Australian Hiker

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Due to the amount of travelling I’ve (we’ve) done over the years, packing has become an art form. Mind you it’s not pretty as I’m more a ‘stuff it’ type of packer and won’t win any awards for folding, but hey it works!

Before any trip I always pack my hiking pack to confirm I have everything and that it fits. I have been known on occasion to downsize rather than carry a half empty pack. The sheer joy of carrying a small pack cannot be under estimated and on the Three Capes Track in Tasmania due to not needing a tent or sleeping pad, I managed to downsize to a 33 litre pack. Yesterday’s trial pack, including 3 litres of water, and four days of food totalled 16.05 kg. My preferred (arbitrary) maximum weight is 17.5 kg as it feels ‘right’ given the lightweight pack I use with the comfortable limit for an extended period, based purely on the amount of shoulder strap padding.

I have seen many hikers travel interstate on planes with only their hiking packs and even on the occasions that people use the rare plastic wrapping machines you see in some international airports, I still think that is too much of a risk so prefer to use a 120 litre duffle bag to keep everything safe. It sounds strange given my pack is only 55 litres in size but I just find anything smaller doesn’t work.

The other benefit of using a duffle bag is that I will pull my pack apart and using my packing list, will go over the gear one final time to make sure nothing was left behind. This means I have today and tomorrow to make any last minute purchases should I need. One thing that is worth mentioning is it is a requirement in Australia (and for overseas flights) that all rechargeable batteries in electronics (e.g. GPS, satellite communicator, power banks, and headlamp) all need to go in my lightweight carry-on, so keep that in mind.

Given Gill will be picking me up at the end of this trip, I will post my duffle bag and lightweight travel pack back home from Port Augusta before heading to the Northern Trailhead on Wednesday morning.