Big Heart Adventures

20/06/2024

When our Full Moon Hike lands on a Saturday night (tomorrow night at Onka) 🤣🌕🥾

What do you think our chances are of getting tomorrow night's walk leaders, Ian and Rod, to bust a groove on the trail? 🕺🤣

Ps/ Today is the shortest day/longest night of the year - Happy Winter Solstice, Adventurers 🖤

🎥: Cosmic Blonde

20/06/2024

Let’s meet our 2024 walk leaders…

Who recognises this legend?!! We reckon Rod's intro is best coming from the man himself, so without further adieu, meet Rod...

"Not a wise woman 🤣 I've been involved in bushwalking, group nature interventions and general adventuring since before the turn of the century!(dammit). I am the current chair of Walking SA and I am a trainer and assessor with Bushwalking Leadership South Australia in what remains of my free time.

I fell into the BHA orbit after working with Lisa on her bushwalk leader accreditation. I run the full moon and twilight hikes with Ian and the navigation courses we offer."

💚 Where were you and what were you doing when this photo was taken?
KI Wilderness Trail, walking with my favourite adventure buddy and enjoying the coastal views and fine weather on New Years Eve 2023.

💚 Where was your last adventure?
Stayed in a hut in Kuitpo Forest for a couple of cold nights in May - good fun and tasty marshmallows!

💚 What's your biggest bucket-list adventure?
That's hard - going trekking in Nepal 🇳🇵 after 20 years this October is a big tick off of the bucket list.

💚 What's a random fact about you?
I like punk rock!

💚 What's your favourite mantra?
See you out there! Or... Only 2 more hills. Or... Tilt your head back and the trail doesn't seem so steep. Or... whatever... 🤣

If you're keen to upskill with Rod, we have 3 more Nav Skills Workshops this year - July's has booked out, but we still have spots left for Level 1 in Sept and Level 2 in Nov. Plus, you can chat with him on the trail this Saturday night at our next Full Moon Hike!

Cheers Rod 🙌 We're so lucky to have you in the Big Heart Fam!!


ID: A selfie of 2 walkers on the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail. The person taking the photo has the camera angled so the coastal horizon is tilted, and they have only half their face visible in the bottom left of the frame. The central focus is on their walking companion who's smiling at the camera, wearing sunglasses, a black backpack and a map lanyard slung around his neck. A rugged Kangaroo Island coastline is behind them.S

19/06/2024

A fun little teaser for you 😍

Can you guess where we're going next April?

You're going to wanna come! 🐠🐟🦜🦤🌴🌿


🎥: Massive thanks to our partners Oxley Travel for the original video footage 🙏
(Text overlay by us! 😉)

18/06/2024

June's Full Moon Hike is coming up THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at Onkaparinga 🌕

There's only a handful of spots left!

Join Big Heart Adventures for a Full Moon Hiking Adventure!

17/06/2024

Are you in the mood for a challenge?

Today's Top Trail is rated Grade 4. A hard hike that undulates its way through some of the more remote parts of Cobbler Creek Recreation Park.

The Valley Circuit is a 4.2km loop. Have you done it? Dogs on lead are permitted so pop your pooch into the car and go check it out! 👣🐾

https://www.walkingsa.org.au/walk/find-a-place-to-walk/valley-circuit-cobbler-creek-recreation-park/

📸: Walking SA

17/06/2024

Here's your Monday night reminder to book your Portuguese Camino 🇵🇹🤣

We still have a handful of spots left for THIS SEPTEMBER's semi-guided tour.

Walk 260km from Porto to Santiago de Compostela - 20th Sept to 6th Oct

https://bigheartadventures.com.au/product/womens-portuguese-camino-semi-guided/


ID: The back of a triumphant woman striking a celebratory pose in front of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, having just finished walking the Camino Pilgrimage.

Photo Credit: Kyra Larking

16/06/2024

This is your reminder that it’s okay to slow down and turn inward over winter 🌱💚🙏

🎨: Tanja B Artistry

16/06/2024

December through to March is considered the best time of year to visit India 🇮🇳

That's before the heat and monsoon rains set in! Good thing our Women's India Wellbeing Journey is scheduled for February 🤩🕌

This trip is just as its name suggests. It's focused on WELLBEING... YOUR Wellbeing! 🥰

That means our walks will be gentle, and we'll enjoy meditation and yoga and journeying into India's spiritual and cultural layers.

If you've ever been curious about this vibrant and transformative part of the world, now's your chance to experience it for yourself!

10th to 23rd Feb 2025

https://bigheartadventures.com.au/product/womens-india-wellbeing-journey/


ID: A collection of eight travel photos from India.
1) The Taj Mahal
2) Sparkly jewelled footwear
3) Archway from the Pink City
4) A green painted door with a bicycle in front
5) Bundled Marigold flowers
6) Emboided and block printed sari cloth
7) Meal tray with assorted single-serve dishes paired with rice and poppadom
8) Woman carrying bright red netted hay bundle atop her head

15/06/2024

Have you wanted to try "forest bathing" but worried you need to be naked for it??!

FEAR NOT :)

Forest Bathing is a direct translation from the Japanese words Shinrin Yoku and often gives the impression it needs to be a naked bath in a forest.

A better explanation is to picture how we bathe in the suns rays on a daily basis just by going outside on a sunny day and sitting in the sun? Similar to this concept, we simply bathe in the forests to connect with nature and ourselves.

The impact this has on our bodies and minds is so therapeutic, its often also called Nature Therapy ;)

Have we confused you yet?

Well be confused no more ;) come and try with us tomorrow, we have a session at Belair at 10am. Tickets are available online until 9pm tonight unless sold out sooner.

Stressed, overwhelmed, grieving, fatigued, needing to slow down?

You don't need to be feeling any of this to come and join us but if any of these words resonate for you, even more reason to come along.

All are welcome!

Come find calm in the forest! A slow guided walk for those who want to feel the healing benefits of being in nature.

14/06/2024

Did you walk with us in 2023?

Last year's trips included, Port Elliot (She Loves Adventure), Flinders Ranges, Wild South Coast Way, Great Ocean Walk, Walk the Yorke, Jatbula Trail, Larapinta, Spain, Japan, Clare, Cape to Cape with Whale Sharks, Fleurieu Peninsula and more!

Are you coming to our Reunion & Thank You Event on the 30th June?

Tag the trail buddy you're most looking forward to catching up with 🥾💚

We can't wait to see you there! There's a sneaky prize to give away 😉

14/06/2024

How does a Slow Food tour sounds in the beautiful Adelaide Hills this winter?

We have a heavily discounted inaugural Adelaide Hills Food Safari tour due to operate Thursday June 27th taking your taste buds on a delicious sensory journey.

Join us!

Tickets are now available :)
https://southaustraliadestinationmanagementco.rezdy.com/644951/preview-adelaide-hills-food-safari

13/06/2024

We've shared this one before, but it still makes us laugh... 🤣🤣

13/06/2024

Ta-da!! Most of you will recognise this ROCKSTAR striking a pose in all her glory 🤣

For those unsure, allow us to introduce, Kim!

She's been with Big Heart for... 4? 5? 6? Possibly more than 6 years now, and she's still going strong.

We've all lost track of how many walks and adventures Kim's done but it'd easily be in the hundreds! The Queen Charlotte Track in NZ, Cape to Cape in WA, Jatbula in the NT, Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail, Flinders, Flinders and more Flinders, oh and let's not forget that she's earned herself the Heysen Trail End-to-End Completion badge too!! 🌟💪

Most recently though, she's added another epic trail to her list, but we'll let her tell you about that!

💚 Where were you and what were you doing when this photo was taken?
This is up on Rawnsley Bluff in the Flinders Ranges on our Flinders North Trip. It's always an excellent hike with heaps of challenges for the group, but oh so rewarding, with breathtaking views, massive physical achievements for many people, and a huge sense of accomplishment at the end. Always enjoyable. I like this photo as it shows how exciting it is up on the edge of the bluff!

💚 Where was your last adventure?
Japan's Kumano Kodo was my last big trip with my daughter, Stevie. It was the absolute Bee's Knees and I reckon everyone needs to put it on the top of their list.

💚 What's your biggest bucket-list adventure?
This month my bucket list adventure is the Camino, as I have been following my bestie Wren as she is completing it, starting from the french Pyrenees side... her email updates have been wonderful, I am so happily jealous!

💚 What's a random fact about you?
I have one green eye and one brown eye…

💚 What's your favourite mantra?
She’ll be right...

Kim's sticking closer to home this year and switching out the big trips for more local trails. You'll catch her leading some of our day walks over the next few months, inlcuding Sections 3 & 4 of the Willunga Basin Trail. Make sure you get her to tell you allll about Japan's Kumano Kodo!! 🇯🇵🥾


ID: A woman stands in a strong, triumphant and jubilant pose, with arms outstretched and one leg slightly raised and resting on a rock. She's smiling at the camera with a hurrah expression and is wearing hiking clothes and a backpack. There's a beautiful view in the background. She has been hiking and has just reached the summit.

12/06/2024

Have you caught up with the upgrades that have been happening along the Marion Coastal Trail/Hallett Cove Boardwalk lately? You know... the one with the stairs 🤣🥾

Well, if you haven't visited the area for a while, the gullies have been close with diversions in place due to the construction of a couple of fancy new suspension bridges!! The last update from the City of Marion was late-April when the first and more complex Grey Gully bridge was nearly complete. The second bridge at Kurnabinna Gully was due to be finished at the end of last month. With each bridge spanning approximately 40m, they've been a pretty massive undertaking including "months of preparation works underground to form the bridge footings".

Following the construction of the bridges, work moves to link them to the walkway path, then there'll be landscaping before an official opening expected by mid-year 🤞

We can't wait to check them out! How about you?

Follow the timeline and read more about it all here:
https://www.marion.sa.gov.au/about-council/major-projects/coastal-walkway-redevelopment

📸: City of Marion

10/06/2024

Today's mystery trail is brought to you courtsey of our walk leader, Gill!

Who can guess where this is?

Here are your clues...

🥾 It's in the Flinders Ranges about 20km north of Quorn
🥾 It's a 5.2km loop returning along a ridgeline
🥾 There are loads of lookout spots from the ridgeline, and you'll pass through yackas and the native pine tree forest pictured

Any ideas? ...GO!!

📸: Thanks Gill 🙏

ID: A narrow walking track lined with native pine tree forest in the Finders Ranges, South Australia.

10/06/2024

Who can guess which itinerary these pics are from..?

Spoiler alert in the last photo and at the link 🤫🤣

Ps/ Bookings for March 2025 NOW OPEN!! 🥾

https://bigheartadventures.com.au/product/great-ocean-walk-adventure/


ID: Eleven photos from Big Heart Adventures' 2023 guided walking tour along Austalia's iconic Great Ocean Walk in Otway National Park, Victoria. Traditional Country of the Gulidjan and Gadubanud peoples.

09/06/2024

Walking, nature and connection help us with mindset and energy 💚

🎨: Soni Lopez-Chavez

09/06/2024

How much do you know about the Japanese Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes?

Did you know...
🇯🇵 They were developed as a way for people to move between sacred areas on the Kii Peninsula
🇯🇵 They have been in use for over 1000 years!
🇯🇵 The trails themselves were designed to be a spiritual experience, not just the shrines

A little reminder that later this year we're offering two of our three Kumano Kodo itineraries.

🥾 Departing 29th Sept - 'Kohechi' Adventure
This is the remote and mountainous route, and is an incredible and spectacular pilgrimage. We keep our group numbers super small for this trek and we only have a few spots left for this year. We're also the only tour operator that currently offers end to end small group guided tours on the Kohechi route. This will be Ian's third time walking the Kohechi pilgrimage and we can't wait for our legendary local guide, Mike to join him once again!
https://bigheartadventures.com.au/product/kumano-kodo-kohechi-adventure/

🥾 Departing 27th Oct - Women's Kumano Kodo
This trip follows the 'Nakahechi' route from Takijiri-oji through breathtaking countryside to Hongu. Walking the Main Trail, plus Dainichi-goe, and Kogumotori-goe sacred trails, a distance of approximately 60km over 5 days and during autumn when the colours will be on full show. Our leader, Kristen, walked the Nakahechi last year and will be your Big Heart host in October, along with our local guide, Waka.
https://bigheartadventures.com.au/product/womens-kumano-kodo/

Wanna come to Japan with us? 🇯🇵


ID: A simple map of Japan's Kii Peninsula showing the Kumano Kodo Walking Trails and main towns.

09/06/2024

It was Stage 2 of the Yurrebilla Trail today in absolutely gorgeous weather.

Gosh we forgot those hills were in there 🤣

Hot drinks and baked goodies got some of us through it (at least until Giles Conservation Park🤣)

Some weary but satisfied walkers finished at Norton Summit clocking up around 19km.

Well done everyone especially those who backed it up with Stage 1 yesterday (Karen, Di and Kath!)

Thanks to everyone for joining us today and over the weekend.

We return in August for Sunday Yurrebilla sections once more…..(head to our website for info!)

Walk Leader Lisa 🥾 plus Driver and Morning Tea Coordinator Ian 🚌 ☕️ 🍪

08/06/2024

Yay for the Yurrebilla Trail!

Our starters for Stage 1 departed around 9am today and are soon arriving at our lunch spot for hot drinks, home made biccies and slice 😜 and sensational views over Adelaide 🙌🙌🙌

We walk for wellbeing (and food, always food 🤣)

07/06/2024

Another great Discovery Walk coming up!

Join us for our next Discovery Walk on Sunday June 23rd along the banks of the Port River.

We will be guided by Catherine McMahon from Friends of Port River to learn about the ecology of the river and estuary system and all the restoration efforts underway to protect this essential waterway.

Join us to connect to nature and community. Tickets available: https://events.humanitix.com/discovery-walk-port-river-2024

06/06/2024

Love this one... happens every time 🤣

🎨: The fabulous Geolyn Carvin, aka Boots McFarland!

06/06/2024

Let's meet our 2024 walk leaders...

We're stoked to have Leah join us this year after completing her Bush Walking Day Leadership accreditation with Rod last year!

Leah lives on the Fleuriueu Peninsula and has always loved walking and spending time outdoors. Let's be honest, her back yard is the perfect spot for exploring beautiful places 😍 One of her favourites is Deep Creek! Yep, us too 🤣

Now that she's part of the Big Heart Fam, she's looking forward to leading walks and meeting more of this awesome community!! YAY!!! Hopefully, you'll get to share some trail time with her soon 🥾

💚 Where were you, and what were you doing when this photo was taken?
This photo was taken while hiking the Bibbulmun Track in Western Australia. I chose this photo because it was an incredible experience for my husband, youngest daughter, and me. We took 50 days to hike the track, and along the way, we met and were inspired by an awesome hiking community of walkers, volunteers, and track angels. The forests we hiked through were stunning, and I’d never seen trees so big!

💚 Where was your last adventure?
The third photo in this collection is from our recent trip along the Routeburn/Caples Track in New Zealand. This was my first walk in New Zealand, and I hope to be back again soon to experience some of the other Great Walks.

💚 What is your biggest bucket list adventure?
It’s really hard to pick a bucket list item as there are so many tracks to explore, but I would like to do another long-distance walk, maybe the Heysen or Te Araroa, and I’d also love to visit an aunt in Scotland and hike the West Highland Way with her.

💚 What is a random fact about you?
There’s nothing better than a vegetarian pasty for breakfast, especially before a hike.

💚 What's your favourite mantra?
When it comes to mantras, the journey is more important than the destination.


ID: Three photos of Big Heart Adventures walk leader, Leah. The first two images are of her hiking the Bibbulmun Track in Western Australia - the second of which shows one of the towering forest trees. The third photo is of Leah on the Routeburn/Caples Track in New Zealand with a breathtaking mountainour landscape behind her.

05/06/2024

If you've been on one of our bigger trips, you would've received a BHA designed ioMerino hiking top among your Big Heart extra inclusions.

We LOVE these tops SOOOO MUCH!!

Available in men's and women's styles, short sleeved and long sleeved. Our BHA x ioMerino tops are 83% natural merino, high-performance thermal tops made right here in SA. We also have branded neck warmers too!

The link below takes you to an article from io's Adventure Zone blog. It's full of great info on some of the millions of reasons for why Merino layers are far superior to cottons and synthetics when on the trail. It's really a no-brainer 😆

And check out their 'Club Printed Merch' if it's time to add a little more Big Heart x io to your winter wardrobe 😉 They'll keep you warm, dry and comfy 🥰

https://iomerino.com/blogs/the-adventure-zone/are-your-warm-clothes-making-you-cold

05/06/2024

A quick reminder...

Yurrebilla Trail is happening THIS JUNE LONG WEEKEND 🥾

We still have some spots left - Sunday is nearly booked out!

Details at the link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/yurrebilla-trail-series-2024-for-men-women-2238299

04/06/2024

**REMINDER**

🇳🇵 NEPAL 🇳🇵

Everest Panorama Trek Zoom Info Session

TONIGHT at 7PM

Register at the link:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/906400487257?aff=oddtdtcreator

03/06/2024

Gosh the weeks are rolling by! Can you believe it's already June?!!

Time for another of SA's incredible parks to be in the spotlight for NPWSSA's Park of the Month 🌿

June is all about Anstey Hill and Cobbler Creek Recreation Parks.

Check out the link for the full list of events, and save the date on Sunday, 16th of June for Walking SA's Bushwalking Skills session at Anstey Hill.

Happy Hiking, Adventurers 🥾

https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/get-inspired/park-of-the-month

National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia