Wilsons Promontory

For our European summer holiday we travelled south to Australia to visit family and friends, and yes it is winter in Australia.

We took the opportunity to visit one of our favourite spots Wilson Promontory National Park at the southern tip of the Australian Mainland. The park takes in the southern most point on the mainland and consists of mountains, heath land, swamps and sandy beaches. The Prom as it is affectionately known is a popular tourist destination, especially in summer where up to 200 000 people can be visiting, camping, hiking, sea kayaking, surfing as well as many other sports.

There are many hiking opportunities including a number of circuit walks of varying length and difficulty. We chose to walk the Eastern Circuit walk which takes in Sealers Cove, Refuge Cove and Waterloo Bay. This popular 35 km walk can be completed easily in 2 days, but we decided to take our time and spent a night at each of the 3 campsites on the east coast.

We departed for our first day from the Telegraph Saddle Carpark, heading south along the Lighthouse track, before turning towards Waterloo Bay. The Lighthouse, located on South East Cape is a further 11 km along the track. The undulating foot track to Waterloo Bay is a pleasant walk interspersed with the occasional boardwalks over streams and swampy areas, ultimately the track arrives at Waterloo Bay with its white sandy beach and exquisite turquoise waters. From Waterloo Bay it is a short walk to Little Waterloo Bay, the first of the designated campsites on the east coast.

The following day was another short day to Refuge Cove with the highlight being the climb to Kersops Peak which provides commanding views south to the lighthouse and the conically shaped Rodondo Island as well as to the northern beaches of the prom and further north to Strezlecki Ranges of southern Victoria. Refuge Cove is a cove of 2 coves and is recognised as a safe harbour for boats and yachts in bad weather. We were fortunate to have the entire camping area to ourselves accompanied only by a variety of Australian birds.

The third day saw us walk to Sealers Cove, again a short walk, we were blessed by beautiful sunny weather which provide for excellent views both north and south along the coast. Sealers Cove was once used by whalers and sealers as it provided shelter for their boats as well as ample water for camping. The final day took as through the beautiful rainforests of Sealers Creek, before the climb to the aptly named Windy Saddle, where we were greeted by a Wombat grazing, and finally the Telegraph Saddle car park.

We were fortunate to experience 4 sunny days with crisp cool nights which made for a pleasant trip with outstanding views. We would recommend this walk as ideal for the entire family and if you are able to visit the prom when there are less people around it makes for an even more enjoyable experience.

Our equipment report on the Ti Tri Caldera, Pacer Poles, Montane Terra Pants, Silkbody shirt will follow.

Backpacking Light on the Internet

Backpacking Light on the Internet

Backpackinglight USA site founded by Ryan Jordan, this site with its associated forums, gear shop, gear reviews, publications has in my view become the premier site for information and well researched discussions on the ultra light philosophy. They have often produced new gear that is both lightweight and innovative in design. The forums contain many insightful conversations about the techniques associated with ultra light hiking. It has been fascinating to watch this site grow from one which was very much a USA based site to one that now has forum participants from Europe, Asia Australia and New Zealand.

Backpackinglight UK, this site has developed with a very different focus of podcasts and a shop specialising in light weight gear. Given the different climate and hiking conditions in the UK the site has promoted appropriate gear for lightweight hiking in the UK (and possibly Europe) and as a consequence is seen by many as in the fore front of the lightweight movement in the UK.

Backpackinglight Australia, is located in Melbourne and has been around for a while now and like its namesakes in the other countries is a provider of lightweight gear to bushwalkers, the company has imported such brand names as Integral Designs, GoLite, Montane, Pacer Poles along side of Australian and NZ brands such as Aarn and Gondwana.


It is apparent to us that the advent of these sites and their accompanying stores has led to increase in the use of lightweight techniques in the outdoors which is to be commended and we can recommend each of the online stores on these sites as being reliable providers of high quality ultra light gear.

Golite Pinnacle, first impressions

The Golite Pinnacle is a frameless large volume (75l) pack, which was released a little over 12 months ago. I had been looking for a lightweight frameless pack that would serve both as a day pack as well as for lightweight trips. Whilst you may say that a 75 litre pack is a little large for a day pack, the compaktor system and side straps enable it to be reduced to a much smaller profile. In essence there are 2 hooks and 2 loops of cord at the base of the pack which enable the base of the pack to be narrowed somewhat. Thereby making it both a large volume pack as well as being useful for short peak bagging trips from the base camp.

So far I have only used it for a number of day trips and I have been impressed with the weight (710 gm on my scales) the comfort of the hip belt, the support provided by the included foam back panel, the ease with which you can access the side pockets which hold 1 litre Nalgene bottles with ease as well there is a large back pocket which enables you to access the items required during the day easily. The pack is well made with its dyneema fabric and reinforced stitching where required.

I look forward to using this pack over longer trips in the coming months.

Summer sojourn: we are about to embark on an extended trip during summer and we will report back as we can.

The photo shows an 2.4 m * 1.5 m Integral Designs tarp and bivy.

Information on forests in Denmark

Stef has asked about information on Denmark in English , I have provided some information here which may be of interest to others as well

There are many forests in Denmark where a family could go . The best place to obtain information would be the Tourist Information centres who I have always found very helpful and you will find many brochures in English as well as other languages, especially German.

The Visit Denmark site is perhaps the best general starting point.

With regard to the forests, there are some English pamphlets for various forests and these can be found here We can recommend Jægersborg Deer Park (see our earlier blog) as well as the white chalk cliffs of Møns Klint and closer to Copenhagen Stevns Klint (see our earlier blog). Stevns Klint is accessible from Rødvig Railway station, an approx 2 hour trip from Copenhagen.

Getting around in Denmark on the public transport system is easy and the system is reliable. Using Rejseplanen (available in English here) you can find the times for buses and trains for most cities, towns and hamlets in Denmark.

Finding where places are can be a problem, so we suggest you use the internet mapping system known as krak.dk, whilst not in English if you select the tab labeled Kort and type the name of the township into the Postnr./By space in most case that will give a map of the area. However, Google Earth is also an alternative.

The Danish Weather Service forecasts are available in English, they provide a 5 day outlook for all regions.

We hope that this information is helpful

Children in the forest

On the western side of Copenhagen there are a number of forests, which were established as part of the urban planning of the city which can be easily accessed using the public transport system, especially the trains.

Today I was able to spend some time wandering around Hareskovene, located to the west of Copenhagen and accessible by train from Copenhagen. The forest consists of a number of lakes, wooded areas, trails, fire places, shelters and even a primitive over night camping place. However, more than anything else it was a pleasure to hear the laughter of many happy children enjoying the forest. There is a culture in Denmark of taking school groups (ages 2 and above) to the forest where they are allowed to play and experience the outdoors. Hearing the children playing reminded me of the book titled Last Child in the Woods, written by Richard Louv, which highlights the challenges in the US society of encouraging children to experience the outdoors. Here in Denmark as in other places there is a tradition of taking children into the outdoors and encouraging them to explore, we are also aware of other educational systems in countries such as Scotland and England looking at how they can incorporate these outdoor experiences into the childs schooling. Let us hope that these activities can be continued.

If you are interested in obtaining information about state forests and walking in Denmark (Vandreture i Statsskovene) then we recommend a visit to the web site Vandretursfoldere where you will find information on many state forest walks in Denmark.


Note: for an alternative view of Richard Louv's book you may like to look at this article.

Our favourite place

Whilst visiting the Trossachs I came across a sign with this quote on it which summarised our feelings towards the our outdoor experiences.

All the wild world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go, to highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea or land or down among the crystals of waves or high in a balloon in the sky; through all the climates, hot or cold, storms and calms, everywhere and always we are in God's eternal beauty and love. So universally true is this, the spot where we chance to be always seems the best

John Muir 1890


We would be interested to know the origins of this quote.

The Trossachs, Scotland

I have been visiting family in Scotland and have had the opportunity to do some day walks in the area, particularly along the Rob Roy Way, a 126 km trail running from Drymen in the south to Pitlorchy. The trail meanders along old forestry roads and footpaths and provides a variety of scenery. Today I headed north from Aberfoyle, once the end of the railway from Glasgow, this quiet hamlet is the centre of the Forestry service area and has a number of hotels and eating places. I can recommend the Forth Inn as a place to visit for a meal.

Back to the trail, the trail climbs steadily once it leaves the main street in Aberfoyle and eventually follows the around the north side of the local golf course with its magnificent views of Ben Lomond. Throughout this section of the trail you see the evidence of forestry work and the many plantations. The trail climbs gently through the forest before exiting onto the open grazing plains of the Menteith Hills. The Menteith Hills provide a pleasant walk with many views of the surroundings including the Lake of Menteith.

















I can recommend a visit to this area. Whilst in the UK I have also taken the chance to stock up on some gear that is not readily available elsewhere thanks Rose and Bob, I look forward to reporting back on my silk body clothing and Pinnacle pack.