A taste of the Munda Biddi Trail - Western Australia

Do meat pies and cycle touring go together like ducks and water? Is there a symbiotic relationship between bakers and bike riders; a long, evolutionary unfolding of shared necessity? 

Lunch time, at Pemberton in the south-west of Western Australia. Before we set of for a taste of the Munda Biddi Trail, we are tasting the local pies at Crossings Bakery. They're not bad. Certainly they are full of the sort of fat-fueled energy we'll need for the journey ahead. The Munda Biddi Trail (MBT) is a 1,000 km off-road cycling route stretching from Mundaring (near Perth) to Albany on the south coast. Listed as one of National Geographic's top 10 cycle rides in the world, it is a combination of single-track, forest roads, old rail trails and small sections of bitumen.  

Corker of a Walk - Barrington Tops National Park

Steady rain forces me to pull tight the hood of my jacket. All I can hear are fat drops pinging and thumping on my head and echoing inside this cocoon of Gortex. Walking, in this sort of weather, is an exercise in blinkered observation and internal journeying – I watch the mud at my feet, the puddles to dodge, rocks to step over; think about the strength in my legs and the energy in my soul as we march steadily uphill. Then, I glance up and catch sight of Caz, a few steps ahead. It snaps me out of my reverie. I can no longer take this walk so seriously. 

Feathertop - Alpine National Park, VIC

I have not walked on the moon but I know the lightness of escaping gravity - it comes when I unbuckle my backpack and drop it to the ground on the summit of Mt Feathertop. The pack is loaded with my share of our 5 days of food, plus three litres of water, half a tent, clothes. It hits the ground with a thud and my first few steps on the summit of Mt Feathertop are just that - I am a feather on top of the world. Without weight, I walk in light bouncy steps. My muscles feel stronger now they only have to lift bone and flesh.

In the footsteps of the Jawoyn - The Jatbula Trail, NT

A small tribe of bushwalkers are strung along the dusty track as it weaves its way through dry grass and past scattered bloodwood and woolybutt trees. Two of the youngest are out front, Brad and Angus, a fishing rod strapped to the outside of one pack. Kirsty and her daughter Ruby have stopped to rest in the shade and are eating home-grown mandarins. Behind me are Louise, Red and Caz. We are the chatty ones today, catching up on stories after long absences. Down the last rise are Louisa and Shirley, setting a steady pace that comes with years of experience walking wilderness trails like this. 

Scott-Kilvert Hut - Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, TAS

This is like escaping behind the scenes at the theatre. Huge towering columns jut out of the mist, holding up a familiar and world-famous façade. But from behind, the shape of the mountain is unrecognisable. Nothing looks familiar. This is Cradle Mountain's hidden side.

Back at Dove Lake car park, the crowd mingles; selfie sticks in hand, wearing their smartest outdoor outfits and shoes and striking fashion poses for the camera. That is the auditorium. People mill around, waiting to see the main show-stopping attraction - the mirror surface of Dove Lake, the wooden boat shed, with the dramatic, rugged cliffs of Cradle Mountain framing it all.

Done by twelve - cycle touring in the Kimberley

Have you heard the one about the meat inspector and the non-breeding golden-headed cisticola. Sounds catchy but there is no punchline. They are just two snippets from an entertaining journey - cycle touring for four days in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. 

The dingoes' run - West MacDonnell Ranges, NT

Bowmans Gap

No track markers, no blue or yellow arrows nailed to trees, no signposts. There are just paw prints in the sand that have created a well-worn pad leading along the dry, sandy creek bed. Today we are following a trail of a different kind: the dingoes' run.

The path heads east. It is packed down from regular use. Small prints show the dingoes daily travels to and from the Ormiston Gorge campground. They have set a small, efficient path in the sand and it is leading in the right direction for us. So, we follow, all the way from Ormiston Gorge to Bowman's Gap, which is a north-west break in the huge, beautiful bowl that is Ormiston Pound, in the West MacDonnell National Park out of Alice Springs in Australia's Northern Territory.