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Strzelecki Bushwalking Club

menu_book picture_as_pdf bookMichael Haynes Bushwalk Inspiration Australia Victoria
Issue_21_February_2017-28

Lighthouse Walk, Wilsons PromRon Cann

Gippsland is a great place to walk, so when I took early retirement I joined my local bushwalking club. I first started bushwalking through Scouting, many years ago, and although the years between, filled with work, family and home, had not allowed me much opportunity to participate, the love of walking in the bush remained strong.

Strzelecki Bushwalking Club

Michael Haynes

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I decided that I needed people to walk with to increase the fun and for safety, and also to encourage me to walk in places that I not previously been to, or known about. A bushwalking club met all those needs. Over the years I have found myself becoming involved with Bushwalking Search and Rescue, and with Bushwalking Tracks and Conservation, both of which are organisations of Bushwalking Victoria, and with other groups such as the Friends of Baw Baw and the Grand Strzelecki Track.

Strzelecki Bushwalking Club (SBWC) began in 1991 when three friends, sitting in a small tent in pouring rain in Tasmania, thought that there must be other people “out there” who would also enjoy such things, and decided to start a club in their area when they returned home. The rest, as they say, is history. The club has about 100 members and draws its membership primarily from the Latrobe Valley in Gippsland, Victoria, but also has members living as far afield as Melbourne, Castlemaine and Geelong. Visitors and new members are always welcome on our activities or to the club nights, which are held monthly in Trafalgar.

SBWC has a very active program, with not only day, weekend and extended walks, but cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, kayaking, cycling, snorkelling and even caving. In conjunction with Parks Victoria, SBWC creates and maintains walking tracks. Naturally, SBWC activities are mainly centred

around Gippsland. Popular walking locations include Baw Baw NP, Mt Worth SP, the Strzelecki Ranges, Bunyip SP and Walhalla, but we often feature walks in other parts of Victoria, in Tasmania, NSW, central Australia, New Zealand and sometimes even further afield. Some of the excellent extended walks in Victoria I have been privileged to participate in with the club have been the Great Ocean Walk, the Great South West Walk, the Grand Strzelecki Track, the Upper Yarra Track, and sections of the Australian Alps Walking Track. I am currently making plans to walk the Hume and Hovell Track in NSW.

The club is affiliated with Bushwalking Victoria (BV), which provides assistance to clubs with such things as insurance, first aid, leadership and navigation training, and in maintaining a website with details of many walks. BV also represents bushwalkers with governments and Parks Victoria.

Monarchs Walk, Mt Erica, Baw Baw National ParkRon Cann

Bunyip State Park Ron Cann

A bushwalking club met all those needs.

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Michael Haynes was a primary school teacher in many parts of Victoria, as well as stints in England and the USA. He and his wife Heather have two sons and two grandchildren. At 68 he enjoys bushwalking, cross-country skiing and kayaking, and he finds himself regularly on the road visiting family and seeing the country. Michael is the president of the Strzelecki Bushwalking Club, and the vice-president of the Grand Strzelecki Track committee. He is a member of Bushwalking Search and Rescue, a Field Officer with Bushwalking Tracks and Conservation and a member of the Friends of Baw Baw.

Michael's photo by Hans Van Elmpt

Each year a different BV affiliated club or group of clubs organises a weekend of fellowship, featuring a variety of walks. In 2016 the Federation Walks were based in the Grampians and many SBWC members participated. I went on a walk to Hollow Mountain and Red Cave on Saturday, and to The Fortress on Sunday, both of which took us to some spectacular parts of the mountain range. Members who went on other walks reported considerable diversity in terrain and sights, and all participants were full of praise for the beauty of the area. The Saturday night dinner included a presentation by a local PV ranger talking about the opening of the first part of the Grampians Peak Trail which includes such popular spots as Halls Gap, Wonderland and Silverband Falls.

More locally, in late 2016, many SBWC members spent a weekend based in Rokeby, where the West Gippsland Bushwalking Club, based in Warragul, were our hosts for the annual Combined Gippsland Walking Clubs weekend. This weekend also gave us an opportunity to meet and socialise with walkers from other clubs, and invitations to participate in those clubs’ activities were frequently given, in the same way that other walkers are always welcome to attend any of ours. The walks during this event were all around the Bunyip State Forest, with the theme being “In the presence of giants”. This

theme was borne out by walks to giant trees, including the famous Ada Tree, and to huge rocks, such as The Four Brothers and Seven Acre Rock.

Further information can be obtained via the SBWC website.

Gavin, Chris, Gary and Michael (me) on the Crinoline, Victoria on a club walk in 2014Rachel Hammond

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