If you're a hiker and you're on Facebook you might be familiar with the group 'Hiking in Australia & New Zealand'. Well, we recently had the pleasure of chatting with chief moderator Paul Goodsell about not only the Facebook group (which now sits at 32,000 members) but all his hiking origin story, working for Snowys Outdoors in Adelaide and his new venture Ottie.

This is definitely a chat with one hiker who has been involved in the community in so many different ways. I genuinely hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did recording it.

Recorded back in early 2016 during my first multi-day hike in New Zealand, I was making my way in the Tongariro National Park and was offered a lift into the park by a kind lady. Declining her generous offer and preferring to walk, I thought this would be an opportune time to share some brief thoughts on just how generous and helpful New Zealanders really are.

Happy listening!

After several months since we did our last podcast, we've decided to ramp things up and start doing more; especially during this period of isolation that we find ourselves in due to COVID-19.

We share 5 things that we reckon should be on your list of things to do whilst in iso.

Happy listening!

John

There's plenty of people in the Australian outdoor community that I'm keen on interviewing on this podcast because I genuinely believe that everyone has a unique story to tell.

So, when adventure enthusiast Terra Roam contacted me to set up a chat on the podcast, I naturally jumped at the opportunity. And any chat with an outdoor identity such as Terra can only be conducted in one place - the outdoors!

We discuss everything from her origin story in the outdoors, her 4-year record-breaking walk around Australia to bring awareness to mental health, and her upcoming walk - Climb8 - an 800km snowshoe expedition across the Australian Alps during winter 2020.

If you're looking for some inspiration to get into the outdoors, then Terra's story, and our chat, might just be the motivation you need.

You can follow Terra on Instagram here and read all about her via her website here. You can also read about her Climb8 walk here.

Happy listening!

We're finally back with a new episode of the Pursuit of the Outdoors podcast and we've returned with a fantastic guest - Laura Waters.

If you're not aware of Laura yet, then you will be shortly. She has recently released her first book Bewildered; a story about "leaving everything behind for 3,000km in the wilds of New Zealand" on the Te Araroa Trail. 

We talk about everything from the trip itself, to what made her give up everything to do it, as well as what occurred afterwards.

If you are someone who is looking to break the circuit in life, or are wanting to know just what the outdoors can potentially do for your physical and mental well-being, I would highly encourage you to have a listen.

Enjoy!

In episode 21, I had the opportunity to sit down with outdoor photographer Rob Embury of Pale Blue Dot Photography.

We speak about:

If you're a budding outdoor photographer, be sure to visit his website, and follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

In episode 20 of the Pursuit of the Outdoors podcast, I got the opportunity to sit down with Rowan Smith who owns and operates his own business called Summit Strength. A business that Rowan describes as 'helping amateur trekkers get to the top of the mountain', he draws on his years of experience as both an adventurer and a personal trainer to offer customised training plans for those wishing to take on treks such as Kilimanjaro, Nepal, Kokoda and more.

We discuss where it all began, why he believes there is plenty of incorrect information out there, how he trains his clients and why he prefers to train  his clients rather than guide them on their trek.

You can follow Summit Strength on Facebook and Instagram.

Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcast.

After spending close to 5 years in the Victorian outdoor community, and running one of the biggest outdoor MeetUp groups for a portion of that time, we've met many hikers and adventurers of various experiences who all have their reasons as to why they go hiking. 

However, there are a number of hikers and adventurers out there who don't go as often as they would like to and two of those reasons form the topic of discussion for this episode of the podcast.

Be sure to subscribe to our podcast and follow us on social media: @thehikingsociety

Had the absolute pleasure chatting with one of my Brubeck Australia & New Zealand ambassadors - Jayden Ordner - about his beginnings as a hiker conquering Everest Base Camp to scaling his love of running to completing his first official trail run.

If you're a trail runner or hiker, and are just getting into either, I would highly recommend listening to this episode. You can also follow Jay on Instagram: @jayden_ordner

The tables were absolutely turned in this episode of the Pursuit of the Outdoors. After interviewing Andrea from Ladybirds on the Loose, she then interviewed me as we chatted all things beginner hiking such as where to find general hiking information including more specifically track and trails. We also discuss my thoughts on how to pick your shoes/boots and various other topics that I had learned as a beginner hiker 4 years ago.