picton rivers. From the Visitor Centre it’s a 1.6 km return walk, which takes about 50 minutes. But it can also be combined with the Swinging Bridges Circuit, which is a further 3 km and takes about another hour.

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Photo story: Bryce Canyon

.Reading time 4 minutes.

“Descending into the canyon, I sink into another world. I notice not only incredible geologic gargoyles but also the eclectic plants of Bryce’s innards.” Trail guide, Bryce Canyon Natural History Association

Queen’s Garden walk

Of all the national parks in the US that I visited last year, Bryce Canyon would have to be the strangest. We arrived late afternoon, drove to the highest point of the park, and gazed across a buckled and fractured landscape that was momentarily bathed in a golden light. It was an incredible sight.

There are 14 viewpoints along Bryce Canyon’s 18-mile (29km) scenic drive and we stopped at three of them – Rainbow Point (9115ft/2778m), Black Birch Canyon (8750ft/2667m) and Inspiration Point (8100ft/2469m). It was the perfect time to gaze at the sweeping vistas, with the colours changing subtlety as the sun sank lower in the sky.

Black Birch Canyon
Natural Bridge
Black Birch Canyon
Inspiration Point

 

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Whistler: hiking

.Reading time 11 minutes.

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Whistler Mountain summit

After spending the previous day in Whistler Valley – see last week’s blog – my brother Ross and I decided it was time to go hiking on Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. We caught the Whistler Village Gondola up to the Roundhouse Lodge – a long ride – and enjoyed the incredible views en route.

The first thing we did on the mountain was take a ride on the PEAK to PEAK gondola, which opened in late 2008 and is something of an engineering marvel. This gondola journeys from Whistler Mountain to Blackcomb Mountain and has the world’s longest unsupported span of 3.024km (1.88 miles) between towers two and three. At the midway point, if you’re afraid of heights, don’t look down! This is the highest lift of its kind at 436 metres (1430 feet) above the valley floor. The PEAK to PEAK gondola also completes the longest continuous lift system on the globe.

PEAK to PEAK gondola
PEAK to PEAK gondola
Whistler Village
One of the many chairlifts
PEAK to PEAK gondola

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Whistler: skiing and biking

.Reading time 6 minutes.

“The lake and the mountains have become my landscape, my real world.”  
Georges Simenon

Valley Trail in Whistler

Whistler Village is only a couple of hours drive north of Vancouver in Canada and it’s such a fun place to visit, especially if you love spending time outdoors. The Village is located at the foot of two beautiful mountains – Whistler and Blackcomb – and there are several gondolas and chair-lifts operating throughout the year to take you onto the mountains (with a few less operating during off-peak season).

I’ve been to Whistler in both seasons and have gone skiing, biking and hiking here. In this week’s blog I’ll talk about my skiing and bike riding experiences, while next week I’ll share an amazing hike from Whistler summit.

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Vancouver: Grouse Mountain, Capilano Suspension Bridge and Lynn Canyon

.Reading time 7 minutes.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Henry David Thoreau

Capilano Suspension Bridge

This week I’m continuing my tour of some of my favourite places in Vancouver, but I’m heading away from downtown and across the Lions Gate Bridge to West and North Vancouver. Here you’ll find some great recreation areas including Grouse Mountain, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park and Lynn Canyon Park. 

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Farewell 2013

.Reading time 7 minutes.

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dove Lake, Cradle Mountain, Tasmania

On New Year’s Eve I tend to reflect on the last 12 months (that have flown by way too quickly). Then I make some half-hearted resolutions to welcome the New Year. My main thought last year was to make sure I kept writing this weekly blog, which I managed quite well. The exception was during my overseas travels when I didn’t have easy access to a computer. Clearly, I’m not up to date with the latest technology – and probably never will be – so it’s lucky I’m not a frontline journalist 😉

But I do get a lot of enjoyment from sharing my travel stories, even if it’s only a handful of people who take the time to read them. I love each and every comment; just knowing that my words occasionally move people or inspire them. For me, there is nothing better.

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Yosemite National Park: Panorama Trail

.Reading time 7 minutes.

“It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter.” John Muir

Yosemite National Park

I’ve always wanted to visit California’s Yosemite National Park; famous for its towering granite cliffs, plunging waterfalls and lush meadows. And, as this was also the last point of interest on my US national park tour, I was super keen to do a decent hike.

We arrived in mid-September, about two weeks after a wildfire had ravaged part of the park; smoke was still thick in the air and all the towns leading into the park had huge banners thanking the fire fighters. It was a stark reminder of summers in Australia, where bushfires are always a topic of conversation.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to visit Yosemite under these circumstances but I was happy that we could bring some business to those who had not only suffered because of the bushfires, but were likely to suffer economically when people stayed away longer than necessary after the fires (and this was also just prior to the US Government shutdown that further affected the park – as well as all national parks in the country).

We choose to hike the Panorama Trail because, as the name suggests, this would offer us some of the best views of the park. We weren’t disappointed. It was one of those hikes where I had to keep pinching myself to make sure it was real – I was completely awestruck by the splendour of nature.

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Wilsons Promontory: Tidal River to Squeaky Beach

.Reading time 4 minutes.

“This is my carefree, this is my freedom – this is MY HAPPY.” Coco J.Ginger

Squeaky Beach

A couple of days ago, on the first day of the Australian summer, my brother and I took a Canadian friend on a lightning trip to Wilsons Promontory – so he could see a place that is very close to our hearts before he heads home. So, for this week’s blog, I’ve decided to take a break from US National Parks to share some photographs that I took a bit closer to home.

I think we (my family) must be creatures of habit because whenever we take overseas visitors to The Prom we always do the same two walks. We hike up Mt Oberon for the incredible views across the ocean, the peninsula and offshore islands. And then, if time permits, we hike from Tidal River to Squeaky Beach to get up close and personal to one of Australia’s most beautiful beaches.

But then, I guess, why wouldn’t we, when these places are so amazing?

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The Grand Canyon: Bright Angel Trail

.Reading time 9 minutes.

“You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view as if it were a changeless spectacle from which a curtain might be lifted. To see it you have to toil from month to month through its labyrinths.” John Wesley Powell

There’s a sign-board at the beginning of the Bright Angel Trail, which says: “Grand Canyon hiking differs from almost all other hiking. Here the easy part – downhill – comes first; the tough part – up and out – comes when you are already tired. You are responsible for your own safety. Don’t underestimate the Grand Canyon”.

When we set off, we didn’t have a plan for how far we would descend. But the ease of the walking was tempered by the knowledge that we did in fact have to go back up.

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The Grand Canyon: Rim Trail

.Reading time 3 minutes.

“The glories and the beauties of form, color, and sound unite in the Grand Canyon – forms unrivalled even by the mountains, colors that vie with sunsets, and sounds that span the diapason from tempest to tinkling raindrop, from cataract to bubbling fountain.” John Wesley Powell

The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon has been on my ‘bucket list’ for a long time and, this year, I finally made it. Words can’t describe what it’s like to stand on the crater rim or to walk part of the way down into the canyon, but what I can say is this – the experience surpassed my sky-high expectations. And that is no mean feat.

My first look at the Grand Canyon was from the Desert View Watchtower. It was late afternoon and the light was golden; intensifying the colours of the landscape. The shadows, in all the nooks and crannies of this remarkable chasm, ebbed and flowed, as the sun drifted behind the clouds and back out again. Then, further along the canyon rim, I walked from Mather Point to Yavapai Point – just as the sun was setting.

Have I mentioned that I love any landscape in the late afternoon light? It could be a rolling patch of farmland or a rusty car abandoned in field. There is beauty in everything at this time of the day. But here, an already awe-inspiring view was increased a thousandfold.

The timing of my first view of the Grand Canyon was perfect; a gift from nature!

Here are some photographs, which, like words, don’t do it justice. I think the Grand Canyon is one of those places you just have to visit, to really understand how amazing it is.

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