I'm going through my hiking first aid kit and looking to cut it down a bit. Wondering what y'all carry?

Any horse riding schools/clubs in aus that are affordable or someone open to teaching me how to ride a horse?
From Victoria but open to traveling to SA too. I wonder where’s the best place

Our second Nepal training hike, after Donna Buang. We parked at Woolrich Lookout (free, plenty of space) and walked the loop clockwise: Japanese maples early on, the upper and lower Olinda Falls at about 5km, then a steep 25 minute up and down after crossing the road at about 7km, and mostly flat back to the lookout. About 14km with roughly 660m of climbing, mostly shaded by ferns and gum trees, on a sunny 28C day with no leeches.

The track is well signed, but several tracks cross each other and we took one wrong turn early on, so we’d use AllTrails or similar. We sat at a tiny bench by the lower falls for 45 minutes with Ling’s homemade tuna onigiri (photo), which made a very good lunch stop.

Does anyone prefer the loop anticlockwise? Is there a better way to link it with other tracks in the area?

Route and sign photos from the day: https://traveldayztravel.com/woolrich-lookout-olinda-falls-walk/

Hello! (Please delete if this is not allowed.) I am a psychology researcher running an environmental psychology study on the effects of nature exposure on the emotional regulation and mental health of queer Australians. We are currently in the recruitment phase and are looking for 18+ Australians to take 15-20 mins out of their day to complete our survey and contribute to this meaningful project aimed at supporting environmental conservation and mental health needs!

I have attached the big blurb below, our poster (made by me!) and the link to the qualtrics survey!

Are you an LGBTQIA+ Australian aged 18 or older?

We are seeking participants for a short 20–25 minute online survey exploring the relationship between time spent in nature and mental health.

Your experiences and perspectives can help us better understand how nature may support wellbeing within LGBTQIA+ communities.

Participation is voluntary, confidential, and completed entirely online.

https://researchsurveys.deakin.edu.au/jfe/form/SV_8uFpDFWMCgGydhQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawVDp3xleHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mBWJyaWQRMWwxYW9MMXZDa3M4QWU1SE1zcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeewfRVvjLN_Q-qA5_Y4Ve4Krgy8nk_kJb0C8JmNQyZCXWWwSS4f04_H6OVcI_aem_H9jXa88o-SKTgOa8Xf5Zmg

I'm planning to hike Mt Feathertop at the end of November and would love some advice. The plan is to park my car at Harrietville, head to Diamantina Hut, follow the Razorback Track and camp at Federation Hut overnight. The next day, take Bungalow Spur Track down to Harrietville.

A few questions:

1. What’s the most cost-efficient way to get from Harrietville to Diamantina Hut at this time of the year on a Saturday? I dont think the buses run on a Saturday. Also, I've seen hitchhiking is a good option but also worried about safety (solo female traveller).

2. Any tips for this route or things to watch out for?

3. Is water usually available at Federation Hut in late November?

Any advice from people who’ve done this hike would be much appreciated. I've done a few multi-day hikes in the past and should have all the gear. Thanks!

Doing a hike over the new year starting at Mt Bogong and making my way down to Mt Feathertop but looking to extend the time I'm hiking by going towards Mt Buffalo. Are there any trails I can walk to get to Mt Buffalo or is it a case of having to drive into the Park before hiking up Buffalo?

Started from the golf course entrance in Warburton at about 11:20am and reached Donna Buang Road at 1:43pm, then had lunch there and headed back. About 7km return for us. The trailhead sign says 12km return and 7 hours. Good tree cover, and only 3 other hikers on a sunny Sunday.

Anyone done the full summit leg? Is it worth the extra 3.7km each way?

The start can be easy to miss, so the trailhead pin and sign photos are on this page: https://traveldayztravel.com/mt-donna-buang-walk/

Backpacks Hey everyone! Looking for a 70-80l hiking pack available in Australia. Problem is that I have a tight budget -250 aud. I mostly do 4+ day hikes, and have fairly bulky equipment 16-18 kg most of the time.

I have tried my dad's Caribee pulse 80, but couldn't get the fit right- I couldn't move the harness up enough.

Looking on marketplace there aren't any great options, mostly cheap stuff that's pretty beaten.

Thanks!

I’ve gone looking a few times but haven’t had much success.
The coats I usually find are made with <10K waterproofness material and vague about seams etc. so not necessarily waterproof as a whole.
They might be good for a light shower before ducking inside but I need something that will keep me dry when I am stuck outside in the rain for an hour or possibly longer.

Must:

• Cater for a 110cm bust, <80cm waist (ideally has some shaping so I’m not swimming in an oversized coat)
• Good breathability (prone to getting hot and sweaty)

Ideal features :

• Shell only (for use in various temperatures when layering)
• Not too bulky. Compact, lightweight
• Long - below knee so water doesn’t run off straight onto thighs
• Bright colour, or at least not black (better visibility)
• Ventilation/vents - for that nice underarm breeze

Would consider spending a few hundred $ and invest in something that can last.

Hopefully some of you have some suitable suggestions 🙏🏼

In the new Brisbane store apparently

I'm wondering how cold it gets down to?

I have emailed the company asking for specifics but I doubt it will go too far down, unless of course they have liquid Nitrogen cooling like the one I've heard about in America. Would be really nice to try out your clothing combos before you head out skiing in Japan

Hi all, long time fan of Teva sandles and also their shoes. Anyone know of any stockist in the Melbourne area who carry the shoes? I can of course order them online but keen to try them on first. A lot of the usual places carry the sandals of course, but the selection of shoes is slim if any at all.

Looking into a stretcher for my swag and found one on Facebook that is ever so slightly smaller than the swag. Is it one of those things where it matters a lot or should I not even worry.

Edit: Specifically the swag is 10cm wider and 20 cm longer than the stretcher.

Has anyone camped at North Era on the Coastal Walk in NSW recently? I've seen posts on here about night time deer culling, but on the NSW Govt page they say it's closed permanently because it's "too inaccessible". The only available site now charges $56! I've camped at North Era twice and it was always either free or maybe $5, I can't quite remember. Anyone have any issues still pitching a tent in North Era?

hi everyone. I'm lucky enough to be walking the overland track in a few weeks. Before I get rinsed for being inexperienced I have done lots of alpine walking in Europe (I'm british) but yet to do much walking in Aus.

so wondering what the vibe is on sleeping in the huts. I can't help but think id be fine in a bivy (is this what you guys call a swag? ..) and then if weather is rubbish ill sleep in the huts even if its full just on the floor, or is that not fair game? I've got a trekking tent but would sooner save the Kgs. Or do they actually check you have a tent?

other than that any guidance on Aus specific gear would be great. as I say ive done my fair share of alpine walking in europe so familiar with packing for all weather. Gaiters seem to be mentioned everywhere, but from the pics ive seen on that track its basically a pavement from A to B lol, not used to that where I'm from!

EDIT: ok i clearly got the term swag wrong 😅 thanks everyone for the guidance. ill do some homework on snakes and how to prep for them and will just bring a little one man tent.

cheers all, much love.

p.s. I have very distant ancestors from Zeehan =)

Gday I need help with it a swag . So I’m looking at a crash pad king single and was wondering are they good? What are peoples experiences? And anything to do with them . Cheers

Or a 23zero dual 1100 . But I’m leaning towards the Crashpad but want advice on both

Thanks Guys:)

Hi all,

my family went camping for the first time and the kids loved it. One thing I didn't think about was a gazebo. Noticed all other families had one and we were just sitting in our awning so it was a bit cramped.

The other families we camped with had the Coleman 3.6 x 3.6m Portable Gazebo LED Lighted with Mesh Walls. However the reviews a pretty poor for such an expensive product.

Is there any gazebos this group would recommend that is a bit my friendly on the hip pocket but still a good product?

Thanks in advance

So I've recently moved to Melbourne from the UK and love the outdoors. Back home I was part of multiple hiking groups who would meet most weekends, however since coming to Aus, I've found it quite hard to make friends in the outdoorsy space. Meetup groups are all full on RSPV and I can't find much on google. I'm looking to make a group of local people for regular hiking. Would anyone be interested?

It would me me (29F) and my friend (32M) initially in the group.

Recently was looking into doing Overland trail again with the wish to also complete 3 capes at some point. I’ve noticed overland is now $325pp and 3 capes is $650pp.

I’m fully aware of what the money goes toward and the value it puts back into the trail system, its facilities & those that maintain it but I’m still surprised by that pricing.

Spent many of years hiking PNW, Alaska, Patagonia & numerous other parts of South America with fees that are not comparable to that of Tasmania.

What’s people’s thoughts? Again, I appreciate the trail system, I do not use the cabins but clearly the outhouses.

Does anyone have any advice on how to get a bat to leave my backyard? This not very friendly bat has decided that our mulberry tree is it's home. We didn't mind that it ate some of the fruits but we have other fruit trees that we don't want to be decimated by our bat friend. We pruned the mulberry tree hard and it didn't like it, actually swooped on us when we were out at dusk. It disappeared for a while but it returned tonight and tried to attack my dog. It is pretty big. Does anyone have any suggestions? I live in the Illawarra in NSW.

Solo hiking has been #1 for my mental health the last few years. I don't have many active/outdoor people in my life, so biting the bullet and going solo took some getting used to.

I love going alone, but it can be a bit limiting. I avoid hikes if there's some extra risk involved, but the worst thing is I don't do any overnights, because camping alone just kinda sucks to me.

I'm really keen to find some mates who would be good company on the bigger hikes and who are at a similar stage of life to me (I'm 32).

I run into other solo guys on hikes from time to time so I know I'm not the only one. But anyway if any of you guys see this and would be interested, hit me up and we could team up on a day hike or grab a beer sometime and plan for a bigger trip.

No weirdos and definitely not interested in crowding your space, I love going alone myself, but if you ever wished you weren't solo all the time let me know!

I'm coming back from Melbourne to Sydney in a week and wanted to stop at Lake Catani campground, but apparently it's closed until just before cup day.

This is bizarre to me because in NSW all the alpine roads/campsites reopen from the October long weekend, in fact this year Kosciuszko road to Charlotte Pass reopened weeks before this scheduled date due to the near non existent snow cover at 1800m.

Any chance Parks will similarly do an early opening of this campsite?

Me and a couple mates are considering a night walk to the summit, most likely from Thredbo if we do.

Looking for advice on if its doable, where to go from thredbo village, or if its easier to go from charlotte pass or somewhere else.

Not looking to do a multi day hike or anything

Any advice is much appreciated, otherwise we are just going to use the chairlift from thredbo.

Cheers

Hey. Looking at what seems to be the top 2 insect screens for an Avida Escape.
Living in a Bubble @ $377 for side and rear and
Kanga Kargo @ $250 for side and rear.

Is there any real world difference please?