The whole week was a simple time, and that was the beauty of it.
Each day was spent meandering along wide sandy paths, bellies full of too much food, until mid-afternoon. We'd lazily set up our camp, and then relax all afternoon in the golden light by a crystal clear lake. Just as the morning would start with a brilliant sunset over clear waters, we'd watch the sky light on fire above yet another blue expanse further north at the end of the day.
Stretching ninety kilometres across the largest sand island in the world, the K'gari Great Walk winds its away over sand dunes, beside lakes and through ancient old growth forest. It is a careful juxtaposition between untouched landscapes and the lively hustle of the 4x4 community in the well-trafficked, Insta-famous highlights of the island.
My expectation versus the reality of this Great Walk were radically different. I thought we’d be battling through tourist crowds each day as we avoided being hit by a constant stream of revving 4x4s. I did think there would be more hills and more sand walking. And I thought there would be an onslaught of people wandering along the track doing the multi-day trek.
I was completely wrong on all accounts. The track skirted most dense tourist hotspots, but when we did pass them all the crowds were gone prior to sunset. This walk was immensely easy. If there was a hill around, you best believe the track designers avoided it like the plague. One day there was a twenty-minute ascent - it was an incredible shock! Finally, I was amazed that we only saw one other group heading our direction; and around three other groups heading the other way.
Kim and Luke were the couple tracking our direction and we became solid mates with them. They’d travelled up from Geelong, Victoria for the walk. One night in the light rain we spent hours playing Monopoly Deal - they both beat the three of us relentlessly.
Honestly the best parts of this hike isn’t the physical activity of putting boot over boot - it’s the chill nature of it, allowing you to relax the remainder of the day.
Very sadly, our experience on K’gari was cut short as a result of an overwhelming amount of rain. One of my mate’s parents planned an overlapping driving trip and they were able to rescue us from the endless dampness.
Both my mates (probably rightfully so) gave me quite a bit of backlash for carrying TWO cameras on a multi-day hike.
‘Think of the weight!’ Blah, blah, etc.
I carried a little Nikon film camera in addition to the normal DSLR. Here’s my favourite two shots from it! I feel like the extra 700g was justified.
There’s probably got to be a point to this blog, so here it is: Do the K’gari Great Walk! It’s definitely worth it!
