Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘dogs’

2nd print run of Geelong Walks book now available

Posted in Bellarine Peninsula, Brisbane Ranges, Coastal Walks, Dogs, Geelong, Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 03/23/2015| Leave a Comment »

Best Walks of Geelong, the Bellarine and the Brisbane Ranges

Best Walks of Geelong, the Bellarine and the Brisbane Ranges

Hi everyone

Just a quick post to let you know that the 2nd print run of Best Walks of Geelong, the Bellarine and the Brisbane Ranges is now available and in stock at Woodslane Press, so your local bookseller should be able to order it. Yay!  Also, at the upcoming Melbourne Dog Lovers Show, on the first weekend in May, you’ll be able to pick up ‘Melbourne for Dogs’ at the show’s book shop, run by Avenue Bookstore. Amidst all that excitement, time for me to focus on the final write up of Best Walks of the Great Ocean Road, before my long-suffering co-author, Neil Fahey, over at Bushwalking Blog, falls asleep in disgust!  Should be out mid year.

Meantime, I am excited about my forthcoming birthday walk – 6 days on the Larapinta Trail – in central Australia. I love, love, LOVE deserts and one of my all time favourite travel moments was 4 days in the deserts of Wadi Rum in Jordan when I was doing that backpacker thang.

Read Full Post »

Melbourne for Dogs book is here!

Posted in Bushwalking, dog parks, Dogs, Melbourne, Walks, Walks with dogs, tagged , , , , , , , on 04/07/2014| 1 Comment »

Melbourne for Dogs - who could resist that brown-eyed retriever? Not me!

Melbourne for Dogs – who could resist that brown-eyed retriever? Not me!

I can’t believe it’s been almost 3 months since I managed to update my blog!  Well, actually I can, as I have been pretty busy, with work trips to Mongolia, Canberra, Hanoi and Cambodia since then (plenty of stories and sights to share). But my big news is that the first copy of my new book, Melbourne for Dogs, has just arrived in my hot little hands today, as an advance copy from the printers.  Honestly – the anticipation has been almost too much to bear – it’s been somewhat like an elephant’s gestation, 2 years in the making and finally it has popped out fully formed in glossy, glorious colour!

RSPCA Victoria have come on board and endorsed it, which is wonderful, and we’ll be launching it at the Melbourne Dog Lovers Show, which will be at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton from 2nd – 4th May 2014.  You can pre-order it from Woodslane online, or after the show, it will be available in all good bookstores and online, as well as through RSPCA shops, and some vets and pet stores as well. It will retail for $24.95, but if you buy one at the show, it will be on special for $19.95. There are over 700 off-lead dog parks and 50+ off-lead beaches in there, as well as a series of longer dog and people-friendly walks to keep you entertained, in the style of the Melbourne’s Best Walks book.  I do hope you and your pooch enjoy using it to explore (off-lead) pastures new – Indie and I certainly enjoyed researching it!

Read Full Post »

Melbourne for Dogs – some news!

Posted in dog parks, Dogs, Melbourne, Uncategorized, Walks with dogs, tagged , , , , , , on 11/28/2013| 3 Comments »

ImageWell, here’s a bit of excitement (for me, anyway!) – a sneak peek at the cover for Melbourne for Dogs has just arrived from the publishers. How can you resist the gorgeous golden retriever on the cover – she was at Cheltenham Park one overcast day in the winter, melting hearts all over – and yes, that’s a very mental looking Indie having fun in the water down at St Kilda West beach – we headed there yesterday to escape the heat and spent lots of time wading through the waters at low tide. Great way for dogs and their humans to cool off.  The other bit of exciting news about Melbourne for Dogs is that the book is going to be launched at the Melbourne Dog Lovers Show on 2nd-4th May next year at the Royal Exhibition Buildings in Carlton, where there will be a big wall display of the more than 750 off-lead parks and 52 off-lead beaches in Melbourne (taken from the book), and little old me and the books!  Looking forward to meeting some of you there!

Read Full Post »

Emerald to Cockatoo Autumn Leaf Walk

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on 05/23/2013| Leave a Comment »

ImageI just love, love, LOVE walking in Australia on cool, crisp autumn days.  What’s not to like – you don’t get hot, you don’t have to carry gallons of water and you don’t have to worry about stepping on the slithery ones. Today Deb, co-author Indie-the-Dog and I headed for the Dandenongs – only 40 minutes from Melbourne’s city centre but a million miles away in terms of peace and beauty.  We did the 14km return trail walk from the beautiful hill town of Emerald to Cockatoo and back, taking in the spectacular autumn leaf beauty of Nobilis Gardens and Emerald Lake Park and the towering eucalyptus and colourful funghii of Wrights Forest. For a shorter walk you could always take the bus back from Cockatoo (though not with a dog), but we were glad of the return walk, as the weather only got better as we went along, and the late afternoon rays through the Japanese maples were breathtaking.  A fantastic bush walk with a dog, as there is an off-leash park at either end, though dogs must be on lead for the rest of it. If you do the walk without a dog on weekends and school holidays, you can take a load off and catch the Puffing Billy steam train back from Cockatoo at 3pm.

Image

Read Full Post »

Quirky Transport Alternatives on Port Philip Bay

Posted in Art, Bellarine Peninsula, History, Otway Ranges, Uncategorized, Wales, Wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 04/01/2013| Leave a Comment »

New Port Philip Cycle Trail

New Port Philip Cycle Trail

While out walking in Melbourne’s western bayside suburbs today, I spotted these enterprising lads, who obviously decided to take the short cut from Altona across to St Kilda.  Hope they packed their snorkels! I opted for the longer route, and took in a fine 8km stretch of the Williamstown to Altona Foreshore Trail, a shared cycle/walk path which winds along the coastline from Williamstown Beach across to the fabulous off-leash PA Burns coastal reserve in Seaholme.  While the Foreshore Trail itself is on-leash for dogs,  (it runs parallel to the Jawbone Conservation area), the parks at either end of the walk are both off-leash, so plenty of exercise for everyone – particularly those whose dogs like a good run (or in the case of these kids, swim) beside the bike.

IMG_1412

Williamstown Wetlands, via the Foreshore Trail

Read Full Post »

Melbourne’s Fabulous Dog Beaches

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on 04/01/2013| 9 Comments »

ImageAs our extended summer in Melbourne draws to a close, I am just finishing the chapter of Off Leash Dog Beaches for the Melbourne for Dogs book.  What a trial that has been for my co-author and I.  We both just hate having to walk barefoot along the sandy beaches of Port Philip Bay on sunny days, with views all the way to the Peninsula and daily sunsets to set the heart singing.  Indie particularly hates having to roll in the sand and dig holes and jump over the (mini) waves to play with all the other very happy dogs. What a drag. Our favourite, thanks to its proximity to home, is St Kilda West Beach, with it’s huge piles of dog-friendly new sand being pushed out to help build the extension to St Kilda marina. Brighton dog beach is the place to go on Sundays when every man/woman and his dog (literally) is out there to enjoy the views and the company.  But today we’re heading over to the Altona dog beach, in Melbourne’s west, aiming for low tide when there are endless stretches of flat sand revealed for dogs and their owners to stretch their legs on. In fact, the shallow, calm waters of Port Phillip – the bane of tourists looking for a decent wave – make for fantastic waters for dogs, and the many off-leash beaches available around the Bay feature extensive sand flats and shallow waters at low tide perfect for bounding through and wallowing in. Life’s good if you’re lucky enough to be a dog in Melbourne!

Image

Read Full Post »

Gardiner’s Creek Reserve – Great for Dogs when not flash flooding!

Posted in Bushwalking, dog parks, Dogs, Walking with Children, Walks, Walks with dogs, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 03/01/2013| Leave a Comment »

Amazing what you find hiding in your draft folder ….. 3 years later!  For the Melbourne for Dogs readers:

Am finally into the nitty gritty of Melbourne for Dogs, and decided to check out some reader recommendations for great off-leash dog walks.  Gardiner’s Creek Reserve in East Burwood, right next to the Deakin University campus was top on my list. And of course after weeks and weeks of unremitting 30 degree plus heat, the designated day dawned ….. bucketing rain, fabulous lightning and thunder and radio warnings of flash floods!  Well, that was annoying.  After an hour, it eased up so I thought I’d give it a crack anyway.  My enthusiastic co-author was all for it, so we picked up our trusty two-legged companion, Deb and headed north.  My readers are right – Gardiner’s Creek Reserve is just perfect for off-leash bound-y dogs, with around 2.5km of tracks through the manicured bush reserve and the opportunity to get their feet wet in the meandering creek – though thanks to all the rain, the creek was more a roaring torrent, so even Expeditioner Indie had to keep her distance or risk taking a water-slide detour to Port Phillip Bay.

Image

Read Full Post »

Indie the Kayak Dog – Expeditioner, Co-Author!

Posted in Coastal Walks, Dogs, Places to Visit, Travel, Walks, Walks with dogs, tagged , , , , , , , , on 02/26/2013| 4 Comments »

Have just spent the past week getting out and about with the Geelong Walks book – so exciting when all your work comes to fruition and people start to use it! Now, though, my plate is clear so I can knuckle down on Melbourne for Dogs, which is due to the publishers at the end of April.  From that point, it is still around 5 months of editing, designing, cartography etc until it reaches the shelves – I find the whole ‘hidden’ processes behind books quite fascinating.

Image

Indie, Seagull Lookout, St Kilda Marina

Meanwhile, my co-author on Melbourne for Dogs, a.k.a. Indie, is just kicking back and contemplating the seagulls from her window seat on the front of my kayak, down at St Kilda marina yesterday – a great way to cool off after the longest lasting run of 30C+ February days we’ve ever had in Melbourne.  Needless to say, we’re enjoying doing the beaches chapter of the book just now.  West St Kilda Beach is a favourite – close  by and off-leash for dogs all year round – plus the kite boarders who favour it provide endless hours of entertainment for dogs who run after their enormous, colourful kites in the shallow waters. Dog heaven.

Read Full Post »

Walking Melbourne’s Historic Boathouses

Posted in Birdwatching, dog parks, Dogs, Melbourne, Places to Visit, Travel, Walking with Children, Walks, Walks with dogs, Wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 08/28/2012| Leave a Comment »

Studley Park Boathouse on the Yarra River, Melbourne

There were once 7 historic boathouses lining the banks of the Yarra River – popular in Melbourne’s Victorian and Edwardian eras, when people took their pleasure most seriously with days out for genteel boating and cream teas by the river. There are still two magnificent boathouses left on the Yarra today, and even more pleasingly, they are surrounded by wonderful riverside walks along this beautiful green corridor through the heart of Melbourne.  In some parts of Yarra Bend and Fairfield Parks you can feel a hundred miles from the city, surrounded by remnant river gums, native grasslands and beautiful escarpments, though the hum of traffic is always in the background. Probably the best way to take it all in is to take the riverside walk all the way from Fairfield Park Boathouse to Studley Park Boathouse, some 10 kilometres away, crossing the pipe bridge in front of Fairfield Boathouse and turning right beside the river to walk beneath the Eastern Freeway overpass, past the beautiful Bellbird Picnic area and around Yarra Bend to end up at Studley Park Boathouse.

View to the Pipe Bridge from Studley Park boathouse

Public transport isn’t great here, so either do it as a return walk (20km) or a full day circuit by crossing the river again at Studley Park boathouse and continuing left along the river, turning right at Dight Falls to follow alongside Merri Creek, and right again to follow the main Yarra Trail back towards the Pipe Bridge and boathouse.  Alternatively, arrange for a car shuttle, but make sure you include time for a bit of boating on the river and definitely a cream tea at either end! A fantastic spring walk full of bush, wattle and birdlife – smack in the middle of the city. Dogs are fine on this walk, and there is plenty for them to smell along the way, though they must be on lead and keep an eye out for speeding mountain bikers!

Read Full Post »

Swapping Walking for ‘Walkies’

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 08/11/2012| Leave a Comment »

ImageWell, I know it’s been a bit quiet and I promise it’s not because of the wet, cold weather.  My Geelong book is in post-production as we finalise the maps and text ready for the printers, and I have been busy working on Melbourne for Dogs, so my walking adventures have been focussed on finding the best off-leash dog parks and beaches in Melbourne.  Needless to say, my dog, Indie, is in heaven.  We recently visited the Brighton Dog Beach, which is a fully fenced sand spit opposite the Royal Brighton Yacht Club (appropriate given our Olympic sailors are starring at the moment!). Surrounded by shallow waters, this is the place for dogs who love to bound through the water – regardless of the temperature – and you can build in a good long (on-leash) stroll along the foreshore before or afterwards.   Not a bad way to spend the day.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

%d bloggers like this: