Bushwalk Australia

Hi everyone,

I have an overseas friend who would like to walk the Overland track, Now I cannot make the walk due to work, but she would still like to do it anyway, Now I do not know if this is in breach of forums rules, if so I am sorry and admins please delete.

So my question is can anyone recommend a touring compnany which have great Overland guided tours?

I can answer that, and probably without bias but its just occurred to me that ive never actually been a client on one..

Some of the details may narrow the field. Hut based/ Tent based, 6 days/ 7 days+, 'All' gear Provided/'Some' Gear Hired, so on...

I can help in linking the list of available operators on this page perhaps: http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=7827

Nuts wrote:I can answer that, and probably without bias but its just occurred to me that ive never actually been a client on one..

Neither have I Nuts but I assume a lot of it comes down to budget, willingness to carry gear and tent it or stay under a solid roof.

If I was going to pay the $$ it would be good to talk to others who have walked with the company. I am guessing reputable companies would not mind this. Who knows.

Either way, a fun adventure.

frank_in_oz wrote:
If I was going to pay the $$ it would be good to talk to others who have walked with the company. I am guessing reputable companies would not mind this. Who knows.

Me too, and no, i cant see any reason they would mind?

I personally wouldn't give out details of anyone who had been on a tour so rely on positive feedback (which I recognise can be a bit shallow linked as vague comments in website advertising).
Without anyone answering here (so far) I would hazard a guess that the experience is very similar between those offering a similar service. They are all subject to the same accreditation. Once up and walking, the guides form the basis of (the companies influence over the) experience. Guides come and go from all of companies and they will be a large part of 'what matters' outside the inclusions expected from the walk description. At best any positive experience should probably be in context, if the guides are different, the experience will largely be unrelated. That said, (imo) a guide should play a supportive role wherever possible so the biggest factor for success may in fact be that which comes from the 'clients' rather than the guides. There is an element of luck involved. Does that make sense?

As for me, I'm happy to answer Any questions about our operations but it needs to be off the forum. Here I can only offer general comment.

Need a "Like" button for your reply Nuts.
Agree, staff on the ground are what would make the difference.

Nuts wrote:Once up and walking, the guides form the basis of (the companies influence over the) experience. Guides come and go from all of companies and they will be a large part of 'what matters' outside the inclusions expected from the walk description. At best any positive experience should probably be in context, if the guides are different, the experience will largely be unrelated. That said, (imo) a guide should play a supportive role wherever possible so the biggest factor for success may in fact be that which comes from the 'clients' rather than the guides. There is an element of luck involved. Does that make sense?

I can actually answer this question as someone who has been on a guided walk down the OT, and I would echo Nuts thoughts here entirely. Two things make a good guided trip: the guides and the guests (clients?) Factors like weather can have an effect, but in reality it is the response of the group to these factors that define their impact.

I don't think it's necessary to mention the company here because this was a long time ago and it was my first walking experience in Tas. I happen to know that the guides we had are no longer working in Tasmania, but they were excellent. They knew the country and were able to give good local context to the unfolding landscape in both the historical and natural.

Guests on my trip were generally good friendly folk, I still have occasional contact with a couple of them. We did have one twirp hiking in brand new boots - turned out to be the poster child for why you should not do this.

I recommend a guided walk to anyone who lacks the experience to safely conduct their own trip. It may seem a high premium, but when you see the work the guides do to take much of the load off in terms of weight and looking after the daily food and camp prep, I think its more than a fair exchange.