Virtually all bushwalk-loving grey nomads have been there.
The brochures and signposts are all telling you the same thing … this one’s going to be a breeze!
But then the ‘easy stroll’ turns into a rock-hopping horror show, the ‘gentle incline’ turns into a mountaineering expedition, and the ‘well-marked trail’ turns into a ‘where-am-I-supposed-to-go-now’ nailbiter.
Veteran traveller Cynthia Kay has learnt to take this accidental ‘misdirection’ in her proverbial stride, and those promises of ‘easy’ and ‘gentle’ with a pinch of salt.
“When all is said and done, this is the Australian bush and everything should be taken seriously and properly prepared for,” she said.
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Cynthia recalls one of her earliest serious hikes was the Smitt Rock Walk at Katherine Gorge two decades ago.
“The ranger said beforehand ‘just keep going straight, it’s well signed, you can’t go wrong’, she said. “I am sure it is much better now but, back then, it certainly wasn’t well signposted and we got horribly lost … not fun.”
Cynthia says it can also work the other way. “I sometimes take routes marked as ‘challenging’ and they’re a stroll in the park,” she said.
If people did some research beforehand, a great many bushwalks have gradings from EASY to DIFFUCULT. You then know what to expect before setting out.
Let your fingers do the walking before your legs.