I'm Mowser. I've been planning walks since I was a kid.
I live in Launceston, Tasmania. I make a hiking video every Friday and write a letter every Tuesday, for people getting ready for a 5 to 10 day walk anywhere in the world.
It started with a wet, miserable walk
I grew up doing family day walks, then cubs and scouts. My first big walk was Frenchmans Cap with a school group when I was 13. Three days of rain, knee-deep mud, a raincoat with a cotton lining and a pack full of the wrong things. On the last morning I ate raw bacon for breakfast because I had packed the wrong food.
I wanted to give up. I finished, and I was hooked. I have been back to Frenchmans about seven times since, and one of the mates from that school trip still walks with me.
In high school we planned our own walks, and a couple of great teachers showed us how. The way I plan a walk today still comes from them.
Thirty-five years on foot
The short version, in the order it happened.
- Late 1990s
University and the south-west
I found mates who wanted to walk hard. Our first attempt at Federation Peak in 1999 failed, and it started my love of south-west Tasmania.
- University years
Guiding the Overland Track
While I studied, I worked as a senior wilderness guide at Cradle Mountain Huts. Over the years I walked more than 500 guests along the Overland Track. It was a dream job.
- Early 2000s on
Off track
I moved into off-track walking: no markers, no huts, nine days at a time in the south-west. I have kept my trip itineraries since the late 1990s, many with notes on what went wrong.
- After 2017
Qualified, and guiding again
I did a Certificate III in Tourism Guiding and led day walks around Launceston, including Cataract Gorge.
- 2023 to now
Video and the Tuesday letter
Friends kept asking me about gear and Tasmanian walks, then friends of friends, then people overseas. Someone told me to start a YouTube channel. Since early 2023 it has been a weekly lesson on planning, food, water, gear and safety.
How I work
Preparation is freedom. Do the work at home, then enjoy the walk.
"Pragmatic bushwalking and gear advice that strikes a great balance between ultralight and comfort bushwalking."
Adrian, newsletter reader, on my gear advice
- Every story is mine
- If I tell you how a walk went, I walked it. Nothing borrowed, nothing invented.
- I explain the why
- Plans change on the day. If you understand why a rule exists, you can make a good call when it does.
- I'm a hiker, not a nutritionist
- My food advice comes from a lot of meals on a lot of tracks. I'll say so when something is my habit rather than the science.
- I don't name every spot
- I name the well-known tracks. Off track, I say "somewhere in Tasmania" so quiet places stay quiet.
- I carry it out
- Mine and other people's. Dumped rubbish on a track still annoys me more than rain.
Tasmania first, then the rest of the world
I have travelled to 25 countries over 30 years, many of them with my wife and our four kids. Kilimanjaro, Norway and Hawaii gave me some of my best days on foot. Our two oldest have walked the Overland Track.
Next on my list: the GR20 in Corsica, more of Norway's hut network, and the Bibbulmun Track.
If you want the short list
- Former senior wilderness guideCradle Mountain Huts, Overland Track
- Certificate III in Tourism GuidingNationally recognised guiding qualification
- 43,000+ on YouTubeA new lesson every Friday
- 6,500+ newsletter readersOne idea every Tuesday
Walk with me every Tuesday
One useful idea for your next hike, from my own trips. Free, and you can leave any time.