2018 Hiking Group Wrap Up

2018 was our first Hiking Group program that we did just for fun, that is, there was no terrifying overseas adventure at the end of it! We did two sessions a week, one on a Wednesday “hiking fitness”, and one on a Saturday where we actually went out and explored. The challenge this year was keeping the hikes interesting and varied for the participants who come along every year! It was for this reason that we ventured to the Royal National Park, twice. This National Park is spectacular because it is right on the coast, atop huge cliff faces, which makes the scenery spectacular! We saw the iconic Eagle Rock and Figure 8 Rockpools, although the weather didn’t favour us for the latter!

Our Blue Mountains adventure this year was less intense than previous years, as we didn’t descend to the bottom of the valley either day. We did, however, tick off some bucket list sights like the Three Sisters! So many of us haven’t seen these beauties, and it was exiting to show them off!

A couple of commendations… Brave Dave must go first for missing half the training due to work, then showing up for our toughest 20km finale! That is true courage and we are very proud of him!

Little Ava who accompanied her Grandma Mags on most of the hikes, including that 20km last day! Mags is in fact a superhero, you can read her Nepal story here. What makes her so sensational is that the Annapurna trip was 2 years ago, and we considered 3 laps of Alexander St to be “conquering” it… last Wednesday she did 6… I guess it’s not surprising that Ava is completing 20km at 8 years old with these genes!

Louise, Terry, Mags, Gaye, Kathy, Debbie, and Tracey who completed almost all of the Wednesday Training sessions as well as the Saturday ones!

Mark who nicked off to do Kokoda and successfully completed it!

Jen T who thought she wouldn’t be fit enough to walk with us… but joined anyway and was!

And Jen, Trish, Justine, & Big Mark, for coming again and bringing your bubbles… just keep swimming!

Finally, Michelle and Bronnie for popping your Hiking Group cherries and making it FUN!

Also we have to thank our trainers, Jade who spent hours checking out the hikes in advance, planning the sessions, and making sure everything ran smoothly! Maddy who gave up time in her exam period to provide support in our final hike, and almost killed herself in the process!