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.

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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

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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