Getting fit in Australia
Lose weight: Swim, jog or bushwalk while on holiday Down Under
It is possible to get fit whilst travelling in Australia, even if most people tend to put on weight due to the plentiful supply of good food. Here are a few methods to keep off the pounds.
Bushwalking
Whilst hiking is the exclusive domain of old men with beards and no deodorant, if you call it bushwalking, it is perfectly acceptable. What’s more, tramping through scenic countryside, cooing at all the pretty animals and views can be a remarkably peaceful way to de-stress yourself. Oh, and it’s good for your heart as well, as my dad would always say when trying to convince me that trudging through three miles of cowpats on the way to the curry house was in any way fun.
You can, of course, go for a bushwalk pretty much anywhere there isn’t a skyscraper in sight – it’s just a case of picking a national park, any national park.
However, if you want to do the whole walking thing properly, then you should look into a more ambitious trek. In Australia, Tasmania is probably the best spot for this, and the Overland Track from Cradle Mountain is regarded as one of the best in the world for an extended hike. It will take you five to eight days to complete the whole 73km, but your eyes will probably have popped out of their sockets long before they start worrying about the blisters.
In New Zealand, the Tongariro National Park on the North Island is renowned for top quality walking too.
Swimming
There are few things in life more tedious than ploughing up and down a leisure centre swimming pool behind and old man trying to break the world record for slowest breaststroke. Swimming doesn’t have to be a thoroughly joyless endeavour, however, and by picking the right location, it can be a total joy.
Australia’s oceans and seas are often a mite tricky for taking a dip in, unfortunately. Either they’re totally infested with sharks and jellyfish, or have got the sort of waves that will soon make a mockery of anyone attempting to doggy paddle through them. Thus, it’s best to head to the lakes, of which the best is probably Lake Mackenzie on Fraser Island. The water there is so pure that it’s like you’re freestyling your way through a giant bottle of Evian. You can even drink it while you’re going along.
If you’re up in the Top End of the Northern Territory, the heat of Kakadu’s rugged landscapes will often leave you gagging for a swim, and thus, the swimming holes here that are not full of crocodiles become things of true wonder. Much better than a few laps indoors.
Jogging
It’s hard to imagine something as soul-destroying as a treadmill. You bust a gut, but still remain in the same spot, no matter how far the display tells you that you’ve made it. So, instead of dealing with the horrendous stench of stale sweat, you may as well go running in the open air instead.
A prime place for it is the 8km Bondi-to-Coogee coastal walk in Sydney. Going along the clifftops, you get spectacular views of the headlands, as well as plenty of beaches and cafes to stop off at on the way if you’re a fat bloater who trembles at the thought of that sort of distance.
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