The next episode in our Munda Biddi series discussing the section of the track taking you from Collie to Nala Mia with special guest Saf Flatters from Bark and Spark.  Exploring the stunning Jarrah forests of Wellington National Park, including one of the more entertaining downhill stretches, the trail then heads into the Ferguson Valley for rolling farmland and orchards before arriving in the apple capital of Western Australia, Donnybrook. From Donnybrook the trail heads through the forests...

In what was an unexpected year for the world, we sit back and discuss the year that was, our trail adventures and then get into a Q&A.  Welcome to our first wine sponsor, Green Door Wines and as a special offer for Real Trail Talk listeners simply enter TRAILTALK at the checkout for a 10% discount on your first online order.

The next episode in our Munda Biddi series discussing the section of the track taking you from Dwellingup to Collie.  Taking in some really nice Jarrah forest, this section is unfortunately blighted by the ongoing destruction of the forests by Alcoa and their bauxite mining operations.  To read more about the section and see some great photos check out The Long Way's Better

Running between Mundaring Weir and Northam, the historic Kep Track follows the old rail trail as it winds through the forests, towns and farms along the water pipeline. This 75km trail is best experienced on a bike so on a rainy November day, we loaded up our mountain bikes to discover what this trail was all about. 

After a long break we have returned with Mark giving an account of his four week road trip where he hiked the Cape to Cape, ticked off several hikes on his to-do list around Walpole, Albany and Esperance and finished with a fun weekend at the Pemby Trail Festival.  To hear Mark's response to several previous episodes plus get a sneak peek of the content that will be coming to The Life of Py over the next few months, settle in and have a listen.

This week we are joined by Dave Osborne from WalkGPS to discuss off-track hiking, what went into creating the depth and breadth of walks on his website and the state of bushwalking in Western Australia.

We are  joined by Risk Expert Alan de Souza, who also happens to be father to Donovan, to discuss the topic of risk and how it relates to trails, government and decision making. Stay to the end for a quick Q&A on what Donovan was like as a kid. 

The second episode of our Munda Biddi series sees us joined by Jake from Intents Offroad to discuss the Jarrahdale to Dwellingup section of this 1000km cycling trail.   Taking you through the Jarrah forests of the Darling Range, there is some lovely cycling mixed in with mining and forestry operations.

We sit down with Neil McCulloch from the First Hike Project, a not for profit organisation that takes new refugees out on hiking trips in the Australian bush to help introduce them to the outdoors and build confidence. Discussing what is involved with the trips, who participates and the effort required, this was a really fascinating chat with a man that is doing a lot of great things in the community. If you'd like to help out in any way send the FHP an email at...

In this episode we interview Jess Beckerling from the WA Forest Alliance to discuss the threats facing the forests of the South West of WA, the transition away from native logging, the future of the forests and how you can help save their beautiful ecosystems. 

Hopping on the mountain bike for 2020, Donovan has started a sectional end to end of the Munda Biddi, a 1000km long distance trail running from Mundaring to Albany. Running North to South we are doing a series on the track starting with the Mundaring to Jarrahdale section that runs through the Darling Range. 

Our mission for this episode was to come up with the ultimate South West Road Trip given a time frame of roughly two weeks that could be realistically accomplished. We both map out our hypothetical routes and discuss how we would fill each day (which of course included a lot of trails). 

In this episode we get into a discussion about hiking gear, what we use, how we came to choose that gear, a brief chat about ultralight gear, sustainability and what gear we'd like heading into the future. 

After finally finishing his sectional end to end, Mark discusses his thoughts on the entire Bibbulmun Track and how life has changed over that time. 

We are joined again by WA outdoor adventure enthusiast Shavaurn to discuss the world class snorkelling locations up and down the northern part of Western Australia. With some of the most stunning spots in the whole of the state (and perhaps the country), the snorkelling at places like Ningaloo is beyond amazing. 

We are joined by WA outdoor adventure enthusiast Shavaurn to discuss the various snorkelling spots around Perth and South West. With summer meaning a break in the hiking season, we like to get out into the water and explore a different type of scene. Thanks to the Leeuwin Current there is a variety of sea life and coral to see so close to shore.

The second of our two Great Walks of New Zealand discussions, we talk about the Tongariro Northern Circuit that was completed by The Long Way's Better at the end of 2019. This four day hike takes you around the active volcanoes of Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe (used as Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings) with public huts along the way to stay in.  Hear all about the adventure as Donovan and Alissa recount their journey through this remarkable landscape. 

In this episode we are joined by the other half of The Long Way's Better to discuss their Christmas expedition on the Abel Tasman Coast Track in New Zealand. This 4.5 day coastal hike is a relaxing escape from the usual rigours of multi-day hiking with stunning scenery, nice huts to stay in and some casual distances on each day. 

With a busy year for both The Long Way's Better and The Life of Py, we sat down and reminisced about the past year's adventures and what will be coming up in the future.  

Continuing on with the blank slate idea of where we would take the Bibbulmun Track in an ideal world, the journey continues from Donnelly River to Albany. We are joined by Steve Sertis from the Bibbulmun Track Foundation and Bonny from Friendly Dropbear as the hotly debated coastal section receives a major realignment including an epic finish as proposed by Mark.

In this episode we are joined by Steve Sertis from the Bibbulmun Track Foundation and recent end to ender Bonny to discuss where we would take the Bibbulmun Track if given a clean slate. Grab a map or follow along on the Bibbulmun Track website and join us as we have a fun discussion about the changes we would make and why.

This week we sit down with Melina, a World Trails Network Ambassador from Perth to discuss who the World Trails Network, what they do and what the future holds. It was a great insight into the world trails community that is developing and what to expect at the 2020 World Trails Conference in Nepal. For more information visit their website a visit (https://worldtrailsnetwork.org/)

To celebrate our 50th episode we asked you, the listeners, to send in your questions that we would try our best to answer. We had some fun in the process and thank you to everyone who sent in something. Here's to our first 50 episodes and to continuing on with the next 50 episodes. 

With Western Australia being home to some spectacular coastal walking, we spend this episode talking about some of the best coastal walking along the south east part of WA. With walks in Cape Arid NP, Cape Le Grand NP and Esperance, we discuss what makes this area so special. In the second half of the episode Donovan provides his insight into his visits to Fitzgerald River National Park that we previously talked about with Erika Jacobson.

Part 2 of our NSW series of overnight hikes, this episode we are talking about The Long Way's Better's adventure at Grose Valley in the Blue Mountains. A challenging hike, you descend down into the valley where you follow the Grose River and camp the night before heading up some steep terrain to the finishing point.