Real Trail Talk

With a busy year for both The Long Way's Better and The Life of Py , we sat down and reminisced about the past year's adventures and what will be coming up in the future.  

Continuing on with the blank slate idea of where we would take the Bibbulmun Track in an ideal world, the journey continues from Donnelly River to Albany. We are joined by Steve Sertis from the Bibbulmun Track Foundation and Bonny from Friendly Dropbear as the hotly debated coastal section receives a major realignment including an epic finish as proposed by Mark.

In this episode we are joined by Steve Sertis from the Bibbulmun Track Foundation and recent end to ender Bonny to discuss where we would take the Bibbulmun Track if given a clean slate. Grab a map or follow along on the Bibbulmun Track website and join us as we have a fun discussion about the changes we would make and why.

This week we sit down with Melina, a World Trails Network Ambassador from Perth to discuss who the World Trails Network , what they do and what the future holds. It was a great insight into the world trails community that is developing and what to expect at the 2020 World Trails Conference in Nepal. For more information visit their website a visit ( https://worldtrailsnetwork.org/ )

To celebrate our 50th episode we asked you, the listeners, to send in your questions that we would try our best to answer. We had some fun in the process and thank you to everyone who sent in something. Here's to our first 50 episodes and to continuing on with the next 50 episodes. 

With Western Australia being home to some spectacular coastal walking, we spend this episode talking about some of the best coastal walking along the south east part of WA. With walks in Cape Arid NP , Cape Le Grand NP and Esperance , we discuss what makes this area so special. In the second half of the episode Donovan provides his insight into his visits to Fitzgerald River National Park that we...

Part 2 of our NSW series of overnight hikes, this episode we are talking about The Long Way's Better's adventure at Grose Valley in the Blue Mountains. A challenging hike, you descend down into the valley where you follow the Grose River and camp the night before heading up some steep terrain to the finishing point. 

This week we are joined by Alissa for the first of a two part NSW special discussing the Royal Coast Track , located in Royal National Park, just south of Sydney.

We are pleased to welcome back Michelle Ryan from Walkingtwobytwo to discuss Caminos from around the world, what they are, what defines them, the experience of walking a Camino and who hikes them.

Joined by Kerstin Stender, former maintenance volunteer in this area and current Unit Coordinator for the Trails and Recreation Department of Parks and Wildlife, we discuss the Denmark to Albany section of the Bibbulmun Track. The final section of the 1000km track, enjoy the coastal finish into the Southern Terminus with plenty of great views and nice beaches. Stay tuned for more Bibbulmun Track c...

This week we are joined by Bonny from Friendly Drop Bear to discuss the extensive list of Shire of Kalamunda Walks that have been mapped out for our hiking pleasure in Perth. We discuss the good, the bad and the interesting from these collection of hikes located on the Darling Scarp.

With new hiking trails in Western Australia few and far between, we were excited to check out the recently opened Wiilman Bilya Trail located in Wellington National Park just near Collie. Opened in January 2019, this 20km one way trail will eventually connect up and form a loop trail around Collie so we thought we would head out to see what it was like. To hear all about our adventures and what to...

In this episode we have a chat about what it's like adding to and maintaining both our websites, social media interactions, the process of going from planning to a finished trail experience, what we've learned over the years, a philosophical deep dive on why we do it and what's in store for the future. If you're interested in starting a hiking blog or any other kind of blog, or even if you're just...

This week we are joined by Caris to discuss the Bay of Fires Lodge Walk , a four day trek offered by the Tasmanian Walking Company. Taking in the picturesque coastline of North East Tasmania, explore pristine beaches, rocky headlands and stay at the famous Bay of Fires Lodge. Ending Music - Layla as performed by Jessie Holden. Live for one night only at the Bay of Fires Lodge

While we both love the Albany region for the plethora of lovely hikes that exists there, we've always thought the area has so much potential so for this episode we've brought in Bonny from The Friendly Drop Bear to discuss where we think there are opportunities to expand on the great hiking within the greater Albany area. 

Alissa once again joins us in the studio to discuss the various adventures that The Long Way's Better have had over the years around the coastal town of Kalbarri . A popular holiday destination 6.5 hours north of Perth, there are a range of hiking options available from coastal walks to exploring the inland gorge systems. 

As a special treat we kept Steve Sertis from the Bibbulmun Track Foundation in the studio to ask him some questions about the new Helena Campsite that is currently under construction and is due for completion around June 2019. 

Continuing on our Bibbulmun Track journey, we are joined by Steve Sertis from the Bibbulmun Track Foundation to discuss the Walpole to Denmark section. Often described as one of the best town to town sections on the track, both Donovan and Steve talk about their experiences and the many great sites you can see along the way.

In this episode we discuss the wide variety of day hikes that we've both covered in Tasmania . With hundreds of walks to explore around the island we limited ourselves to walks we've experienced ourselves and between us we've covered most of the "greatest hits". Ranging from Southwest National Park to Mount Field National Park to Cradle Mountain and Freycinet National Park, this is a great listen...

In this episode we talk about Donovan's adventures on the Wilsons Promontory Southern Circuit in Victoria with his friend Zach. This four day hike just outside of Melbourne is a popular destination and as we discuss, a very lovely coastal walk worthy of the popularity. Enjoy hearing about the misadventures of young Zach and also what kind of scenery you can expect from this part of Australia.

To celebrate International Women's Day Alissa takes over hosting duties to bring together a round-table of women who hike to discuss a range of issues ranging from their favourite hiking moments, hiking solo as a female, women's hiking gear, the term "women hikers", group hikes and hygiene on the trail. A big thank you to Michelle (WalkingTwoByTwo), Bonny (Friendly Drop Bear) and Louise for joinin...

Our long awaited episode on Bushfires and Prescribed Burns is finally here and to help us to discuss the topic is Piers Verstagen from the Conservation Council of Western Australia and Hannah Etchells, a PhD student from UWA studying Fire Ecology in the South West of WA. The aim of this discussion is to get people talking about fire management, the different reasons behind prescribed burns and bus...

In this episode we are joined once again by Alissa to discuss the four day hike to Frenchmans Cap in beautiful Tasmania as experienced by The Long Way's Better. Taking in one of the most picturesque landscapes in Australia, this stunning hike is a challenging but rewarding experience that should be on the "to-hike" list for every avid hiker. 

We are joined once again by Ben Dineen from Going Solo to discuss the Northcliffe to Walpole section of the Bibbulmun Track. Home to the infamous Pingerup Plains, this section is marketed as one of the best wilderness experiences of the trail. Enjoy some lively conversation in this episode about what merits that title along with Ben and Donovan's experiences in this section.

In our last episode of 2018 we sit down to have a rundown of what we both did during 2018 in what was a pretty crazy year for both of us. Going through season by season we explain where we were, what we were doing and how we enjoyed that particular place. Around the 50 minute mark things get a bit philosophical as we discuss the whys of all our adventures and we finish with a few questions sent in...