Next stop on our Top End road trip was Litchfield National Park. We spent a couple of days here mainly swimming and bouldering. One of the most interesting places we visited was the Lost City, a weirdly-shaped assortment of sandstone pillars dotted about the open sandy bushland. This place was a real gem and the… Continue reading Lost City (NT)
Author: Glenn Tempest
Glenn is an accomplished adventure writer and photographer and has authored a number of popular bushwalking and rockclimbing guidebooks. Glenn is the big kahuna at Open Spaces and lives in Natimuk (next to Mt Arapiles and the Grampians) with his partner Karen and two Burmese cats, Sushi and Pinot.
Elsey National Park (NT)
After leaving Devils Marbles, driving north, we spent two nights at Elsey National Park, on the outskirts of Mataranka. This 14,000ha park features the Roper River as well as the famous Mataranka Thermal Pool and Bitter Springs. This park also marks the start of the tropical rainforests, a big change after the long drive through… Continue reading Elsey National Park (NT)
Devils Marbles
Last Wednesday, on our long drive up to Darwin, Karen and I dropped in to the Karlu Karlu (Devils Marbles) Conservation Reserve. It was much more interesting than I expected so we decided to spend the rest of the day (and the following morning) exploring and bouldering in this remarkable area. First impressions upon driving… Continue reading Devils Marbles
Mt Eccles National Park
Karen and I found ourselves at Mt Eccles National Park last weekend. I wanted to include a walk in our forthcoming Daywalks Around Victoria guide that would best represent the amazing volcano country of Victoria’s Western Plains. This really is a special place and it is largely unknown by most Victorians. In a nutshell, around… Continue reading Mt Eccles National Park
Walk 69, 70, 71, 72 & 72 (Cathedral Range)
Yesterday I spent the day walking between The Jawbones and Cathedral Mountain. While the park was closed (due to the Black Saturday fires in 2009) Parks Victoria have done quite a bit of trail maintenance and realigning work. The trails around the Farmyard have been been realigned slightly but are clearly signposted. The trail linking… Continue reading Walk 69, 70, 71, 72 & 72 (Cathedral Range)
Southern Circuit Walk (p146)
Karen and I were down at the Prom last weekend and did part of the Southern Circuit Walk while researching a daywalk for our forthcoming Daywalks Around Victoria. It’s worth noting that during busy periods (such as the Christmas holidays, Easter and school breaks) you can leave your car at Tidal River as Parks Victoria… Continue reading Southern Circuit Walk (p146)
The Fortress
We took advantage of the very last day of daylight saving and got up early and drove over to the Victoria Range in the Grampians National Park. Even though it was Easter I was surprised that at least a dozen cars were parked at Deep Creek, the start of the trail. The walk is one… Continue reading The Fortress
Cape Liptrap Coast Walk (p132)
An early low tide coincided with a fine Sunday so Stuart and Ally joined Karen and I to walk along the coast between Cape Liptrap and Five Mile Track. This is the first day of a two-day walk I wrote up in our Weekend Walks Around Melbourne some years ago and since then there have… Continue reading Cape Liptrap Coast Walk (p132)
Stapylton Circuit Walk
If push came to shove and I was forced to decide which was the most exciting short daywalk in Victoria, I’d have to award that crown to the Hollow Mountain / Mount Stapylton Circuit in the Grampians National Park. Not only does the walk cross one of the most spectacular exposed rock ridges in the… Continue reading Stapylton Circuit Walk
Wild Magazine: An Epic Walk Through the Chewings Range
Those following this blog may have read my short piece on the three week, 250km walk we did across the Chewings Range in the Northern Territory last winter (chewings-range-traverse). The current edition of Wild magazine, March-April 2010, (wild.com.au) includes a six-page feature I wrote on this same trip. The cover image is a shot I… Continue reading Wild Magazine: An Epic Walk Through the Chewings Range