What gaiters are good for..

The presence of venomous snakes, boggy tracks and thorny shrub are among the most common reasons why esp. in Australia many people wear gaiters while bush walking. As I learned on my last hike, sand and sun are two more good reasons to use them. 

The unforgiving Australian sun manages to burn your skin even at a cloudy day. If you (as I was) are too credulous to put on sun screen on your legs, you may easily end up like I did (see picture). That is no fun! 

Could have been both avoided wearing gaiters: Sun burn and blister.

Sandy trails and beaches are beautiful terrain but walking them for long distances is a bit of a hardie. Further more, the most extensively worn-in hiking boots and 2 layers of socks won't help avoiding blisters if sand is getting into your shoes. Walking long tracks or even multi-day hikes or even better through river and mud is no fun with big open blisters on your heel.

What do we learn?

Good judgement is a result of experience. Experience is a result of bad judgement.

Royal NP's Coast Track over the weekend

Last weekend we finished the famous walk from Bundeena to Otford. This walk brings you through extremely variable habitats and terrain (beaches, bush, grass land, dry eucalypt forest, grassy woodlands, palm jungle, etc.). The cliffs provide spectacular views. A variety of wildlife can be watched and observed during the walk.

Fantastic formations along the coast of the Tasman Sea.

 We started via Jibbon Beach and the South Head of Port Hacking. That adds about 5 km to the 26 km Coast Track. Unfortunately, we where not able to locate the aboriginal stone engravings in Bundeena. For some reason, the track markings that indicate their position where missing or not readable. And so where the information boards.
The weather was pretty good. It was partly cloudy with a few showers but that wasn't too bad at all. Especially the many ups and downs make you feel warm enough. So a few dribbles and a breeze was always welcome.

The bush provides some shadow but not all the time. Sun protection is essential during this mostly rather exposed walk.

 I was surprised, how much water we used! We carried 6.5 L with us to Bundeena. That was almost used up before we arrived at the camp site. So once more, I was lucky to have my Katadyn Vario filter with me. A bit untrained and carrying about 18 kg, the final approx. 2 km of the (altogether 23 km) we did that day, where a bit hard, but beautuful.
The track conditions between Bundeena and North Era where good and the track was well marked. Only at Wattamolla Beach we first ran in the wrong direction (towards Providential Point) as we found the whole place and its signs a bit confusing.

That's us at Eagle Rock.

Almost there: After almost 23 km in the first day, the camp site at North Era is close.

The camp site at North Era is quite spacious and with toilets. It was a bit dirty (waste from previous visitors) and features two camp-fire places (although open fire there prohibited according to Park and Wildlife Service). A free map for rough orientation can be found here. The park authorities have a free map as well. They both don't provide topographic information. There is more information and recommendations for this walk to my NSW page..

A selection of wildlife encountered during the walk

• Tawny-crowned Honeyeater
• Eastern Spinebill
• New Holland Honeyeater
• Great Cormorant
• Australian Pelican
• White-bellied Sea Eagle
• Whip Bird
• Superb Fairy-wren
• Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
• Swamp Wallaby
• Red Fox
• Rusa deer
• Many unidentified Skinkidae and Agamidae
• amongst many more...

Vegetarian hiking-food recipes - New page launched

A new page was created and the first vegetarian recipe for a nice, and light-weight hiking dinner was released. There are more recipes to follow soon.

Wine to water - recycling wine bladders for water reservoirs

On several web pages I read that empty 4-5 L wine bladders should be just perfect for water storage on hikes. What I can see is that they are extremely small and light weight. The one I've got at hand right now is easy to refill with water, holds 4 L, it's cap holds tight and it has a weight of only 40 g (or less - it is still wet from washing it).  Conventional plastic bladders from the outdoor store can't beat that! What I worry about is its durability and stability. Who has experience? Should it be protected in the bush from spiny plants and acute equipment? Or are these bladders indestructible?

Update (Jan. 27th, 2012): Okay we tested it. Last weekend during our Royal-NP hike, we took a 4 L wine bladder and additionally a 5 L water bladder from the supermarket. We found the latter to exist just a couple of days before the hike. On the robustness side, both types of bladders seem equal to me. Probably they are made the exact same way. The rubber cap that is easily removable but safely holds the content inside the bladder, are similar, too. We put each bladder into a robust plastic bag to give a bit more protection from pointed gear in the rucksack etc. Both could be returned intact. I feel pretty comfortable to take them on long hikes as well. From the taste's point of view, I would recommend to use the water bladder. Even after multiple rinsing, the wine bladder still tasted like wine.

Bush walking information for New South Wales, Australia

Helpful web sites for bush walking and wildlife discoveries in New South Wales, Australia:

• Wild walks offers plenty of walk descriptions and recommendations - a MUST!
• Before you walk in a National Park, get informed about restrictions etc. at: NSW National Parks
• Here one can find out about species lists: BIONET
• A very nice web site about the avifauna of Australia is Birds in Backyard
• PlantNET
• Always be prepared for the weather with first-hand information from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
• NSW Rural Fire Service provides essential information about current bush-fire risks
• Various plant ID guides for free from the NSW Government

Bush walking NSW and Tasmania

This will be the first post on my new blog. At the moment, I am so much excited about hiking. A lot of my time I spend with reading books about walks in the Sydney, Blue Mountains, NSW and Tasmania regions. Of course, I go out into the bush to experience the wild nature. My intention is to make my experience and research about tracks, equipment, trail food etc. publicly available through this blog. And I hope, this blog will thus provoke discussions and help to built a community that shares hiking experiences.