Travel with Conversation Co
Travel Corner #1 – Just the Lift I Needed with Kate Berg, Engagement Support
If you’re anything like me, you’ve come out of lockdown still in hermit mode. Recently my partner Jamie and I have made the decision to start living life and making up for the time we have spent in hibernation.
Up until last Sunday, I had never even seen or touched snow. Many of my friends had grown up going and I thought I must have been living under a rock! But in reality, one in five Australians have never seen or experienced snow.
So if you’re the one in five, here are some things to consider:BudgetsWe had a rough estimate in mind when planning our day trip, but this quickly went out the window when we reached the website for Mt Buller. That is when it all started making sense to me; when it is just my partner and I, we can justify the little add-on expenses, but coming from a family of six kids, I can understand why it just wasn’t on the agenda for a family holiday! Tip: Assume the holiday will cost more than expected.
AccommodationWe are very spur of the moment holidayers. Looking for accommodation near Mt Buller (particularly in their busiest season) is near impossible if left to the last minute. We had a look on Google Maps, following the route and backtracking (highly recommend searching for accommodation this way). I can genuinely say we were searching for hours, and thankfully it paid off in the end! Tip: If you’re a last-minute planner, try searching for accommodation in towns further away.
The coldSurprisingly, the snow wasn’t as cold as I thought! But as soon as you stop exercising, be prepared. We only hired the necessities - so there we were, each in a shirt and jacket, Jamie still rocking his jeans, on the top of a snowy mountain. When you consider all of the little spills, and that we gave up on staying dry early on, you realise the importance of waterproof clothes, or even a change of clothes for the car.
We were the change of clothes people… Tip: Bring appropriate clothing! If not during the trip, at least for the car.
Have fun and learn!It is going to be scary! We thought it was going to be like riding a skateboard, but sometimes your instinct is to jump off the board to save yourself. Well… That’s not an option here.
It can be frustrating when you have to be bad at something before you improve, but keep at it. By the end of the day Jamie was zipping down the mountain, not a care in the world. I was still figuring it out, but on the last run, I only fell over twice - a massive achievement! If it’s your first time in the snow, you might feel you’re going too fast, but have a look around and you’ll notice just how many people pass you! Although it felt as if I fell a million times, and even with all the bruises in the world I had a wonderful time and can’t wait to get back at it! Tip: Consider taking a lesson first!
Travel Corner #2 – Walking the Larapinta Trail with Alice Coulson, Engagement Lead
From the top of the summit, the ragged seams of rocky mountain ranges formed millenia ago stretched out in front of me. And to the sides. And, if I swirled around carefully with my hiking poles, they were behind me too. Looking out over this spectacular view was especially poignant, because I’d just climbed 8 kilometres to the top to watch dawn break over the landscape. I was on the top of Rwetyepme (Mount Sonder), the Northern Territory’s fourth highest peak, having somehow convinced myself to go on a 128km trek along the Larapinta Trail with a group of 9 feisty women I had never met from my walking club.
8 nervous kilometres up a mountain in the predawn darkness sounds like a lot. 128 sweaty kilometres along a mountain range sounds like a lot more. And yet my journey was even further, because just two years prior, I’d broken my fibula clean through, and even touching the ball of my foot to the carpet was agony. After the initial weeks of pain settled, and the months of rehab and crutches and irritation wore on, I decided I needed to set myself what felt at the time like a seemingly unachievable goal, and book the trip. Even walking a few metres seemed unachievable, so really, what was a few more thousand?
Larapinta was gorgeous. A landscape appearing at once to be dry and sparse, which over 9 days closer inspection, became apparent was full of life, blooms, colour and history. Constructed by prison labourers in 1989, and only recently opening in its full length in 2002, the trail runs 233 kilometres across the ridgelines of the West MacDonnell Ranges, passing through various lands long cared for by four different Indigenous peoples. Having permission from Traditional Custodians to walk this special place was something we reflected on often, and didn’t take lightly.
It was a living rockscape that we couldn’t stop admiring, even despite the relentless uphill and downhill grind over 9 days, the blisters taped over and over with multitudes of varicoloured bandaids and tape, and the daily ponderings each of us no doubt had on why we had willingly chosen hiking as a hobby. The nightmare stacks of shifting, wobbling, slippery shale and quartzite; rocks upon rocks upon rocks.
I was the youngest by far, and this group of incredibly tough women who were determined to keep walking over multitudes of rock types, buoyed each other up through shared adventure and tiredness. One foot in front of the other, at times unsure why we had thrown ourselves into this scenario, only to be reminded why when we reached the end of each day and reflected back on how far we had walked. Reaching the Finke River each afternoon, the oldest river in the world, to plunge into the icy water and rinse off the day’s dust and struggles.
What a privilege to walk this trail and to partake in this experience. And yes, you guessed it, I’m now planning my next journey. Putting one foot in front of the other, who knows where it will take us!
Travel Corner #3 – Organ Pipes National Park with Kate Wilby, Engagement Lead
I really enjoy getting out for a walk but even more so as the sun begins to shine again. Walking gives me the opportunity to unwind and clear my head, I usually put on headphones and listen to music or a podcast. I have always enjoyed walking, with fond memories of walking to kindergarten, school and going for walks with my grandma to run errands when I stayed with her.
A place that I like to walk around is Organ Pipes National Park, it’s a short drive from my home and has so much to offer. It makes a great change from walking around the streets in my local area. Organ Pipes National Park is the closest national park to Melbourne, located at the eastern-most edge of one of the world’s largest ancient volcanic lave flows. The basalt columns that resemble organ pipes were formed millions of years ago.
Top things I love about walking:
The feeling after a long walk – refreshed, energised and motivated
Walking with someone – lovely to chat
Listening to music or catching up on a podcast
Getting out in nature
