Guidebooks | garrymcdougall

Guidebooks

Recreational walking has been a life-long passion, longer than my passion for the creative arts.

From my childhood exploration of the bush behind my uncle's farm, to walking the Himalayas, the Camino De Santiago or the West Highland Way much later, the joys of walking has been part of me. Experiencing Nature, the landscape , local cuisine, and people met on the way; it is all delightful.

Creating the Great North Walk led to my involvement in writing.

Great North Walk, 1988

For eight-years Leigh Shearer-Heriot and myself invented, developed, walked, mapped and promoted the long-distance walking track from Sydney to Newcastle and the Hunter Valley. Eventually, it became an official Bicentennial Project.

This book was published by Kangaroo Press, sold two editions and was stocked over 100 public libraries.

NSW Heritage Walks 1990

The follow-up guidebook, NSW Heritage Walks, was not a typical guidebook, as it was just as interested in history and heritage, as it was nature, and landscape. It include dthe longest description of the Barrington Tops walking routes, at the time, plus chapters on the Six Foot Track, Corn Trail, marramang and other less documented areas.

Since then...two other matters

1. Project One- Creating a Great Illawarra Path, linking Sydney to Canberra, via the Illawarra escarpment.

2. Project Two- Writing a definitive social history of Australian recreational walking ( More under 'Writing').