Perry's Blog

We're at the end of the second month of training… more »

We've done the Six Foot Track many, many times, and although last time we said we'd never do it again (because of how crowded it had become and the implications of that on the maintenance), here we are doing it again… more »

After crunching the weather statistics from the BoM, viewing all the information we could get our hands on, we need to take that gleaned knowledge and assess our gear requirements… more »

I have used, admittedly intermittently, ToDoList for what seems like years. The Heysen Trail has offered a real project to let it get its teeth into… more »

Now that the Food Drops have been defined, and the Labels created and the Pre & Post Walk Itinerary completed, the Accommodation Requests can be emailed out. more »

Now that the Food Drops have been defined, the Labels for the Buckets or Packages (depending on if they are kept in an office or left in the bush) can be created. more »

After the somewhat exhausting task of completing The Itinerary, the days before and after the hike need to be detailed, as unlike our Lawson to Goulburn hike, we're not just walking out our back door and then walking for a couple of weeks. more »

Training walks can get a little ho-hum because you do them so often, the local ones anyway. It really is important that these walks are still interesting and fun, otherwise it's all just exercise. more »

Version#7 marks a milestone in the Itinerary development: the GPS Route and Itinerary are mature enough to progress to the next stage, which modifies the GPS Route to what is more appropriate for taking on the hike. more »

This walk is a variation to Turtle Rock Loop, but adds the walk along to Echo Bluff, returning to Turtle Rock and down to the waterfalls for the full loop. more »

This walk starts at Tom Hunter Oval and walks through to Lucinda Ave, mainly on well-formed tracks, and returns using the same route. more »

This walk is a variation to Empire Pass - Echo Bluff Loop, but adds the walk up to Queens Road and back before either continuing around Empire Pass, or up to Echo Bluff (depending on the direction walked) for the full loop. more »

The GPS Route that we take on our hikes generally starts life as a GPX Track that either we've walked or hacked together, or someone else has made available. If nothing is available I create my own using RouteConverter, being as detailed as possible.… more »

Version#7 is a significant milestone, and although the Itinerary is not baked in at this point (everything is changeable virtually up to departure day, well, technically it will be modifiable on the Trail as well), but it is unlikely to change… more »

The pieces of our kit that we get asked about consistently are our poles, our packs and our solar array. You don't need to have a PHD in bio-mechanics to see the advantages of the Aarn Packs. more »

The pieces of our kit that we get asked about consistently are our poles, our packs and our solar array. My go-to comeback for our poles is "life is better as a quadruped". more »

I really love my spreadsheet… but I've not quite figured out to fully automate the Food Drop List. That being said, all the aggregation is automatic, it just needs a human eye to ensure everything is included. more »