I launched Australian Hiker in November 2016 with the aim of being the “go to site” for all things hiking in Australia as well as providing an Australian perspective on overseas hiking.

The moon over the Orny Glacier, Switzerland, just before sunrise, from the Orny HutTim Savage

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The idea for this blog originated in 2014 and developed out of a struggle to find relevant information I needed for our 2016 Larapinta Trail trip. As you can probably guess I’m a compulsive planner who needs every bit of information that I can lay my hands on, and there is no better way to demonstrate this than to own up and say that I’m currently working on seven major hikes. I will be undertaking these hikes over the next seven years and they range from a week to over 1500 kilometres.

If you haven’t twigged by now I’m also a bit obsessive.

Now I also need to explain what I mean by “relevant information”. Much of the key information is readily available in many of the excellent guidebooks and websites but for me there is a lack of what can only be described as fringe information. I’ll use the example of last year’s Larapinta Trail trip to better explain what I mean. In planning my 2016 Larapinta Trail trip I couldn’t find where I would get mobile phone coverage. The Larapinta guidebooks as wonderful as they are, are also written from a perspective of travelling east to west and don’t read particularly well when you travel the trip in reverse by starting at Mt Sonder. As much as I searched, I couldn’t find anyone who had walked the entire trail in trail runners and who had posted their experience online. These are just some of the examples that for an obsessive planner drove me insane.

In addition, many of the gear reviews available online are from a European or US perspective about products that are often not easily available in Australia. I have size 14 US feet and as a result have a very limited range of choice in footwear - I have had to do my own research based on overseas sites as a starting point. It was these experiences and others including for a week-long hike in Tasmania that I am currently planning, convinced me there was a gap in the Australian blogosphere and one I wanted to fill in part by sharing my experiences and knowledge.

Being a compulsive individual, I have spent the last two years planning the launch of Australian Hiker. Choosing a name, getting the website developed, registering business/website/twitter and other social media names and working out how I wanted to present the brand. I listened to a number of podcasts on setting up blogs including about the potential pitfalls; I managed to fall into every one of them even though I knew what they were. Even with two years of planning, I couldn’t meet my self-imposed of launch date of 1 August 2016 as life just got in the way.

In late 2015 my wife Gill threw me a curve ball when she suggested that I should also do a podcast. I’m an avid podcast listener and listen to about 11 hours of podcasts each

Tim Savage recording an Australian Hiker podcastGill Savage

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week including a number of outdoor podcasts from around the world. For some reason I hadn’t even thought of this as a possibility. It made sense as not everyone wants to read websites to get their information and podcasts allow you to do more than one thing at once. Personally, I listen to podcasts when I walk to and from work each day as well as when I hit the gym.

I’m a born extrovert who doesn’t shy away from a conversation. I have lectured at university and TAFE, planned and run conferences, given talks to very large crowds and I am more than happy to do so. But sticking a microphone in front of my face with no one else in the room for the first time was a real culture shock; I hated the sound of my own voice as apparently everyone does when they hear their recorded voice replayed. It was the podcast that delayed my launch date. Not just getting over my apprehension but also learning all the processes and the technology that was needed. For Gill and I, episode 11 was where we were starting to really feel comfortable. I am sure if you listen to the shows in release order you can hear us grow. While hiking the Larapinta Trail last year, I undertook a series of interviews and

most people I approached were happy to chat about their experiences, which provides a unique perspective on what life on the trail is like.

The Australian Hiker podcast, is our point of difference to other sites and is released every second Wednesday with an additional bonus on-trail episode published at least once a month. As this article goes to print, I will have released about 15 episodes and will release a further six by the end of March 2017, which can be downloaded from iTunes, Stitcher Radio as well as from our website. As at early January 2017, we were being listened to in 10 countries with the uptake growing exponentially with each episode release.

Prior to our launch date, I managed to convince my wife that she should also be involved in Australian Hiker and while this is essentially my baby, she plays a prominent part in the podcast as well as undertaking hiking and gear reviews from a female perspective. Gill also keeps me grounded in reality and plays the role of editor in chief - I have a very quirky writing style that I developed in a previous outdoor career!

Tim and Gill after completing the Larapinta Trail west to to east in August 2016Stephen Long

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The best way to describe Tim is obsessive. He’s a compulsive planner; a compulsive walker has a love of learning, as well as a love of helping others to learn. For Tim walking is a way to connect with the world in an almost primal manner and he identifies most of his ‘spiritual’ moments throughout his life as coming from time spent outdoors. He has a background in landscape architecture, horticulture and cultural heritage with a particular interest in how we engage with the environment. He has been a hiker on and off for over 40 years and enjoys walks ranging from a short walks to work through to multi-day hikes. In recent years he has become interested in long-distance and ultralight hiking.