I first found reference to this in the Australian Emergency Plus app (a very useful app to have on you phone for emergencies) and saw it used in the UK by the driver of a broken-down car to give his location. 

what3words is an app that has partitioned the earth into 3-metre-square areas and given each square a unique three-word ID. For instance “strike.eggs.sake” is the front door of the ABW meeting hall.

As can be seen from the above, when entering an ID, the ...

Are you interested in hiking the Larapinta? Hopefully after reading you’ll have a better idea if it’s for you, and what preparation you’ll need. Then you might like to take a look at our 17-day itinerary.

This article is designed as a quick summary of the important points. Additional resources include the excellent official trail site and Chapman’s guide to walking the Larapinta Trail. While all effort has been made to ensure accuracy, please do not rely on this information alone.

When ...

Five of us recently walked the entire 223km Larapinta Trail route west to east, including a highly recommended side trip. We took these notes along the way.

Why west to east? To all of us it felt more significant to finish in Alice Springs. That and it was less hassle not having to coordinate with a transport company*. A lot of ink has been spilled about walking east to west so the sun isn’t in your eyes. It wasn’t in ours ...

The creature challenge for readers this month is to identify the moth or butterfly in Ann’s excellent photo from the Gammon Ranges. For the moment, it could be either a butterfly OR moth – see below!

Image by Ann Ward

Butterflies and moths differ in their wings, antennae, body shape, activity patterns, and how they transform from larva to adult. 

Wings  Butterflies: Generally have wings that are folded vertically over their bodies when resting Moths: Generally have wings that are spread flat while resting Colour Butterflies are generally more ...

The following is a brief account of a walk in 1992 round the perimeter ridge of Wilpena Pound completed by Steve Weir and Graham Dingley with Jan Dingley supplying back up support.

Anyone visiting Wilpena Pound can’t help noticing the broken ridge running all the way from Pompey Pillar to St. Mary’s Peak – that’s what makes it the ‘Pound’. It’s such an obvious feature that the idea of walking round the ridge probably jumps to most walker’s minds when they ...

What an epic:

3 days 104km 37.5 hours in boots 6,315m vertical gain (72% of the way up to Everest!)

‘The Aussie 10’ is a hike I’ve been planning for years: to summit the highest 10 peaks in Australia; but the timing to do this has been continuously thwarted. These mountains are all conveniently located within the Kosciusko National Park, NSW. Also though, there are very interesting mountains in vicinity of the Aussie 10 – all about or above 2,100m, so my list of summits to ...

Members will no doubt be saddened by the widespread recent burn in Gariwerd / The Grampians. What started as two fires in late 2024 had by January 2025 merged into an enormous area in the central Grampians.

How Much Is Burnt

The map shows the final extent of the fires. Thanks to heroic efforts of firefighters, there was only minor damage to structures, but the toll on the bush and its wildlife was unavoidable. Special efforts have been made to ...

Whether we know it or not, ABW members owe a large debt to Peter Beer, who passed away in the Royal Adelaide Hospital on Sunday 22/9/2024. On joining in 1959, he and a handful of energetic, young members found a club entering its adolescence after foundation in 1946. It could not have been in safer hands.

Peter was one of those people who put their best into everything they do. He was a frequent and popular walk leader, and intrepid explorer of ...

The following article was written by Peter Beer in 1963. Much of what he wrote then is just as relevant and useful today. The things that have changed are interesting enough that I’ve added them as footnotes below. Ed.

The Pound is a large basin, some ten miles by four miles, drained only by Wilpena Creek, which is permanent near the Chalet[1]. The rock on the summits of the peaks is red quartzite and is underlain by purple slates in the ...

We packed our essentials into duffel bags and a day pack and were transported to Kathmandu airport after breakfast. After a 6 hour wait we were suddenly moving. There was a break in the weather and we needed to go immediately.

The flight to Lukla airport was 45 minutes but felt nothing like it. Upon seeing the welcome sign and airstrip, I felt the realisation of a dream was possible. So much needs to go right still but we are here, ...