Outdoor Magazine

our castaway correspondents

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. MEGAN HOLBECK Megan is a Sydney-based writer constantly trying to squeeze adventure into her life. Currently her escapes are bite-sized – ocean swimming, camping, sailing, trail running and day walks. When not out and about, she loves to interview professional adventurers and gain a deeper understanding of their pursuits. LAURA WATERS Laura is a nature nomad with a passion for hiking, paddling, scuba diving and anything else in the great outdoors. A…

outdoor magazine

Editorial Editor Aaron Flanagan Deputy Editor Sam Richards Senior Designer Janina Roque Production Manager Danielle Beadman Contributors Ash Gray, Richard Bowles, Bel Smith, Dan Slater, Megan Holbeck, Huw Kingston, Craig N Pearce, David Cauldwell, Laura Waters, Matt Williams, Lachlan Gardiner. Digital Marketing marketing@emprisegroup.com.au Head of Marketing Lauren Grigg - 0436 407 493 lgrigg@emprisegroup.com.au Marketing Coordinator Rebecca Lamplugh rlamplugh@emprisegroup.com.au Marketing Coordinator Craig Gonsalves cgonsalves@emprisegroup.com.au Marketing Coordinator Will Hayward whayward@emprisegroup.com.au Advertising Enquiries sales@emprisegroup.com.au www.emprisegroup.com.au Head of Partnerships VIC/SA Christopher Jefferson - 0477 775 020 cjefferson@emprisegroup.com.au NSW/QLD - Serena Prasad - 0429 489 615 sprasad@emprisegroup.com.au QLD - Heath Parry - 0412 957 475 hparry@emprisegroup.com.au WA - Ian Glyde - 0447 318 114 iglyde@emprisegroup.com.au Private Advertising www.tradervs.com.au/sell07 3340 0000 Customer Service info@emprisegroup.com.au Executive Group Chief Executive Officer Robert Gallagher rgallagher@emprisegroup.com.au Chief Financial Officer Matthew O,Meara momeara@emprisegroup.com.au…

the best technology

THERE’S NOTHING like the birth of a child to focus one’s sense of purpose. Sitting, standing, pacing about, wringing hands together, thinking about a million things at once. This is what I found myself doing in the early hours of Sunday just past. Basically conducting a self-diagnostic review of everything I’d done up until that point in time. It’s just something that seemed to kick in. At the end of it all, I was a father, again, to another beautiful little girl. Both mum and new baby, thankfully, making it through the ordeal relatively unscathed. About 24 hours after this enormous personal experience, I sat down to write the introduction to this first issue for 2020. We decided months ago to focus on outdoor technology as a guiding tenet for this first…

hema’s 2020 ultimate getaway gear

Victoria High Country Pack Tackle the Vic High Country with the High Country Victoria Pack! The pack includes: • High Country Victoria Atlas & Guide (RRP $49.95)• High Country Victoria Map (RRP $14.95)• Victoria State Map (RRP $12.95) Adventure Pack Experience the breadth of Australia's wide open spaces with this Adventure pack. The Pack Includes: • HX-1 Navigator (RRP $699)• HX-1 Sun Visor (RRP $39.95)• 4WD Adventures (RRP $69.95) Australia Large Map A folded map of Australia that is ideal as a reference and trip planning tool, with the country’s major road networks featured along with Outback fuel, distances and major national parks marked on the map. On the reverse are CBD and through road maps of Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Camps 10 Spiral Bound (A4) Camps 10 is the de›initive guide to low-cost camping across…

breathable gear? no sweat

One hand held an iron while the other hand smoothed my waterproof jacket over the ironing board. I hesitated. Not gonna lie – ironing is not my strong suit. I’ve ruined many a shirt in my time. And, before me on the ironing board, sat an expensive piece of gear which, like most outdoor clothes, is synthetic. But I’m doing this on the recommendation of my jacket’s manufacturer, following on from a wet weather walk that left me damp. It got me thinking – why am I even doing this? Let’s explore the science of outdoor gear for a second. My main walking jacket, like many, is made of Gore-Tex fabric. What makes it suitable for wet weather is a thin layer of Teflon. That’s right – the slippery, non-stick coating that…

biting commentary

Recently I’ve seen two snakes, two weekends in a row. They weren’t the same snakes both times. We didn’t befriend a neighbourhood snake couple. I’m talking about four snakes. We were at Greens Bush on the 26km Two Bays Hike, Mornington Peninsula. A 160cm tiger snake was lying stationary across the path. We didn’t see it until it moved, when we stepped within 50cm of it. We saw the second, smaller specimen soon after, when it slithered through dry reeds. Despite our alertness, we’d walked right past it. The following weekend, we hiked a bit of the Gippsland Rail Trail. Here, we spotted two devious browns of about 70cm, slithering next to each other, 10 metres away from us. Seeing snakes gets you thinking, what if someone gets bitten? I’ll definitely be taking…