So we decided to hike the 265-km-long Great South West Walk. This is a loop in the south-west of Victoria. It was established as a trail in 1981 by two lively residents of Portland. Later, in 1984, a volunteer group known as the “Friends of the Great South West Walk Inc.” continued to extend, realign, maintain, upgrade, and promote the GSWW on behalf of the Glenelg Shire community and in collaboration with Parks Victoria.
Spending time in the shoulder or off-season in the Appalachians is much more appealing to me than hiking there in summer. Summers under the canopy of the Appalachians‘ mostly deciduous trees are pleasant and shaded, but it is also quite humid and stuffy. Having hiked the Benton Mackeye Trail in April and June back in 2019, and having done numerous day hikes along the US-American East Coast in summer, gave me a pretty good impression of the specific challenges hiking in this region, beyond the continuous ups and downs of the rolling mountains.
The last day on Te Araroa!
A little overwhelmed by Wellington city life, I was looking forward to leaving the hustle behind and walking towards Island Bay, which is south of the city and not far from the airport.
My journey is full of ‚firsts‘ … this is the first time that I celebrated Thanksgiving. It was a blast! Way too much food, way too many drinks …. bit just the right people! It was an amazing day with truly amazing folks.
I am very excited! We just started to plan out the Benton MacKaye-Trail.