Table of contents for Issue 179, Autumn 2021 in Wild

Public parks, Not private play grounds “Areas like Mt Stirling are attractive because they are undeveloped. Wilderness is of incalculable intrinsic value, even if not all of us realise it yet. This is the message we have a duty to espouse no matter how unpalatable it may be to some initially. … Wilderness is not a commodity that can be packaged, marketed and sold without the loss of wilderness itself …” Chris Baxter, editor of Wild from 1981 to 2001, writing about proposals to develop Victoria’s Mt Stirling in Wild Issue #54, 1994. If you haven’t read Part One, please do so. It’s available at wild.com.au/conservation/luxury-lodges-means-wilderness-lost. Understanding much of the following content, as well as knowing the scale of the problem, is dependent on reading the first instalment. In Part…

When it comes to forests in Tasmania (where I live), society is polarised; you are said to be either a greenie or a bogan. But really, there are a lot of people in the middle. They’re the people I want to communicate with, because they can be won over. That said, it’s not always easy—in an initial conversation about forests—to convey complexity and nuance, so that’s why my wife, Dr Jen Sanger (who has a PhD in forest ecology), and I decided to launch what we call ‘The Tree Projects’. The simple experience of seeing a complete view of a giant tree for the first time can be profound. For the viewer, it can foster a new appreciation for trees; for us, it creates an opportunity to educate people—especially those…

In a sense, it was the Ngatjis’ journeys that guided me, showed me where I should head. They created this land, breathed stories into it. And now the features they birthed—the mountains, the rocks, the gorge-incised recesses—opened their arms to me. I was beckoned to prowlike ridges, cradled down braids of red gum-wreathed creeks. Incendiary dawns and dusks partitioned days from nights. The days blue-blinding; the nights fields of glitter. It was not, however, otherworldly. The cinematic, time-lording power was unadulterated planet Earth in one of its most amplified states. I was in Mutawintji, a national park deep in the semi-arid zone of NSW’s Far West. Bordering Australia’s ‘red centre’, and resplendent with its ochre glow, the reserve is an ecological oasis, a geological wonder, and a heartland for its…

ACT MONT 18 Pirie St, Fyshwick P: 02 6162 1661 NT LONE DINGO 64 Todd Mall, Alice Springs P: 08 8953 3866 lonedingo.com.au NSW OUTDOORS AND BEYOND 207 Princes Hwy, South Nowra P: 02 4421 4388 QLD K2 BASE CAMP 140 Wickham St, Fortitude Valley P: 07 3854 1340 k2.com.au WILDFIRE SPORTS Unit 1, 49 Douglas St, Milton P: 1300 573 247 TAS ALLGOODS 71-79 York St, Launceston P: 03 6331 3644 allgoods.com.au ALLGOODS 168 Liverpool St, Hobart P: 03 6236 9969 allgoods.com.au ALLGOODS 6 Formby Rd, Devonport P: 03 6424 7099 allgoods.com.au FIND YOUR FEET 107 Elizabeth St, Hobart P: 0466 906 167 findyourfeet.com.au FIND YOUR FEET 23 Kingsway, Launceston P: 0416 846 967 findyourfeet.com.au WILD ISLAND 107 Shop 8, 33 Slamanca Pl, Hobart P: 03 6224 0220 wildislandtas.com.au…

In 2003, US brand Jetboil burst onto the stove scene with their revolutionary Personal Cooking System (PCS). Even though the original design—featuring a heat exchanger, insulated one-person cup and integrated burner head—was a huge success and spawned many variations, it seemed inevitable the company would eventually diverge into other stove types. Their initial foray into the more common standalone burner head was the 95g MightyMo, and then in February 2021, their latest unit, a mash-up of the two, arrived in Aussie stores. The 200g Stash is Jetboil’s latest attempt to pack a versatile stove into the smallest setup possible. On paper, they’ve succeeded. The Stash is a non-integrated, screw-in gas canister stove that, unlike the MightyMo, comes with its own 800ml pot (with 250/500/750ml gradations). That’s generally enough for one…

“Eight people camping in one tree, five of whom had never climbed a giant before. We’d been working towards this moment for weeks with our crew at the Hobart Recreational Tree Climbing Club. A club of regular people who decided to have a go at tree climbing and never looked back…or down. We didn’t finish setting up until well after dark. I was too lazy to go back to the ground for dinner or water, so I just curled up in my portaledge and called it a day. But as the first currawongs called in the darkness of predawn, their subtle calls rallied me. In the beautiful, rose-coloured glow of sunlight reflecting from under the clouds, I climbed way out on a small limb to look back at the team…

A selection of environmental news briefs from around the country “SST told media [access was denied] because the Bob Brown Foundation has a history of ‘hindering’ native forest logging.” This year, 2021, is the third year of the Bob Brown Foundation’s takayna Trail, a 51km ultramarathon held in North West Tasmania’s magnificent-but-threatened takayna/Tarkine area. It is a major event for the region, bringing runners from around Australia to run through some of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. This year, however, its future was in doubt. Months of planning had already gone into the 2021 event when organisers were told by the Tasmanian Government’s dubiously-titled forestry agency, ‘Sustainable Timbers Tasmania’ (STT)—one of the ‘managers’ of land through which the event would pass—that they wouldn’t issue a permit for the…

In December 2020, Bushwalking NSW Inc (the peak body for NSW and ACT bushwalking clubs) wrote to the NSW Government with a proposal1: ‘1,000 Kilometres of New Tracks in Ten Years.’ The goal? Significantly enhancing and nurturing NSW’s long-distance track network, and to better maintain existing long-distance tracks, especially those—like the Barrington Tops to Myall Lakes track—that have become overgrown and inaccessible. Why is the investment needed? Firstly, we seemingly lack ambition to develop new routes or tracks, particularly in more remote country. Where new tracks are proposed or planned, they’re often couched in terms of guided walks offering comforts like built accommodation and well-marked, formed tracks. There’s certainly a market for this type of walk, but it’s not the whole story. Few seem to be championing long-distance tracks or…

Ryan For a while now, I’ve been contemplating how to propose to my adventure buddy and partner, Martine. Or, as she puts it, “Martini with an e”. (I just call her Teen—much less confusing.) But let me tell you, this proposal business is hard work. If you’ve ever Googled “Ideas for romantic proposals,” you’ll know exactly what I mean. Being an #AdventureCouple (I’m being ironic, BTW) basically means that all the standard modes of proposal will most definitely not cut it. Enter Google suggestion Number One: “Propose at a famous location”. What? Surrounded by hundreds or thousands of other tourists?! No thanks! Suggestion Number Two: “Stroll down the beach at sunset”. C’mon now, ‘strolling’ isn’t normally in our nature. Beside, I couldn’t tell you the last time we went to…

Located on the Tasman Peninsula, the renowned Three Capes Track offers access to world-class scenery. Towering sea cliffs, Australia’s highest, plunge 300m into an ocean teeming with wildlife; pods of dolphins cruise the rocky capes, eagles ride uplifts along the cliffs. The peninsula’s forests and ecosystems are equally unique. Pockets of rainforest with myrtle beech and sassafras grow just metres from cliff edges, and coastal heath in spring and summer is brilliant with colourful flowers. Despite its wild and heroic scenery, however, the track at times feels like a manufactured experience, and an expensive one at that. The official Three Capes Track is 46km, built by Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) at a cost of $25 million. While there is no doubting the quality and good spirit that went…

If you’ve been following the world of elite competitive running over the last year or two, you’d be aware of the huge strides (pun intended) that have been made in athletic footwear. As records all the way from the marathon down to the 5K have been shattered, attention has turned to the carbon fibre plate technology that’s been incorporated into the shoes worn by the athletes involved. Until recently, those carbon fibre plated shoes were restricted to road runners and track athletes. But The North Face has just introduced its VECTIV line of trail-focused footwear, the first company to incorporate the technology into trail shoes. And the records have begun to tumble, even here in Australia. Wearing the Flight VEC-TIV, three TNF athletes—David Byrne, Blake Hose, and Victoria Beck—went to…

There’s a divide between runners, especially trail runners, about whether to wear earphones. I usually sit on the no side: I love hearing birds, glimpsing wallabies after hearing them rustle in the bushes, feeling connected to nature. But I’ve been training for an ultramarathon for more than a year, off and on, as the UTA 50 has been postponed twice due to COVID. There’s been a lot of solo running and I’m desperate for ways to stay motivated and entertained. Enter EarSHOTS. A few years back, Kiwi James Bell-Booth was training for a mountain bike race and grew sick of his headphones shifting or falling off. He began developing EarSHOTS, paying particular attention to keeping them in place with the magnetic ear clips. He released them in 2020, and they…

I have a cricket in my bedroom. I can never see it during the day, but in the black, wee hours, it bursts into sporadic song, reminding me that—even as I lay in the dark—I no longer live in the city. For most of the last two decades of my life I have though—lived in the city, that is. Right in the very centre of Sydney, less than 200m from Kings Cross’s famous Coke sign, surrounded by apartment towers, cafes, bars, and strip clubs. I loved it. Really loved it. I wouldn’t have lived there so long if I didn’t. Of course, I tempered that existence; as a professional adventure writer and photographer, I got to escape often. Three years ago, however, my wife and I chucked our city life…

Windswept, deserted and just far enough from Darwin to be considered remote, Bare Sand Island is an idyllic sweep of reef and sand on the edge of the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf. The Kenbi clan—who won native title four years ago after the longest running Aboriginal land claim in Australian history—call it Ngulbitjik, and it’s known around Darwin as the home of flatback turtles. A three-legged estuarine crocodile named Graham stakes out the beach, keeping swimmers out of Bare Sand’s irresistibly blue sea. But the sunsets and starry-night skies are surreal this far from city lights, and the flatback encounters are renowned for turning first-time visitors into turtle research volunteers. Not much is known about Australia’s only endemic sea turtle, named natator depressus for its distinctively flat shell. Scientists stab at…

The midnight wake-up call signalled a welcome end to my sleepless stupor. Double mountaineering boots are stubborn to get into at the best of times, but after a short struggle, I was crawling through the cramped tent vestibule into the tempest beyond. The cold air hit first, closely followed by the feeling of heavy snow landing on my unprotected face. Illuminated by the harsh beam of my headlamp, conditions looked grim. We were camped at 5,500m upon a snow-covered moraine, in an unnamed glacial valley that had likely never entertained human guests before. Braced against the maelstrom, I started towards the mess tent, fully assuming the impending summit attempt would be cancelled. Inside, however, was a hive of activity: packing, checking equipment, filling bottles with freshly boiled water, steamy porridge…

DAY 1 Tasman Arch to Bivouac Bay 14km (approx. 6-8 hours) From Tasman Arch car park walk east to the spectacularly-eroded Tasman Arch. From here, head around the back of the arch (north, then east) for great coastal views and to find the walking track south to Devils Kitchen. At Devils Kitchen the walking track meets an old bitumen road. Look for the Great Short Walks sign and follow the wide, gravel path south for two kilometres, passing by the equally-spectacular Pattersons Arch. You’ll come to a locked gate and a turning circle at the end of a dirt road. There are two lookouts to your left giving views of Waterfall Bay, and after heavy rain, the amazing spectacle of Camp Creek dropping over the cliffs into the ocean below.…

For me in the past, the only way I’ve recycled old climbing ropes is to cut ‘em up to use to tie down things on the car or round the house. Wait, that’s not recycling; that’s re-using, isn’t it? So I guess I’ve never recycled ropes. Actually, no one has ever recycled ropes, at least not to create new dynamic climbing ropes. Until now, that is. After six years of painstaking research, Edelrid has found a way to do so. While simply recycling the plastics in ropes to make other products is relatively straightforward, recycling them to create dynamic ropes is far more difficult. There are quality issues involved—the recycling process generally leads to lower quality material—and safety issues; climbers’ lives are literally on the line. But Edelrid managed to…

“Following the annual Snowy River Extreme Race, a few of the participants decided they’d make the most of the late-spring dump of snow and rising temperatures, and would get on one of the rarer sections of whitewater in Australia. After an unexpected locked gate enforced a walk from Spencers Creek to Charlotte Pass, the crew waits at the last, rather unique hurdle before paddling the Upper Snowy in Kosciuszko National Park.”John Fredericks, Lyneham, ACT John wins an OSPREY DAYLITE CINCH PACK, valued at $79.95. It’s a versatile pack for quick errands, day hikes and afternoons, with a hydration reservoir sleeve and a top-loading cinch closure for quick-access to all your essentials. SEND US YOUR WILD SHOT TO WIN GREAT GEAR! For a chance to win some quality outdoor kit, send…