Last updated: Wednesday 07/01/2026 @ 10:01am

Walk Statistics

Future Walks

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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

31/12/2025 - Castlemaine - Kangaroo Flat

Over the last 6 months since beginning these walks, I have come up with what feels like a thousand reasons for why I started them, and it has drastically changed over time.

Initially, what led me here is a shopping list of physical, mental and emotional road bumps, from my reconstructive hip surgeries and almost lifelong arthritis, to the relationships I've gained and lost over the last few years.

But what it's manifested into is something that a mere 5 years ago, would have seemed like a load of wishful thinking bs to me.

It really doesn't feel like 5 years since my surgeries, in some ways it feels much sooner, but on the other hand, I sometimes forget I've even had it done, which I think is just a testament to my progress and the craftsmanship of Dr David Slattery.

I chose to complete Castlemaine to Kangaroo Flat sooner than planned, mainly because I noticed a cooler day in the forecast and the fact that it was the walk that pushed me over the 300km mark for the year, which the walks only really started in June.

This walk has been something that has played on my mind since my childhood.

As I've mentioned many times and as a lot of people might already know, I was diagnosed with a form of Juvenile Arthritis at 14 years of age, with frequent visits to the RCH in Melbourne beginning in the latter years of Primary School....

By this time, V/Line had adopted the use of the (at the time) 2-car V/Locity DMU to connect Echuca to Melbourne.

Between Echuca and Bendigo the train was limited to 80km/h due to some unmarked crossings along the track (now upgraded to reflect: Epsom - Goornong Max: 130km/h & Goornong - Echuca Max: 100km/h), but from Bendigo onwards, the V/Locity can hit its max speed of 160km/h.

Kangaroo Flat and beyond was always so memorable, the terrain becoming a rolling sea of hills and mountains, resulting in 2 tunnels along the way.

Plus we used to always drive to Bendigo, but going to Melbourne was (at the time) a rare occurrence.

We hadn't quite reached the smartphone era when these trips began, so there wasn't much to do on the train but stare out the window and do the classic imagining either a dirtbike ripping up the service track alongside the train tracks or the parkour man sprinting alongside and hurdling every obstacle.

These moments are just a few that made this walk so special and sentimental for me, it really brought me back to a time where there was medical uncertainty, a lot was changing, I was being limited by my body and unsure of how my physical health would look in the future.

Not just the early trips too, in 2020 after being diagnosed with Hip Dysplasia, I was required down in Melbourne for many consultations with my Rheumatologist and Ortho Surgeon while we prepared to address my hips, this meant more and more trips on the V/Locity.

There were upgrades to the line in the time since childhood. Level crossings had been added from Bendigo to Echuca, as well as Stations added to Huntly, Epsom and Goornong, resulting in the previously mentioned speed allowances.

I had been hyping up this walk as a 40km behemoth in the leadup, so I had been putting it off for so long.

In the final week of 2025 I took another look at the path and measured the distance along the track as the whole way, and it turns out that the walk was actually 7km less than first thought, due to my original path going through Harcourt, deviating from the track.

This gave me a bit more confidence in my ability to complete the walk, especially following my recent success of Riddells Creek > Clarkefield > Sunbury.

I started quite early, catching the first train from KangarooFlat around 5:20am, arriving in Castlemaine at around 5:40, and after a quick stretch and getting my belt and music sorted, I kicked off at around 5:45am.

The first stretch was really cool, going through all of Castlemaine's old rail infrastructure lining the back of some of the factories in town, mostly overgrown and unused now.

There were a few kangaroos in this back area that didn't know what to do when they saw me, and I gotta say it was hilarious watching them try to find a way out, mind you I was doing my best to hang back and not spook them too much as they did seem quite young still.

The daylight quickly rolled in once I got going, and with clear skies and a mild sunlight, it was a beautiful sunrise to have come over the hills and Mt Alexander.

Because the train schedule doesn't really kick off until ~7am, I was mostly just treated to the occasional express limited to Southern Cross, but they were sometimes 40 mins apart.

I came across the old Harcourt station pretty early in the day, I love seeing these old decommissioned stations, because they are almost always repurposed into something new, whether it be a residence like Taradale, or in the case of Harcourt, becomes the new Community Centre, while keeping some of the old rail infrastructure that now serves as a relic piece.

I had a bit of an incident early on in the walk, an immense nausea and headspin that had me sitting, then laying down and at some points vomiting on the spare ballast pile off the tracks.

I was here for a good hour just writhing on the ground trying to stop my head from spinning, and I came so close to turning back or calling for some help. But I'm glad I just rode it out and let it pass like it did.

I set back off at a steady pace so as to not overdo anything, and had to stop at some points further down the track. But by around 9-10am, I was feeling 100x better and back at my regular pace. Now with frequent fly-bys keeping me entertained, gorgeous views and beautiful rail infrastructure.

There were sooo many spots that I recognised along this track that I have seen a thousand times over at 160km/h but rarely with the ability to investigate, and there was so much more to see.

I swear that the section of K Flat to around Woodend will remain one of my favourites, just because of the intricacy, detail and robustness of the rail line that has (in terms of design) has remained largely unchanged since the 19th and 20th centuries.

All of the ironworks lining each viaduct and bridge, and the brick and bluestone archways that allow passage of water, livestock and people under the tracks.

A geological feature I really enjoyed about this stretch, were the massive widespread boulders littering the fields and hills, much like the hills around Pyalong victoria.

I dont think Ive ever seen or heard so many cicadas ever in my life, they were EVERYWHERE.

They are such funny little insects too. I came to the conclusion that they are essentially the insect version of our dog Archie. Bless him, he's a bit dumb, but he's just loud and doesn't know what he's doing half the time, much like the cicadas.

I must've counted 4 flying into my head, I even managed to get a video of one breakdancing and throwing itself through the sky while hurling abuse at it.

Strange red eyes too.

The cicadas actually made it a bit more difficult to gauge when trains were coming.

A big part of my safety in these walks is keeping a close eye on VLine and VR timetables to ensure I can be away from the tracks for any traffic, and if there are any trains I have missed, I am usually given a good 20 seconds of warning before I even see them, due to the fact that the tracks make a distinct sound as the train is approaching, this sound however, was almost exactly the same as the monotone droning of millions of cicadas, making me turn in panic thinking I was hearing a train quite a few times.

I experienced something new regarding the rails on this walk, which seems really small, but it got the nerd in me pretty excited and pretty gutted that I didn't get it on film.

I was waiting for a flyby at one of the switch boxes about halfway along the track and once the first train went past, the switch actuated and moved the tracks over, and after wondering what the noise was and looking up, it was the single-most awesome mechanical thing I've seen in person, even though it is such a simple one.

Just the hefty clunks and noise it made while shifting a couple hundred kilo of rail a few inches over was so memorable.

After the second train came past on the opposite track and merged into the single track, I waited in hopes the track would switch for me on camera, but I filmed it for a minute without change, and with the next train being 40 mins away, I wasn't going to wait around.

I really took my time with this walk, and gave myself more opportunities to stop and rest for fly-bys, especially since I needed to cover a more than normal distance for me.

This section of track is largely blasted out from the hill, so there are many half-blown rocks to perch up on the edge of to watch the train fly past at speed.

This was also a very significant walk as it placed me over 300kmtracked in 2025, and completed the largest stretch of my Echuca to Diggers Rest project, bringing overall completion to ~95%, giving me only very small walks to complete.

As the end gets closer and closer I find I have more and more of an emotional response, and I find myself thinking back to the most trying times I've had, and the thoughts that would go through my head, whether about my own mortality, or my future physical condition.

Looking back on them now almost feels silly, but I remind myself how much it has actually taken to get to this point, and that I couldn't have done it without years of physical recovery and training, and various ongoing mental support.

That aside, this walk brought me to another not-insignificant obstacle in Big Hill Tunnel, the ever-so-slightly longer of the two tunnels along the Bendigo line, at 390m long.

Unlike Elphinstone tunnel, which I viewed from up on the cliff high above the cutout track, I walked up to Big Hill tunnel to get a view of the tunnel in its length, and it is quite daunting when face to face with it, it's almost tempting seeing the opening on the other side.

But with many factors saying I shouldn't do it, I turned back, which thankfully I didn't have to go too far back to get back on the path leading over the hill, which nicely lines back up with the tunnel exit, I was going to wait for the next train, but I would have had to wait another 20 minutes, I was in the latter half of the day and was starting to get quite bad rubbing on my right ankle, I think its officially put these shoes to rest.

The last section from Bog Hill Tunnel was a nice 4-5km stroll through mostly bushland at this point, and the outskirts of Kangaroo Flat started appearing, then the shopping centres, and pretty soon, it turned back into civilisation.

As I was coming into Kangaroo Flat, I was treated with something absolutely amazing, and something I won't forget, my cousin April, partner Dan, and their boys Mark and Alex with balloons reading “300”, and I swear if I wasn't sweating so much, I would've spared some fluid for some tears.

It was awesome, and the boys couldn't have been more excited for me as I approached.

They treated me with some fresh cold water and a couple donuts, we had a quick chat and all went on our ways as we had all had big days.

I completed the final stretch to K Flat station, which was only about 1.4km at that point. I was treated to one more flyby with the train arriving into K Flat.

And that was that, I got back to the car and popped into the marketplace for a quick Boost Juice, and a hotdog, and made my way home.

I know I say this for a lot of these walk blogs, but this walk is the new favourite, it represented so much for me its crazy, and although I will soon be completing the project and that will indeed be an emotional day for me, but this walk in itself was the single biggest accomplishment I have had physically, for potentially my whole life, and I hope to only improve and continue to cover Australia.

17/12/2025 - Riddells Creek - Clarkefield - Sunbury

A really early start for a change, just to beat any chance of a hot day.

I was up and out of Echuca by 3:20 to arrive in Kyneton for the 5:06 toward Southern Cross to Riddells Creek Station.

My last walk in this region was somehow in AUGUST and it seriously feels like yesterday. I often go through these stations, but rarely get off at them because I'm typically going all the way into Melbourne, so they always seem a bit foreign, but this time stepping off the train and checking out the surroundings felt so familiar, like I said, as if I were there yesterday.

As planned it was still slightly dark when I kicked off from Riddells Creek after a stretch, much needed considering it was a bit of a nippy morning, I didn't need to get overly wrapped up, but I did have the mask on for the first section of the walk until body heat took over.

The first stretch to Clarkefield was amazing, mostly consisting of livestock on either side of the tracks, with more than enough interest in the bass-y gutturals blaring from the speaker alongside human trying his best to imitate it...

Thankfully for this stretch I didn't have to walk the ballast too long and I was given a residential dirt road to walk along.

As I was coming past some houses I turned the music off for a while and just enjoyed the sound of the birds waking up for the morning, a few new calls I hadn't heard before that I wish I could somehow replicate or identify, it tickled that part of the brain.

Speaking of birds, down the track, the road I was following had a dirt path veer off underneath the rail line and along the other side (though it was very overgrown), but from underneath the underpass flew dozens of little birds, and there was a mass of poop on the ground and at first I thought nothing of it, but then as I was heading back under I looked up and noticed the birds had created these little nests from mud, they looked amazing, similar to the nests that wasps make. (Checkout the nests in the walks Gallery post). I've heard of birds weaving nests from leaves, but I had never seen mud nests before, it was pretty cool.

We later looked into them and found they were Fairy Martin’s.

Given that the stretch to Clarkefield was only relatively short, when I arrived I decided to extend the day a little bit and pause the walk to catch the next train into Sunbury to get something small to eat, a Boost Juice and just have a general look around as I've only ever seen Sunbury from the train, and I've gotta say, despite its touchy reputation, Sunbury is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL town, in a particularly gorgeous part of Victoria, where the land is still rolling, but steadily leveling out.

I checked out a couple of the shopping centres and had a little walk around, and after finishing the Boost and a couple items from Bakers Delight I made my way back to the station to kick back off at Clarkefield.

By the time I had made it back to Clarkefield the day had well and truly begun at 9:45am and the sky was beginning to open up, despite the forecasts saying cloudy, I was absolutely treated to open skies, and I couldn't have been happier with the day's outcome.

That being said, I had forgotten the two CRUCIAL items for a day like yesterday and a bloke like me, Sunnies and Sunscreen, by the end of the day my eyes were absolutely grilled (and waking up this morning felt like my neck and arms were made of sandpaper).

Despite this, the day was not ruined, thankfully the glare wasn't too bad, the cloud cover was still sufficient while the sun was low, and the cap helped when it opened up around midday. But I was still able to soak in all of the views without being blinded too much.

If I thought the Riddells Creek section felt short, then I was in for a shock with Clarkefield to Sunbury.

Despite being nearly twice the length, it felt like half the time, and I even stopped on multiple occasions on this stretch, and had to backtrack a portion to avoid some construction blocking my path.

I ended up either on the ballast or on the degraded and overgrown service road for this one, and I loved it, really putting all the work I've committed to strengthening my legs to use and it really showed, In some spots to the point I was surprised I could manage.

Once again being the high traffic section of the Bendigo line, which I learnt on this day has lines that begin and terminate at Kyneton, where I parked for the day, which made sense because much like Bendigo, Kyneton frequently has multiple V/Locity’s parked.

Despite the twice-hourly traffic however, there was a gap in the day on the V/Line app, which I just dismissed as the app's tendency to not show every available train. But it turns out there was still traffic, just from different lines, I didn't work out where they were going, but I probably could narrow it down based on the locos they were using, as one train was an N-class loco headed towards Southern Cross and the other was a pair of Sprinter cars, likely headed to Seymour, which was actually a pretty cool change to the regular V/Locity I'm used to, and I was treated to plenty of those.

The fly net once again came in clutch, not just for the flies as it turns out, but it massively helped to shade some of the sunlight hitting my eyes, that being said, I find it can actually mess with my depth perception and ability to focus with the netting in front of my face, but i digress.

The flies were absolutely maddening and I said yesterday that if I were to forget either the sunnies or the fly net, I'm glad it was the sunnies.

Stuck to the fly netting in front of my face and all over my shoulders, they weren't playing around, there will be a video on the Gallery page that somewhat showcases the extent of the fly population around Clarkefield.

I had a little bit of a shower thought while walking, because they were attached to me for a fair chunk of the walk; do these flies realise they're travelling over 10km from where they started by following me? Or is this just another day of following smells and heat for them? That plagued my mind for longer than I'd like to admit.

Unfortunately there was also a bit of a sad downside to this walk, another reminder that no matter how many paper straws we use, there are always going to be those feral families that want to dump their trash out bush.

In some cases looking like a whole house had been demolished and the waste material dumped, rolled carpet and asbestos sheeting everywhere, and in another pile, teddy bears and an iPhone case. It's a downer but sadly it's where we’re at with local shire waste management costs.

Returning to some cheerier topics, more off road action.

About ¾ through this section I came up to some construction that had completely blocked my path on both sides, and this being one of the few final sections of blasted away rock, the track is quite far down a steep drop, so I had to back track a little bit to get to a spot where I could slide down the side of the drop.

I followed along the ballast keeping an eye on the time for the next passing train and waited multiple times in little rock cutouts in the wall, and the rush never gets old when they fly past like they do.

When I reached the section below the construction of what I'm assuming is a new minor overpass, I was waiting for a potential telling off, but I don't think they noticed me at all.

Once I got to the end of the blasted section, the view just exploded open and hit me like a jump scare.

It was AMAZING, and although I got some pics and videos, they still don't do it any justice whatsoever.

I sat here for a moment and noticed on Google maps that it mentions a Viaduct a bit further up so I kept going for a little bit, just looking out to the left the whole time soaking it in.

Since the day had opened up a bit, I had plenty of time here to appreciate the air traffic flying into Tulla.

When I hit the viaduct this is where I paused my walk tracker and just sat back for a bit and laid down for a moment while I waited for the first train to pass, opening my window to cross.

I had a good 5 minute chill here and got to appreciate some of the graffiti and the Cathedral just over the tracks.

Once the first train passed, I made my way across and posted up on the other side to wait for the second train of the hour to pass, thankfully at this part of the track the trains are fairly close together heading each way.

This time I was only sitting for about 5-8mins before the delayed train came.

From where I was sitting, looking back down the track, you see it stretch for a good 1km into the mirage, and it isn't completely straight, so if you're familiar with vanishing points, the track just looked like an S from where I was, and when the train came around the corner on the horizon, it was at the perfect distance where it looked the same size for a while, just snaking down the S in the track, I didn't get it on video sadly, but it was a cool concept to see in the real world.

Once that train had passed I kept going (This is where I forgot to resume my tracker). Thankfully though from here I wasn't too far out from Sunbury, I followed the tracks up until the major overpass that sits just before Sunbury station along the tracks, and with fenced off private property each side, I kinda had to make my way up the embankment and cross the road, which thanks to the lights close by either side, gave my safe-ish passage to the Sunbury station.

I graded the train back to Kyneton and got what sleep I could before driving home, and then, you guessed it, made my way home.

It was a much longer day than normal, from waking up to getting home it was 13 hours, and I honestly wouldn't have the day any other way, it was one for the books.

The Next Day…

Ive got to say, this one has hit the leg as a whole in a pretty crazy way, these are much like the aftermath of all of my other walks, and it is the main reason the walks have to be so staggered in the first place, and the sunburn, oh my word the sunburn.

I foolishly overlooked skincare yesterday, and I have paid dearly, my arms go from a solid white, to a fleshy red.

Aloe Vera has been my best friend so far today.

I will be recouping for a day or so before I am booked in for some more yard work and the first of our family Christmas’ this weekend.

27/11/2025 - Pyramid Hill Sunset Climb

Ive decided I won't be addin these numbers to the yearly tally, and just keeping this walk aside.

After 19 years, I finally ticked off a small bucket list item, climbing to the (almost) peak of Pyramid Hill for a sunset.

Although I didn't make it to the very top due to a number of factors. I made it about 85-90% to the top, and found a nice perch with a very generous ~200° view.

The walk begins with an official path which leads you up to a viewing point which features two plaques, one in Braille, the other on a raised platform overlooking the horizon.

Both showed the directions of nearby landmarks and towns, most noticeable was Mt Korong in the distance.

From here there is a man-made path carving through the dry grass up to the unofficial path up the hill.

*No Google Maps path available*

The climb was way more intense than I thought it would be, with some paths not as obvious as others, leading me to start attempting to scale the sketchiest boulders, then realising that there is a path in the other direction.

The extreme wind really added to the whole experience, a touch of danger to the evening, which amplified the vertigo and jelly-legs to no end, nonetheless, the rush from this extra difficulty was awesome, and the ‘off the beaten tracks’ rock climbing nature of the walk is a level of wilderness exploration I have been yearning for, walks that make me get my hands involved, and add some obstacles to conquer...

On the way up, I quickly learned that the hill itself is home to many Rock Wallabies, which seemed somewhat acclimated to people coming by, they let me get relatively close before fangin’ their way down the hill. They're such chunky lil things, and the faces are adorable, nearly Quokka level, they honestly remind me of our little dog Archie in the face.

Approaching the peak, the grade and terrain became more and more unnerving.

Giant boulders seemingly held up by the tiniest of rocks, that look like the slightest bump could cause a terrain changing event, or send a truck cab sized boulder toward the quarry.

Along with these treacherous boulders, was a generous layer of what I have recently learnt is called “Lichen”, the algae which forms on the faces of rocks given the correct conditions.

Although dry, this causes some slippage when attempting to scale particular rock faces.

Eventually I got to a point where I wasn't comfortable progressing further: a) by myself, b) In the extreme wind, and c) because the jelly legs were at an all-time peak.

Despite not being at the summit, I still had achieved the view I came all the way to see. I found a rock I could comfortably sit in for an extended period and posted up.

After a quick call with mum to share the view and discuss the area, I turned the music off, grabbed my bag of jerky and just sat back for an hour and a bit watching the sun go down.

I took the isolation as an opportunity to do some video journals and just word vomit for a while, which was actually kinda nice, finally put to words what these walks are actually meaning to me and how much they have changed things in just a few months, and also where I want to take ‘Ben’s Long Walk’ in the future.

After the jerky and word-vomit vlog sesh there was nothing left to do than to just sit and soak in the view.

It was everything I could have hoped for, and everything I imagined in a clear-sky sunset.

Complimented by the incredible amount of harvesters out in the fields kicking up dust and a Wedge-Tailed Eagle circling close above.

About ⅔’s through my relaxation up top, I noticed a VicPol ute heading down the main road, suddenly chuck a U-turn at the Quarry driveway, returning to the Golf Club entrance I had entered through, they made their way up to where I had parked, assumingly just checking that the car hadn't been abandoned, but I'm not sure, they were slightly out of my view.

They head out after about 5 mins or so, with nothing left by the car.

I watched the sun go down until about 8:05, where the sun was roughly 10° above the horizon, then started making my way down before I lost too much light for my own liking.

I ended up finding another path down to the one I followed up by mistake, but it gave me a glimpse of another potential way up the hill, curving around some suuuuper sketchy looking boulders, but I decided to leaver that path for another day, because you can 100% bet I’ll be back to go further up the hill.

Halfway down the hill, I stopped to make another vlog after reminiscing about my late cousin Andrew, although we only met in person once, during my first year of diagnoses and time home from school, I spent many an hour on Skype with the family in America, learning more and more about each other and catching up.

Andrew loved adventure and although I'm not a particularly spiritual person, and I hate to sound too clichè, but it really felt like he were there with me as I made that video and spoke about how his passing affected us all, and put my own mortality and mental health into perspective, how much one person can change everyone's lives in an instant.

I finished descending the off-track section and returned to the official lookout on the hill.

I stayed at this spot until the moment the sun went behind the horizon and finished my way down the path to come across 5 more Rock Wallabies just chilling.

On the return trip to Echuca I decided to go via Gunbower rather than Mitiamo due to the roadworks along the way.

Aside from a decent sized Kangaroo close-by the road, there wasn't much to report about the trip home.

I know I said that my last walk from Castlemaine to Malmsbury was my favourite to date, but it has quickly been de-crowned.

Even though this walk was barely a spec on the map, it had huge sentimental value, almost a lifetime of buildup, and an incredible amount of emotional significance for me, and I will 100% be back to Pyramid Hill in 2026.

*Map is a very rough estimation due to the unmarked paths I took.

08/11/2025 - Castlemaine to Malmsbury

Bit of a longer blog this time

What ended up being a ‘bigger than anticipated’ day, was simultaneously my favourite walk, but also a bit of a disappointing one, but not necessarily because of the walk itself..

The day started out quite early with a 4am drive to Castlemaine Station, and catching the 6:10 train into the city. There wasn't too much to report about this little detour, aside from the rain in the city was very atmospheric with a very low cloud, hiding the Skydeck and Australia 108 from view, much of the travel time was spent catching up on what sleep I could manage on the notoriously ‘uncomfortable for tall people’ V/Line, V/Locity train.

My city trip was nice and easy, and I managed to catch the trains that I had planned, getting me to my starting point just after 11, But I made a bit of a mistake.

The original idea was to start at Malmsbury and make my way to Castlemaine, and for those who know the area, know it is quite mountainous, and the total elevation has a steady decline going in this direction.

Unfortunately I missed the notice from the conductor explaining that the platform will only be available in the forward-most car on my 3-car set, and I wasn't able to make it in time, because of this I ended up back in Castlemaine... (Open for more)

I had 2 choices:

Start in Castlemaine and hope the upwards gradient wasn't going to be too bad.

Wait 20 minutes and catch the next train back to Malmsbury, delaying my day further.

As you have probably worked out, I decided to just start from Castlemaine, as the train would add another 50 mins to my day, and I was racing a tight window for the rain due that afternoon/evening.

Kickoff from Castlemaine at 11:41am, and I forgot to take my regular Station photo as I left.

The changes in scenery in this area as I followed the track felt so sudden, and the views on this walk will NOT be forgotten, and this walk will stand as my favourite as of right now.

This was a walk that I have envisioned doing since I was in Primary School, first riding the train to my Royal Children's Hospital appointments and seeing the dirt track that just looked perfect, and I remember picturing a dirt-bike riding alongside the train on that track and performing tricks as we went along at speed.

The further and further I went along the track, the more I realised just how much work had gone into literally blasting a path through the mountains to connect the Bendigo Goldfields and the Deniliquin Wool Trade down to Melbourne in the 1850's.

I was treated to many amazing high-speed flybys, and in this section of track there were plenty of bridges, from which I could experience the force and rush of having 340 tons of Loco fly underneath you at 160km/h, something I haven't been able to experience yet due to various factors, but its a felling Im gonna chase for awhile I think.

The amount of intense gradients along the way were incredible, at some stages I was driven to walking alongside the tracks, just to treat myself to a bit of flat land for a bit, this came with its own challenges though:

The ballast rocks were VERY unstable below the feet, and they were causing quite a bit of rolling in the ankles.
Some sections wouldn't allow this due to the tight tolerances between the track and wall of rock.
Train frequency would allow for safe passage of some sections.
Lastly, The tunnel.

It wasn't too far into the walk that I was forced to go off the beaten track, and begin exploring some of the infrastructure hidden in the ranges to accommodate for the rail and weather management in the canal I found running alongside the tracks around the Elphinstone tunnel.

I got a bit risky in getting some photos of the tunnel entrance. Every walk I forget to take a proper camera with me, and unfortunately the Fold camera just doesn't do what I'm seeing any justice.

It really tickled an urb-ex itch I've been building up in recent months, exploring abandoned or aged historical structures (without trespassing private property).

There were some spots such as the tunnel entrance that I would have loved to get a video of the train exiting, But the timetable didn't line up enough to justify it.

However, as I got over the peak and reached the exit, I did some bush parkour and made my way to the edge of what can only be described as a cliff down to the track, which sat at the base of a 20m drop, at what I would guess was about a 70° grade.

I sat here next to a surprisingly chill ants nest for about 10 mins to be greeted by the 2:20pm train heading back to Bendigo.

I had to follow the very main road for a few hundred metres before making it to Railway Rd, a side road which follows the tracks down toward Elphinstone.

Along this road I went off the beaten track once again and took a peak at the overpass, where I was treated with some politics in graffiti form, a particular phrase I wouldn't have expected to see in such random places.

Elphinstone was a beautiful quaint little town, and I had to get a pic somewhere as a memento, and what better icon of the Australian small-town, than the local pub, Elphinstone Hotel.

Not too far outside Elphinstone I saw a bright yellow loco I had never seen before.

It was “Evie”, the Metro Evaluation set, which from a standstill quickly got up to speed heading back toward Elphinstone.

It was after Elphinstone that the views really started to open up, and return to that amazing rolling landscape, a mix of meadow and forest, and with the clouds opening up in the afternoon sun, the shadows projected on the mountainside really exaggerated the scale of the area.

These are the areas and views that give me goosebumps, and bring a rush that is so hard to put to words, and impossible to recreate the experience in picture form.

This is where the terrain began to level out a bit more, which was a very welcome change at this stage of the walk.

As I approached Taradale, my options for a track on which to walk became VERY limited, and I had to walk on ballast for a good few kilometers, which put a lot of extra strain on my ankles, which were NOT recovering well after the extreme hills around Chewton and Elphinstone.

The old Taradale train station looked beautiful, the building had been repurposed into what looked like a residence, the primary building draped with vines and amazing planter boxes around the edge, it looked like it had been very well maintained, evident by the open garden shed with an absolute arsenal of garden equipment.

It was a few hundred meters down the track that I reached my biggest obstacle yet, but one that I could technically pass, at some risk; The Taradale Viaduct.

This 270m long, 33m high bridge serves as a key connecting the Bendigo line, suspended over Back Creek, and has some of the most beautiful ironwork I have ever seen, on a stretch of track that very few people would be able to see at 160kph. Ironwork that is around 165 years old, designed by Rowland Brotherhood, has led me down some amazing rabbit holes on just how many key people from around the world were involved in the advancement of Australia's Gold industry.

I waited about 20 minutes behind the end of the bridge for the next window of free track.

With the V/Line app in hand and a surface level knowledge of how to read railway blocking signals, I waited for the opportune moment after a train flew past (Making sure they could NOT see me whatsoever, to avoid casing the driver stress) then I made my way across as fast as I was physically able to. The view from the bridge was stunning.

After getting to the other side, I was just about meeting my end. I had no fluids or snacks left and in a rather silly move, I hadn't eaten that morning. My energy was completely drained, and I found myself on hands and knees trying not to pass out or throw up.

I pushed a little bit further until I reached the end of how far I could follow the track and I followed a dirt track to the Calder Highway heading into Malmsbury.

The corner property had a lady riding a horse while leading two others. She saw me walking around the edge of her property and she came back over and sussed out if I was lost. I told her about my walk and in the nicest way possible, she looked at me like a nutcase.

We wished each other a good day and she called out “Only 5km left” as she rode off, and that sentence just about killed me.

50m up the road I found a sign to lean against, and as I was sitting there with an awesome, panoramic view of the Fryers Ridge in the distance, I made the incredibly difficult decision to call in a pickup from my Auntie who lives in the Castlemaine area.

I couldn't be more appreciative of this as my next-best alternative was hoping a passerby would accept my hitch-hike request.

I had a lovely time waiting, but the wind started to pick up and the rain I had been racing all day began to make its way in.

Catching up with Auntie Julie was lovely, we discussed the route I had taken, the overall beauty of the area and how life has been after moving into the area 3 years ago.

We also got talking about the significance of the history of the area regarding the gold rush, and some pretty cool information was dropped on me. Auntie Julie’s Husband and my Uncle, Roger, has ancestors that played integral parts in the development of the area.

Auntie Julie also made me feel much better about not completing the walk, pointing out that I need to consider what I’ve been through in terms of physical ’trauma’, and that showing the low points will play just as big of a role as showing the high points.

This really got me thinking, I looked back on my surgery recoveries and the hopelessness I felt in those moments, convinced I would never achieve what I could pre-surgery, and that I only had more surgeries to look forward to.

But if you had told Ben of 2021 that he was walking 10km, let alone racking up 250km throughout the year of 2025.

So I think it sits as a great reminder to those going through these scary medical diagnoses, that although life feels like it may be limiting and painful sometimes (or all times), pushing through and persisting with finding the treatment that suits you personally can open up new worlds and opportunities in due time.

I have never been a book buff, and I struggle to read large chunks of text, but I have an urge to source some books reflecting the building of the Bendigo line, and also the high-speed rail upgrades made to the line.

I'm personally getting to a point where I am tired of the mass of misinformation and conflicting information about different subjects, and I find myself drawn to sourcing established books that were written during the construction or following the construction of the line.

I will be in Melbourne for ‘Good Things’ festival in December. I have booked an extra night to explore Melbourne and I think I will take some of this time to visit Melbourne Library once again and see if I can find any books or journals from the gold rush, or the construction of the railway.

After visiting the Library with my sister this time last year I have wanted to go back and check out some of the books in-depth, but I wouldn't have known where to start, but now I know what I want to read about.

All in all, aside from the mistake of walking in the wrong direction, this walk was one I will remember for a long time to come, and one that I will most likely do again, but the correct way around that time. That won't be for quite some time though, and most likely not until after the completion of this project.

I will remember the camera and extra supplies next time for sure.

23/10/2025 - North Redesdale Road

An awesome return after another 3 week break, even though the weather wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, the views definitely made up for it, with Mt Alexander to my left, and beautiful livestock and kangaroo-filled fields to my right.

I began the morning quite early and arrived in Redesdale around 5:50am, just as the sky is lighting up and the birds are all rising and singing (audio sample on right).

There was something very therapeutic about the variety of birds in the area, my warmup stretches were a bit of a treat this time round.

The first section of walk had me stopping and starting a bit as I had to follow the main road for a section to get to North Redesdale Road, the livestock along this section were a bit different, and a bit of a treat, one VERY enthusiastic looking donkey and two quite large populations of alpacas.

Redesdale birds.m4a

Soundtrack of Redesdale at 6am

Once I reached my target road, it was as simple of setting the legs to autopilot and zoning out to music and scenery.

The scenery was everything I was hoping for in the lead-up to this walk. The beautiful green rolling meadows, all behind different levels of morning fog, putting some true scale to the size of the region and Mt Alexander in the distance.

Alot of the large properties in the area seemed to be limited to a select few avenues in terms of what they can do with their land, alot have resorted to the standard livestock of cows, sheep, goats, but many of the paddocks are registered as "Land For Wildlife" areas, which is a voluntary wildlife conservation program aimed at designating and maintaining areas to increase the livability for native flora and fauna.

This resulted in ALOOOOOOOOT of kangaroos on either side of me for majority of the walk, including a few noteworthy big bucks that couldn't help but staunch me the whole way past.

A few properties were not so friendly toward the local kangaroos, and on my return stretch, I kept hearing what sounded like gunshots or bird-cannons quite close to a mob to my right, it was a bit spooky, but they succeeded in scaring the roos away.

When I reached the end of the road, I felt like continuing down to the water for a look, but I didn't realise beforehand that most of the water at the Metcalfe and Coliban Pools are private property.

I reached the Holiday Park at the base of the road and gave them a quick call just to inquire about checking out the water, but they respectfully declined as they typically do not take visitors outside regular hours, and they have strict boat ramp access.

This was no stress, as the main attraction for me was the general landscape of the region.

I chucked a U-turn and got headed back on the return stretch, the last portion of road leading up to the holiday park was on a pretty hefty incline, MapMyWalk estimates I had a 121m Elevation difference, and although the walk was mostly a steady decline, that last portion felt like the whole 121m.

I had a fantastic time on this walk, everything I remembered about this landscape help up.

I'm very keen to get back to my Bendigo Line project, which doesn't necessarily need to shift too far from this region.

Im thinking next I will do Castlemaine to Malmsbury, just on the other side of Mt Alexander.

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 sleepers 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.

2/4/2025 - Bendigo to Kangaroo Flat

This was unknowingly my first connection made thism year, while I was staying In bendigo, I decided to walk to the Kangaroo Flat train station and hitch a ride back to the Bendigo station and kick off.

I mainly followed the road shown on the map and there wasnt too much to note, but this along with the other walks I took during my stay showed me that I might actually be at a place I didnt think Id achieve again with my hips'.

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.

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