Flinders Ranges self guided walking vacation, Australia

Planet

We raise money for conservation projects within Australia by asking our walkers to donate 10cent per km walked on our booking form and we match their donation. These funds are used to assist with conservation on various projects.

We have Advanced Eco Tourism certification. We have led the conversation in regard to the environment and tourism for nearly 30 years now.

We regularly donate money and trips to various charities, like the Epworth Hospital, the drought relief fund and the Prime Ministers 1000 steps. We raise money for charities by organising walks for indigenous education and breast cancer.

Minimal impact walking: We lead by example and encourage others to follow. We believe that we are doing our job well when our customers leave a tour having had a fabulous, fun-filled vacation but also come away with a broader appreciation of and respect for the natural environment. Ideally, they come to walk and leave as ambassadors for the environment. We stay on formed tracks, avoid trampling vegetation, insist that all rubbish is carried out, and pick up rubbish left by others. Group sizes on self-guided trips are usually only two. On group-guided trips, the maximum size is 15 but there are two guides so we can split into smaller parties, limiting our impact.

We encourage people to only take photos of plants and animals, they must look after the environment wherever possible. We plan our walks to utilize toilets wherever possible and if not available, we provide clear instructions on burying waste and carrying out any sanitary items. We view wildlife from a distance and never feed native kangaroos, wallabies or any other native animals. We do not light fires in the bush and we do not allow people to smoke on walks. Our motto is “Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos and a piece of someone else’s rubbish”.

Our office is environmentally friendly with double glazing, solar panels, evaporative cooling and green power. We adopt a reduce, reuse then recycle policy wherever possible.

People

On our trips, we stay in comfortable local accommodation properties with lots of character. Each one has been personally selected by the owners. It could be a historic sheep station, a resort hotel or a country motel. All our accommodations are small, family-run places in attractive locations. Occasionally, remote locations mean that the only accommodation available is simple in nature and outback cattle stations, but the ones we select have character and ambience that more than compensates for star ratings.

Good food is an important aspect of all our trips. Meals are plentiful, nutritious, wholesome and, wherever possible, offer local ingredients or specialties. No matter which vacation you choose, the accommodation and meals will add an interesting local flavour to your experience. We use local restaurants and encourage clients to stay longer and make the most of the area and what it has to offer.

Wherever possible, we incorporate quality local tourism experiences into our walking vacations. Examples include bush tucker walks with indigenous people, we incorporate local attractions. This helps the local community, the grassroots of tourism. Money going to where it is most needed in the country regions..