special deals

Check out our news page for special offers on a couple of trips happening soon.

Grampians Festival a success

The Grape Escape was a huge success. There were around 10,000 visitors over the two days, and we had the opportunity to meet many of them… and explain how our walks operate. The public were treated to the tasting and sipping delights of around 100 wine and food exhibitors… with Saturday being the busier of the two days. We were also pleased to offer a 20% discount on our Tropical Hiker tour for bookings over the weekend. All in all, a great atmosphere and we’re looking forward to next year.

Grampians food and wine festival

We’re excited about the Grampians Grape Escape happening in Halls Gap this weekend – 5th & 6th May. We will have a booth there and are looking for people who’ve done an Auswalk to come along and support us. Help us out on the booth for a couple of hours and we’ll give you a free entry pass to sample food and wines and attend cooking classes etc. Sorry about the late notice!

Auswalk April 2012 e-news

New look website

At last it’s ready to proudly show off! With over 2000 images and many ways you can search for trips, we think you’ll find our new site refreshing and easy-to-use. Have a look and see if you can find yourself amongst our many photos!

Use our “Find by Trip” button to search for trips in certain states or destinations. You can even search by feature e.g. trips on islands or that feature lighthouses etc.

There’s also a “Hall of Fame” section under the News tab where you can see which Auswalkers have earned a free holiday.

You can also post your comments for others to see.

Facebook campaign

We’re aiming to reach 1000 likes on our FB page. Keep an eye on this in the coming months as we offer special deals to our FB followers.

To get on board, just go to our website and like us. Then please share our page with your friends, tag Auswalk in your posts and upload pictures and short stories of your Auswalk.

Travel Shows

It was good to catch up with many of you at the Perth travel expo in February and the Brisbane one in April. Our booth attracted a lot of interest and why wouldn’t it with such beautiful walks to showcase!

Staff news

Helen has left Auswalk and we’ll soon welcome Steve on board to join our team. He’s an avid bushwalker and has a varied background including project management and video production. He will be moving to Halls Gap from Adaminaby in the Snowy Mountains so that means there will now be 301 people living here!

Cape to Cape news

The DEC have done an amazing job at repairing the section of track that was burnt in the January Margaret River fire. There’s less than 1km of boardwalk remaining. Well done for taking such prompt action so the many walkers who enjoy this track can continue to do so.

Great Ocean Walk news

Those who’ve done this fabulous walk will remember having to walk along the busy Great Ocean Road for about 1km near the 12 Apostles. Well, good news. The track has been extended to Gibsons Steps now and work will commence shortly on constructing an underpass to allow the track to continue to the 12 Apostles Centre. This will be a huge improvement for track workers.

New brochure

We’ve left the best news till last! Yes, it’s finally gone to the printer. It’s a bumper issue with 60 pages of exciting trips and information for you. As well as our old favourites there are also some new ones on offer. We’ll also have the new e-brochure online in about 3-4 weeks.

See us at the Brisbane Holiday & Travel Show next weekend

We will be exhibiting at the Brisbane Holiday & Travel Show next weekend. The show is open between 10am and 4.30pm on 14th and 15th April at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, South Bank. Entry is free so we look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible. And we have a special small gift for everyone who drops in for a chat (while stocks last).

Phil and Maja will be looking after the booth. Monica has to stay in the office and finish our new brochure, which is terribly overdue (sorry!)

We are also looking for a few people who would like to help us on our booth for an hour to two on either of the days. So if you’ve done an Auswalk and loved it then please come along and tell others about your great experience!

February 2012 News

New Top End trip

It’s been a long time coming, we can hear many of you saying! But it’s available now for this coming winter. This new Top End trip includes fabulous walking in the Kakadu World Heritage Area, as well as a cultural cruise with the local Aboriginal people on the East Alligator River bordering Arnhem Land. The Aboriginal artwork here is amongst the very best in Australia. Next we explore Nitmiluk National Park, known to many as Katherine Gorge. Our favourite is a hike along the rim of the Katherine River, dropping down to several side gorges to the river itself for a refreshing swim. We also hike a section of the long distance Jatbula Trail.

Next is Mataranka, famous for its thermal pools. The walk to Mataranka Falls is one of our all-time favourites with the junction of two large rivers forming a watery wonderland of streams, waterfalls and crystal clear pool. At Bitter Springs you’re in for a real treat as you float slowly down a thermal stream – the non swimmers can walk. The trip finishes with the jewel of the Top End – Litchfield National Park. Cascading waterfalls abound and the walking and swimming opportunities are great. We have a departure on 23 June and another on 7 July. We expect them to fill quickly so book now if you want to secure your place.

What we’ve been up to

Our inaugrual Cape to Cape group guided trip and Australia’s South West guided trips went very well with lots of wildflowers spotted, excellent walking and a lot of comments about the fabulous food! Probably not a trip for weight-watchers! Local guide, Adrian, was assisted by Marie and Pam and a great time was had by all.

Marie and Lisa just returned from guiding the Great Ocean Walk. If you haven’t hiked this iconic Victorian trail then you must put it on your list of walks to do.

Maja from the office went along also, to experience one of our trips and she had a ball. Here are her thoughts and some photos:

“As I set off to meet the group in Melbourne on day one of the Great Ocean walk trip I must admit I felt quite apprehensive about the whole experience. Thoughts raced through my mind – would the group like me, am I up to the physical challenge and most importantly what will the food be like?As soon as I saw Marie & Lisa and they introduced me to the rest of the group I thought that this was going to be a great holiday. After the first night’s dinner and wine with the group this was confirmed. As we chatted away about the next day my appetite conquer the walk grew. Marie’s brief on the next day’s walk left me feeling confident that I could do this.

Sure enough I reach the end of day two and arrive at Cape Otway lighthouse. Our accommodation for the night is the historic head lighthouse keepers cottage. We are all mesmerized by the delightful house that we will be calling home for the two nights. This is living history and I’m loving it.After a welcome hot shower we are off for wine and nibbles followed by a scrumptious 2 course meal cooked by our own personal chef, all whilst watching the sunset over the lighthouse.

The next few days all blend in together and fly by far too quickly. We are all stunned by the variety of vegetation and the power of the sea’s that earn this region the name of the Ship Wreck Coast. The spectacular lookouts and abundance of wildlife each day leave us feeling as though the following day can’t possible beat the one before it. Before we know it we are walking our final stretch of the track knowing all too well that tomorrow will be our final day together.”

“We all wonder where the 7 days have gone and how hard it’ll be to return back to normal everyday life. I have fond memories of delightful accommodations, a lovely group of ladies, two funny and caring guides, stacks of delicious food and snacks and breathtaking scenery.”

Hope to see you on the track sometime soon!
Monica, Phil, Marilyn, Maja