Last updated: Saturday 04/10/2025 @ 8:15pm

Current Distance Tally (YTD):

207.52km

Echuca to Diggers Rest:

157.49km / 250km

Walk Statistics

Future Walks

Walk Calendar

*Calendar requires cookies to view.

COMPLETED WALKS

Note: If you would like to check out the routes that I took for yourself, you can click "More Options" at the top left of the embedded maps to open them in Google Maps

Note: Path on this map does not reflect the path taken, this map is for a rough gauge.

04/10/2025 - Tongala Rail Line

This was another walk outside of my current Melbourne Project due to a number of factors, but it was actually a really nice walk heading deep into spring.

I felt I should keep this next walk a bit closer to home due to the continued issues I am having with my knees at the moment, but that gave me an opportunity to bring Rani for some of the walk.

Rani accompanied me for the first few kilometers, just until we reached Kagome, unfortunately it was getting a bit warm for her, and the prickles along the track we were taking were giving her a bit of grief, thankfully Mum was on standby ready to come get Rani or Myself when needed.

After Mum picked up Rani I continued along the track toward Tongala, and even though I didn't make it quite as far as I was originally hoping, I got to see a beautiful part of the area I hadn't seen before.

It was fascinating to see all of the properties lining the tracks, and how they had all found their own ways of adapting around them, some areas with high horse traffic around the Echuca Racetrack were very exposed and could almost trip you up, while some other properties have essentially buried the tracks into the ground.

I've discovered in today's walk that coming into summer Im going to have to complete these walks alot earlier than I first thought to beat the heat, and that I might also need a broad brimmed hat, as much as I love my Knotfest cap.

GOD BLESS THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE FLY HAT THINGY

After reaching Looker Rd, I had to really think about how much further I wanted to go, keeping in mind that the sun had really started beating down at this stage, and I was putting on quite a sweat. I gave Mum the call and she came out to meet me at the Looker Rd corner on the Murray Valley Highway, where one paddock was chockers with Rosemary.

On the way home I started looking into a bit more info on the Toolamba (Tongala) Rail line.

Some interesting key notes I saw:

Stopped passenger services in 1981
Used to send rice traffic from north of Echuca to Melbourne
Reopened while works were completed on the Shepparton line
Reopened in October 2013, then closed down again in 2020, due to track conditions.

…and boy were those tracks in a bad way, I wouldnt be brave enough to ride a V/Locity on them thats for sure.

I couldn't imagine the manpower and money required to upkeep that track, especially after the upgrades the Echuca-Bendigo line were given over the last couple of years, they’d have to rip the whole thing up for sure, the sleeps were essentially melting.

Even though this walk didn't add anything for my first big project, it was a nice change and gave me a better look at a part of Echuca I've passed many times without even a thought of seeing again.

19/9/2025 - Kanyapella Dog Walk

Dogs Dogs DOGS!

We've upgraded and opened new doors!

The walk was modified upon arrival to ease damage on my ankles for now, and allow the dogs a decent walk without overdoing it.

Although it is VERY large, the new dog pram proved more than useful on this little trial walk.

Archie and Mia loved being out of the town and just walking in a straight line. Rani was just doing her thing hanging onto their heels, and when they were riding along in the pram toward the end, she glued herself to my heels.

It was a nice walk out there today, although I was hoping to get in another Canola walk before they start to go onto their next stage, I was treated to all of the horses and livestock again, and then some chill bushland, which is sadly used frequently to dump rubbish.

About halfway through the return stretch, Archie was starting to hop and slow down a little bit, so I popped him into the pram and he was so chill, even while moving.

Mia wasn't too far behind him, she also has a problematic back leg at times, so when she started to slow down, I chucked her into the pram for a lift as well.

Mia has a tendency to over-estimate her abilities and will keep going no matter what, so she was eager to climb out of the pram and keep walking, so she needed to be zipped in, after this she calmed right down and laid next to Archie.

All-in-all a successful walk, and a successful test of the pram, and even though I may not take Archie and Mia on all walks, I will take it on walks with Rani in case she needs a rest. For solo walks I will leave the pram at home.

I think after this walk it is officially time I retire my latest pair of Asics, they are causing severe pain in my ankles. For now I will use the older shoes with some modification until I can source a newer pair with the correct size and heel support.

13/9/2025 - Goornong to Elmore

Flies, Magpies…and more Flies!

Today's walk was awesome. I had the intention of completing this one pretty soon, as all of the Canola in the area is in flower.

Seeing Canola fields in full flower always makes me think back to the days of having the Disc Walkman on at bedtime to help me sleep, listening to “Fields of Gold” - Sting.

The weather couldn't have been better either, the temperature was a comfortable 18°c and the clouds that were forecast to happen were very patchy to the point of disappearing all together.

I gave myself a generous amount of time to stretch before heading off from Goornong, as I feel like in previous walks I haven't really done enough before-hand, and it’s caused some pain on the walks in the past, plus with my ankle feeling 100% again, I don't want to aggravate anything if I can help it.

As a backup, I brought my older pair of sneakers, just in case a change was needed, but it just felt like extra weight that wasn't needed in the end.

This was the first walk of the season where I encountered some cranky mamma Magpies, only one ended up giving me a warning swoop, but that was it. A few more pairs of Magpies along the way definitely made some noise at me, but they weren't showing any further aggression after that.

THE FLIES, Its begun, the slightly warmer weather has brought out the annoying flies, that show no mercy and no intentions of leaving you alone until you get a lucky snap.

They emerged quite early in the morning too, while it was still quite cool and a dew was still on the ground.

Unfortunately the damage being done to my feet on these walks is becoming a bit much, I will need to wait for more blisters to go down before my next walk, I may also need to see a Podiatrist to enquire about the condition of my feet, and how I can make these walks more comfortable.

A really nice day overall, and back in Echuca by lunch to relax and work on BLW.

3/9/2025 - Huntly to Epsom

Another walk so soon!

In hind-sight, I may have jumped the gun on doing another walk so soon with the condition of my ankle, but since I have an event this weekend I wanted to get the weeks walk out of the way and figured I'd do a shorter one.

That's what I thought, But it was pretty early into the walk that the ankles started to burn, and my affected ankle wanted to roll by itself, although I have a suspicion that this is also due to my shoes, they have worn down on a visible angle on the right shoe only, causing my foot to always want to roll outwards.

I believe this is due to the first few walks after I got these new shoes, I focused on walks that took me off beaten track, and going on extreme slopes, including track ballasts, which can be quite steep.

Because of this, my foot was cranked at a 40° angle for most of Macedon to Woodend, the walk I should have done on flat land for the first time, just to break them in.

The scenery for this walk shifted almost suddenly, but it was such a nice change, to have a mixture of farmland and bush-land.

The wildlife was quite unique this time around too, starting off with a kangaroo chilling among a group of alpacas. Followed by a trio of gorgeous young Longhorns.

The other noteworthy wildlife was a 'paddling' of ducks, but not the everyday ducks we'd see, larger, beautiful ducks, two fully white, one fully black, and one mixed.

The latter half of the walk in the bush-land was amazing, although it didn't make up a huge stretch, it was littered with blossoming Wattle trees, just a blanket of yellow over the bush, I didn't think to get a photo sadly.

Gallery

*This map is approximate, as I followed the rail line majority of the walk.

Gallery

31/8/2025 - Huntly to Goornong

Despite the days gloomy overcast setting, today's walk was a bit of a treat, the scenery was nice and tame, with not too much going on in the back paddocks.

Something I had forgotten until I was about 30 minutes in, was that the train tracks back onto the many Equine facilities and homes that line Peatlings road.

These horses were a nice change from previous horses I have come across, they werent skittish at all, in fact they ran up to the fence, and if there wasn't an extra fence between us, I would have given pats, if he allowed.

I was only treated to the one flyby due to Sundays restricted schedule, but it was quite a chaotic flyby.

I like to take every precaution when walking along tracks, I have the PTV app loaded up and I am constantly reminding myself of the train schedule so I can be prepared, and be far enough from the track to ease any concern for the driver.

Today however, the conductor of the train for some reason saw me and panicked, despite me standing a good couple meters from the track with my phone up to take a picture, and waving as they go past.

Despite this, they panicked, held down the horn and slammed the brakes, coming to a halt, then 20 seconds later, they beeped and took off again. It was so strange.

I just feel for the passengers, they would have felt it.

24/8/2025 - Macedon to Gisborne to Riddells Creek

I began the day by driving to Kangaroo Flat station once again, catching the 5:56am train to Macedon.

I had originally planned on starting in Riddells Creek and working my way back to Gisborne and Macedon, but there were some works being done on the tracks between Gisborne and S-Cross, causing a bus replacement for those towns between.

I couldn't have picked a better day for this walk, the morning had a very light fog and for a walk starting in the lower alpines, which turned into a beautiful clear sky early 20's day for the open hills and paddocks toward R-Creek.

As far as wildlife goes I was treated to a nice change for this one.

Gallery

Pretty early on I came across a kangaroo by itself as well as mob of about 25-30 kangaroos grazing in a field, lots of cows including majority of them being Highland's and a ridiculous amount of rabbits, the most I have seen so far.

They were rampant, all among the widely spread thorns that run along most of the track in this region and their burrows were sneaky all along the side.

I only got so far down that first stretch before the service track ended and I was at a dead end of thorns that had no safe way through, I had to go back.

Instead of doing this though, I looked up the fence of the paddock next to me and saw I could get past the thorns just 80m or so up the fence-line.

I broke my no.1 rule of not jumping fences and trespassing, to jog up the fence to my exit point and i stepped over a second barbed wire fence.

With just one more gate in the way to get of the properties and back to the track, and gauged the jump carefully and given that there were so many burrows around, and I hopped the gate.

It slipped from under me slightly and caused me to land on a divot hidden among the grass, causing a severe roll on my right ankle. It was troubling at the time, and that night I couldn't walk on it at all. But as of the next day (25/8/2025), I am able to walk on it comfortably.

After that little mishap we rolled into Gisborne and I had a nice look around and checked out some shops and got some classic lollies from my childhood, Sour Straps and some Zombie Chews.

I then continued on towards Riddells Creek, and I'll be honest, I think this walk has been my favorite in terms of scenery.

As I exited Gisborne and traveled over the very steep hill on the way out, I was treated to a gorgeous view that overlooks the town with some of the ranges in the background.

Coming in closer to Riddells Creek as the terrain begins to level itself out, the scenery becomes what I like to describe as 'a perpetual Windows XP background', just stunning rolling hills with the crisp blue sky backdrop, every paddock bring a new element to the view, boulders, vineyards and many horses and farriers, I came across a lady riding an absolutely incredible tall horse, young and fit, I assumed it was a racing horse being next to a race horse training facility.

I really loved this walk, and I think its the first one I would actually love to do again.

I have thought of redoing some of my walks down the track, but this was the first one where the scenery really left an impression.

I began the day by driving to Castlemaine station for a nice change, and taking the train all the way into the city quickly, then I took the train back to Macedon to begin the walk.

Gallery

18/8/2025 - Macedon to Woodend

Even though this walk was shorter than usual, the different hills definitely made up for it, but my ankles did much better than I expected, and now that the new shoes were worn in a bit, they felt much better.

This took me through the beautiful Macedon Regional Park, on a closed of service road that seemed untouched for years, with new trees growing over the tracks as tall as me.

The overcast couldnt have been more perfect for the scenery, and really added to the experience, with all of the rundown structure along the track, and 'wintery' feel of the forest.

Being part of the high-speed section of the train line, I was treated to a few flybys at speed. One driver even gave me a honk.

I kept an eye on the PTV app and the time to be able to position myself in a safe spot for the flybys, which proved a bit challenging on this stretch as much of the track is raised quite a bit, and quite steep.

For many of these walks I have noticed that as the tracks are upgraded to concrete sleepers, the old hardware is disposed of beside the track, and Ive had the itch in the back of my mind to grab a spike one day, or if im lucky enough, a small enough cross-section of track to chuck in my backpack, Im happy to say yesterday was that day!

They will need to be cleaned up a bit from rust, but I have a little memento of my stretch in the ranges.

The only trouble I had with my feet on this trip was really just trying to navigate the ballast rocks, they caused a bit of rolling, but no injury.

Im pretty keen for the next walk which Im thinking will be the stretch connecting Riddells Creek back to Macedon, going through Gisborne on the way to make that connection through majority of the ranges then into the flatter land closer to Sunbury.

10/8/2025 - Kyneton to Malmsbury

I was pretty excited about this walk, especially after doing such flat country for the last few.

The hills were a bit of a shock to the system, especially in new shoes, but compared to my old shoes, they were much better, unfortunately the road was a bit rough on them.

Apart from that and some teething issues with the ball of my right foot, the new shoes were great!

The walk was comfy and more importantly, despite what i was feeling on the back of my foot, I don't have blisters this time!

This was also the first walk I began using a more visible shirt, in a high-vis orange, which made me feel a bit more seen on the windy roads and blind corners.

There were some tight bends on this walk that I had to switch sides of the road constantly for to ensure I was seen by any potential traffic.

The scenery was amazing, the properties along the Lauriston road are gorgeous and host some of the most beautiful calves and horses Ive seen (Pictures in the gallery), and the Lauriston Reservoir was a pretty sight with some nice bird-life on it when I went past, 2 pelicans, and 2 black swans.

I did see something rather upsetting on this walk that is unfortunately A part of farm life, but it was rough to see.

Gallery

1/8/2025 - Rochester - Strath+

After a much needed 2 week break after my last walk, I felt I was ready for another.

I was skeptical about my Asics holding up, as on the Elmore-Rochy walk they began giving me quite severe blisters and rubbing skin off, unfortunately this time was much the same.

Thankfully though, I am getting some assistance with a replacement pair of shoes, which hopefully this time around I can get something more tuned for long-distance walking.

As for the content of the walk, there is really not much to say about this road really, this back road was mainly crops in their early stages, only one paddock of stock, some gorgeous dairy cows, who were all very interested in me walking past, what felt like hundred of eyes locked onto me and tracking the whole way past.

This walk really just felt like an obligation to fill the gap between Echuca and Elmore, but I'm thankful its done.

After reaching Strathallen, I turned back toward Rochester and Mum picked me up 5km out of Strath. We then stopped into Rochester for a moment and head home.

Now I can start to set my attention to Bendigo and beyond!

18/7/2025 - Elmore - Rochester

This was the next in the series of walks connecting Echuca to Diggers Rest.

I started by driving over to Rochester early in the morning and catching the 7:44am train one station over to Elmore.

From there I caught the back road and just walked in another big straight line just like Stathallen.

I've learnt that I prefer a bit of variety in my walks and not just straight roads, that being said, I still like some straights every now and again where I can see road in front and road behind me.

This walk also caused my (semi) new shoes to start causing issues from wear and tear.

The padding around the side of my foot just below the ankle had shifted and was rubbing my foot with the aluminium frame.

I also learnt there are a few Alpacas along that farm road.

Gallery

12/7/2025 - Echuca to Billabong Ranch (Kanyapella)+

Today's walk was more of a filler walk, and did not contribute to my Diggers Rest connection milestone, but I did connect another 'town' that surrounds Echuca, Kanyapella.

There is not much out this way apart from the Ranch and the many farms that gradually switch from crops to livestock as you get closer to the ranch.

There is a section of bush land in between Village and Kanyapella where the 2022 floods ripped through, if you look into the tree-line, you can see the mark of the flood waters up the trunks, it is level with the levibank nearby, as far up the tree as I am tall.

As part of this walk I also connected Echuca Village, but I'm not sure if I want to count that as a separate township, I see this as more of an extension or a suburb of Echuca itself.

Kanyapella has reported population of 51 as of 2021.

5/7/2025 - Woodend to Kyneton

This was the first of my planned out walks.

I took the train in the morning at 7:22 through to Woodend station, I had taken this train to Melbourne what could be over a hundred times and always loved the look of scenery around the Woodend - Macedon stretch.

So I checked out the distance between those towns on G-Maps and saw that from Woodend to Kyneton was a similar distance to my Strath walk, actually a few kilometers less, but it was still a decent distance for a few hours, and a beautiful walk, the scenery and livestock in the area were gorgeous. There was one animal I wish I hadn't seen but we wont talk about the Poo-Kangaroo.

I made it to Kyneton with nearly an hour to spare for the train home, so I caught the bus to Woolies for a snack and then walked the ~1km back to the station.

My hips held up very well on this trip with the assistance of my Sacroiliac belt and some gel pads in my shoes.

Gallery

27/6/2025 - Echuca to Strath+

This was the first of a series of walks I am doing to rack up some km's and improve long-distance conditioning.

The idea being that I can walk between more main towns such as Echuca to Rochester.

This was a test trip to the township of Strathallen, situated roughly halfway between Echuca and Rochester at 14km and 12km respectively, the road I took follows the railway line that connects Echuca to Bendigo and Melbourne.

I unfortunately had to call in my lifeline from mum to pick me up just over halfway back, as my hips were starting to get a bit agitated, I can handled my ankles and knees causing a bit of grief, but once my hips are involved I really need to think about resting or stopping for the day.

17/5/2025 - Myrtleford Mosaic Trail

I did some house-sitting for my sister a week before my birthday this year, and on one of the days I was there I checked ou part of the Mosaic Trail with her dog Zedmond. I underestimated the distance for him and it was a bit much for him in the end.

Needless to say, he slept well that night and got extra dinner.

30/3/2025 - 5/4/2025 - Bendigo Walks

While I was spending some time in Bendigo earlier in 2025, I filled some of my spare time with some walks.

My first walk was from one of our day trips to the Art Museum in Bendigo.

The train line between K-Flat and Bendigo station was just down the road, with trains coming through every 30 mins or so, I really enjoy watching trains go by on my walks, and any time I can I will follow a train track in the hopes of a flyby.

I unfortunately hadn't tracked the larger of my walks, but I will map it out with Google Maps to the best of my ability.

I experimented with walking to the K-Flat Train Station and riding the train to Bendigo town center and walking back to my accommodation.

Tracked trips to my spot along the tracks.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse