Sample Hiking Program

Bronze Practice

Location: The Steps
Program: This program is two days and one night in duration; based out of the “The Steps”, BOAC’s purpose built riverside outdoor education base camp. The program is developed to rapidly educate the participants with the skills necessary for the safe participation and enjoyment of hiking in the Australian bush. Using “The Steps” onsite navigation course, as well as  Copland Tops, participants will be navigating through both marked trails as well as unmarked bush. Expect to be challenged and rewarded, encountering a rich variety of forest types including; Riparian, Wet and Dry Rainforest, and Open Woodlands.

Bronze Test

Location: Copland Tops State Conservation Area
Program: This Program is two days and one night in duration. Using the skills developed in the Bronze practice program, participants will undergo qualification trekking over the Copland Tops Conservation Area. Hiking over Mt Prince Charlie and camping  at BOAC’s Copland Tops campground, participants can expect to be  challenged and rewarded, encountering a rich variety of forest types including; Riparian, Wet Rainforest, Dry Rainforest and Open Woodlands.

Silver Practice

Location: Brisbane Waters National Park
Program: This Program is three days and two nights in duration; the program is designed to extend the skills developed at the bronze level. This section of the renowned Great North Walk takes participants through the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park past Jerusalem Bay to arrive at Brooklyn, on the Hawkesbury River.  Using a ferry crossing of this majestic river, the Walk continues through the Brisbane Waters National Park and on to finish in the Ourimbah Valley.

Silver Test

Location: Barrington Tops National Park
Program: This program is three days and two nights in duration; as a qualification program it allow participants to showcase skills developed in previous expeditions. Participants will be hiking through the Barrington Tops World Heritage wilderness area.

This rugged park is full of contrasts. Carved out of an ancient volcano, it rises from near sea level to over 1500m. In the lower valleys, you'll find World Heritage-listed subtropical rainforests. Up on the plateau, there is subalpine woodland which regularly sees snow in winter. Most of the area is declared wilderness, and it's a well respected destination for bushwalkers with an excellent network of tracks. The park's varied environments are home to a wide range of plants and animals, and it protects more than 50 rare or threatened species. In this area, many northern and southern plants meet the limit of their range.

Gold Practice

Location: Tops to Myall Heritage Trail
Program: Four days and three nights in duration; this qualification expedition allows participants to journey a section of the Tops to Myall Heritage Trail. Following both marked and unmarked trail, this exclusive route stretches from the subalpine areas of Barrington Tops National Park, through mountainous rainforests and sheltered subtropical gullies, to the world standard wetlands and dunescapes of the Myall Lakes National Park. Plant communities include wet and dry rainforests, heathlands, freshwater wetlands, dry eucalypt forests.

Gold Test

Location: Milford Track New Zealand
Program: This program consists of six days and five nights with the actual qualification journey being four days and three nights in duration. Participants will be challenged with this classic international hike, once described as "the finest walk in the world" the Milford Track is one of New Zealand's most popular walks. Adding to the amazing journey of this hike; the opportunity of travelling with peers internationally, spending time in Queenstown NZ and even the possibility of a short Sea Kayak venture through the Fjord lands.