Field notes from weekends spent getting gently lost in the bush.
I walk, I take too many photos of the same eucalyptus, and I write it down here so I remember which car park had the good toilets. Difficulty is rated on the internationally unrecognised Tim Tam scale: how many you'll want at the top.
Ridge walking with views for days. The wind tried to take my hat twice and succeeded once. Start at Diamantina Hut and go early.
More water than you think. The last climb looks short. It isn't. Hat strap: mandatory.
Wide track, steady climb, and the whole Prom laid out at the top. Did it for sunrise; shared it with one very unbothered wombat.
Head torch for the pre-dawn start. Bring a jacket — the summit is always ten degrees colder than the car park.
Short and punchy, with sandstone slabs that look like frozen waves. The lookout fence is there for a reason, and the reason is the drop.
Try the Grand Canyon approach from Wonderland next time. Longer, rockier, more fun.
Hands-on rock scrambling along a knife-edge ridge. Exhilarating, slightly terrifying, would do again. Not for wet days.
Gloves. Proper shoes, not runners. Tell someone where you're going.
Close to Melbourne and better than it has any right to be. There's a bit where you shuffle along the rock face holding a cable. Peak fun.
Skip it in high summer — it bakes. Autumn and winter are perfect.
Down into a cool, ferny slot of a canyon, then all the stairs back up. Feels like walking through another planet.
Weekday mornings. Everyone else had the same idea on Saturday.