Takes you places!

General

VALE FRANK HALL

I joined ABW in 1980, but I have no record of when Frank joined – maybe a year or two before that. From the time I joined ABW, Frank was a driving force in the Club. In due course, he was justly awarded Life Membership.

I formed a firm friendship with Frank, particularly as a result of the many walks and trips I shared with him Sadly, a debilitating illness took hold of him, and he saw out his days in a ...

From The Archive: By Train & Truck To The Gammons

We left at approximately 8 o’clock on the Thursday morning, but the train was slow and, of course, late, so that we had practically no time in Pt. Augusta. Fortunately, we now know the eating shops in Quorn, and so we dived for the nearest as the train pulled into the station and made short work of ham and eggs.

On again, reaching Copley at 5 a.m. we stumbled across the station yards in the darkness towards a glimmer of light ...

Long Distance Australian Walks – Those You Know & Those You Don’t!

If you’ve been bitten by the bug for long thru hikes, Australia is a great place to be. However, it doesn’t take too many years before you start running out of practical options. How many long-distance (over 14 day) Australian hiking trails are there?

The six below are the main ones you’ll keep hearing about. With the exception of the AAWT, each of these is within the reach of the average, fit hiker.

TrailDescriptionAustralian Alps Walking Track (650km) 🔗Traverse of remote ...

Bushwalk SA by Bus? Yes, but it’s (mainly) just getting worse!

In part two of our series on walking South Australia by public transport, life member Mike gives some additional detail on bussing to bushwalks, along with few travel-related tales. 

I love it when you can set off and complete linear walks by simply catching a bus or train at either end. You can often do so for interstate walks, most recently for me, Victoria’s Great Dividing Trail (and now with free transport!) and coast-to-coasting Tasmania. Walkers of WA’s two most popular ...

Leave the car at home

“Roads? Where we’re going , we don’t need roads” – Dr. Emmett Brown, Back to the Future

With the likelihood that the fuel crisis will be with us for some time, lets go back to the future and look at alternative transport options.

There are good reasons to leave the car at home. Not just the cost of fuel. Vandalism, theft, fuel syphoning, being environmentally responsible, peace of mind to name a few.

But what is possible and what is practical are two ...

From The Editor | Autumn 2026

Autumn is here, and with it comes a rejuvenated walks calendar. I don’t know about you, but there’s a lot I’m looking forward to. Don’t forget to put some time aside for the mag though; there’s some great stuff inside this issue. First, we have last year’s club trip to the Great South West Walk. It really is an under-valued gem. Not only should everyone do it, but everyone can do it.

Next is the story of a club member’s return ...

IDENTIFYING GUM TREES IN THE ADELAIDE HILLS

Over many years of bushwalking in Australia I have come to appreciate the eucalypts more and more. Instead of seeing just gum trees, that constant dull green background, I have grown aware of the diversity of these trees from the giants of over 100 feet, wide and shady to the dense thickets of mallee, smooth or rough barked, the ever changing varieties of colour of the trunks, the weird shapes that branches can form and of course, that ever-present myrtle ...

Walking in Japan: The Shikoku 88 Pilgrimage Trail

The idea of a walk in Japan had been discussed for many years by Ben McInerny and me. Our occasional research hadn’t turned anything up that we were looking for. The Kumano Kodo and Japanese Alps seemed to provide for walks of about four days length and we were wanting something longer in order to make an overseas trip more worthwhile. Googling turned up endless brief videos and articles by ‘influencers’ who had been paid or supported to do short walks ...

And It Keeps Getting Worse

The Tale of Some Shonky Shoes

Names have been disguised to protect identities.

Shonky: poor, dubious quality, unreliable (Wiktionary)

If ABW has another pre-loved (or hated) gear sale like the one held at the General Meeting in February last year, it could pay you to be there as it just might just be another buyers’ market. But that said, such markets are often a case of ‘buyer beware’and so it was and I wasn’t, so I’ve learned a lesson and now perhaps, ...

Work on The Bill Lindsay Trail

Recently we had a working bee on the Bill Lindsay Trail which will need attention in late Spring every year after the spring  growth. I appeal to all leaders to consider posting a walk for November of each year that includes time to tidy up our trail.

This year the growth was particularly high and here we are admiring our work after slashing the grass to find our trail beneath it. L to R Tim, Iain, Paul, Lorraine. Photos by ...

Mount Jagungal Revisited

Back in December 2015, my son Thomas who was seventeen at the time, and I undertook a four-day loop hike in the Jagungal Wilderness area in the Northern Kosciusko area of NSW. One of our aims was to climb Mount Jagungal, but through some poor planning on my part, we missed that goal. I wrote an article in Tandanya at the time about the trip and you can read that here.

Ten years on and my son is now twenty-seven and I’m ...

The Great South West Walk

I was keen to hike the GSWW because I wanted to experience the freedom of a longer hike. New to pack hiking in 2025, I had previously only completed the Great Ocean Walk and a few weekenders, so the idea of staying in my tent, carrying everything I needed, for two weeks was appealing.

What I hadn’t anticipated was the challenge of constant wet boots.

On our way to Swan Lake Campground via the extensive dune system

Our walk started at Nelson and ...



Walk Leader Forum - Mid Year - Belair National Park, 14 Jun
Second Valley, 20 Jun - 21 Jun
FOUR SEASONS: WINTER WALK @ STURT GORGE, 21 Jun
Women's Pioneer Trail, 24 Jun
Mt Falkland , Northern Flinders Ranges, 3 Jul - 6 Jul
Hiking gear for hire at reasonable rates. Try out gear before you buy your own.
Checklist of equipment, food ideas, water, first aid list, rules, minimal impact bushwalking and what to do if you get lost.
Meetings 7:30pm on the 1st Wednesday of the month, in the hall at the North Adelaide Community Centre.
Joining ABW takes you to new places you may never have heard of, off the beaten track, and to have new experiences.