A Day on the Heysen Trail: the Warren Bonython Memorial Walk

Warren Bonython AO, died in April of this year. He was a great believer in challenging himself in the outdoors: walking the Simpson Desert, walking Lake Eyre and walking the length of the Flinders Ranges.

His exploits inspired generations of bushwalkers and the walking community of South Australia plans to honour his memory with our own challenge – walking the entire length of the Heysen Trail on the one day. The October Long Weekend, Sunday 6th 2013, has been chosen as the Day on the Heysen Trail: the Warren Bonython Memorial Walk.

The trail will be divided into 60 sections, between 16 and 30km long, with experienced leaders from South Australia’s bushwalking community. Participants will be able to book directly on to a section via the Friends of Heysen Trail web site, from May 2013.

More details will be made available in 2013.

The walk will be open to all bushwalkers, and schools with outdoor programs. The first step is to appoint leaders for each section. One organiser for each section will be responsible for the participants on their walk, booking any buses if required and dealing with local logistics. The coordinating committee will provide detailed notes and instructions to help each section organiser.

UPDATE 15/11/12: Extra walk leaders will be needed in a ratio of one walk leader for each 15 participants on the day. So if the walking community of South Australia is to meet this challenge in true Bonython style we need all of our experienced walkers and organisers to put up their hands. The Heysen Office is collecting a list of interested walk leaders and walking groups, preferably with email addresses for future information. A list of the 60 sections will be circulated and leaders allocated in the next few months.