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For some time, it’d been our objective to stand where Martine stands in this photo. We’d first spied the mountain a year ago from Mt Exmouth (Ed: Because of the square aspect ratio used for cover images, Exmouth is unfortunately just off the right of frame on the cover; you can, however, see it in the image above), and then we saw it again yesterday from a new—for us—viewpoint. The peak had occupied our vision for much of today, too; initially as an almost-touchable target, and then, as the regrowth scrub had thickened, as an unattainable, faraway goal. But we’d persisted—bashing, stumbling, battling our way ever onwards—until, demoralised, we’d slumped to the ground in a clearing below, peering up at its enticing cliffs. Undeterred, I’d found a way up with…
[Letter of the Issue] OH, THE MEMORIES Hello James, Well, I went into town today, and guess what I saw on the rack in the newsagency … Wild Magazine #191. So I broke down and bought it to check it out. Moving here from Colorado thirteen years ago was a huge culture shock for me, especially as I used to ski back in Colorado twenty times a season. While I was going through the magazine, I came across your Ed’s Letter on page 18 with the title ‘Great Expectations’, and on it there was a very beautiful photo you took of a skier riding down a nice slope with the sun going down (Ed: It was of Shaun Mittwollen on the Sentinel, Kosciuszko NP). That photo brought back memories of…
When I first began thinking about a fiasco theme for this issue, I decided my Ed’s Letter should chronicle some of my own outdoors fiascos. Man, I thought, this will be a rich vein for me to tap into. I sat at my desk, fingers hovering at the keyboard, ready to tap out a long list of bungled adventures that had gone preposterously south. But nothing came. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Give it time, I figured, something will come. But days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and still nothing came. Sure, I have an endless stream of outdoors injury stories: Broken arms, punctured lungs (yes, lungs), a triple-fractured pelvis, a torn ACL …. The number of broken ribs is up in the double digits. So, too, is the number of…
Four days, seventy-odd kilometres of stunning coastline, five kids aged nine to fifteen, two adult twins, a strong southerly headwind, and an iffy July forecast. It doesn’t sound like a classic school-holiday good time. But then throw in the magic: Perfectly positioned tiny towns with accommodation ranging from budget to boutique; supplies from pub grub to pasta packets; light packs; warm beds and showers at each day’s end. Giving people—people who mesh—the time and space to talk about the things that get crowded out in normal life, aided by the rhythm of movement, exercise and nature, and supplemented by shell finding, ball throwing, singing … and lollies. The Yuraygir Coastal Walk in northern NSW traverses coastal heath, rock ledges and kilometres of hard-packed sand from Angourie to Red Rock. It…
We go into the wild to immerse ourselves in nature. To shrug off the stress and routine of everyday life by reconnecting to our primal home. For many of us, it’s also to break out and challenge ourselves on different levels. However, hardly any of us take the challenge as far as having to rely solely on foraging and hunting for food as the participants in the popular TV franchise Alone must do. (Ed: If you’re not familiar with Alone, which is available online for free on SBS at sbs.com.au/ondemand, ten people choose ten items, and then head into the wilds to see how long they can survive). I find the series mildly fascinating, but ultimately frustrating. Despite the foreboding soundtrack to the repetitive camera pans, a signature of all…
When I first started this column in 2017, 36 issues ago … well, for a start I had no idea it would still be going beyond 2018, never mind 2024. You see, I originally made a list of 16 hot topics related to environmental responsibility within the outdoor-equipment-manufacturing industry, and I assumed that once I’d covered those topics, I’d return from whence I came, leaving this page available for more deserving text. Back then, Wild was bi-monthly, so my issue plan would last until about the end of 2018. During that time though, the role of editor changed, and when I chatted to the new helmsman James in 2018 regarding the impending closure of my body of work, he got on his knees (over the phone) and literally begged me…
