For me, it's South Australia. While I'll be sharing my experiences here in SA with you, really I'm hoping to encourage you all to appreciate what you have on your doorstep, wherever it is you live.

There can be few things more disruptive on a bushwalk than the rallying cries of an apparently anxious leader at some ungodly hour of the morning. Why some of them persist with this morning ritual is a mystery because, aside from being just plain irritating, it rarely seems to achieve the desired outcome. And let’s face it, if the countdown stated at 60 minutes, some of us still wouldn’t be ready to leave on time! The worse example that comes to mind happened on a club walk a few years ago.

Weetootla Gorge is located on the Eastern side of the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park (V-GRNP). It is one of very few places, perhaps the only place, in the ranges where water flows more or less permanently and over some distance.

With lengthening nights the autumn skies will be on display before the weary walker hits the sleeping bags. This year a lot of the planetary action moves to the mornings, but Jupiter and Saturn will be on display for good evening viewing. The Moon covers the bright star Regulus in the early evening.

A how-to guide to use the NatureMaps website to make your own topographic maps, including marking your own routes, trails and campsites. Martin discusses how to optimise the map to print with contour lines and grids, a valuable walk planning tool.

Our annual photograph competition and Christmas social meeting was held this week, and we had a great selection of photos from members.

I have just returned from my first trip to South America where I did three walks: The Inca Trail in Peru, the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine in Chile and the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares in Argentina.

‘The Powderpuff!’ That was the name I gave to Mt Andre a few years ago after a club member advised me to avoid camping near its summit because of the all-invasive powdery soil that he apparently experienced there. Not long after, I first got to see the peak while looking east across Narrina Pound from Mt Tilley and its gentle skyline profile seemed to support the rebranding. Unfortunately, I overlooked the cliff along its northern side and this was to later make me pay for my insolence.

As part of the Club’s 50th Anniversary, I published The Bushwalker’s Cookbook, and in the Spring 2002 edition of Tandanya, a substantial amount of the book was re-published. Now, 14 years later, and so many new members in the Club, it is worth publishing parts of it again, so following are some extracts from the book, plus a few personal comments thrown in for good measure.

After much talking and planning the first two water tanks of the Warren Bonython Memorial Water Tanks Project have been installed. The first was placed at Mainwater Well in the Gammon Ranges and the second at Yudnamutana mine site on Mt Freeling Station.

This report describes my eight day walk in the Sequoia National Park, California as well as how to get there as a solo traveller. The attraction of the park is that it is the home of the giant Sequoias trees which I have wanted to see for a long time, has a wide variety of walking trails that connect with long distance walking trails like the Pacific Crest Trail, John Muir Trail and the High Sierra Trail and is easily accessible from Los Angeles or San Francisco.

There is a familiar saying ‘if something can go wrong, eventually it will go wrong’. As Mark has said in his water tanks article in this edition I went with him last October to the Northern Flinders so that some final additions could be made to the two water tanks that he and other ABW members had installed there a bit earlier in the year.

I decided to put pen to paper to capture scenes and memories from some of the best bushwalks I have ever done in Australia. Without doubt, doing these sketches has given me an immense amount of pleasure, and I hope readers of this magazine enjoy them too, particularly those who know these places.

My wife and I recently had the good fortune to visit Japan and South Korea for a total of seven weeks and while in the latter country, I took the opportunity to go for a walk or two.

The recreational activity of bushwalking sees people walking into remote wilderness areas. This is done for exercise, the experience of ‘getting away from it all’ and other reasons.

The idea of trekking in the Sumatran jungle and visiting Lake Toba had been on my ‘bucket list’ for years. I had found very little information on the internet, it seemed few people trekked there for any more than three days. In the end I opted for a commercial trek with Expedition Jungle who offered a seven day trek across the Gunung Leuser National Park from Semadam in Aceh to Bukit Lawang in North Sumatra. Eight ABW club members joined up.

The following is the text of a letter to the Committee from Life Member, John Bartlett recommending Mark Proctor for Honorary Life Membership.

During May of 2016, eight walkers from ABW walked the Fraser Island Great Walk. The walkers were Alex Donald, Alex Potoczky, Bernie Koszegi, Nino Fioretti, Trevor May, Colin Kinnaird, Lorraine Thomas and me.

Spring nights are getting shorter and warmer, so you are more likely to want to stay up to view the delightful spring sky. You will still need to warm clothing when you walk away from the campfire to catch our spring gems, but they are worth it. This spring starts with all five bright planets lined up in the evening sky although Jupiter and Mercury are soon lost to view. There is lots of good planetary viewing for most of spring. For the early risers, there is a penumbral eclipse of the Moon mid-September.

John reflects on Warren Bonython's contributions to South Australia, and his connection to Adelaide Bushwalkers.