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Help green the Bundaleer Channel
Help plant 760 trees on the Heysen Trail along the Bundaleer Channel, near Spalding.
- Thursday 13th June
- Friday 14th June
- Saturday 15th June
- Sunday 16th June
If you are interested in being involved in this Greening Committee project, please contact Neil Nosworthy at neil@noztours.com.au or on 0447 922 617.
Cape Jervis events – tour environmental projects, or plant some trees
1. ‘Walk and Talk’ day – Saturday 25 May
Get a behind-the-scenes look at some outstanding environmental projects at Cape Jervis on this ‘Walk and Talk’ day.
Meet the Cape Jervis Coastal Community Group, COOTS group in action, Hooded Plover Recovery and Marine Debris Survey volunteers and others experts on this coast.
Visit the Natural Resources website for more information.
2. Tree planting – Saturday 1 June, Sunday 2 June
Join the tree planting efforts at the start of the Heysen Trail.
For more details view the tree planting invite or contact carolyn.schultz165@gmail.com.
Help wanted planting 600 trees
The Greening Committee is looking for volunteers to help plant 600 trees along the Heysen Trail between Worlds End and Burra. We have scheduled the planting for Saturday 1st June, Sunday 2nd June and Monday 3rd June.
We are proceeding in cooperation with the End-to-End 5 group who will be walking from Worlds End to Burra and on to Wandallah over the weekend. If you wish, you can mix some walking with some tree planting.
If you are interested in being involved, please contact Neil via neil@noztours.com.au or on 0447 922 617.
New Walk Registration System
We’re phasing in a new online walk registration system. When registering for walks online, you will need to log in using your membership account details. The phase-in period, from April 2013, will see each walk grade brought over to the new system.
View full details of new walk registration system.
Take a Walk – Sunday’s Elder Park Opening of the Walk Season
The opening of the walk season Take a Walk event is this Sunday, at Elder Park in the city.
From 10am to 3pm, on the northern side of the rotunda at Elder Park, the event features:
- Entertainment by Sing Australia – of which six of our Friends of the Heysen Trail members will be singing.
- A Day on the Heysen Trail – The Warren Bonython Memorial Walk will be promoted with an art installation.
- 30-60 minute Come and Try walks by the Heart Foundation and Adelaide Bushwalkers. Registration is not necessary.
- Garage sale of pre-loved bushwalker gear in our marquee.
So why not Take a Walk? Remember, you’re just two feet from some of the best places in South Australia!
New Online Walk Registration System
We’re launching a new online walk registration system. When registering for walks online, people will need to log in with their membership account details.
The phase-in period will see each walk grade brought over to the new system, beginning with the Warren Bonython Memorial Walk on Sunday 14th April.
When registering for walks using the new system:
- you’ll see that your details are already entered in the walk registration form
- you can register anyone within your membership account via any of those logins
- payment for your walk will be via a single page payment gateway, which is considerably easier to use than the existing PayPal payment gateway. Financial transactions will be processed by NAB.
- For security reasons, we do not store credit card details
- You will be able to view your walk registrations
- From July 2013, you may be able to view a list of all walks you have previously participated in.
- You will know when your walk grade has been transferred to the new system, as the registration page will ask you to log in. If you are already logged in, you’ll see that your details are already entered in the walk registration form.
A letter was mailed out this week to active members who have not previously accessed their online membership account.
If you are unsure as to what your login details are, or have lost your password, you can recover your details. If this doesn’t immediately work, a flow chart is available to assist in understanding how to access your login details. Please contact the office for further assistance.
When logging in to the website, you can change your username and password to something meaningful. You can also review your email address, Trailwalker and email subscription options, and renew your account.
The new system will streamline processes for walkers, walk leaders and the office.
We hope you continue to enjoy walking with us, and remember, you can undertake any of the tasks listed above by contacting the office directly.
Six days until the launch of the Day on the Heysen Trail – the Warren Bonython Memorial Walk
It’s just 6 days until we launch the Day on the Heysen Trail – the Warren Bonython Memorial Walk event.
We’re launching the event with an art installation this Sunday at Elder Park.
We’ll start taking walk registrations on Sunday, 14th April. The launch this Sunday will be at Elder Park, next to the Festival Centre in Adelaide city, at the Opening of the Walk Season event. The Opening is an event organised by Walking SA, and many bushwalking clubs, to promote the start of the hiking season, now that cooler weather is upon us. The Take a Walk Opening of the Walk Season event is from 10am to 3pm.
So come down to Elder Park to say hi and check out the art installation! It’s got a strong connection to Warren Bonython, who was renowned for wearing his bright yellow shorts.
Remember, from Sunday you can register for the section you want to walk on October 6th. Use our Walk Selector tool to review available sections. Several bushwalking clubs and schools have exclusively booked out some of the 60 sections. Registrations will close in late August.
The event registration fee is $20 per hiker, to cover logistical and insurance costs.
The walk is open to all.
Visit www.heysentrail.asn.au/wb-walk/ for more information.
Walk Selector tool released for the Day on the Heysen Trail – The Warren Bonython Memorial Walk event
Registrations for October’s Day on the Heysen Trail – The Warren Bonython Memorial Walk event open on Sunday, April 14. We’ll be launching the event in a very unique way, at the Opening of the Walk Season at Elder Park.
A Walk Selector tool is now available – you can sort through the 60 sections of the trail to determine which one to hike on the day. Visit www.heysentrail.asn.au/wb-walk to preview the 60 sections. View the individual section pages to see a map, fuller description and more photos of that section of the Heysen Trail.
Want to know more about this special event? Visit www.heysentrail.asn.au/wb-walk/
Take a Walk. You’re just two feet from some of the best places in South Australia
The Opening of the Walk Season is just a month away, on Sunday 14 April, at Elder Park in the city.
Visit the WalkingSA Facebook event page.
- Come and Try walks by various bushwalking clubs from 10am. Registration will not be necessary.
- Entertainment by Sing Australia – of which six of our FoHT members will be singing.
- A Day on the Heysen Trail – The Warren Bonython Memorial Walk will be promoted at the event with an art installation.
- Garage sale of surplus bushwalker gear in our marquee. Have something to sell? Contact the office for more info about how you can sell it on the day.
View the Take a Walk brochure.
Two environmental programs in the coming month
There are two environmental programs in the coming month.
Firstly, the Cape Jervis Coastal Community Group is having a working bee on Saturday 6 April and Sunday 7 April, removing tree guards from Lands End, which will be repurposed elsewhere along the Heysen Trail, collecting plant material and a cuttings workshop. Further information is available on the CJCCG’s website.
Secondly, there is a Cactus Kill week near Palmer, organised by the SA Murray Darling Basin NRM Board. From Monday 29 April to Friday 3 May, accommodation is available, and day-trippers are welcome. Further information.
POSTPONED: Talk on safety for people hiking in remote areas
The talk on safety for people hiking in remote areas, which was due to be held on Tuesday 12 March, has been postponed. The main speaker has been deployed to duties in Victoria. We’ll advise of the new date later.
Autumn 2013
Issue 127
March 2013
Highlights include:
- China
- New Zealand
- Snowy Mountains
- AGM Notice
Take a survey for a student: hiking the Heysen Trail
Hayley McCreath, a senior student from Woodcroft College, is researching hiking on the Heysen Trail for her SACE Research Project. Her question is “What preparations would need to be considered when walking the whole Heysen Trail?”.
Take a moment to fill in her survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M98WDB8
Answers are anonymous. The survey will take 2-7 minutes to fill in.
Hayley says, “I think that the trail is one of South Australia’s hidden gems so if you can help me to promote it through my Research Project I will be very grateful.”
Talk on safety for people hiking in remote areas
A talk on safety for people hiking in remote areas will be held on Tuesday 12 March at 7.30pm.
Hosted by WalkingSA, the guest speakers are Trevor Arnold, SES Commander North Region (including Flinders Ranges) and Manager, Technical Services, and Anthony Chan, Manager, Electric Bug.
Trevor will speak about when and why bushwalkers should carry a safety device; how the SES is alerted to and responds to an emergency; the time delay from distress signal to arrival on site, for remote areas like Parachilna; and what is the surest device to achieve the surest response in the shortest time?
Anthony Chan will speak compare devices, including looking at initial costs, recurring costs and reliability.
The talk will be at the Greening Australia Building, 5 Fitzgerald Road, Pasadena, on Tuesday 12 March at 7.30pm. Please RSVP to Walking SA via office@walkingsa.org.au or (08) 8276 5090.
Re-route of the Heysen Trail affecting Map 1.2, February 2013
View pdf map showing re-route
A minor re-route north of the Bundaleer Tank Camp Site, the trail no longer crosses the weir, and remains on the eastern side of Never Never Creek.
View all re-routes for the 2010 Northern Guidebook, 2nd Edition
Re-route of the Heysen Trail affecting Map 2.4, February 2013
View pdf map showing re-route
A new campsite has been constructed at Beetaloo Tank Camp Site, on the dirt track named Mills Road, adjacent to Beetaloo Creek. The campsite includes a small shelter with bench, primarily designed to collect rainwater. The campsite is midway between the Bowmans Hut and the Go-Cart Track campsite – 19.9km from Bowmans Hut and 20.2km from the Go-Cart Track campsite.
View all re-routes for the 2010 Northern Guidebook, 2nd Edition
New look website – works on smartphones and tablets
Our website has been refreshed and is now optimized to work on smartphones, tablets and desktop/laptop computers.
Visit our new-look website.
> NOW
The website reformats itself to display on different devices – meaning it is always easy to read and easy to use regardless of whether you are using a smartphone, like an iPhone or Android, or a tablet, like a iPad or Galaxy, or a laptop or desktop computer.
Registering for a walk on your smartphone will now be an easy task. As well as a new look, the front page has been streamlined to provide key information of interest to independent hikers, and people hiking with the Friends.
The Interactive Maps page has been upgraded so it now works natively on smartphones and tablets. The End-to-End points have also been updated and re-installed to the Interactive Map.
A new area of the website has been created featuring the Day on the Heysen Trail – the Warren Bonython Memorial Walk (Sunday 6 October 2013). This will be updated in coming months with more information, including a feature allowing people to choose the different section of the trail they could walk, and include other event information.
> SOON
Soon the registration system will be upgraded. This will allow you to log-in, making walk registration easy, and you will be able to review your walk history. The complicated PayPal payment system will be replaced by a simple NAB payment interface.
> LATER
Later, our forums and shop areas of the website will be upgraded so they too work on smartphones and tablets. Our shop will feature all the products sold in our physical shop.
Visit our new-look website now.
Public Consultation of 104km Adelaide Hills trail
The Adelaide Hills Council is seeking public feedback concerning their Draft 20 Year Trail Strategy. The vision is of a 104km core trail, with additional loops, linking Hills townships and existing trails within the council area.
The strategy builds on popular trails such as the Amy Gillett, Mawson and Heysen Trails to create greater connectivity between townships and to link popular attractions, cellar doors and market villages.
More information is available here:
- Adelaide Hills Trail Strategy
- Draft mapping document (11MB)
- Survey 5-10 mins (open to both Hills and non-Hills residents)
The consultation process ends on 15 February, 2013.
A hasty hiking escape from a bushfire. Where have you been hiking this summer?
It gets pretty hot over the summer months in South Australia. Often our members head elsewhere to cooler climates to continue hiking.
But even when it’s cooler, bushfires can still be a risk. One of our members, Jeremy, found himself hiking towards a large fire front on the Tasman Peninsula in Tasmania. Here’s a photo he has shared with us when he first noticed the fire as he came out of dense forest.
You can read more about his escape on his Notes from a Trailhead blog.
Don’t forget our Twilight walking program is underway, a two hour walk each Wednesday evening. www.heysentrail.asn.au/walks
Where have you been hiking over recent weeks? Perhaps leave a comment on our Facebook page, where this same post has been made.
Stay safe everyone!
Summer 2013
Issue 126
December 2012
Highlights include:
- Larapinta - Training and Execution
- Coast to Coast for Rett Syndrome
- Mt Rainier’s Wonderland Trail
- Simpson Desert
- Camino Inca
- Tanks a lot