Lace up your hiking boots for the next in Lonely Planet’s highly successful Epic Hikes series, this time exploring 50 of Australia and New Zealand’s most rewarding treks and trails. From the Routeburn Track in New Zealand’s South Island to the Cape to Cape walk in Western Australia’s Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, we cover a huge variety of themes and experiences across routes that range from one-day walks to multi-day treks.
The main stories in each chapter of the book feature first-hand accounts of fantastic hikes in those regions of Australia and New Zealand. Each includes an orientation toolkit to help plan the trip - when is the best time of year to hike, how to get there, any special equipment required. But beyond that, these stories should inspire other ideas.
A vibrant cover once again illustrated by Ross Murray continues this collectible series.
Each of the 50 featured hikes includes:
First-person accounts from writers who have completed the hike
Challenge level grading: easy / harder / epic
Inspirational photography, maps and practical information to follow in the writer’s footsteps
Orientation toolkit: when is the best time of year to hike, how to get there, special equipment required
Expert travel advice: where to stay, recommended tours, the best places to eat
Suggestions for similar hikes
Whether you’re a seasoned hiker or a novice embarking on your very first trek, Epic Hikes of Australia and New Zealand will inspire a lifetime of adventures on foot.
Ever had the desire to jump in your car and keep driving?
Well, that is precisely what The Raven Brothers decided to do whilst stacking boxes of frozen oven chips in a -30 degrees freezer. With a squeaky foot pump and an SAS survival guide, the travel writing duo fired up their rusty Ford Sierra and headed east. After clocking up over 12,000 kilometres, quite literally living in the car, they miraculously arrived in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan.
What the brothers had in fact done was to drive Russia’s new Trans-Siberian Highway, a staggering eight years before the road was completed. With only very limited skills of wilderness survival and, virtually zero knowledge of the internal combustion engine, Simon and Chris skip over ten time zones in the beat up petrol engine saloon they used for work. Driving through endless rivers and canyons in a bid to cross the notorious Zilov Gap in darkest Siberia, the trusty heroes capture the true spirit of overland travel during a life-altering journey into one of the world’s last frontiers. Along the way they rub shoulders with Chechen criminals, escape highway robbery, trade banana flavoured condoms with Russian cops, meet an eccentric cast of characters at truck stops in darkest Siberia, endure torturous road conditions and enter into a race to the finish with the Germans.
Surviving the journey by the skin of their teeth, the brothers are forced to confront their worst fears in a toe-curling comedy of extreme road trip adventure. Priding themselves on going it alone, The Raven Brothers have been noted by Lonely Planet for their talent to portray an “accurate view of what to expect”.