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 ...

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 ...

“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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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.

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 ...

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.

Our walk started at Nelson and ...

We’ve all walked their trails. They’ve helped us install our water tanks. But who are they?

The WTSG arose out of an initiative of the Royal Geographical Society of SA (RGS) in 1990 to provide good information for tourist regions of the State. Visitors to National Parks if asked what they want to do, will answer “We’ll go for a walk.” But where? What? –- ½ or 1-day walk?

‘Bush Walks’ and ‘Country Walks’ were recognised as an essential component of the ...

In the past year I have been on three ABW walks where leaving faeces behind was not the right thing to do. However, if it wasn’t for Snow Week, the thought would not have even crossed my mind. Yet, despite the unpleasant subject, it’s becoming something that more of us need to consider.

Why? There are probably three environments where it is best to follow ‘Leave No Trace’ principles:

Editor’s note: this article was inspired by a conversation in the pub after an ABW meeting. The observation was made that first aid kits are a source of much worry and self-doubt. So the idea was born: why not ask our medically qualified members what they carry!

Here are the results. The respondents are nurses, a doctor and a vet. Even among these, you will see a fair variation in what is taken. However, there is no doubt that all these ...

This is an extract from Living Off the Land – A Manual of Bushcraft, 1944, updated 1967 by H.A. (Bill) Lindsay, one of ABW’s founders. While some of the methods detailed here are far too destructive for everyday use, they may serve well in an emergency.

When the average civilised man, who knows nothing of the bush, finds himself stranded in scrub country, he is usually under a heavy handicap because he has what can be called ‘the water-tap outlook’. In ...

Katrina “Kat” Jensen passed away peacefully and on her own terms on 24 September 2025, after many years of living with Motor Neurone Disease.

Known to many Adelaide Bushwalkers (ABW) as Kat Vogt, she is fondly remembered for her brilliance, creativity, dark humour, infinite curiosity, and remarkable courage.

Brought up in Hawthorndene, she was educated at Blackwood High School, Flinders University and TAFE.

Her childhood was carefree roaming the local streets & bush lands. Her first degree was teaching (years ...

Eleven Adelaide Bush Walking Club hikers, led by the amazing and well organised Jules, gathered at the Flinders Chase Visitor Centre. Boots were laced and packs loaded, ready to take on the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail — a 66-kilometre journey through one of South Australia’s most beautiful landscapes. 

Before setting off, we met with a park ranger for a briefing that informed us about the campsites and the land we were about to traverse. The ranger spoke of the devastating 2019–2020 ...

Memoirs of a different approach to Edeowie and surrounds, May 2024

Saturday, 25 May 2024

We arrived in the Flinders the night before, settling into Brachina Hut on Edeowie Station. A modest little shelter tucked off a side track about 8 or 9 kms down Brachina Gorge Road. It’s the kind of place that doesn’t ask much of you, and in return, gives you peace, quiet, and a fine base for walking.

Come morning, we packed up and drove ...