Bushwalk Australia

Hi there,

Are there any bushwalking clubs in Sydney that have many young members (<30) ? I'm keen to join a club and go walking with similar ages.

Thanks, Fraser

I think you'll find that Sydney Bushwalkers has a good group of younger members. The Bush Club may also be worth a try. Contact them via their websites and ask.

Sydney University Bushwalkers would also have a good proportion of younger members, although I don't know if they accept outsiders.

Fraser, try some of the uni clubs, such as SUBW. Clubs like the Coast and Mountain Walkers appear to be 'older', but maybe look em up and go along to a meeting or two or a couple of daywalks. They certainly have some very experienced walkers and go to great places. The NSW Confederation of Bushwalking Clubs may be the place to look and see which member clubs are aimed at younger members (perhaps the YHA ?).

One of the things I have learnt from my fly club (Illawarra Flyfishers' Club) is that there is a great amount to be gained form people who are, umm, life experienced ! (I was mid thirties and am staring down the barrel of 40 though). They may have been doing your chosen activity longer than many members have been alive, and a surprising number are more all over new techniques and styles than you'd think, with the critical eye of experience to boot. Bushwalkers do tend to be even more staid than flyrodders though !

Where are you looking to walk ?

Hi Fraser,
Have a look at the Sydney Bush Walkers website:
http://www.sbw.org.au/
and in particular have a look at the Tiggers page:
http://www.sbw.org.au/content_common/pg-sbw-tiggers.seo
If you would like to learn more go along to one of the New Members Nights.
(These are held once a month in Kirribilli)
Or contact the New Members Secretary via the website.
http://www.sbw.org.au/content_common/pg-how-to-join.seo
Or, as flatfoot said you could also have a look at SUBW (Another club with a pretty famous name!)

Hi Fraser

You should also have a think about what types of walks you want to do. Most clubs have a sample program on their web site. For example:
- CMW is definitely focussed on overnight walks, walks are at the harder end of the spectrum
- SBW is focussed on overnight walks, but usually has a day walk on each day of the weekend; walks are again at the harder end of the spectrum - many have an off track component
- Bush Club has walks on pretty much every day of the week, and the walks are generally easier, mostly day walks with the occasional overnight walk
- NPA also has walks most days, similar style to the Bush Club - mostly day walks, at the easier end of the spectrum

Unless you're just trying to make friends, there's not much point joining a club if it doesn't do the sort of walks you want to do.

The ones above are probably the four biggest clubs in Sydney. It may also be worth looking at the suburban clubs - there is a list on the Confederation of Bushwalking Clubs web site - http://www.bushwalking.org.au/clubs.html

SBW has around 250-300 members under 40, though quite a few of those are prospectives ie not full members yet. Bush Club has a slightly older demographic, but that's during the week, as lots of retirees walk then. From the few weekend walks I've done, I think the weekend demograpics is a bit younger. I don't know much about the NPA as I've hardly done any walking with them. If you're looking to learn as well as make friends, a good range of ages is ideal. As climberman says, you can learn a lot from older members.

Disclaimer: I'm a member of SBW, Bush Club and NPA, and I'm over 30 and under 40

Fraser get in touch with your new friend that has initials 'DP' re. a bushwalk/fishing group (that's not affiliated with the confederation). I think everyone involved is under 26 or so..if that's your thing
all clubs mentioned so far are good stuff, and like Tom you can be a member of more than one (y)

Hi Fraser,

I do understand where you are coming from. I went through this a well but I do think you will find it hard to find a club that has the walks you wont to do and have a good mix of people your own age. There is a social website could meetup (See link below), and they have a bush walking group which have a good mix of ages and have appropriately 1764 walkers. It cost nothing to do these walks with this group and the group leaders are all volunteers.

http://www.meetup.com/walkers-165/

The only thing I don't like about the meetup group, is that there walks are all organised mainly around public transport, which is good in one way but restrictive in another, as it limits the walks on offer. But it worth giving it a try!!!
May be you could start your own bush walking club If its run by younger people it might attract younger people. I was thinking of doing that at one stage.

Hey thanks for the link Mattyjm.

And Fraser, a friend of mine that also knows you, told me you go to UNSW but didnt want to join their club because its $50/year?
You may join usyd bushwalkers as mentioned above for only $30/year and a they're pretty active bunch of young people. I'm looking at joining myself when my uni workload gets abit more under control.

Or even UTS outdoors adventure club is only $20/year for you, being a UNSW student. All great value in my opinion.

wait a minute.... mattyjm, is that meetup.com link primarily a bushwalk group?

somehow, i get the vibe that the site is designed to help you hook up with a partner, using bushwalking as a common theme?
or am I wrong?

and meetup.com is sponsored by the "meetup salsa school". Can't get much more bushwalking than that

and also on the front page of the site...
"Membership Perks. $500 off Full course and Free Access to $25 Workshop (for male members) from School of Attraction"

hmmmmm..... for sad, lonely, looking for love bushwalkers, perhaps????

ninjapuppet wrote:didnt want to join their club because its $50/year?

$50 is not even a tank of petrol. If you're serious about the bushwalking, the cost of joining a club is insignificant. Yu'll end up with much more in transport costs than the cost of joining a club.

ninjapuppet wrote:wait a minute.... mattyjm, is that meetup.com link primarily a bushwalk group?

somehow, i get the vibe that the site is designed to help you hook up with a partner, using bushwalking as a common theme?
or am I wrong?

No, its all about meeting other people that share the same interests and not a dating site but hey if you are lucky and meet some then all the best
Bush walking isn't the sole theme they do.

kymboy wrote:and meetup.com is sponsored by the "meetup salsa school". Can't get much more bushwalking than that

and also on the front page of the site...
"Membership Perks. $500 off Full course and Free Access to $25 Workshop (for male members) from School of Attraction"

hmmmmm..... for sad, lonely, looking for love bushwalkers, perhaps????

I don't now what site you are looking up!!! lol. But meet up is made up of hundreds of social groups with different themes and the salsa groups one of them

You should read into it a bit better next time!

Hey mate,
If you're still looking I'd definitely check out Sydney Uni Bushwalkers (SUBW). I walked briefly with a few other clubs, but most of the people on trips were older (40+) and I didn't really like the formal way they worked, with trips planned months in advance and routes that stayed pretty static. I joined SUBW a few years ago and that's who I do most of my walking with. Unlike pretty much any other club, the walks are all arranged via email, so it can be as simple as realising you have a free day / weekend coming up, flicking an email to the list and asking if anyone is interested in a walk. There are also walks and canyons on most weekends. While there are some trip leaders who do easy, on track walks, SUBW is also good if you are interested in being a bit more exploratory. Routes constantly vary, sometimes because of weather / time, but often because we decide we want to check something else out that it interesting. This is good if you prefer more of a casual, natural style, rather than following a leader with a set route.
Anyone can join the club (you don't have to go to Sydney Uni) and the details are here: http://www.subw.org.au/about/join.html
That said, doing some walking with more experienced older people can be valuable too. I learnt to canyon (and abseil) from a bloke in his sixties at the NPA, and I was introduced to the Wild Dog Mountains and the fun of walking using historic sketch maps by another NPA leader, so it can still be valuable to do some walks with people who aren't all young.
I'm not sure about the groups on meetup, but I'd suggest only joining clubs that are affiliated with the confederation of bushwalkers (and adhere to its ethics) and that have insurance cover for trips.