New SBS series Great Australian Walks With Julia Zemiro, will see national treasure Julia Zemiro (RocKwiz, Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery, Fisk) embark on ten of Australia’s most epic day walks.
Premiering on SBS and SBS On Demand on August 10 at 7:30pm, the series will follow Julia walking each route, joined by experts and locals, First Australians and new Australians.
Each will reveal a story about our multicultural country – some amazing, others heart-breaking, all of them intriguing: from those who have kept the fire burning at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra to those who maintain the oldest synagogue in Australia and those who are still looking to strike gold in the north-eastern Victoria.
Along the way viewers will meet a variety of familiar faces, including: actress Tasma Walton (Mystery Road, Cleverman, Blue Heelers); former Wallabies Captain and Independent Senator for the ACT David Pocock; author and journalist Brigid Delaney; Bassist for the Violent femmes & Mona Music, Brian Ritchie; former Mental as Anything bass guitarist and vocalist Pete Dougherty; former Masterchef AU Contestant and chef Mindy Woods; and artist Marina DeBris.
Over the course of 10 episodes Julia will take audiences on the 10 walks: up Mount Wellington high above Hobart in Tasmania, along the Main Yarra Trail to Melbourne, from Sorrento to Point Nepean on the Mornington Peninsula, along the famous Goldfields Track in north-eastern Victoria, around Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin, down the NSW south coast following the Kiama Coast Walk, across the cliff tops in the Blue Mountains, up Waterfall Way and into Dorrigo National Park, from Byron Bay’s sun-kissed beaches to its famous lighthouse, and, finally, Bondi Beach (where Julia grew up), and its world-famous coastal walk.
The series also explores the history behind each walk, using nostalgic archival footage to breathe life into the stories of yesteryear – be it images of Wonderland City, the amusement park that used to be the central feature of Tamarama Beach, footage of the environmentalists who fought off tree loggers in Bellingen Shire or poignant photographs of the 400 Kosovar refugees who were housed at the quarantine station at Point Nepean.
Interview with veteran walks expert, Bruce Elder
Each episode will feature a separate, accessible and achievable one-day walk selected in collaboration with veteran walks expert and former Sydney Morning Herald travel journalist Bruce Elder.
Walkers Journal Editor Tamsin O’Neill chatted to Bruce ahead of the series release to learn more about his passion for walking. Here’s their conversation:
Bruce, tell us a bit about why you like to walk?
There’s a very simple reason for walking: it is good for you. Good for your health. Good for your wellbeing. Good for time spent with your thoughts. Good for working out all those things that need quiet contemplation. And, most of all I my case, good for thinking about what you are going to write. It is where I do my best thinking … an opportunity to collect my thoughts, shape them, refine them and organise them.
How did you narrow down the walks for the series?
A good question. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of great walks in Australia and each one has a particular appeal whether a coastal walk with grand ocean views and dramatic clifftops or a walk through the mesmerising silence of the Australian bush.
We chose these walks with three thoughts in mind. One, COVID kept us close to home in New South Wales. Two, we focussed on shorter walks – ones that could be done in a day – ones that were a genuinely pleasant experience. And three, we wanted walks that were genuinely rich in First Nations history, settlement history and had attractions that would make people enjoy the experience.
Where is your favourite place to walk?
I live in Kiama and, as I get older, I never tire of walking in the area – the town is on the ocean and the Kiama Coastal Walk is a wonderland of geology, history (of the basalt mining which has helped to shape the coast), of the indigenous history of the area and sublime views and vistas across the Pacific Ocean.
People say to me “How do you do thousands of steps every day?” and I reply “Have you ever been to Kiama? It is easy. You will never tire of the sheer joy of walking near Cathedral Rocks, around Black Beach, up to the Blowhole, to the headland overlooking the mouth of the Minnamurra River. Yes, you can be jealous. It is as close to paradise as anyone can want.
Great Australian Walks With Julia Zemiro will premiere on SBS and SBS On Demand on August 10 at 7:30pm, the series will follow Julia walking each route, joined by experts and locals, First Australians and new Australians.
