Hiking

All smiles on the Great Ocean Walk

As you may have read, we like to walk in our travels.

In fact, we’ve likely done our poor feet a disservice in pounding for hours and kilometres on all manner of uneven surfaces and terrain in little more than our flip flops.

Now Chris’ work in travel, actually has him working for a trekking company where their business is in fact, travelling and walking, just on a grander scale than we’d normally have done.

More recently we’ve embraced the challenge of self supported through hiking, and seeing as they’re a little different to most of our journeys, thought we’d give them their own dedicated page.

Each image will (eventually) link to the entries on the trips themselves, to save you having to trawl through the archives on your own!

Our Gear

One of the biggest fallacies in our hiking experience, is that you need the best gear, to do it.

Top of the line gear is expensive, much of it for good reason, be it better performance, better longevity, lighter weight, or a marriage of all of these factors.

But when you’re just starting out, and are not even sure if you’ll do it regularly, or at least more than just as a once off, the overheads can appear daunting.

To say you’ll need the best gear, is frankly bullshit, but it’s not to say that better gear won’t make for a better, or easier hiking experience.

Maybe this will help someone else who finds it all a bit overwhelming, or perhaps, nobody will ever read this page.

But the gear we took on our first multi-day thru-hike is different to what we use now is both the same, and different.

We’ve upgraded items where we thought necessary, but also, after Sarah realised that this was a more regular activity, than just a once off indulgence (she’s also shaken her head at some purchases)!

Our First Thru-Hike November 2024 (The Great Ocean Walk)

  • TENT: Denali Explore II (Weight: 2.05kg) Cost: $149
  • SLEEPING MATS: Kmart TPU Air Mattress (Weight: 0.5kg) Cost: $39
  • SLEEPING BAGS: Kathmandu Comet 2 Season Sleeping Bag (Weight: 0.72kg) Cost: N/A (owned since 2014)
  • CAMPING STOVE: Campmaster Ultra Jet 1 (Weight: 0.52kg) Cost: $59
  • BACKPACK: Denali 65L Trek Hike Pack (Weight: 1.9kg) Cost: $119
  • WATER TREATMENT: Katadyn Be-Free 1L (Weight: 0.06kg) Cost: $59

Gear as of April 2026