Photo credit: Majestic Uluru – Tourism NT/Salty Aura
There is 1 last sleep until we depart for Uluru, on the NT Grand Sustainable Trails Adventure. My head is full of logistics and my heart is full of excitement, alongside a heap of nerves. As I ran this morning, pre sunset, so many doubts circled my mind about whether I will be able to complete the distances each day… but I then remembered that being in a new environment surrounded by natural beauty is one of the surest ways to be buoyed along when the going gets tough. That’s one of the things I love about adventure trekking: being immersed on a new trail in a wilderness setting, the distances seem to fly by because there is so much to take in, and so much awe inspiring scenery!
No matter what this expedition may throw at us, we know for sure that the ancient lands upon which we will travel will no doubt bring tears to our eyes, teach us many lessons along the way, and gift us with beautiful scenes we will carry etched in our memories, for a very long time. This will be hard. But at this stage what more can we do than move forward with the hope that all the years of planning will stand us in good stead for this great adventure?
Luke and I are blessed to be accompanied by our two best friends, Sarah and Matt, as our amazing support crew on this journey. They will be an integral part of holding us accountable to being more conscious of our impact as we travel along these trails, as well as feeding us! At the front of mind will be the 7 principles of Leave No Trace. We will explore each of these along the trails and look at how we can better apply these, and how other trail users might be doing in regard to being aware of these principles and actively applying them to their adventure travels.
“Leave no trace” depends more on attitude and awareness than on rules and regulations.
- PLAN AHEAD AND PREPARE
- CAMP AND HIKE ON DURABLE SURFACES
- PROPERLY DISPOSE OF WASTE
- LEAVE NATURE AS YOU FIND IT
- MINIMIZE CAMPFIRE IMPACT
- RESPECT WILDLIFE
- BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHER VISITORS AND TRADITIONAL LANDOWNERS
Sustainable trail practices
The journey so far has shown us there is still so much to be defined and to learn about in the sustainability space. Our focus will primarily be on sustainable trail practices; however, we do have a plan to offset our journey and will share this with you as the expedition unfolds! You can view our progress here as we travel across iconic trails between Uluru and Kakadu over 12 days. You can catch live videos from the trails via the WEJUGO vimeo channel too.
This is a journey of discovery, and we are well aware that challenges will arise and that nature will no doubt throw in some harsh conditions to test us! But we are excited too and so looking forward to this grand adventure across the Northern Territory.
We wish to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the lands we have journeyed across, for their long and continued relationship with this land, and for allowing us the privilege of adventuring through this magnificent country in the Northern Territory.
