Real Trail Talk

Hopping on the mountain bike for 2020, Donovan has started a sectional end to end of the Munda Biddi, a 1000km long distance trail running from Mundaring to Albany. Running North to South we are doing a series on the track starting with the Mundaring to Jarrahdale section that runs through the Darling Range. 

Our mission for this episode was to come up with the ultimate South West Road Trip given a time frame of roughly two weeks that could be realistically accomplished. We both map out our hypothetical routes and discuss how we would fill each day (which of course included a lot of trails). 

In this episode we get into a discussion about hiking gear, what we use, how we came to choose that gear, a brief chat about ultralight gear, sustainability and what gear we'd like heading into the future. 

After finally finishing his sectional end to end, Mark discusses his thoughts on the entire Bibbulmun Track and how life has changed over that time. 

We are joined again by WA outdoor adventure enthusiast Shavaurn to discuss the world class snorkelling locations up and down the northern part of Western Australia. With some of the most stunning spots in the whole of the state (and perhaps the country), the snorkelling at places like Ningaloo is beyond amazing. 

We are joined by WA outdoor adventure enthusiast Shavaurn to discuss the various snorkelling spots around Perth and South West. With summer meaning a break in the hiking season, we like to get out into the water and explore a different type of scene. Thanks to the Leeuwin Current there is a variety of sea life and coral to see so close to shore.

The second of our two Great Walks of New Zealand discussions, we talk about the Tongariro Northern Circuit that was completed by The Long Way's Better at the end of 2019. This four day hike takes you around the active volcanoes of Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe (used as Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings) with public huts along the way to stay in.  Hear all about the adventure as Donovan and Alissa recount their journey through this remarkable landscape. 

In this episode we are joined by the other half of The Long Way's Better to discuss their Christmas expedition on the Abel Tasman Coast Track in New Zealand. This 4.5 day coastal hike is a relaxing escape from the usual rigours of multi-day hiking with stunning scenery, nice huts to stay in and some casual distances on each day. 

With a busy year for both The Long Way's Better and The Life of Py, we sat down and reminisced about the past year's adventures and what will be coming up in the future.  

Continuing on with the blank slate idea of where we would take the Bibbulmun Track in an ideal world, the journey continues from Donnelly River to Albany. We are joined by Steve Sertis from the Bibbulmun Track Foundation and Bonny from Friendly Dropbear as the hotly debated coastal section receives a major realignment including an epic finish as proposed by Mark.

In this episode we are joined by Steve Sertis from the Bibbulmun Track Foundation and recent end to ender Bonny to discuss where we would take the Bibbulmun Track if given a clean slate. Grab a map or follow along on the Bibbulmun Track website and join us as we have a fun discussion about the changes we would make and why.

This week we sit down with Melina, a World Trails Network Ambassador from Perth to discuss who the World Trails Network, what they do and what the future holds. It was a great insight into the world trails community that is developing and what to expect at the 2020 World Trails Conference in Nepal. For more information visit their website a visit (https://worldtrailsnetwork.org/)

To celebrate our 50th episode we asked you, the listeners, to send in your questions that we would try our best to answer. We had some fun in the process and thank you to everyone who sent in something. Here's to our first 50 episodes and to continuing on with the next 50 episodes. 

With Western Australia being home to some spectacular coastal walking, we spend this episode talking about some of the best coastal walking along the south east part of WA. With walks in Cape Arid NP, Cape Le Grand NP and Esperance, we discuss what makes this area so special. In the second half of the episode Donovan provides his insight into his visits to Fitzgerald River National Park that we previously talked about with Erika Jacobson.

Part 2 of our NSW series of overnight hikes, this episode we are talking about The Long Way's Better's adventure at Grose Valley in the Blue Mountains. A challenging hike, you descend down into the valley where you follow the Grose River and camp the night before heading up some steep terrain to the finishing point. 

This week we are joined by Alissa for the first of a two part NSW special discussing the Royal Coast Track, located in Royal National Park, just south of Sydney.

We are pleased to welcome back Michelle Ryan from Walkingtwobytwo to discuss Caminos from around the world, what they are, what defines them, the experience of walking a Camino and who hikes them.

Joined by Kerstin Stender, former maintenance volunteer in this area and current Unit Coordinator for the Trails and Recreation Department of Parks and Wildlife, we discuss the Denmark to Albany section of the Bibbulmun Track. The final section of the 1000km track, enjoy the coastal finish into the Southern Terminus with plenty of great views and nice beaches. Stay tuned for more Bibbulmun Track content in the future as we wrap up the whole 1000km in one giant episode.

This week we are joined by Bonny from Friendly Drop Bear to discuss the extensive list of Shire of Kalamunda Walks that have been mapped out for our hiking pleasure in Perth. We discuss the good, the bad and the interesting from these collection of hikes located on the Darling Scarp.

With new hiking trails in Western Australia few and far between, we were excited to check out the recently opened Wiilman Bilya Trail located in Wellington National Park just near Collie. Opened in January 2019, this 20km one way trail will eventually connect up and form a loop trail around Collie so we thought we would head out to see what it was like. To hear all about our adventures and what to expect from the Wiilman Bilya Trail have a listen.