Hello Bushwalk Magazine readers, my name is Mark and I’m the one behind the hiking blog The Life of Py. Some of you may have come across the website if you’ve been searching Google for a hike in Western Australia, Tasmania or the Northern Territory. It’s been ten years since I started the website, and things have certainly changed a lot over the years, from the old black background and sub-par photography, to the image focused layout it has now. With over 400 trails on the site, it’s quite daunting thinking about the time and effort I’ve spent putting it all together.

One of the main reasons I had for starting the website was the lack of information on trails in Western Australia at the time. I could usually find the basic information about where a trail started and how long it was, with maybe one or two photos, but that didn’t tell me what to expect in terms of trail experience, and if it was worth the travel time. One such example was the Bald Head Walk Trail, now one of the most popular hikes in Western Australia, but back when I first heard about it in 2015, there was only one website with any information about it. One image on that site that caught my attention, and from that I discovered an amazing hike that you can read all about on page 36. Over the years I’ve tried to be honest with my trail reviews, adjusting my expectations for when I’m visiting out of season or the landscape has just been affected by fire, and the feedback I’ve received has reflected that I’ve been relatively on the mark.

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Through the website I’ve been fortunate enough to connect with many great people in the hiking community, seeing them explore new trails, and providing inspiration for me about new places to visit. One person, Donovan from The Long Ways Better, is now a good friend, and we started the Real Trail Talk podcast as a means to discuss our love for trails, and also catch up for a glass or two of wine every couple of weeks (less often in recent years).

I’ve said many times over the years that the website has been a great catalyst for me to explore new trails, visit new places, and get out of my comfort zone. If you’d have shown me before the website started all the great places I’ve visited in the last ten years, I don’t think I’d have believed it. It’s also been a gateway to many other hobbies like mountain biking and snorkelling, plus many more that have enriched my love of hiking and provided a deeper appreciation of the natural world. I used to go hiking and look at the flora in terms

of “pretty white flower” or “nice yellow flower” but as the years have progressed, I’ve come to understand that Western Australia is one of the richest places in the world for biodiversity. Wildflower identification and cataloguing has become part of the hiking experience now, and I love discovering new species I haven’t seen before. That has recently expanded into bird watching, and thanks to those two endeavours, I now hike a lot slower than I used to, much to the annoyance of everyone I hike with.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to experience some of the best scenery that Australia has to offer, seeing locations like the botanically rich Fitzgerald River National Park, the deep gorges of Karijini, the wilderness of the South Coast Track in Tasmania, swimming with Whale Sharks at Ningaloo Reef, and completing both long-distance trails in WA, the Bibbulmun Track and Munda Biddi Trail. Even after ten years, I’m still scratching the surface of what’s out there, with entire

Katherine Gorge, Nitmiluk National Park

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Mark lives near Fremantle in Western Australia, enjoys hiking, cycling, snorkeling and photography. He shares his adventures on his website The Life of Py, and you can also find him on Facebook and Instagram.

states unexplored, such as New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, along with plenty I still want to visit in Tasmania. Australia is a big place, and we are lucky to have some of the best natural beauty in the world, offering up a diversity of landscapes, from deserts, to towering forests, to mountain ranges.

Finding the time is the biggest challenge, as I have to juggle full-time work with other life commitments, updating the website with new posts, along with writing a couple of walking guidebooks through Woodslane Press in the last couple of years. Having a well-known publisher approach me to write some guidebooks for WA was a great feeling, and the result of two years of hard work

behind the scenes was two new guidebooks showcasing the Best Walks of South West WA, and the Best Walks of South Coast WA. There might be a few more on the way, so watch this space.

With so many trails to explore, both around Australia and the world, I don’t think I’ll be stopping anytime soon. I’ve developed a great love of hiking, cycling and snorkelling, and I don’t see that flame burning out. At the time of writing, I still have over forty trails in the backlog, ready to be shared with the world, where I hope they continue to be useful for people planning their next trail adventure. Keep exploring, and if you’ve found the website useful over the years, I’d love to hear from you.

Forest Red-tailed Black Cockatoo

Mark in Weano Gorge, Karijini National Park

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