Overnighters with young children

[the_camera_poser]

Hi all- I know a few threads have skirted around this, but given the number of us on here with squirts, sidekicks, and chips-off-the-old-blocks, not to mention ferrets, ferals and varmits (children), I'd love to get everyone's ideas on overnight hikes appropriate for children from say 4 to 7 or 8. I've come up with the following, and please feel free to comment or add to this list.

For Real Newbies:

-Lee's Paddocks
-Blue Peaks Trail from Lake MacKenzie
-Explorer Creek Trail from Lake MacKenzie to Lake Nameless
-Cockle Creek to South Bay
-Scout Hut on the Horse Track at Cradle Mtn NP
-Bush Camping on Ben Lomond

For bigger kids or those with a bit of training:

-Walls of Jerusalem

What have I missed?

[Son of a Beach]

Sounds like a good list.

With the Blue Peaks, you want to be very sure you're going to be able to all stick together, and stick to the route (which is difficult to follow in a couple of stretches even in good weather).

With Explorer Creek, you need to be very sure that the Fish river and Lake McKenzie are not going to be full (the river should be OK if there's been no recent rain, and you can check the current lake level online at http://www.hydro.com.au/home/Tourism+an ... Levels.htm ). Even if the lake is down, be careful walking over the mud... some bits can be a bit deep and squishy at times, and it may be worth using the dry edges away from the water, rather than trying to cut across the mud. When crossing Explorer Creek later on, do it just BEFORE the ground levels out. Make sure you cross it where the water is flowing over rocks. When the ground levels out and the water flows across the flat, the mud is so deep and so watery that it not only very difficult to cross, but could be dangerous.

[dee_legg]

Freycinet circuit or at least over the Hazards saddle to the end of wineglass for a nice overnighter or to Cooks beach.. lots of options.

[kramster]

Not having any ankle-biters of ones own yet, I can only really suggest things I did (and enjoyed) when I was growing up.
Essentially you are after walks in the shortish / easy-ish bag (so say 3-4 hours tops) - this allows for plenty of time to smell the roses, chase wildlife, run ahead, beg for food and generally grizzle about not being there yet

Pine Valley (take the ferry to Narcissus)
Scott-Kilvert / Waterfall Valley
Mt Field (K-Col / Twilight Tarn)
Shadow-Lake / Mt Rufus
Bird River / Kelly Basin

[the_camera_poser]

EXCELLENT- thanks all!

[woka]

I went into Explorer Creek via Lake McKenzie a couple of days ago and it was quite full. Full enough that I had to do some bush bashing and boulder hopping to get around to the head of the creek. The creek was flowing falirly fast and deep as well, pretty much impassable if you're not prepared and carrying very expensive camera gear!

The Hydro site Nik mentions above has the level as 2.76m from full - thought it was worth mentioning in case anyone else is trying to get an idea of the level where the track is unusable.

[tastrekker]

Over Easter we took our 11, 9 and 5 year old children to Pelion. I'll submit a detailed trip report soon but here's a thumbnail sketch:
Day One - Late morning start, up the infamous hill to lunch at Lake Price. Over Wurragarra Creek and the nearby sadle then down to camp at the eastern end of Lake Ayr.
Day Two - Walk to Pelion Hut before morning tea, a few card games then over to Old Pelion for lunch. We then engaged in helping the Ranger with some maintenance work before exploring the copper mine adit and returning to Pelion Hut for dinner and an evening socialising with OT walkers
Day Three - All the way back to the car with frequent breaks and lunch at 'Tarn of Islands Creek.'

[Son of a Beach]

Thanks for posting this, tastrekker - it's inspirational to me. At one and three, my kids are still too young for many of these walks, but it's great to see what's feasible for the various age groups so that I can plan things for when my kids to get to that age.

[Drifting]

That one's high on my list for Spring Tastrekker- thanks for the info.

[eddie the eagle]

Somewhere, I read that the maximum length is their age plus a couple of km.

That'd make sense. I've taken my two (11 and 7 at the time) on a easy-moderate (in occasional places) two-day 30km walk (coast track, Royal NP.) At 7km, the younger one had had enough, and the older one was getting sick of walking. On day 2, the younger one ran around, slipped and fell over. Took me an hour and a half to convince him that he didn't need the Medivac chopper for a grazed hip and he had to walk out. I pulled the pin at about 10km into the day 2 walk and had someone come and pick us up. We finished the final 13km of the walk as a day trip on another day.

Having said this, last time I did the coast track, we followed a German(?) local resident and his son. The dad obviously had a love of the bush and had been trekking since he was a kid. His 5y.o. walked 20km on day 2 carrying a small pack (probably had his teddy bear and a drink bottle in it,) The 5 y.o. was going faster than my group of 16 year olds. We left together from the campsite and made it out at the same time. The little fella was still keen but pretty bored at the end.

Cheers,

eddie

[zac150]

I know its not Bushwalking but we have used a bike trailer hitched to a mountain bike to take our 4 year old out on overnight trips.

Our first trip to Wheelers hut in Kosciouszko National Park was when she was 1 and we have taken her on many overnighters since. We find the bike trailer great as it opens up a lot of trips, although it does close those areas you can't ride in.

Our biggest hurdle to overnight trips, as noted by others was how far she could walk; 5km is about her max, nothing could be worse than tired kids and tired parents.

The main plus with the bike trailer we have found is the gear we can carry; the trailer can handle 45kg so kid + 25kg, plus a couple of panniers if you need the extra space.

I am interested to hear what other people do for kids gear, the range in Australia is not great although it is getting better. We have used (adapted) old down vests as sleeping bags etc and brought gear in from the U.S; does anyone know any good Australia sites?

[tastrekker]

Over Easter we took our 11, 9 and 5 year old children to Pelion. I'll submit a detailed trip report soon...'

I've just completed my trip report. Check it out on my blog at http://tastrekker.blogspot.com/