by Carla Caruso

For some of us, doing the 16km Park Lands Loop is enough of an achievement.

For others, meandering the Adelaide Park Lands is a good way to stay limber before tackling longer distances, further afield.

We chatted to two SA hikers, who enjoy frequenting the city’s parks in between their rural journeys.

FIONA CAULFIELD

Adelaide-born travel writer and designer Fiona Caulfield had been splitting her time between India and Australia for 16 years when the pandemic hit in 2020.

With borders closing, she found herself parked in her hometown for “the longest time I’ve been here since 1986”. The Adelaide Park Lands helped her find her feet.

“In the beginning, I felt like a caged animal, not being able to jump on planes and travel and explore and do all the things I was used to doing,” Fiona says.

“So, the walking and discovering Adelaide through the parks just became an essential part of my life and I’m so grateful that we’ve got so many and such great spaces.”

A favourite route is along the River Torrens / Karrawirra Pari, from Hackney Bridge to the Torrens Weir. Other haunts of hers include the Adelaide Botanic Garden (Park 11), Himeji Garden (Park 18), North Adelaide Golf Course (Park 1), and Lefevre Park / Nantu Wama (Park 6).

The city walks have proven a great warm-up for another challenge Fiona has set herself: completing the 1200km Heysen Trail, which extends from Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Peninsula to Parachilna Gorge in the Flinders Ranges.

Previously, she’s hiked abroad in Tibet, Nepal, Africa, and India. Fiona’s undertaking the Heysen Trail, in sections, independently with two friends.

“Some people walk the entire trail in one hit,” she says. “Most people do it in about 60 to 70 days and they carry their tents and organise food drops and all of that.

“We don’t do that. We take two cars. So, we drive to the endpoint, and we leave a car, and we drive to the start point and then we walk. On average, we do about 25km each walk.

“Depending on where you are on those walks, some days you can drive from Adelaide, and just manage it and get home that night. But because we’re further north now – in between Quorn and Hawker – the last time I went, we walked for eight days.”

Along the way, they’ll stay in accommodation. Next week, Fiona heads off on another leg of the trail for five days. She began attempting the Heysen in 2020 and hopes to wrap it up next year, over the cooler months.

It’s all a far cry from her previous life, which included stints running an advertising agency in Sydney and working as a futurist in New York.

A hike through Nepal into Everest changed everything. “That’s when I made a decision to leave New York and move to India. I switched Manolo Blahnik high heels for hiking boots!”

In Bangalore, Fiona set up a small publishing company, producing guidebooks for “luxury vagabonds”, including The Love Travel Guides.

She now also creates bespoke itineraries for travellers to India and has contributed articles to titles like Condé Nast Traveller in the UK and Departures in the US. As well, in a “pandemic pivot”, she sells Indian antiques and vintage goods, including textiles, online as Love India Home.

On her love affair with India, Fiona says: “I love the intensity of life there. When I’m out of India, it feels like someone’s flicked the switch on the television back to black-and-white and turned the volume down. India has this intensity of living that I just haven’t found anywhere else on Earth.”

TORSTEN BUNGE

Torsten Bunge rekindled his love for hiking after sustaining injuries from a cycling accident in 2019.

The 52-year-old, who works as a retail area manager, was on a ride with mates on Old Belair Road when he crashed.  

“My mind sort of drifted. I missed a corner and had a split-second decision to make, whether I hit a guardrail or went over the edge,” Torsten says.

“I didn’t want to go over the edge, so I went into the guardrail at about 60km an hour. Lycra doesn’t offer much protection.

“For all the things that went wrong that day [though], there were a lot of things that went right. One of them was that my mobile phone was in my back pocket.

“If it wasn’t where it was when I hit the pole, I don’t think I’d be walking today. That took the impact of the post of the guardrail, which was a C-channel, with sharp edges, pointing up the hill. I take a lot of stairs instead of lifts [these days] because I can … I’m actually lucky to be alive.”

His injuries included a punctured spinal cord and meant he required three months of rehabilitation. For his wife’s “peace of mind”, he chose not to ride anymore. Instead, hiking became part of his recovery.

This year, the father-of-two has worked up from day hikes to overnighters. He’ll head off on a solo 50km trek, over two days, from Georgetown to Curnows Hut this weekend.

“It’s a challenge because you have to take a lot of baggage,” Torsten says. “You’re carrying probably 15 kilos of weight by the time you’ve got your bag, your tent, all the bits and pieces you need, and enough water to keep you going.”

Still, the Klemzig resident enjoys nothing better than conquering such a trip alone. “It allows you to get into your own headspace and get all the cobwebs out of your head. Just the noises of nature I find very soothing – the sound of gravel underneath your feet, the wind blowing in the trees, and birds singing. It’s an excellent way to ground yourself.”

In between the overnighters, he does hikes around Anstey Hill, Chambers Gully, and Cudlee Creek, as well as meanders around the Park Lands with his wife, Sharee.  

“We take our Miniature Schnauzer, Myah, for a walk in the city quite regularly – around Pinky Flat and Elder Park [in Park 26] – and stop for a coffee,” Torsten says.

“I love the Adelaide Park Lands, including in the Botanic Garden and all through there. We’re very, very lucky to have what we’ve got.”