nicolaoutdoors

The Larapinta Trail runs from Alice Springs to Mount Sonder though the West Macdonnell ranges and takes 15-20 days end to end. I wish we had that much time because it was a stunningly beautiful place to be. We walked for five days, starting at Standley Chasm and finishing in the town of Alice Springs. [...]

Last week we spent four days in the Ovens Valley. This is a stunningly beautiful valley dominated by views of Mt. Buffalo and Feathertop. In summer you can canoe or swim in the Ovens river or climb the granite of Mt. Buffalo. The town of Bright is also popular place for paragliding. In winter you [...]

Not that I’d ever refuse a long weekend, but the Queen’s birthday weekend is a little odd. First, I don’t understand why it merits a holiday at all, secondly, it comes at really annoying time – it is cold and wet but not cold and wet enough to snow. Strangely, it is also meant to [...]

Welcome to Hanging Rock Hanging Rock, Victoria is most famous for the 1967 Joan Lindsay book, Picnic at Hanging Rock, which was adapted for film by Peter Weir in 1975. Since the autumn colours were in full display, I thought a trip to Mt. Macedon and a walk up Hanging Rock would make a pretty [...]

Early European explorers must have been a miserable lot. A 10km x 10km square of the Australian Alpine Region contains Mt Despair, Horrible Gap, the Terrible Hollow, the Devils Staircase and Mt Buggery. (Though, perhaps the latter was named for recreation after all the other trials and tribulations.) And, the ‘explorers’ didn’t even have to [...]

It’s springtime and the snow is slurpee. But it’s still better to be in the mountains! //

Location: Queensland coast halfway between Cairns and Townsville. View Map Access – By boat from Cardwell or Lucinda. Description Australia’s largest island National Park. Almost entirely wilderness area. One trail along the east coast and small wilderness/eco lodge at the northern tip. We had an inauspicious start to our trip. The longterm parking at Tullamarine [...]

This weekend was a SNOW weekend. And also my birthday-trip weekend (my birthday is on Monday). We snowshoed overnight packs and snow toys 5km (and 0.5km of elevation) up Mount Stirling on Saturday afternoon. My pack was almost intolerably heavy… but It was gorgeously white and fluffy everywhere we looked :) We set up camp [...]

This weekend is the Queen’s birthday long weekend. It’s also the official start of the ski season for reasons I can’t really fathom since it doesn’t actually start snowing properly until late June or July. Our first thought was to do a two day kayaking trip on the Murray River that we have been planning [...]

I still can’t climb (yes, I’m having physio) and must also rest from repetitive upper arm movements, so no paddling either. We were pretty much down to diving or walking this weekend! For some reason diving didn’t appeal; I feel like I’ve been on and off fighting a cold for the last couple of weeks [...]