Australia's most stress-free bushwalking area

[mikethepike]

Maybe you live in a blessed part of the continent where you can comfortably walk year round but that aside, I would have to nominate the Flinders Ranges as the safest and most comfortable place in Australia for extended bushwalking. There's plenty of rugged country but there's nothing poisonous to bite you, no ticks (nor leeches of course), no stinging trees. Plus there's good weather, good views not blocked by tall scrub or forest, ready campsites and campfires plus it's almost impossible to get lost. Yes of course it's great to walk in other places interstate with very different environments but for some peaceful hassle free walking, the Flinders must be hard to beat. Dry years and especially the absence of summer rain in the northern Flinders means that you may need to take more care about water in those years. Finally you can traipse about to your heart's content without witnessing or feeling bad about possibly spreading phytophera root rot fungi.

[taswegian]

I'd have to agree 100%.
My wife and I spent about 3 weeks moving around in there and it was fabulous.
Plenty to do and never boring.
Only 'against' was the intermittent water supply.
But I wouldn't mark it down on that.
And those colours and the sunsets/ sunrises off the peaks! Wow stuff indeed.

[Clusterpod]

Another vote for the Flinders from me and my wife.

We were there in December and did multiple walks in the park.

Oh the Pound! http://clusterpod.tumblr.com/post/70027 ... pena-pound

...although, it does get pretty nasty hot, and water is a real challenge. But you can always just carry more, right?

The Bibbulmun is also pretty year-round, though the challenge is really supply more than anything I feel.

[north-north-west]

Water issues disbar it for me. I like the Snowies - you can ramble for a long way up there without any trouble if you know the country. On track or off, plenty of water, brilliant views, easy walking, campsites galore. It's even easy to avoid people.

[Lophophaps]

The Snowy Mountains are good. Unfortunately, in summer, much of the Main Range is inundated by an exotic species Touristus overcrowdum, usually seen on very wide paths and bewailing the impossibility of crossing the Snowy River on stepping stones. Some have GPSs to tell them they are next to a sign.

The areas south and east of the Walls of Jerusalem is not bad. Mainly flat, heaps of water, hardly anyone there. However, you need to be able to navigate, and not just with a GPS. The Flinders Ranges is good, although heat and lack of water may be issues.

[nq111]

Flinders Ranges sound well worth a visit.

I'll add a vote for Fraser Island and similar sand country making for very comfortable and stress-free camping and walking. Soft ground for campsites, always a lake to swim in at the end of the day, not too hot / not too cold.

[andrewa]

??? No snakes in Flinder's Ranges?........

For this reason, I like NZ, but it's not part on Oz ( yet!).

A

[Scottyk]

Walls of Jerusalem is the best of where I have been, haven't been to the Flinders Ranges.
WOJ is one of those areas you can walk in any driection and there is somthing to see, very open and a flora that really makes you stop alot and just takes pictures (I have lots of pictures of random pencil pines!) Water all over the place. Can suffer from over crowding at the usual camp areas.

[north-north-west]

Sod the Walls, the Central Plateau is better - hardly any people, scrub's easy to avoid, plenty of wildflowers and wildlife, not too many snakes.
Nowhere's perfect, but the Plateau comes close.

The Snowy Mountains are good. Unfortunately, in summer, much of the Main Range is inundated by an exotic species Touristus overcrowdum, usually seen on very wide paths and bewailing the impossibility of crossing the Snowy River on stepping stones. Some have GPSs to tell them they are next to a sign.

Keep north of Twynam and off the tracks and it's fine. I've spent as much as ten days at a time wandering around in that area without seeing anyone.

[Giddy_up]

Flinders Ranges sound well worth a visit.

I'll add a vote for Fraser Island and similar sand country making for very comfortable and stress-free camping and walking. Soft ground for campsites, always a lake to swim in at the end of the day, not too hot / not too cold.

+1 for the coastal walks around Frazer, very easy and comfortable to do.

[Hallu]

Stress free ? For me it's the Mallee country (also called Victorian deserts). Of course avoid the heat and the flies, so don't go around summer, but otherwise it's a great place to relax, especially Wyperfeld and Murray Sunset.

[mikethepike]

I'd have to agree 100%.
My wife and I spent about 3 weeks moving around in there and it was fabulous.
Plenty to do and never boring.

I never thought I'd ever read such a thing coming from a Taswegian, taswegian. Thank you!

Sod the Walls, the Central Plateau is better - hardly any people, scrub's easy to avoid, plenty of wildflowers and wildlife, not too many snakes.
Nowhere's perfect, but the Plateau comes close.

Yes I love the Plateau and agree with you wholeheartedly NNW. The Plateau's my favorite part of Tassie - the space and your sense of immersion in it and the long views (your head often being the highest part of your surrounds) can give you a sense of freedom you don't feel on Tassie's tracks despite the latter often being the more dramatic scenically.

Water issues disbar it for me. I like the Snowies - you can ramble for a long way up there without any trouble if you know the country. On track or off, plenty of water, brilliant views, easy walking, campsites galore. It's even easy to avoid people.

The most dramatic examples that I've come across (ie read) of bushwalkers being desperate for water were a small Sydney group on the Prince of Wales Range after a long dry spell and another group on the forested ridge top section on the southern part of the AAWT! With regards to the Heysen Trail, a good number of water tanks with their own roof collection have recently been or are being installed which will take away the hassles that some walkers have had getting water. Getting water elsewhere in the Flinders can sometimes require a bit of research (and often not that easy) or lengthy diversions from the intended walk but you just have to treat it as part of the overall experience. I'm not one of those organized people who drives out and leaves a trail of water drops as to me that almost seems to defeat the purpose of the walk.

[flyfisher]

The Western lakes -Central plateau does it for me, lovely easy walking, plenty of campsites and water anywhere.

Not overcrowded and just very relaxing. Good access too.

FF

[taswegian]

I concur with comments on Plateaux but it's too close to home compared with The Flinders Ranges.
Up on top I know I'm only 1/2 day from this or that less stressful whatever, but S Australia is so far away from all that it changes (for me) the switch off mentality.
Other reason was there were just the 2 of us. That can't happen on The Plateaux, or other local lofty places.
My wife still mentions the trip too so another tick for that.

[taswegian]

I concur with comments on Plateau but it's too close to home compared with The Flinders Ranges.
Up on top I know I'm only 1/2 day from this or that less stressful whatever, but S Australia is so far away from all that it changes (for me) the switch off mentality.
Other reason was there were just the 2 of us. That can't happen on The Plateau, or other local lofty places.
My wife still mentions the trip too so another tick for that.

[beachcruiser]

Love the Flinders Ranges, must get back there soon...

[headwerkn]

Sod the Walls, the Central Plateau is better - hardly any people, scrub's easy to avoid, plenty of wildflowers and wildlife, not too many snakes.
Nowhere's perfect, but the Plateau comes close.

The Western lakes -Central plateau does it for me, lovely easy walking, plenty of campsites and water anywhere.
Not overcrowded and just very relaxing. Good access too.

Hear, hear. What I like about it most of all - other than the big fat trout in the lakes, of course - is that you feel like you're a million miles away from civilisation... but you're actually not. Nice to be able to load up the car, drive for 40 mins, walk for an hour and be in a totally different world.

I suppose the area might be stressful if you got bad weather and weren't properly prepared to ride out strong freezing winds and snow, but the same could be said of most places. Personally I feel very relaxed and carefree up there!

As for snakes... well, in three visits this summer so far we've only seen two, both were small whip snakes. On Sunday we did a complete lap of northern Julians (about 8km) through the scrub and didn't see a single one. I'm sure they're about, but you're not tripping over them every 5 minutes.

Speaking of trout... the last trip didn't disappoint.