Australia has some wonderful multiday hiking trips but your choice can be limited if you, or your companion, are scared of heights (Acrophobia) or falling down (Bathmophobia) .
Tasmania, for example, has some fantastic wilderness trips into areas such as the Western Arthurs, Frenchmans Cap and Federation Peak.
The problem with all of these wonderful bushwalking journeys is they involve heights, some serious rock scrambling and steep "drop offs"
But what if you are afraid of heights or don't need to be challenged to within an inch of your life?
Dead Horse Point in Moab, Utah by Ivan Makarov
What more moderate hiking trips are out there that are great fun and challenging enough to leave you satisfied having explored some beautiful country and fantastic scenery?
Where can you hike and not stress yourself too much with your phobia?
We have come up with a short list that meets the following criteria:
- No death defying stunts required to complete the trip
- Relatively mountain / drop off free
- Challenging enough to make you feel a sense of accomplishment
- Multi day with at least 3 nights camping required
- Generally isolated and away from too much infrastructure
The walks, in no particular order, are:
Great South West Walk - Victoria
This multi sectioned walk traverses 250km of diverse environment in South Western Victoria. Dave Tomlinson guest posted on this 14 day (you can do shorter sections) hike for us recently, it is a great read.
Wilsons Promontory Circuit Walk
Beautiful coastal walk that we have done several times but not blogged about yet. It is great for an introduction walk and has excellent facilities and picturesque campsites.
Overland Track - Tasmania
One of the worlds "Great Walks" according to many travel writers. We have enjoyed this walk many times and there are references all over "Our Hiking Blog" including links to our EBook - Hiking the Overland Track
Australian Alps Walking Track
Travels through three Australian States over 650km. Many people do the walk in sections as the total walk usually takes around 2 months. There ARE some hilly (all right, mountainous) sections but these can be avoided if you "section hike". Both Clare and Hannah, our daughters, have walked long sections. Hannah's trip report with Wollangarra can be read here.
Thorsborne Trail - Hinchinbrook Island - Queensland
We loved this trip a couple of years ago as it was totally different to hiking in Tasmania, our usual haunt. Swimming and beach walking were highlights, the sand flies the low light. There are several posts on the blog about walking the Thorsborne Trail.
Bibbulmun Track - Western Australia
This massive, almost 1000km track from Perth to Albany is an iconic Australian walk. There are 48 bushwalker campsites, each with a three-sided timber sleeping shelter, pit toilet, rainwater tank, tent areas and picnic tables. Dave Tomlinson, out interpid guest poster, has completed the whole walk and we will post his story soon.
Great Ocean Walk - Victoria
100 km of spectacular coastal walking along Victorias shipwreck coast. We have walked this a couple of times and really love the western section which is nicely isolated with terrific views. The write up of this trip can be found here.
Now we know this is a very limited list as there must be many walks that meet our "no scary bits" criteria, so leave us a comment with your ideas.
We would love to hear your ideas and so that others can get out into the bush and enjoy themselves, even if they have Acrophobia or Bathmophobia!
1 comment:
Enjoyed you blog.
We have bought books with short hikes or guided walks when we visit a new area.
http://germanedel.blogspot.com/
Thanks. LMC
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