Women's Walk Project
September 15 -24 2023
Preparing for the journey...
We have a saying, ‘You’ll be fit enough to do the walk once you’ve done it’.
However, working on your fitness before the walk starts will make your journey much easier and more enjoyable.
Backpacks can be expected to weigh between 15-20kg for the start. (The more we eat the lighter they get!) No-one carries over a third of their body weight. This may sound like a lot but the weight is divvied around until everyone is comfortable with their load. With this in mind, a base level of fitness is needed to do the walk.
We recommend doing 45 – 60 minutes of some kind of aerobic exercise 3x week for the 3 months leading up to the walk. Uphill and downhill walking is excellent practice! The first day has a lot of down-hill and packs are at their heaviest. The first day is also the only day we need to carry water to last several hours.
Our approach to walking this country is to rarely walk more than 10k per day and if conditions allow, we will have a two-night stopover with a full day of silence. The nature of the country has us stopping for river crossings, swims and ponderings!
We will discuss with each of you in detail in our initial conversations, any issues/ concerns you have relating to your personal level of fitness or pertinent medical issues. We will then send out a detailed medical form for you to fill out if you decide to participate.
Meeting
A meeting of participants will take place in Bellingen a few weeks before the walk (Venue and time to be advised). This meeting is to go over equipment and itinerary details. However – if you are not local we can do this by phone.
We Provide Bivvies for sleeping under (4 to a bivvy), ground sheet, First Aid, all food other than breakfast, cooking utensils, satellite phone and Epirb for emergency only and transport to and from Bellingen.
All food and equipment will be shared amongst everyone to carry
Once you have signed up we will send you relevant documentation regarding medical and indemnity details.