During autumn and early winter, the days are cooling a little but there is still plenty of daylight, so why not join us for a pleasant outing in the bush somewhere. Where we go will as always depend on any critical areas of concern and the weather at the time. A good chance to explore parts of the PCT at a slower pace and be close to nature… very close in fact as you will be picking it up after clearing works.

So, being the shortest day of the year, we don’t want a particularly long walk. To get to the top requires almost a 1000m ascent in just a tad over 3 klicks. So, a pretty solid uphill trip. Given the time of year the weather will probably be a 50/50 proposition. The advantage of this walk though is that most of the ascent is reasonably sheltered in the event we cop some of those nasty cold blustery west or south west winds. And once you get to the top of the escarpment it’s not far at all to the actual trig. There are a couple of climby bits and one or two spots with a handline which can add to the interest. As usual I won’t bother if the weather is really too bad. Hopefully we’ll get a decent day as the views from the top are pretty good.

Mt Duncan, returning to our cars via the Hales Spur.

From the carpark we walk up the road to the Mt Duncan sign then follow this track up Mt Duncan. From the top of Mt Duncan we connect to the Hales Spur Track and descend a different way off Mt Duncan. I have allowed 5 hours return, however it has never taken that long. As always bring a good quality rain jacket, good hiking boots, a warm top or thermals, water and snacks. Probably a good idea to have some food before we start walking. 

If you regularly venture out into the bush, particularly off-track, you should know how to navigate using a map and compass. In this skills development day we’ll concentrate on acquiring and developing navigation knowledge and skills.

The key areas to be addressed are:

• Reading a map (grid references, grid lines, map scale, contours and other features).
• The differences between True North, Grid North and Magnetic North.
• Taking a bearing from a map (grid bearing) and avoiding the various “traps”.
• Converting a grid bearing to a magnetic bearing.
• Estimating distance to an objective.
• Estimating movement time in open and dense country.
• Moving on a bearing to a selected objective, using the principle of "aiming off".

We’ll cover the basic theory in the first hour in one of the BBQ shelters near the Visitor Centre in Narawntapu National Park. We’ll then spend about 3-4 hours moving on compass bearings from point to point, reading the ground and estimating distance and time.

I’ve set a limit of 6 other participants (with a waiting list of 2) so that everyone will get plenty of practice in navigating for and leading the group – repetition is king when it comes to embedding and making navigation skills automatic. I’ve also chosen Narawntapu because it’s relatively quick and easy to get to (especially for me) and offers a mix of open, forested, flat and hilly country – perfect for what we want to do.

Equipment: Bring a daypack, notebook, pen/pencil and a baseplate compass. If you don’t have your own compass see if you can arrange to borrow one from another club member. If you want to buy one I’d recommend one of the basic Silva or Suunto compasses such as the Silva Field MS or Suunto A-10 SH – these sell for about $40-$50. If you have a copy of the old Asbestos Range National Park map please bring that along (I’m not aware that an updated “Narawntapu National Park Map” was ever produced). Alternative useful maps are the Port Sorell 1: 25 000 and Dazzler 1:50 000 maps. If you don’t have any of these I’ll provide some paper maps.

Transport: We’ll organise carpooling when we know who is coming.

This walk always provides a good winter leg stretch. After a warm-up across the paddocks, there is a steep climb up the fire-trail which is then rewarded with a gentle meander down to the coastline. All in all, a great way to keep warm on a cold, winter's day.

This is a multi-day car camping trip and is part of A to Z camping in Tassie. Members are welcome to come for just a walk or stay one night. C = Caveside where on the Friday we will walk to Westmorland Falls and then camp the night at the campground at the wet caves (toilets only). Saturday we will move camp to D = Deloraine Caravan Park and do two walks along the river and stay the night at the caravan park. (Maybe tea at the pub too.) Sunday night we will stay at the E = Egmont Reserve. 

A lovely coastal walk for winter, hopefully avoiding any wet and icy weather for the day. We’ll start at the visitors centre at Springlawn in Narawntapu NP and then head along the track towards Archers Knob. If the group wishes to detour up Archers Knob for any views this would maybe add an extra hour to the day.  Once at the eastern end of Bakers Beach, we’ll head up and around Little Badger Head down into Copper Cove and then around Badger Head and into Badger Beach for lunch.  We'll then retrace our steps back to Bakers Beach after lunch. The whole walk is around 23km, with a few short hilly sections around the headlands and a bit of beach walking. 

This will be an easy day out mainly for taking photos of Upper and Middle Quaile Falls and then a drive and very short walk to Sunshine Hut. 

I have only walked up this track a short way but have read that it has not been maintained recently so there are some tricky sections with trees down and land slips. It follows Andersons Creek and there are several falls to check out on the way. It is not a long walk, about 4 hours, but worth an explore. This walk would be a good winter walk with hopefully some water over the falls but not too much that the creek is flooded.

Mt Pearse is situated just south of Waratah, a few km off the highway when travelling south.

It’s a few years since I have climbed it but it should be a fairly straight forward walk via the northern ridge. Expect scrub and some inclement weather at this time of the year.

Join us for an entertaining talk by Chris on twenty years of exploring what the Wilmot River has to offer, and why she keeps going back!

A beach walk in winter can be a somewhat more attractive proposition than a potentially freezing and miserable day going up some wretched mountain. Methinks. Unless I’ve got the tides wrong and we all get washed out to sea. Anyway, being a beach walk it means no uphill which is a bonus. We will have to do a little bit of a car shuttle at the start as this will be a one-way trip. In half decent weather this is quite a pleasant and relaxing walk of about 12 klicks or so. Just the ticket for a day out in winter.

As I haven't been to Paddys Lake for over 30 years, I thought it was time for a revisit.  We will drive to Loongana, onto Taylors Flats and walk up the Brookes Track. It will be a steep climb of about 750 m elevation over 4 km. After having lunch at the lake we will return via the same route.

Come and help celebrate twenty years of walking the Wilmot River with our group. We will decide on the day what we will do depending on the weather and group. My first trip up the Wilmot River was led by Helen Faber from River Road side on the 23/7/2005. It was a misty, foggy, damp day and we met up with Fred Groenier as he crossed from the East Bank.  It was well before the tracks of today and I hope you will join me for this memorable occasion. A celebration drink will follow at the Forth Pub after!  

This is a glorious walk through the ever-changing terrain. The initial part of the walk is through a beautiful forest of tree ferns and moss with a babbling brook to add to the atmosphere. Once leaving the Ferndene area we enter some uphill open forest which continues until once again we enter more rainforest type vegetation. Depending on the group once the saddle is reached, we may take a short walk up to Mt Dial. This walk consists of lots of ups and then lots of downs on our return journey. Please bring a rain jacket, water and food as we will be away for several hours.

Meander Falls is a large waterfall in the upper reaches of the Meander River, located at over 1000 metres above sea level and the total fall drop is about 130 metres. The walk is a little over 10 kilometres return, with the track rising around 500 metres and whilst it's relatively easy to follow there are plenty of tree roots and the occasional slippery patch to keep you alert.

My reasoning for visiting the falls in the middle of winter is because they are one of the few larger falls, which if it's cold enough and there's not too much rainfall then the falls freeze. To stand in front of a frozen waterfall that is normally turbulent is a sight we rarely experience.

Obviously serious winter clothing is required and we normally enjoy lunch at or near the base of the falls.

As winter is with us the working bees will more than likely be closer to the coast, especially with shorter daylight hours. Come join us for an outing, with some gentle exercise along the way.

Starting at Rocky Cape carpark we will take the Sisters Hills Traverse inland following a counter- clockwise loop. Climbing Tinkers Lookout along the way. Lunch will be at Anniversary Bay. And then we will go back along the beach to Cathedral Rocks and up the Blandfordia Circuit Track to the carpark. Should be a walk of around 6 hours. It will all be along either track or beach.

More than 30 million Vietnamese can't be wrong – handle-bar height gives you the best view of a vibrant Vietnam. The cycling trip took Craig through unique country landscapes, rice paddies, small villages, bustling cities and beside seas dotted with islands.

This is always a good winter walk. It provides a lovely, sheltered walk through the forest following the creek up to the plateau. If it is fine we have the option of climbing Adams Peak.

This is a club training day for new members, 'prospectives', regardless of their level of experience. It will be focussed at improving members' bushwalking skills and knowledge about the club. The day will cover a range of topics indoors in the morning followed in the afternoon by series of training exercises outdoors. Feel free to bring along any questions about bushwalking or the club. Robin has about 2,000 days experience on one-day and extended trips in the outdoors, many in a leadership role.

Attending a training day is part of the requirements to become a senior member of the club. Participants should have joined the club before they attend. Register via the members' trip registration page on the club website. The day will start at 9:15 am at Apex House, Ulverstone and finish at the Dial Range, near Penguin, about 5 pm.

Participants will be expected to have read the Guide to Bushwalking for Prospective members. This document includes information about the club as well as bushwalking more generally. More information will be sent to people after they have registered.

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After a coffee at the shop we'll head to the Guide Dam. We will then drive the short distance turning down Eighteen Mile road at Hampshire to the carpark at the Guide Dam. Inland Fisheries Service have put an approximately 3km return track through the lovely myrtle forest overlooking the dam. A couple of steep pinches over tiny creeks with well benched steps to help. Come and join me for this adventure followed by a look at a couple of waterfalls in the area. The falls are all close to the road but quite spectacular. Last year we headed to Guide Falls under cover for lunch to dodge the showers and we could probably do the same this year too. If the weather is fine we might visit the Guide Dam last and have our lunch there.

From the meeting point we will make our way along Dial Road to a small parking area near Keddies Creek. It is pleasant walk mostly following the old logging tramway which is part of our Penguin Cradle Trail. Please ensure you have some lunch, water, rain jacket and sun protection with you. Good walking boots/shoes will also be necessary as there is a creek crossing and a possibility of muddy sections along the way. The Tramway is part of Tasmanian logging/mining history, and some artefacts can be seen. Please note that it is be a return trip.

There are three un-named lakes between Higgs Track and Whiteleys Hut which I have enjoyed visiting. After Lady Lake Hut we will continue to walk towards Lake Nameless, turning off to walk off-track at the high point. The walk off-track is mostly low alpine scrub but I can't guarantee the occasional encounter with a scoparia bush. 

As winter is with us the working bees will more than likely be closer to the coast, especially with shorter daylight hours. Come join us for an outing, with some gentle exercise along the way.

A bike ride from Railton up to Sheffield and return. Suitable for MTB or gravel bikes. Being a rail trail it's not a demanding ride as far as bike rides go. Railton is at about 60m ASL whilst Sheffield is at 280m, so that's about 200m ascent over 13km or so. The return from Sheffield is mostly downhill - gotta like that!  The whole trip is in the order of 4 hours so not a long one. The plan will be to ride up to Sheffield, have morning tea/brunch there and cruise back down to Railton. Anyone who wishes can ride "Badgers Run" on the way back. This is a beginner-graded little section of the Wild Mersey MTB Trail network. We did this the last time and it's quite straightforward and fun. Totally optional though. 

Reviews and Members extended or favourite trip images. 

Meet Ottos Grotto Ulverstone at 9.30am. A good leg stretch for a couple of hours before settling into the River Arms Hotel for lunch at 12.30pm!

This walk is one of my favourite circuits in the Meander Forest Reserve. It is a delightful walk that has the lot: beautiful rainforest, creeks, waterfalls, spectacular sandstone formations, scree and a river. There is a fairly large scree field which takes about 50 minutes to cross so potential walkers must be comfortable on this sort of terrain. 

From the meeting pointwe walk up the road to the Mt Duncan sign. We ascend Mt Duncan and, on our return, instead of retracing our steps exactly, we will take the Tall Trees track back to our cars. You can expect ups and downs on this trip so wear good walking boots. Also bring rain gear, water and food as we will be walking for 3ish hours (depending on the fitness level of the group).

Well I decided to try again putting this walk on as it had to be cancelled due to the Deer Cull program. The plan is to walk into Lake Fergus and set up camp, then head off with day packs to the hill known as Great Pine Tier South. After climbing this we will return to camp and enjoy the evening near the lake. Anyone who wants to go fishing instead of walking are most welcome. Freshly caught fish sounds good to me. Next day we will walk out and drive the short distance towards Smiths Top. Here is a short walk to the top over rough country. Please feel free to contact me about the walk. The terrain will be half on-track and half off-track, rough walking.

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I normally do this walk differently, it is usually up to Mt Duncan summit first, however, it is good to change things up. We will meet at the Mt Gnomon carpark at 12 noon and walk the road to the first Mt Duncan sign then we veer off the Mt Duncan track at the 2^nd sign. This walk is up and down so good walking boots are essential.  If you have walking poles, it would be wise to bring them along. Please remember to bring rain jacket, water, food, and sunscreen. Long pants or shorts with gaiters is advised as I expect that the track will be overgrown in some sections. 

I tried this walk last year, but the weather stopped us from proceeding. The plan is to walk into the Lake McRae area and spend a few nights exploring the Hydro hut, the old Commonwealth Creek mines, the Razorback Falls and a few other bits of history in the area. We will follow the Overland Track, then head east just past the Lake Will turnoff. From this point it is all off -rack and we may encounter scrub and rough country. We will camp near the Hydro hut and do a day walk the next day exploring those interesting features. The third day we will walk out. If you would like to come on this adventure please contact me. 

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Rural Rides has become an annual event, this being the fifth consecutive year I’ve run the trip and hopefully it will be as successful as the others. Some of the highlights are -- three rides on quiet sealed back roads through our spectacular rural countryside (52km, 75km & 45km), lunch at the Raspberry Farm, two relaxing nights at Quamby Corner, one evening meal at a pub and a guaranteed fun time. Accommodation options range from tenting to cabin hire and if you intend going you need to book your own. You are welcome to join us for any combination of days that suits you. Just about any bike will do; touring bike, road bike, mountain bike, ebike or gravel bike.

Mt Moriah is in the Walls of Jerusalem and is overlooking Lake Ball. The plan is to walk into the Walls and set up camp, before heading off to the top of Mt Moriah. There is a bit of scrambling and scrub to gain the top, but only for a short distance. I have not climbed this hill since my first ever walk with the club as one of my qualifying walks at the age of 17. So it is about time I returned. Please contact me if you are interested in this walk.