The Plodding Along page is a central depository for diary notes of specific walking-based activities and/or adventures that are not based around being aboard Sengo. The diary notes of following walks/itineraries are found below: Conquering Kepler and Rambling Rakiura January 2025; Exploring Europe: June/July/August 2024; Westerly Wanderings 2024; Frolicking In Fiordland January 2024; Completing the Kimberley 2023; Lurking Around Larapinta 2023; An unexpected New Zealand adventure 2022/2023; Canada 2022; Cape To Cape Track 2022; Mackay Highlands Great Walk 2021; Tasmanian Trail 2021.

Conquering Kepler and Rambling Rakiura – January 2025

What do you do when hubby doesn’t want to go walking anymore? You go alone. Well, not quite alone. Having given up the idea of completing Te Araroa, I now have my mind set on ‘ticking-off’ the Great Walks of New Zealand. I have now completed five. From this point I am going to try and do two at a time and I will try to get all eleven completed in the next few years; if I don’t there will be more to do; the New Zealand Government keeps adding walks to the list!

Exploring Europe – very small parts – June/July/August 2024

I am not apologising for my mixed use of English and local names in the write-up of our Europe Exploration 2024. The change in use wasn’t intentional, it was just how I was feeling each day I devised my notes. Our trip to Europe (well, to a small section of three European countries) was, although thorough in planning, accidental in concept – created when we found we had nothing to do on Sengo but wait for the return of the mast! Andrew had seen some of Europe in the dim dark past. I had seen very little – a day here, a day there. Apart from London, this year’s adventure went to places neither of us had explored before. Europe is not consistent. Scotland was cold and Andrew found the cities drab, Switzerland had a much happier feeling but had its own quirks. Italy was hot, and busy, and overwhelming in the end; just how much architecture and artwork can one bear. Italy also had a lot of smokers – they still smoke inside – so culturally, very different. As the trip was over three countries, I have written up my diary notes in three sections (otherwise the document would have been way too big). As usual there are some instances where the tense changes after editing; I am not going back to fix these up. Scotland is 9.4 Meg; Switzerland is 10.9 Meg, Italy is 7.4 Meg

Westerly Wanderings: Road Trip 2024

Westerly Wanderings: Road Trip 2024 was what resulted when we didn’t proceed with an aspirational planned trip of paddling down the Murray River. We went for a driving holiday instead. We still visited the Murray River (a couple of towns) And we still had some water experiences – it is just that they were a bit shorter than originally planned. Due to the amount of photographs, Westerly Wanderings is 19.9 Meg.

Frolicking In Fiordland…and Flicking Around Its Fringes: New Zealand January 2024:

After last year’s mixed New Zealand adventure I managed to get Andrew back this year for a couple of weeks’ walking – in much wilder scenery than most of our January trek in 2023. This time the circumstances were different. There was no tent involved – and no dehydrated food was consumed in vain! Lodges and cooks were the bribe, and the forests of Fiordland the incentive. We even saw more birds! Two organised walks over the first two weeks of the year haven’t sated my longing for seeing more of The Land of the Long White Cloud. Whether I get Andrew back again is yet to be seen. I took lots of photos. The file is big. Frolicking in Fiordland.. is 26.2 Meg

Completing the Kimberley

Remote, dusty, and inspiring: Australia’s Kimberley region is steeped in awe. For the locals it is home; for the rest of us it is like another world. Mountain ranges that consist of coral reef, volcanic rock or layers of sandstone; fissures creating amazing rock formations and conduits for mighty rivers and waterfalls; flat, sparsely treed, plains with termite mounds of numerous number and colour! We had expected to next visit the Kimberley by boat (the last time we were there was by boat), but providence provided us with a much more luxurious, and relaxing, option. Completing the Kimberley is my write-up of our trip on an organised tour during August/September 2023. The file is 10.4 MEG.

Lurking around Larapinta

Central Australia is arid and can be hot. A good deal of it is remote so it helps to have backup. Instead of attempting the Larapinta on our own we booked a guided walk. As usual, not all went to plan…

The file is large (15.7 Meg), predominantly because it is mostly photographs.

‘Noodling around the top of New Zealand’s North Island’ and ‘Sauntering around the top of New Zealand’s South Island’…. an exercise in change and unexpected circumstances!

We went to New Zealand to walk a very long walk. We didn’t quite achieve this. We did end up walking a lot, but in the end only a small section of the path we had intended, and instead indulged in other trails, tracks and excursions. Both documents are 7.9 Meg.

‘Plodding’, ‘Paddling’, and ‘persisting’ in the Provinces (and one Territory);
A change of scenery in Canada

For both of us this was our first trip to Canada. And for both of us it wasn’t quite the experience we were expecting.

• We were expecting lots of big mountains in the west of the country (which we got).
• We were expecting lots of flatish land in the centre of the country (which we got). 
• And we were expecting lots of big animals (which we didn’t get). 

Okay, admittedly we did see some big animals, but not in the numbers we were expecting. And not in the places we were expecting. And it took ten and a half weeks to see our first, seemingly elusive, moose!

Canada is a very large country (bigger than Australia), and we were never going to see much of it. The international language used is mostly English (I believe there are some staunch French citizens on the east coast who are pushing for French to be considered an official joint international language). It is a Commonwealth Country and in general it is considered to be a wealthy nation.  From what we have seen, however, it seems somewhat of an enigma.

In some ways the people and government systems in Canada are well ahead of the game; in other ways, well and truly behind. Canada is a multicultural and, in the main, multi-acceptance society;  rainbow and pink/blue/white flags and displays are common and can be overwhelmingly obvious. Having had a large Ukrainian population since European settlement (occupation?) the country also did not hesitate to take in some of the current Ukrainian refugees, cementing it as a current good World citizen. And First Nations peoples have their own land areas and are, to a large extent, self governing.

Yet, there is an element of rebellion within its ranks, in a small, but visual, number of individuals who have less community minded and more selfish ideals in mind. This, I think, may be largely influenced by their southern neighbours. Indeed some Canadians secretly admit that, despite its English and French roots, a lot of Canada is made up of US Americans ‘gone north’.

Conspiracy theorists exist here, and with other groups are causing problems, such as large protests in prominent locations. Rebellious elements are ‘running’ around with the national flag disrespectfully upside down, and with ‘F**k Trudeau’ stickers on the back windows of their (usually very large) SUVs.

However despite that, Canadians seem to be a fairly patriotic bunch and there are also lots of flags flown up the right way. Most individuals we met were exceptionally friendly, and I didn’t meet many Canadians that I didn’t like.

The country in places is also reasonably environmental progressive; in the bigger centres waste facilities include seperate bins for both soft and hard plastics recycling, compostables, and standard rubbish. Of course in smaller centres there is nothing but general waste bins in which to deposit the stuff you don’t want.

One would expect that a ‘western country’ would be safety conscious, but I had read somewhere that occupational health and safety rules are behind the times in Canada;  I certainly didn’t expect that to extend to hotel rooms!

Road rules don’t seem to exist either. Or rather they are written down but not adhered to. Drivers don’t ‘give a toss’ about the speed limits; every car seems to speed, significantly. Andrew did make the comment that the only cars doing the speed limit are those stopped at red lights, or those driven by tourists! I saw one newspaper headline suggest that the population wants to lower speed limits. I am not sure who the journalist was kidding; I suspect they were talking about suburban streets- speed zones around schools are generally 30 kilometres per hour (all the time, not just in ‘school hours.’) However I don’t think any change in rules is going to make much of a difference.

Canada is also confused about measurements; some signs are in meters (road signs are in kilometres), some signs are in feet (for instance the clearance underneath the next bridge). Fruit and vegetables are sold in price per pound, but meat is sold at a price per hundred grams!

Covid rules were still in place when we landed and hotels were only providing disposable paper cups, plates and plastic cutlery to be thrown away – which to me seemed such an environmental waste (although looking at the items later the cups state they are fully compostable – something we don’t have in Australia). By the time we left however some hotels had started reverting back to normal, washable, crockery and cutlery. Canadians apparently are coffee drinkers (well, what they call ‘coffee’) and heaven help you if you want a kettle to boil water for a cup of tea (or anything else) – we had to ask for one at practically every hotel we stayed at; but coffee machines, usually with a coffee sachet, or two, are usually provided.

Buying meals requires a degree in mathematics – for any item in the menu you need to add sales tax (gst/hst: sometimes both federal and provincial taxes will be applied – and this percentage amount will be different for each Province), plus sometimes other taxes (soda tax), and a tip (Canada like America runs on tips). If you want a starter or appetiser don’t ask for an entree ; an ‘entree’ will get you a main meal. And don’t expect a pub to do what an Aussie expects as pub food – a pub here will get you burgers, and chips and greasy food, and perhaps tapas if you are lucky. The wine generally has no body (but you can be lucky (or buy imported – if we didn’t go local we often drank a known Australian wine)) and alcohol bought at restaurants is expensive, and usually not responsibly served; the smallest glass offered usually 6oz (or 8oz) but could be as much as 12oz!

Depending where you are in the Canada a ‘Caesar’ might get you a salad, or it might get you a very large vodka-based cocktail with a skewer of food stuck in it – often prawns! We first came across ‘Caesars’ on Vancouver Island but we learnt once we got to Alberta, that ’Caesars’ were actually ‘invented’ in Calgary!

We were picked up as ‘Aussies’ most of the time early on (or ‘from Down Under’), but by the end of the trip some Canadians were reluctant to guess if we were Australian or New Zealanders, assuming if they got it wrong they would offend us (Aussies, and I assume Kiwis, are a bit more robust and accepting compared to Canadians if you refer to them as an American).

Vancouver Island is purportedly, on average over the year, the warmest place in Canada, but Summer only started on the Island on the 24th June when the temperature pushed into the mid twenties – it was the first consistently nice day of the year. We didn’t have time to enjoy it – we were due to leave the island on the 27th! Summer only really started for us when we got to Calgary (on 15th July!), our plane landing in 29 degrees Celsius and sunny skies.

Whilst driving on the right hand side of the road is a new challenge for anyone who is used to driving on the left hand side, it is by no means the biggest road rule challenge to get your head around. I left all the driving to Andrew. He did a marvellous job; but he has done it before. What got him thinking every time he came to an intersection however, were the other road rules; for instance; able to turn right against a red light, or having to stop at a four-way stop sign and then work out when you could go again!

Canada is both a rich and poor country; like any western society there are those that have a lot, and those that have nothing, and those that are stuck on various treadmills in between. Early on in our trip I saw a television advertisement that stated that it didn’t matter where you started life on the social treadmill, one fifth of the population was going to end up below the poverty line (or words to that effect). Seeing the homeless and drug-affected on the street attested to that. Drug use seems very prevalent – narcotics seem to be the cause of many crimes, and cannabis is legal! In fact there seemed to be a (sanctioned) cannabis store every few blocks (or was I just imagining that – there are certainly a lot of them and they are always prominent). According to the media there is also reportedly a black market in cannabis; items sold which do not stick to the accepted strength and chemical composition.  No wonder the country has major social problems!

Dealing with wildlife is interesting. Most Canadians that we spoke to are ‘hunters,’ yet Canadians are encouraged to ‘live with wildlife.’ It is interesting reading a couple of books about the different points of view of what Canadians deem wildlife ‘management’ or wildlife ‘preservation.’ Tourists are a big problem – I don’t think we saw wildlife anywhere with lots of tourists around it that was respectfully treated – everyone wants to get that perfect, up close and personal, photo! Of course an animal habituated to humans usually won’t live long. Some tourist operators are responsible for some of this behaviour.

The terrain in western Canada is overwhelming to an Aussie -the mountains are just so high and awe-inspiring. What we saw of Saskatchewan was ‘flat.’ Well almost. We enjoyed both. We took a mixture of both guided tours and self exploration. Guided tours help you get to places you may not have considered and provide experienced interps and information in the deal (hopefully). Self exploration however allowed us to go at our own pace and do what we wanted to do and go where we wanted to go (mostly). The Canada trip write-up consists of four documents, one for each ‘Province’ we visited; British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the ‘Territory’ of the Yukon. We started our trip in British Columbia, flew to the Yukon, jumped briefly to Alberta before exploring Saskatchewan and then finished back in Alberta before flying home. Subsequently the Alberta and Saskatchewan documents really need to be read together to retain context.

As usual my write-ups are generally written as diary notes – sometimes they are in the present tense, and sometimes I have heavily edited the entry later and the tense is past (or confusingly mixed – readers will have to put up with that). Any opinions are mine, any memories are mine, and hopefully they are all correct. Copyright is mine except for photos taken of both of us, where I have either given credit to the guide (initials) or don’t know the name of the borrowed photographer (ironically usually passing English or European tourists). Whilst the photos are usually adjacent the appropriate day, because they were taken across three devices they may not be in perfect order.

Plodding Along British Columbia is around 7.3 Meg. This document is the biggest and took the longest to compile. It also proved a bit of an anomaly after it was saved at around 88 Meg. I went back to basics and copied and pasted everything across to a new document to see where the storage was; discovering that I had saved a few photos as full size. it is still a big document – there are a lot of photos (even if they are ‘small’). Plodding Along British Columbia is 17.9 Meg

Plodding Along Yukon is 4.4 Meg

Plodding Along Alberta is 5.4 Meg

Plodding Along Saskatchewan is 3.2 Meg

Wandering in Western Australia

I am not claiming the attached write-up of our recent Cape To Cape Track walk is perfectly grammatically correct; I am just happy enough to get it done. I has taken me three attempts to get this document completed on my new computer and it has been a big learning experience. Our wander down the bottom south-west corner of Western Australia was not originally planned. We were scheduled to be on sub-tropical Lord Howe Island. However, sometimes we must accept the challenges that life throws at us and change tack. Cape To Cape Capers is 2.6 Meg (the first time in a long time where a pdf’d document is smaller than the original word processing document – like they used to be!)

Mucking around Mackay

Who is crazy enough to walk around 100 kilometres to cover 46 kilometres of an official walk? Apparently we are. Having found ourselves exploring around the regional outskirts of Mackay and walking in some lovely rainforest which is part of the Mackay Highlands Great Walk, one of a series of Great Walks in Queensland, we decided we would like to complete the whole trek. The only problem was access. No public transport. No easily found transport services. How do we solve this? Well, we start at one spot, walk to the end, and walk back again. Compared to our Tassie trek (see below) this was a short journey -only a week. And surprisingly, despite its challenges, quite enjoyable. The attached document on our journey along (most of) the Mackay Highlands Great Walk is 9.2 Meg.

Trekking through Tassie!

Plans Change. But living on a boat we are used to that. On a boat however a change in plans is usually due to weather. The scheduled plan for our  ‘walk’ in Tasmania wasn’t changed due to weather – but instead due to injury. So four weeks in Tassie turned into eight weeks, a ‘through –hike’ (depending on your definition) turned into two ‘section hikes’, and an estimated early-autumn finish turned into a mid-autumn finish; the hike that I’d scheduled to take 30 days to walk still took 30 days to walk, but we actually finished in Dover 53 days after we took our first steps in Devonport.

The attached document is essentially written in my usual diary style, with a bit of an introductory blurb at the front. I apologise for the size. To keep the size down I used mainly ‘small’ copies of the photos and so some of the images may be a bit fuzzy. The word document was 16.6 Meg. I am used to the files getting bigger when I save them as pdf but for some reason the program has increased the size to almost double at 30.3 Meg.