Carrington Road Store End of an Era. The Wilderness Shop is to close down. It is with some regret that Neil and Mary Blundy, owners of The Wilderness Shop in Box Hill, announce the impending closure of the business. For 43 years the Wilderness Shop has been servicing the needs of outdoor enthusiasts in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Starting in modest premises in Carrington Road in 1980 before moving to our current address in Whitehorse Road in 1996, the store has been a much loved institution, in particular for bushwalkers of all types. Neil and Mary wish to thank our customers, staff and supp ..read more

GEAR REVIEW OUTDOOR RESEARCH POINT N CHUTE GLOVES - A big thumbs up As a lover of snow, tour guide at Mt Buller and exuberant skier I needed a pair of gloves to handle as much exposure as I can. Frosty winds, flying falls, snowball fights, texts and phone calls. Would the premium price of the Point N Chute gloves deliver the goods. This review was written after 6 days of work at Mount Buller and over a week of recreational endeavours. I spend a lot of my workday standing around in the cold or skiing quite gently while my recreational days are often spent buried in a snow ..read more

THE BENEFITS OF BUSHWALKING WITH TREKKING POLES You’d be mad not to use hiking poles. Walking poles help uphill and downhill, take some pressure off your knees and are almost essential with the river crossings. You might ask: “One or two?” Two. You get much better balance and drive that way. So, what are the pros and cons of trekking poles? By using trekking poles you reduce the load on your feet, legs and back by 15 to 20 per cent. The effect is most noticeable going downhill, but when using poles going uphill you get a lot more drive and propulsion. On flat ground, trekk ..read more

Finding a rock-climbing shoe can be a very confusing task. There are lace ups, Velcro shoes, shoes with slingshot heels, downturned, flat and even some with patents on their fancy lacing systems! Firstly try to work out what you would like the shoe to do. Are you after all day comfort, do you want to stand on 5 cent edges, scum on volumes in the gym? Once you have worked this out you can start to narrow down your choices. Ultimately in the end it will come down to fit and how the shoe feels on your foot.  For correct fit La Spotiva suggest about 1-2 sizes smaller than your street shoes f ..read more

On the boundary between Victoria and NSW lies a coastal wilderness zone with amazing scenery and a sense of remoteness.  While the 58 km walk can be done in three long days, we decided to take our time to soak it all up. The walking is generally not too steep, but the soft sand and exposure to sun and wind make walking a little strenuous sometimes. The best time to walk is definitely in spring as fresh water is more available and the temperature is more pleasant. Having left a car at the Wonboyn area, we made our way back to Mallacoota and had one last meal at the local bakery, before tak ..read more

To mark the end of our Uni degrees, a few adventurous companions and I headed off on an epic journey through the regularly passed, but seldom explored, Little River Gorge. Located in East Gippsland, The Little River confluences with the Snowy a few kilometres downstream of McKillop’s Bridge. The multi-day trip is a combination of outstanding remote canyoning, rock hopping and hiking through the deepest gorge in Victoria. The only way out once you’re in the gorge is to keep going, with little chance of escape up the sides, as the walls of the gorge are hundreds of metres high. The group met at ..read more

Last Autumn, the smoke from numerous burn-off operations across the state, left a thick haze which shrouded the upper Jamieson River valley. In the heat we had followed an overgrown logging road up a steep ridge, but as we gained height the ridge became more rocky and a faint foot-track lead us up to the recently burnt snowgum forest which marks the final ascent to Mt McDonald. Faint signs of regrowth were evident in the twisted limbs of the gums. Underfoot, the red shale crumbled, offering little support for the grasses and alpine herbs. The track soon disappeared amid fallen logs, and for th ..read more

We drove up on the Thursday night to camp at Sheepyard Flat on the Howqua River. Friday morning we continued over Eight Mile Gap and Refrigerator Gap to the gate on Sixteen Mile Road. From here it was a five minute walk to the snowline where we were able to don skis and ski to Bluff Hut for a mid-morning break.  The track up to Bluff hut is a steady climb, and as it had not snowed for a while, the snow had melted to the same shape as the heavily rutted four wheel drive track underneath it. From Bluff Hut it was relatively obvious that there had not been a lot of people in the area for a ..read more

Back in the dark ages of traditional climbing, generations of climbers had taken great pride and placed great reliance on their crack climbing prowess to achieve the heights and searing lines of their dreams. Images of the spectacularly famous crack lines of Yosemite Valley and Utah adorn the walls of practically every establishment connected with climbing and instantly spring to mind as the quintessential essence of rock climbing. Within the modern era of rock climbing, however, the fine art of traditional crack climbing has become much maligned, and to a large extent avoided like the plague ..read more

After arriving in Kathmandu, we jumped on a hairy 10 hour bus ride to Bhaktapur (1800m) and then onto Dhunche (1950m) where we began our trek up the Langtang National Park. The terrain was amazing, the agriculture magnificent. The Nepalese use every land space possible to farm and grow wheat, corn and potatoes. Virtually isolated, the people live among cows and yaks. On the eve of the trek, I was early to bed, with dogs barking everywhere and with what sounded like squirrels running around on the roof under a full moon. Early to rise the next morning, we headed up and down hills for what seeme ..read more