We were fortunate to have Pauline Webber of Sunday Life recently join our Victorian Alps trek.
Background to Our Vic Alps Walks
The Victorian High Country is a region of Australia we are very passionate about. It has wonderful walks, epic views, and an array of stunning flora and fauna. All our Vic Alps Walks are accommodated in the beautiful town of Bright. Undoubtedly, one of Victoria’s most picturesque alpine towns.
In fact, Park Trek has two beautiful walks in the Victorian Alps to choose from. Our gentle Alpine Highlights Walk, suitable for all walkers, or our more challenging Three Peaks Walk.
Both walks will reset you. You’ll be immersed in nature, captivated by stunning views, and you’ll connect with others over 4 carefully designed days. So, if you’re looking for a reset, a chance to disconnect and reconnect with what matters most, then this walk may just be the holiday you needed!
Our Vic Alps Walk is the Walk You Need
But don’t just listen to us, you can read how Pauline Webber described our trip via this link. Or, if the paywall stops you, we have extracted her story below (full credit provider to her and her publisher):
A trek in the Victorian Alps is the type of holiday you never knew you needed – Pauline Webber, 2 March 2025, Sunday Life
“You can rest your bottom on my shoulder if you’re OK with that.” It’s not a sentence I expected to ever hear but, in this moment, it’s most welcome. My right foot is wedged into a rock crevice while my left is dangling in space, some distance above the nearest foothold. Without further ado, I pop my derrière on the kindly proffered shoulder and am lowered the few centimetres necessary for me to get a toehold.ncy App) and select the area you are walking in to keep abreast of any incidents or emergencies.
It’s day one of Park Trek’s four-day walking tour in the Victorian Alps. The tricky descent is through the rock formation known as Chalwell Galleries on Mount Buffalo and our two guides, Graham (whose dedication to his work I’ve attested to above) and Sandra, are working calmly and efficiently to get all nine of us down without mishap.
It’s a great start to the tour, challenging but wonderfully rewarding. With snappy one-liners about the degree of difficulty and lots of discussion about how best to face each new rock, our group has soon bonded.
On the way to home base in the alpine town of Bright, we stop at lovely Ladies Bath Falls, where I test my mettle by taking a dip in the freezing river. It does wonders for hot feet and tired legs.
We are staying in simple, comfortable cabins bordering the Ovens River. There’s a communal space for meals and briefings and at day’s end we tuck into a platter of nibbles from Milawa Cheese Factory while Graham and Sandra prepare dinner.
Conditions next morning are perfect for our proposed walk, a comfortable 12-kilometre hike above the tree line through a rolling landscape of alpine grasses, granite outcrops and spectacular views across the ranges. Spring flowers – from snow daisies and fluffy green grevilleas to tiny native orchids, the delicate blooms of the high country – are in profusion.
After a lunch consisting of our own selections from the wide range of goodies provided, we head for Le Souef Plateau via a short but steep walk featuring distinctive granite formations. Standout is The Sentinel, a huge, gravity-defying monolith seemingly balanced on a knife edge.
Three years ago, lawyer Charles Thompson, inspired by a childhood spent hiking, camping and fishing that left him with a deep love of nature and an awareness of its importance to our wellbeing, abandoned a successful business career to take on this small Melbourne-based company. He aims to promote closeness to the natural world by offering well-crafted walks all over Australia.
With Park Trek, it’s all about the hikes. The food is good and plentiful, the accommodation clean and comfortable, but the focus isn’t on luxury. The company draws serious walkers who bond easily over a shared passion, take physical challenges in their stride and are supported by guides who really know their stuff. One of our group is on his ninth tour; I can see the attraction.
On day three we tackle a five-kilometre section of the Big Walk up Mount Buffalo. It’s steep going. The track zigzags over rocky terrain then into a forest dominated by mighty snow gums and, finally, sheer granite walls.
It feels odd to emerge at the top to find cars, picnicking families and a big hotel. The long-abandoned Chalet is undergoing restoration, with plans to reopen this year. I reckon knowing I’d have a comfy billet and crisp vino waiting at the end of the day would be enough incentive for me to take on the whole Big Walk challenge.”
Park Trek acknowledges and pays its respects to the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which we wander as a walking company. We recognise the unique place held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the original custodians of the lands and waterways across our continent, with histories of continuous connection dating back more than 60,000 years. We are proud to live on the planet’s oldest continent with the oldest continuous living culture. We support the Uluru Statement from the Heart.