Outdoor Magazine

headlong into a wide open future

NOW, PERHAPS more than ever before, the time is ripe to plan a full-bung Australian adventure into the wide blue yonder. Tool up, gather rations, seek intel, and acquire whatever it is you need for the journey ahead from a local regional town on the periphery of your intended adventure and, as the saying goes, just do it. Everyone’s eyes, regardless of who you are or where you live — due in large part to the ridiculous availability of media-engaged devices; phone, screen, tablets even some fridges these days — by now, are well and truly engaged, full to overload, with more information about where we’re at as a global community than ever before. And in the short space I have here, I’d like to talk about community. Communities, by and large,…

scribes in the undergrowth

DAVID CAULDWELL David's most memorable trip to date was a 10-day solo hike in the Isle of Skye, Scotland, an initiation of sorts where his feet aged like fine cheese. He's itching (not from all the midge bites) to soon disappear into the wilds of Patagonia or Canada, where he'd love to sit by a turquoise lake or watch a bear catch fish. CATHERINE LAWSON Journalist, editor, author and adventurer Catherine Lawson travels full-time with photographer-partner David Bristow and their five year old daughter Maya. Captivated by wild places and passionate about their preservation, these two storytellers advocate a simple life and document their outdoor adventures to inspire all travellers, but especially families, into the world's best wild places. MARK DAFFEY After an early career spent sorting through shoeboxes filled with receipts so his tax…

saving our unique landscapes

Black skies, singed koalas. Patches of forest the size of small nations reduced to ash and charcoal. Red, roaring fire fronts. Tearful pleas for help from people who lost their homes, possessions, loved ones. I watched the bushfires unfold from the other side of the planet and, like many Australians abroad, swung between feelings of helplessness and anxiety to frustration and anger. When the fires made the UK news in December, my neighbours checked with me to see if my family and friends were okay. They usually followed their enquiry up with a question: why does the government willingly contribute to the climate conditions that exacerbate fires and destroy what makes Australia unique? The Australian government’s lack of positive climate action is appalling and, quite frankly, embarrassing. Just look at how Australia…

taste-testing

A multi-day trek is a big commitment, demanding a lot of your time and resources. Undertaking one involves painstaking preparation and sacrifice before it has even begun, not only in juggling the zero sum of being well equipped and keeping your pack reasonably weighted, but in conjuring a black hole of free time from a galaxy of commitments. Multi-day treks, with all their deep meaning, welcome suffering, and prolonged glory, will always be my number one, abandon-all-else the moment they’re available, pedestal-residing activity. But, like many people find, most of the time I have to subsist on day walks. To fuel life-sustaining reveries of multi-day treks, I’ve taken to taste-testing them. One which really whet my appetite lately was the 250km Great South West Walk in Victoria. Over the course of a…

into the heart of the matter

Central Australia. The wellspring of Dreamtime and by far the best place on Earth to glimpse the great goanna in the sky. Home to Uluru, an earthly monolith universally recognised as representing the beating heart of Australia. It’s one of our planet’s most powerful and recognisable geographical phenomena; a sacred red rock surrounded by an ocean of land. A place with a 360-degree uninterrupted horizon. Such is the magnanimous feeling of space when out in the centre, it’s nearly impossible to not reach out with both arms and spin within its boundless symmetry. It’s an uncluttered and ancient ecosystem; there’s nowhere else quite like it on Earth. Heading into the centre is a rite of passage for most Australians. In fact, for many, spending significant time in the middle answers a…

where to stay

At the top of the tree, for weary bodies in need of serious recuperation, there’s DoubleTree by Hilton, Alice Springs. • The features available are resort-like, with 18 holes of golf, a 24-hour fitness centre, a couple of tennis courts and the ubiquitous, gloriously landscaped, pool, all bounded by the spectacular MacDonnell ranges, looming a mere stone’s throw away. Where better to bookend a gnarly few days, or weeks, out in the middle of nowhere, subsisting on weighed-to-the-gram pack rations, than such a luxe locale? After weeks spent out bush, opportunistically washing in rain water or sporadic water holes, there’s likely little else you’d plan on doing than revitalising your soul in the sanctuary that is DoubleTree by Hilton, a venue that promises welcoming luxury after satisfying hardship. For more information, go…