Measured advice for real-world walking.
Australian Hiker treats hiking as a set of real decisions, not just scenery. Tim and Jill Savage work through trail expectations, overseas routes, pack weight, volunteer conservation, and gear suppliers with a steady eye for what walkers actually need to know.
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Australian Hiker is a practical, long-running hiking podcast built around the decisions that come before the view. Tim and Jill Savage approach walking with a planner's patience. A route is not just a name; it is campsite bookings, trail fees or the lack of them, water tanks, long-drop toilets, shelters, weather, daily distance, and the question of what a body can comfortably carry. That gives the show a field-notebook feel. Recent episodes spend time with the Great Southwest Walk, treating it first as an expectations exercise and then as something to test against reality. The show also looks outward. It covers overseas trails such as the West Highland Way and the Via Transylvanica, but it does so through the same Australian walking lens: where people sleep, how far they move each day, what rain or midges can do to plans, and what surprises sit behind a famous route name. Gear is handled in similarly grounded terms. Pack weight is discussed as a compromise between comfort, conditions, and safety, not as a purity contest. A sleeping bag, rain jacket, or spare layer has to earn its place, but leaving useful equipment behind is not treated as clever. The interview episodes broaden the terrain. John and Justine explain remote Tasmanian coastal volunteer work through Wildcare SPRATS, while other guests bring first-hand accounts from major walks and trade conversations. The show can be repetitive in a useful way. It circles back, clarifies, checks the numbers, and compares options rather than declaring one neat answer. That rhythm suits hikers who are building confidence, refining systems, or sorting a crowded list of future walks. It also suits experienced walkers who still like hearing how someone else weighs distance, weather, logistics, and recovery. The appeal is not drama. It is competence, tested against mud, wind, booking systems, cancelled trade shows, and the steady pull of another trail.
Made for: For hikers who like route detail, gear reasoning, and trip planning before they commit time, money, and effort to a trail. It especially suits Australian walkers comparing local routes with major overseas hikes.
What sets it apart: The show stands out by making logistics the centre of the story: campsite systems, daily distances, weather exposure, pack weight, and trail conditions get the same care as destination appeal. Its interviews stay useful because they return to lived experience rather than broad inspiration.
Australian Hiker is Australia’s premier hiking podcast as well as providing a southern hemisphere view on overseas hiking. We are Australia’s most downloaded hiking podcast with regular episodes being released every two weeks covering gear and trail reviews, hiking practice, recipes and skills. Bonus episodes will be released at least once a month and include interviews from the trail as well as with relevant industry and allied professionals. Let us do all the research for you.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Australian Hiker turns trails, pack choices and grading systems into practical decisions grounded in lived walking experience.
Australian Hiker treats walking as both an outdoor sport and a planning problem. Tim and Jill Savage work through the decisions that shape a trip: what belongs in a pack, how track grades translate on the ground, where campsites fall along a multi-day route, and what rain or…
Pack weight meets midge warfare: Tim and Jill help you plan the hike, not just daydream it.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded pre-trail check-in that turns the Great Southwest Walk from idea into itinerary.
Australian Hiker frames the Great Southwest Walk as a proving ground before a possible Heysen Trail later in the year. With Tim Savage close to setting out in Southern Victoria, the episode stays with the practical calls that make the trip real: accommodation in Portland,…
A grounded West Highland Way listen where rain, midges and lunch stops matter as much as the views.
Australian Hiker tracks Susie Ashton-Davies across Scotland's West Highland Way, with Tim and Jill Savage keeping the episode close to the lived texture of the walk.
A grounded guide to how Australian trail grades meet beaches, steps, access markers, and older track realities.
Australian Hiker takes a simple trail-sign question and turns it into a clear guide to Australia's voluntary walking track grading system, endorsed in 2010.
Mountain State hunting and fishing talk.
Gulf Coast outdoors, told from the boat ramp.
Serious carry talk, practical tradeoffs.
Australian Hiker episode 245 focuses on Dog Trip Sydney 52 Dog-Friendly Nature Adventures, a Sydney guidebook by Evie Oh and Andrew Groon.
Australian Hiker episode 324 explains the Australian walking track grading system, which was endorsed in July 2010 as a voluntary industry standard.
Tim and Jill Savage discuss the Southern Headlands Walk, a 20-kilometre coastal hike in southern New South Wales, highlighting its development by the NSW government and local shires to attract hikers.
Tim and Jill Savage preview their interviews from the 2024 Adventure Expo industry trade show in Melbourne.
Part two of interviews and gear discussions from the Outdoor Adventure Expo 2024 in Melbourne.
Tim Savage uses Australian Hiker episode 344 to frame a Great South West Walk test hike in southern Victoria, a 262-kilometre route he plans to cover in 13 days.
This episode discusses the impact of volunteers on natural landscapes, featuring a Tasmanian volunteer group that removes invasive sea spurge from remote coastal areas.
Tim and Jill discuss how to prioritise your ever-growing list of hikes to ensure you complete them in the right order.
Tim and Jill Savage discuss a major upcoming change for the Australian Hiker blog and podcast.
The Australian Hiker Podcast interviews three hikers about their experience on the 1600 km Via Transilvanica trail in Romania.
Tim Savage says 20% to 25% of body weight is only a starting point for hiking pack weight.
Australian Hiker episode 338 follows Susie Ashton-Davies on an eight-day, 154-kilometre West Highland Way walk in Scotland, with Tim and Jill Savage framing it as a self-guided trip in September 2025.
Tim and Jill discuss their annual industry supplier interviews for new hiking gear, which were disrupted by Cyclone Alfred cancelling the trade show.
Interview with Trudy Marie about her solo journey on Western Australia's Bibbulmun Track, discussing her experience as a solo female hiker.