Aus + NZ

Great Ocean Walk hike Australia Johanna Beach

Apollo Bay to Twelve Apostles: A complete guide to solo hiking the Great Ocean Walk

brooke brisbine·July 8, 2020

Winding along the southern Victorian coast just a few hours out of Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road is...

Aus + NZ Australia Victoria

Great Ocean Walk (day 5): Devil’s Kitchen to Twelve Apostles

brooke brisbine·July 7, 2020

After 4 long days on the trail, today’s undemanding 16km stage will deliver me right to the grand...

Aus + NZ Australia Victoria

Great Ocean Walk (day 4): Johanna Beach to Devil’s Kitchen via Ryan’s Den

brooke brisbine·July 7, 2020

The most challenging day on the trail both in terms of terrain and kilometres, my 4th day along...

Aus + NZ Australia Victoria

Great Ocean Walk (day 3): Cape Otway to Johanna Beach via Aire River

brooke brisbine·July 7, 2020

Passing the Great Ocean Walk’s halfway point today as I journey nearly 24km from Cape Otway out to...

Aus + NZ Australia Victoria

Great Ocean Walk hike Australia Cape Otway beach

Great Ocean Walk (day 2): Elliot Ridge to Cape Otway via Blanket Bay

brooke brisbine·July 7, 2020

After a leisurely introduction to the Great Ocean Walk yesterday, the hike begins in earnest today with a...

Aus + NZ Australia Victoria

Great Ocean Walk hike Australia beach female solo hiker

Great Ocean Walk (day 1): Apollo Bay to Elliot Ridge

brooke brisbine·July 7, 2020

Stretching 105km from Apollo Bay to the famed Twelve Apostles through Victoria’s Great Otway National Park, the Great...

Aus + NZ Australia Victoria

Everything you need to know about hiking the 3-day Grampians Peaks Trail

brooke brisbine·April 4, 2020

Grampians National Park, located just 3 hours northwest of Melbourne CBD, has long-since been one of my favourite...

Aus + NZ Australia Victoria

Grampians Peaks Trail (day 3): Borough Huts to Halls Gap

brooke brisbine·April 4, 2020

In crafting a small section of the 13-day Grampians Peaks Trail into a 3-day loop, VicParks included the...

Aus + NZ Australia Victoria

Grampians Peaks Trail (days 2): Bugiga Hiker Camp to Borough Huts

brooke brisbine·April 4, 2020

After an incredibly scenic start to the Grampians Peaks Trail yesterday, our second day involves even more sweeping...

Aus + NZ Australia Victoria

Grampians Peaks Trail (day 1): Halls Gap to Bugiga Hiker Camp

brooke brisbine·April 4, 2020

About 250km NW of Melbourne, the Grampians Peaks Trail is set to be the state’s newest “iconic walk”,...

Aus + NZ Australia Victoria

Pinky Beach Rottnest Island Perth Western Australia

Perth to Margaret River: 1-week Western Australia road trip itinerary

brooke brisbine·February 21, 2020

Every year, millions and millions of travellers are drawn across the world to Australia, exploring immensely popular sites...

Aus + NZ Australia Western Australia

What to do in Margaret River: a guide to all the best wineries, beaches & views

brooke brisbine·February 19, 2020

As one of Australia’s most prolific wine regions, Margaret River has long since drawn wine snobs and wannabe...

Aus + NZ Australia Western Australia

City buildings Elizabeth Quay Perth Western Australia

9 amazing things to do in Perth, Western Australia

brooke brisbine·February 17, 2020

Said to be the world’s most isolated city, Perth is somewhere extremely few travellers to Australia (and equally...

Aus + NZ Australia Western Australia

Rotto travel guide: the perfect day trip to Rottnest Island, Western Australia

brooke brisbine·February 15, 2020

With pristine white-sand beaches, tranquil swimming bays, vibrant reefs, and pumping surf, it’s no secret why Rottnest Island...

Australia Western Australia

A fantastic day of wine tasting with Margaret River Tours

brooke brisbine·February 10, 2020

As Western Australia’s premier wine region and one of the country’s largest wine producers (accounting for more than...

Aus + NZ Australia Western Australia

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I first heard about Shoshone Falls in an Idaho tourism pamphlet that we picked up from a visitor centre during our drive. Alongside a spectacular photo of the gushing falls (more than enough to impress me), the editor described this spot in Twin Falls as the “Niagara of the West” and it was sealed— we had to make the detour 🚐 Not having seen Niagara myself, I can’t vouch for the accuracy of that comparison, but I can say this is one of the most beautiful waterfalls I’ve ever seen— dwarfed in my own memory only by Iguazú in Argentina/Brazil and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe/Zambia. The photo hardly does it justice. Even at low water levels (rare for spring, but everyone seems to be in a drought this year), Shoshone is a real gem state GEM 💎

4 hours ago

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Lakes on lakes on lakes 💦

24 hours ago

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Bagging peaks together since 2000; the only difference is that now I have to carry the rope 🏔

4 days ago

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HIKING THE ENCHANTMENTS IN 1 DAY ✨ Located in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness of Eastern Washington, the Enchantments is one of the most unbelievably SPECTACULAR (and popular) areas to hike in the state— it’s virtually impossible to score a backpacking permit these days, but you can actually complete the entire 20+ mile trail in a single day without ANY permit 😱🤩 🏔 TRAIL DETAILS 🏔 Trailhead: Stuart Lake TH to Snow Lakes TH (near Leavenworth, WA) Fees: NW Forest Pass, $5 for a day Distance: 20 miles (30km) Elevation gain: 4820ft (1470m) Trail hours: 12-14hrs, including breaks 🏔 HIKING TIPS 🏔 👉🏼 I’d suggest hiking up Aasgard Pass (from Sturt Lake TH) and descending to Snow Lakes, since you’ll do the steepest part of the hike as an ascent and the more gradual part as a descent (trust me, your knees will thank you). ALSO, since most of the lakes are clustered in the first 2/3rds, you get to spend the bulk of the day in the prettiest part of the Enchantments— and if you do have to hike the final miles in the dark, you really don’t miss anything! 💡 👉🏼 Park your vehicle at the Snow Lakes TH and then hitchhike up the road to the Stuart Lake TH to begin the hike. There are heaps of people headed that way— it took us about 3min to get picked up and then we ended the hike already back at our van! 🚐 👉🏼 You’ll need a NW Forest Pass, so if you don’t already have one, pop into the Icicle Quik Stop (76 Station) in Leavenworth and you can buy a single day pass for $5 to display on your dash! 🎫 👉🏼 Save yourself the weight of a heavy pack and bring only one water bottle (~1L)— there are literally HUNDREDS of excellent fill-up points throughout the hike and you’ll have no trouble finding cool water (filter optional, but recommended) 💦

5 days ago

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I spent 5 days last week on an amazing expedition through North Cascades National Park: trekking up to Sahale Arm, climbing Buckner Peak, carrying-over Sahale Peak & then descending the summit all the way to Boston Basin 🏔 As with all good adventures, it was wildly complicated by terrible conditions (a marine layer that reduced visibility to little more than 20ft on the glacier), miscalculations of time (canning Shark Fin Tower at the last minute), and near-disasters (slipping out of my steps on steep snow and frantically arresting before we all fell off the mountain ⛏)— but it was also amazing for many of the same reasons. Every trip like this develops my skills, builds my resilience, and pushes me closer to becoming ~a true mountaineer~, and for that, I wouldn’t trade any of the stress or ice-burns or moments of fighting back tears. I’m filing it all away and climbing up to the next peak stronger, more determined, and with a greater appreciation for these incredible mountains 💪🏼

6 days ago

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Fresh on the heels of climbing Mt Rainier, and I’ve already topped it in terms of difficulty (and terror) with this week’s ascent up the SW face of Buckner in the North Cascades. To be fair, the ‘ascent’ wasn’t actually the hard part— it was the descent, a white-knuckled 1500ft drop along an impossibly steep snow shoot with a runout that would have sent us all right off the mountain. I didn’t like the look of things as we started down off the summit, but the anxiety got a lot worse after I took (my first) fall on the ice, pulling our entire rope team off their feet before I could get my axe dug into the snow. Thankfully everyone emerged fine and we continued downwards, but it was enough to really shake me— an important reminder that climbing is no joke and every single move counts, both for you and your team. When we later reached another awful section of the descent and dad called down to me that this was ‘no-mistakes territory’, you better believe I took it seriously 😳

1 week ago

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Lost in the flowers 🌸🌻🌷🌼🌹

1 week ago

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🪚🦷

1 week ago

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Approaching Mt Rainier via an incredibly long and scenic route over Burroughs Mountain, down to Glacier Basin, up the Inter Glacier, and finally to our base camp at 9,400ft, Camp Schurman, gave me the greatest appreciation for just how MASSIVE this climb is. And for every ounce of physical exertion to get onto that summit, I expended 5x more mental energy just trying to make sure that I moved carefully & made no mistakes when it counted most— there were moments that a small slip could have cost us all our lives, and that reality was not lost on me. For that reason, the days leading up to our summit push were absolutely crucial. We hiked hard through the day to limber up and rested just as hard each night to recharge, particularly on the day leading up to our midnight departure. Roping on the Inter Glacier also granted me, dad & Dan time to learn each other’s rhythm and settle into the quiet solemnity that our impending climb demanded. As much as I just wanted to GET THERE at the time, I wouldn’t trade a single minute of preparation looking back. By the time we did leave Camp Schurman in the dead of night, we were a well-oiled unit who hardly needed light or proximity to communicate— and that’s the only way we made it to the summit. Slow & steady.

2 weeks ago

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