2026 Great South West Walk
Tim
On the downhill slope so to speak with just 7 days to go before I start my journey on the Great South West Walk in Victoria. Apart from continuing fitness and pack training, the past week has been spent on some final organisational details organising my hotel stays in Portland and thinking through some final equipment choices. This week in the lead in will be busy finalising food and doing a test pack of everything making sure I have what I need.
In 2017-18 prior to doing the Bibbulmun Track in Western Australia I spent 18 months testing my physical abilities to work out what I was capable of as far as on-trail walking speed in a variety of terrain as well as how far I could push my body. For me GSWW will be a whole new ball game and while I have been improving my fitness over the past 11 months post hip replacement and being happy where I am at physically, this walk will be a test on how I stack up. My walking speed has improved dramatically over the past few months but I know from personal experience that when I walk solo, I do walk slower than when we walk as a couple.
I have certainly scaled back the distances I will be covering on a daily basis on this trip and wont’ be doing the extremes that I used to do in the past, at least until I know exactly what I can handle. I have allowed additional rest days during the walk as well as an additional day prior to starting to ensure I am fully rested prior to heading off on Sunday 19 April.
For me this will be the longest walk I have done for a number of years and apart from the pre trip nerves, I am looking forward to getting back out bush again.
On the downhill slope so to speak with just 7 days to go before I start my journey on the Great South West Walk in Victoria. Apart from continuing fitness and pack training, the past week has been spent on some final organisational details organising my hotel stays in Portland and thinking through some final […]