NATURAL ENCOUNTERS

Queensland's Bushwalking Ambassadors

Get started on your search for your favourite Queensland walk by following some of the personal recommendations from our Bushwalking Ambassadors - Carl Roe, John and Lyn Daly and Kym Dungey and Jane Whytlaw - who have kindly offered to share their experiences and discoveries made during their many walks through Queensland's national parks and state forests.

Carl Roe - Editor of the Adventure Gear Guide

For most people, anticipation is always part of the excitement of getting involved in a new activity or visiting somewhere different. Carl Roe agrees but he says preparation is also essential, especially if bushwalking is that activity.

Carl is editor of the Adventure Gear Guide and is also a freelance adventure writer, product reviewer and photographer. "I do lots of product reviews for different magazines and write articles about walking and outdoor activities.

Carl lived in Canada for a while and during that time participated in many bushwalking experiences and has extensive walking experience including walking 4,300 km from Canada to Mexico. "Bushwalking helps you get away from society, from people. It's inexpensive compared to other forms of travel."

Carl has firm ideas on what sets Queensland apart from other bushwalking destinations. "It is different to say Tasmania because in Queensland it is nice and warm and you don't have to worry about climatic conditions as much.

"In the Tropics the flora is lush, and there are different types of terrain. Animal species are wide and varied including cassowaries and the odd crocodile. Queensland is a state which is rich in wildlife and you will see things while you are out walking."

The Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook tops Carl's favourite extended walk especially for its scenery that he says is world class.

Daves Creek Circuit from Binna Burra in Lamington National Park is Carl's nomination for an easy yet interesting 12km circuit.

Carl cannot stress enough the importance of pre-planning for any bushwalking outing and that starts with having the right gear. "It is all about buying the right equipment in the first place because the decisions you make in the shop are going to effect you later especially comfort. Things like boots and overnight rucksacks, these have a huge bearing on how you enjoy the walk.

The next thing is planning. I have bushwalked across 7 countries of Europe and across the US and I have never had any emergency situations, never run out of food, never had a first aid situation.

It is all about good planning and sound judgment along the way.

Carl Roe is the editor of the Adventure Gear Guide, which provides gear facts and advice for Australian bushwalkers, campers, mountain bikers, paddlers, adventure racers and four wheel drivers.

John and Lyn Daly - Australian Bushwalking Experts

Ten years ago, Brisbane couple, John and Lyn Daly switched off a computer network that serviced more than 1000 customers across Australia to turn on to the network of walking trails throughout Queensland and Australia.

"Our predominant occupation now is writing bushwalking books. We also work as freelance writers and regularly contribute to travel and outdoor magazines. We have just updated the Queensland chapter of Walking in Australia for the Lonely Planet and have written a new WildGUIDE - Classic Walks of South-east Queensland - for the 100th edition of Wild Magazine."

Bushwalking has always been an important part of John and Lyn's life even when the children were growing up. "Some of the benefits of bushwalking to us means; no phones, no stress, no hassles, an opportunity to recharge your batteries, get fit, get healthy and maintain our fitness. You also get to meet like-minded people."

"As much as we travel, it is always great to get back to Queensland and probably the most enjoyable parts are the tropical and sub-tropical rainforests. Places like Lamington National Park are really tough to beat. We have walked fairly extensively throughout Australia and overseas and Lamington is the pick."

"Then the islands including Fraser, Moreton and Hinchinbrook. A lot of people forget about Moreton, it is just a magnificent place as well, it doesn't have as many lakes as Fraser but it is a beautiful place and Hinchinbrook, well, we have done the walk up there three times.

"People always ask us what our favourite extended walk is and I always reply the one we have just done or the one we are doing at the time and we have just done the Sunshine Coast Great walk. It a wonderful trail and so accessible."

"Our favourite day walk is Daves Creek on the Binna Burra side of Lamington. It is only a 12km walk and it is the most botanically diverse walk in the whole park. We also love the Coomera Circuit and on the O'Reilly's side, the Tooloona Creek walk is outstanding."

From computer problems to enjoying the best walks in the land - now that's got to be a healthy life change.

For more information on John and Lyn Daly and their bushwalking guidebooks, go to www.takeawalk.com.au.

Kym Dungey and Jane Whytlaw - Tropical North Qld Bushwalking Experts

Though Kym Dungey and Jane Whytlaw nominate the feeling of solitude as a major personal benefit they receive from bushwalking that does not preclude them from sharing information on their favourite treks and shorter bushwalks.

Indeed, a local group heard that the pair had completed most of the walks in Tropical North Queensland and asked them to put together a sheet of bushwalks. "It just grew from there," Kym explains. "We did the sheet and then it turned into a book."

Now five years later, they have published five guidebooks listing more than 200 walks. This has been achieved by pursuing their love of bushwalking around working commitments. Kym works in satellite remote sensing and plots fire scars for the Cape York Peninsula Development Association and also tutors in Environmental Remote Sensing at the James Cook University. Jane, a journalist, runs the publishing side of Footloose Publications.

"We both feel very strongly about being part of nature and not just being someone who observes it. Both of us were brought up in the bush so it has been there for us all our lives."

Kym listed the following natural highlights of bushwalking in Queensland:

"The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area is up there because of its diversity of fauna and flora. Part of the great attraction of the Wet Tropics is the geology. Our coastal mountain range, the Hodgkinson Formation is an ancient seabed that was uplifted, then cut by volcanic action. So we really have a variety of geological phenomena here. There are many magnificent waterfalls that cascade over basalt flows, massive granite plutons and ancient volcanoes.

Though that is interesting in itself, you can get more out of it if you dig a little bit more deeply, and don't just think about it as a path through the bush, but why, how, when and where. Then go back and research it a bit and it starts to get more and more interesting. You can actually find interesting walks just by looking for interesting geology."

"Vegetation in the Wet Tropics is the main attraction. Because the rainforest is so dense you only stumble on fauna occasionally. You hear a lot of birds, but you see very few of them. We have only seen two cassowaries during the time we have been walking, but you hear them booming in the forest nearby. Really, the flora is the main thing and the fauna is an added bonus."

Kym says naming a favourite extended track or multi day trek does turn-up its own problems because there are so many options. "Well the only reason I wouldn't say Hinchinbrook, which is absolutely sensational, is everyone would say that. Jane and I have talked about this and have decided on the walk to Cedar Bay, south of Cooktown. Access to this walk is in from the small village of Rossville just south of Black Mountain National Park.

"This is an exhilarating walk. It traverses wild country and involves creek crossings and clambering up mountain sides."

Kym says choosing a favourite easy walk in Queensland is just as difficult. "There are heaps of easy walks in the Tropics. There are more easy walks than long hard ones. We have settled on one right here in Kuranda where Jane and I live."

"The walk passes through regenerating forest, old rainforest, then follows the Barron River as it circuits the town. Jane and I walk it regularly when we are home. It's a nice easy 4.5km walk. Access is from a number of points around the town including our historic railway station.

"Our funniest experience in regard to bushwalking is the fact that when we started compiling a few notes on bushwalking we had no idea that the project would grow to the point that bushwalking and writing books has consumed more than the last five years of our lives."

Perhaps the joke is on all the people in the world who could find the time to do something similar for the environment, but, unlike Kym and Jane, convince themselves that they are far too busy to try.

For more information on Kym and Jane and their bushwalking guidebooks, go to www.footloosebooks.com.au