Australia

Hikes and Walks in Western Australia

March 18, 2026

Returning to Australia after a nine-year hiatus, I chose to base myself in one of the two remaining states that I had not yet visited, Western Australia (WA). Over 7 weeks I did several hikes in the nearby Perth Hills, numerous local bushland walks, as well as three hikes on a road trip excursion to the wine-growing region of Margaret River to the south. Finally, I flew to Adelaide in South Australia to watch some tennis, and enjoy a couple of walks in that city, which I took the liberty to include in this post.

Local Walks

From my base in Queenspark, in the southern suburbs of Perth, I had direct access to some local bushland for walking. Perhaps 4-5 mornings a week when I had no great motivation for hiking would find me walking either here, or in nearby Canning River Park, which had the great advantage of being only a couple of minutes’ drive to either of the supermarkets I frequented.

Bushland balcony view from my apartment in Queenspark

Mr and Mrs Galah from my balcony (zoom), drying their wings on a rare rainy day

Queenspark bushland pond. Note the viewing platform on the far left.

The artistic Queenspark bushland viewing platform

Snakebush in flower, Queenspark bushland

A rather poor photo of Candlestick Banksia. The austral spring would have been much better for wildflowers, most of which by midsummer were but distant memories.

Dawn from my balcony, overlooking the local park adjacent to the bushland

Canning River park view from one of the bridges

Rainbow lorikeets in the early morning at Canning River Park

Compacted feather-flower, Canning River park

Hikes in the Perth Hills

A major advantage of my location in Queenspark was the easy access to numerous trails in the Perth Hills just to the east. The closest was a 20-minute drive, and all the following photos were on hikes no farther than 40 minutes from my apartment. Most were between 8 and 12 km with 300 to 400 m elevation gain — perfect for some morning cardio before the temperature became too excessive.

A rock eating a tree, Helena River loop, Kalamunda & Beelu National Parks

Pink mulla mulla (*Ptilotus exaltatus*), looking a lot like feather dusters to me, Helena River loop

View towards the Ellis Brook Falls. The falls were completely dry by this point in the summer.

Panorama towards Perth in Lesmurdie Falls National Park. Along with the adjacent Mundy Regional Park, this was the nearest park in the Perth Hills and I did several different loop hikes here.

Lesmurdie Falls, actually still flowing a bit in the high summer

Lesmurdie Falls plateau vista with eucalyptus

Landscape with grass-tree gum, Kattamorda Track and Lion’s Lookout loop, Korung National Park

*Fuscia grivellia*, Korung National Park

A typical forest path, Korung National Park

A panorama on the Kattamorda Track and Lion’s Lookout loop

Adelaide, South Australia

Obviously not Western Australia, but the tennis fan in me could not resist three days at the Adelaide tournament. About 2100 km from Perth, Adelaide is the nearest city. (Indeed, Perth is considered the most remote city in the world). Some early morning walks along the Torrens River were definitely in order.

Torrens River heading downstream (East) from my hotel, Adelaide

The Torrens River, upstream (West) from my hotel. I fortunately left early to beat the Saturday 8 AM Park Run crowds.

Margaret River

Seven weeks in Western Australia wouldn’t have been complete without at least one road trip, and a three day excursion to the secluded south-west Australia wine growing region of Margaret River was mine.

Approaching the beach and dunes, Boranup Beach Loop, Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park. Here the Indian Ocean is exhibiting lovely shades of blue.

Boranup Beach with kelp. For the most part I had the entire beach to myself this mid-week day.

Cowarawup Bay, Ngari Capes Marine Park, on the Cape-to-Cape Track. My hike was to and from Wilyabrup Cliffs, 15 km round trip

Ghost trees along the Margaret River. A portion of my walk was in the Wooditjup National Park. Another early morning start allowed me to beat the 8 AM Saturday Park Run.

Well, I made it back to the UK from Malaysia on a 14-hour non-stop flight from Kuala Lumpur. A few days here and then onward to Utah for some warm and dry weather. Enjoy the spring wildflowers,

The Vagabond Hiker

Travels with Clifford

February 23, 2024

As long-time followers of this blog may know, my youngest brother, Clifford, has both graced many photos and been behind the lens for quite a few more. Beginning with Maui in 1990, Clifford and I explored Belize in 1993, Wales with our dad in 2000, and coastal California and the Southwest US numerous times since 2007. More recently we traveled and hiked together in Tasmania and mainland Australia in 2017, Malta in 2018, Ireland in 2019, and Costa Rica in 2022. Clifford’s innate curiosity, far-reaching knowledge, boundless enthusiasm, and child-like sense of wonder for the natural world enriched my travels in so many ways. Here are some recent fond memories. . .

Posing with stringy bark eucalyptus, Franklin River Nature Trail, Tasmania, Australia, 2017

Scratching an alpha male Forester kangaroo, Tasmania

Smiling from inside a hollow eucalyptus, Notley Gorge, Tasmania

Investigating a termite mound, Bed Boyd National Park, New South Wales, Australia, 2017

Admiring the vista at Kalarranga Lookout, Finke Gorge National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, 2017

Enjoying the strata, Kings Canyon, Northern Territory

At a cliff-edge along the south coast of the island of Gozo, Malta, 2018

Admiring the cliffs from his kayak, Dwejra Bay

Looking up into the canopy from under a Dragon tree, San Diego Botanical Garden, 2022

Standing with an impressive yucca, San Diego Botanical Garden

Posing with an endangered Elephant tree at Torote Bowl, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California, 2022

Under California Fan Palms, Anza-Borrego

At the trailhead of the Domelands Loop, Coyote Mountains Wilderness, California, 2022

Making empanadas with Valerie, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, 2022

At Toroweap Overlook on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, 2023

Smiling with our brother, Mark (c), and me, the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland, 2019

Clifford Blizard

1970-2024

Carpe Diem!

Kent Blizard, the Vagabond Hiker

All About Alice

May 4, 2017

To say that the more than 500,000 square miles of the Northern Territory of Australia is sparsely settled is a bit of an understatement. Evenly distributed, each inhabitant would have more than 2 square miles to roam without encountering another human. Alice Springs, the third largest town in the Northern Territory, is the definition of remote. With about 27,000 inhabitants, Alice is situated roughly in Australia’s geographic center. It is the largest settlement between Darwin to the north and Adelaide to the south, each approximately equidistant at about 1,500 km (930 miles) away.

As part of the Red Centre (see my previous blog On the Road to Alice), this country is rich with mountain ranges, waterholes and gorges, which create a variety of natural habitats. The following photos summarize a series of day hikes I took from Alice, where my brother and I stayed for a week. All hikes except Trephina Gorge were in the West McDonnell Ranges to the West of Alice, easily the most scenic landscape in the Red Centre.

A Sturt Desert Rose at Ormsiton Gorge along section 8 of the Larapinta Track. At 223 km, the Larapinta is one of the most famous long distance tracks in Australia. On that day we were only on it a short distance before diverging onto the Ormiston Pound Walk loop.

Ormiston Gorge Water Hole. After the recent rains, we needed to wade across the stream in crotch-high water to complete the Pound Loop walk.

Panorama Trail view at Trephina Gorge Nature Park, the East McDonnell Ranges, in the early morning. Hot days necessitated early starts.

A remarkable Ghost Gum at Trephina Gorge Nature Park (composite photo)

Our 4wd Mitsubishi Pajero at Palm Valley trail-head, Finke Gorge National Park. A “serious” 4 wheel drive road of about 20 km had to be navigated to reach the trail-heads for our two hikes that day.

Clifford at Kalarranga Lookout, Finke Gorge

Morning vista from Kalarranga Lookout, Finke Gorge

A Ghost Gum along the Mpulunkinya Trail at Finke Gorge National Park

The Vagabond Hiker celebrating his birthday on a boulder amongst the Red Cabbage Palms at Finke Gorge National Park

Early morning shot of the West McDonnell Ranges from the road to Standley Chasm, starting point of section 4 of the Larapinta Track

The ridge to Brinkley Bluff summit on section 4 of the Larapinta Track

The view South from Brinkley Bluff summit. 360 degree views were on offer from this local high point on the Larapinta Track. It is a popular dry camping site halfway through this section of the track, though I encountered only one other group that day.

The Vagabond Hiker on the Brinkley Bluff ridge-line high above the surrounding land

Despite the title of this blog, it would be remiss of me not to at least mention in passing our 2,700 km road trip odyssey from Alice back to Sydney for our departure flights from Australia. Most of those three days were naturally consumed by driving and sleeping (fortunately, not at the same time!) but we did manage two early morning walks. Below is one photo taken from each. Quite a contrast to the Red Centre.