279-The Long Way South
Show notes
In today’s episode, episode 279, we talk with Hannah James about her recent 5,000km journey down the east coast of Australia – a journey that came to be known as The Long Way South. This is one hell of a story so strap yourselves in!
Podcast Overview
- Podcast introduction
- Episode introduction (time index 0:01:38)
- Body of episode
- Intro to Hannah James (time index 0:02:2:26)
- Now let’s talk about your trip which came to be known as “The Long Way South” (time index 0:05:36)
- How did you decide you were going to walk the National Trail (formerly the Bicentennial National Trail)?
- What were your goals for this trip?
- Tell us a bit about the Black Dog Institute and your fund raising endeavours
- What was your planning process prior to starting? (time index 0:08:54)
- General Logistics
- Average distances
- around 38-39km per day
- Physical preparation prior the the hike
- Food resupplies
- Options
- Water
- Cattle troughs!
- Filter
- Gear choices
- A Drone – for checking out water sources!
- Expected timeframe
- Left Cooktown (Qld) 6 May 2023 and arrived Healesville (Vic) 18 November 2023
- 196 days in total
- 120 days on-trail
- 196 days in total
- Left Cooktown (Qld) 6 May 2023 and arrived Healesville (Vic) 18 November 2023
- Average distances
- General Logistics
- Your original plan was to walk the National Trail, but this plan changed (time index 0:21:15)
- Why was that and what did you end up doing?
- What was the impact on the planning process with such a change?
- Pack base weight
- You also did a side trips as well. What were they? (time index 0:21:15)
- K’Gari
- Any others?
- Total distance 4,700km with more to finish
- Describe a typical day on-trail for us (time index 0:31:52)
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- Getting up through to going to bed
- Night hiking
- Camping versus hotels
- Phone signal
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- Highlights of this trip (time index 0:37:42)
- People, scenery, wildlife, brumbies, etc
- Things that don’t go to plan (time index 0:37:42)
- What didn’t go right on this trip?
- Failing water filter early on
- Illness/injury
- Pigs
- Other issues?
- What didn’t go right on this trip?
- Any epic gear fails on this trip? (time index 0:43:27)
- Replaced the sleeping mat
- Due to weight loss, the pack wasn’t comfortable
- After walking nearly 5,000km, what impacts did this have on your body? (time index 0:43:27)
- Positives/negatives
- How were your people interactions? (time index 0:46:18)
- Footwear (time index 0:48:05)
- Including Crocs!
- Many snake interactions?
- Not many
- How did you cope with such extended periods in your own head?
- What advice would you give to people looking to undertake an epic journey of this magnitude? (time index 0:52:28)
- Final questions
- So, what’s your next planned hiking adventure? (time index 0:16:02)
- Guidance for others?
- Planning is the key
- Test out your food
- Research your gear
- Find out what works for you
- Listen to your body
- Final thoughts – Gill and Tim wrap (time index 0:55:17)
Close (time index 1:11:13)
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Hannah James
Hannah James
Fundraising page
Go to the fundraising page for the black Dog institute HERE
Hannah's Instagram details
https://www.instagram.com/the.long.way.south/
Cross Cut Saw looking back at the Viking Wilderness in the Australian Alps
(image by Hannah James)
Cooloola Great Walk
(image by Hannah James)
Cooloola Sandpatch. When I first saw this image from Hannahs trip I had a different scale in mind. I pictured this being a human scale landscape. If you look really closely there is a human in this image, but can you find them?
(image by Hannah James)
Kroombit Tops
(image by Hannah James)
Trip Map. There are a couple of gaps still to complete but Hannah still managed to complete around 4,700km
(image by Hannah James)