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Australia Bushwalking App

menu_book picture_as_pdf bookMelanie Ball Resource App Australia
Issue_7_October_2014-42

I love bushwalking. After dancing, I’m happiest walking in the high country under a big blue sky. Or wandering among ancient, gnarled river red gums. Or strolling a cliff line high above lazy, looping water. Or listening to a private concert of lyrebird mimicry. Or watching the sun set over a spread of desert before pulling off my boots to retire into a tent. And I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t share my passion.

Not that I want my favourite trails crowded with hikers; life as I know it would end in disappointment if hiking became the new cruising. It’s just that it’s beyond me how anyone could not love the taste of air in places you can only reach by hiking; or the sense of insignificance when standing atop a massive sand dune; or the delicious guilt-free pleasure of munching jelly snakes and chocolate while hiking, or tucking into a three course camp or pub meal after a long day of calorie burning.

Simon on the Razorback, Cathedral Range, Victoria

Australia Bushwalking APPMelanie Ball

42 | BWA October 2014


And then there are Australian wildflowers. Over recent years I have found endless pleasure in photographing indigenous blooms in macro, with a point and shoot Lumix camera which allows me to get into places my SLR can’t reach.

So my app Australia Bushwalking, published by Sutro Media is an effort to inspire others to check out this extraordinary country on foot.

I never intended the app to be a walking companion to replace maps and guidebooks, so rather than having detailed walking notes and electronic maps it summarises each walk and provides links to online information pages and recommended books, including favourites for identifying wildflowers, fungi and birds. I endeavoured to provide everything to help inexperienced and more frequent bushwalkers from Australia and overseas discover the wonders of Australian bushwalking from the comfort of an armchair and choose walks to suit their fitness and areas of interest in different states and territories. I grouped the walks by difficulty, location, and main attractions, and an update, underway as I write this, will include more Victorian walks and some dog-friendly hikes, among them Victoria’s new Surf Coast Walk from Torquay to Fairhaven.

I love the idea of people scrolling through my suggestions, looking for an afternoon walk they can fit into a Sydney getaway (Manly Scenic Walkway) or a challenging multi-day hike in Queensland (Great Walk Carnarvon).

Something I greatly enjoyed about writing Australia Bushwalking was determining my own focus and being able to expand rant even about personal bugbears, including people who take short cuts (causing erosion and risking getting lost) and litter. It also gave me freedom to promote bright coloured hiking clothing and not just because people then stand out in photographs (all my walking companions know that they have to wear red, orange or yellow at least when we hike together because environmentally sensitive colours disappear in the scenery).

My favourite attire is rainbow-striped thermals and I have often remarked, when people comment, that my plan is to never be run over by a snow plough: so far so good! I took particular pleasure in quoting Sgt Ian Colless, Coordinator, Blue Mountains Police Rescue Squad, who told me, unprompted, during an interview about bushwalking safety, that he doesn’t don’t know why walkers wear blue, grey, and black, because such hues make lost and injured walkers almost invisible to air and ground rescue crews and that, “Walkers should wear high-visibility clothing!”

Of course, recommending walks is a matter of personal opinion and there are undoubtedly many spectacular walks in this country which I have not done, so are not in my app. I am looking forward to discovering them and writing them up. I am also keen to receive recommendations from others, in particular about walks outside my home state of Victoria, which I know best.

Explore Australia has just published my comprehensive bushwalking guide Top Walks in Victoria, 65 walks illustrated with maps, photographs and sketches of wildlife and flora. The book is available in mainstream bookshops and online at Top Walks in Victoria. I hope the book and app will work well together!

Melanie Ball is a travel writer and a photographer. She is a freelance writer of bushwalking yarns and author of hiking books and the creator of Australia Bushwalking App - sutromedia.com/apps/Australia_Bushwalking. More about Melanie on melanieball.com.au.

BWA October 2014 | 43