Photo by Anne Atkinson: Art stop, London Bridge, Murchison region

Design your own tours

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A few examples of self-designed tours

The first was with a group of artists who wanted to be taken to locations and given the time to paint. This involved planning the tour around selected landscapes, allowing periods long enough to do sketches or paintings and provide them with morning and afternoon teas and lunches at the locations, as well as booking suitable accommodation and negotiating a reasonable price. The art group has been on three art tours with me so far. The first to the forests and beaches of the South West, the second to the wildflowers and the third to breakaway country in the Murchison.

Another example of a tour in the planning is with a group of bushwalkers who want to walk part of the Bibbulmun Track without the bother of carrying camping equipment and supplies and sleeping out overnight.

On the first day of their walk I will take them to a starting point on the Track. It may not be the official starting point but somewhere further south. I will give them their lunch and meet them at a pre-arranged place on the Track ready with the bus to take them to a camping site or cabin guaranteed to have good showers with loads of hot water to soothe aching backs and feet. The tents (or cabins) will already be set up so all they have to do is unpack what is needed for the night and then join us for pre-dinner drinks and nibbles while I cook a scrumptious three-course dinner.

In the morning I will prepare a cooked breakfast and a packed lunch (plus energy nibbles to keep them going) and return them back to the Track at the spot they left off the day before. While they are walking, I will pack up the camp (tents, stretchers, mattresses, etc) and move on down to set up in another camping ground so all is ready when I pick them up in the bus after the day's walk.

They will not have to do a thing. The tents with stretcher beds and mattresses will be ready (they may have to spread out their sleeping bag) after each day's walk. A hearty breakfast, a packed lunch with plenty of fluids, energy snacks and a three-course dinner will be provided every day. They will be taken to and from the track each day to a camping ground (or cabin), which has full amenities. And they are assured of a relaxed and enjoyable time in the evening as we sit by the campfire before they retire to their comfortable beds.

Yet a third example and one quite different to touring, is of a group of cyclists who had signed up to ride in the country bike race. They wanted a bus with a trailer to take their bikes and a driver so they could reserve their energy ready for the race. They wanted me to book accommodation but wanted the freedom to eat when they wanted so they suggested that they would find their own meals. They did, however, want me to 'crew' for the group - hand out drinks along the way, carry spare parts and tyres for their bikes and pick up the `drop-outs'.

Whatever interests and whatever you wish to see - I can take you there.

All you need is:

• A general idea of what you want to do and where you want to go,
• At least 10 people,
• There is no age limit,
• There is no restriction on where we can go or the length of time - as long it is fits in with my other tour dates.

So - contact me and we can have a word about making your vision a reality.

Karijini National Park, WA