“The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) ranger advised that we were also the first group ever to have kids aged under the age of 12 complete the track,” said Miles Irving. 

Mr Irving completed the 65 kilometre Grade 5 walk with his 37-year-old wife Alicia, his dad Paul aged 70 years and his three sons:  six-year-old Austin, five-year-old Kingsley and six-month-old Elliot.

The adults are all keen walkers –  this is  the second time this year Miles’ dad Paul has completed the Green Gully Track trek.

 “ My dad is an experienced trekker and had an extensive career in the Army Reserve,” said Miles.

“Myself and Alicia are also experienced in the bush through the Army, and all of us trained extensively for months on the lead up to the hike. But I had to convince the NPWS ranger on three occasions that we would be safe taking small kids and a baby.”

While the trio has completed many walks, this was the first challenging one they have done as a family.

“We have never done this kind of trek before,” Miles said. “But after completing The Green Gully Track, we are all keen for another adventure like this one.”

Miles and Alicia  heard about the track from Paul who completed the track with his Sydney based hiking group in early May. 

“The group heard about the track through a family connection of one of the member’s, who hikes all over Australia and considers The Green Gully Track to be the best,” Miles said. 

“We started the hike on Father’s Day and completed the hike four days later. The weather was cold to cool and a little bit damp with the temperature ranging between 0 and 10 degrees. “

The family experienced some wind and rain but say it was nothing too heavy or strong.

“In fact, the weather was perfect for hiking with young children and a baby,” said Miles.

“The cool weather meant that dehydration was less of a concern, we did not have to worry about mosquitoes or flies, and most importantly we did not have to worry about venomous snakes.”

Miles said the trek was a truly rewarding experience for all the family but offered some advice for other families: “Tain, train and train,” he said. “Do not go into this hike without it.

“It is imperative you take hiking poles, at the very least for the adults. They take a lot of load of your knees, hips and ankles, as well as provide serious stability when descending, ascending or traversing slippery rocks in the river bed. If your family is fit, focussed and motivated, then this hike is truly wonderful for all, and an excellent escape from the grind.”

Miles said anyone thinking of doing this hike with their family needed to be prepared to be challenged both physically and mentally. 

“We trained hard on our local tracks in Brisbane and Northern NSW (Mount Cootha, Mount Warning and Mount Nebo for four months prior,” he said.

“The training included hill climbs, hill descents, running, rock climbing, night hiking (in case we had to hike in an emergency at night on The Green Gully) and how to use hiking poles. Austin our oldest, aged 6 years old, eventually mastered the hiking poles during the actual hike on Day 2 when everything just clicked for him.”

Miles said they decided to take the whole family trekking as they had not had a family holiday before. They had considered a relaxing trip to Fiji but decided to do something more challenging.

“The last time my wife and I had a proper holiday was back in 2006 when we cycled across America,” he said.

“We often reflect on that trip with much fondness and then we thought why don’t we do something challenging, exciting and adventurous for our young family. So a beach trip to Fiji was scrubbed off the list and replaced with The Green Gully Track. However the Fiji alternative did get mentioned a couple of times on day two of The Green Gully Track but never again for the remainder of the trip.”

The benefit of taking the whole family was being part of an incredible bonding experience Miles said.

“But even more importantly, it took our kids in particular, out of their comfort zone, where they really learned something about themselves,” he said.

“By the end of the third day  Austin, was talking about when he grows up how he would like to take his own kids on this adventure one day. The challenges were definitely present on the lead up and during the trek. Keeping the boys motivated and excited, particularly during the training phases was one of the biggest ones.” 

Finally Miles said the family would definitely do it again – but with a few changes.

“ I would bring a couple of additional items such as antihistamines, sweetened condensed milk and I would probably place a very light pack on six-year-old Austin,” he said.

“He carried a camelback water pack, but he had the capacity to carry more weight I think.”

Day Zero: Saturday September 1 Alicia, I and the kids travelled via the New England Highway through Walcha to The Green Gully Track Cedar Creek Cottage. Dad travelled up from Sydney via Salamander Bay and we all met up Saturday afternoon. That night we started sorting out all of the gear to refine what we were taking in an effort to get the weight down. We also had a barbecue and last feast before hitting the sack early in anticipation of the days ahead.

Day One: Sunday September, 2 Fathers Day. Today’s distance is around 18 kms. I can’t think of a better way to spend Father’s Day, than hiking with my dad and my wife and children. We commenced the first day at about 0800h. This track is well marked, it is undulating and traverses a ridge with soaring views to both the east and west as you track north for around 18 kms. Many steep hills. It finishes with a steep descent over a few kilometres to finish near a creek bed where Birds Nest Hut awaits for our first night on the hike. The hut is rudimentary in build, concrete floor, tin walls and roof, but has an open fire place, and gas burner for cooking. Tonight we cooked our dehydrated spaghetti bolognese for dinner. The boys even ate it without complaining, which is highly unusual. I got a roaring fire going to combat the cold that was settling into the valley. We slept on stretchers in our sleeping bags. The baby had its own puff onesie that it slept in conjunction with sleeping in Alicia’s sleeping bag with her.

Day Two: Monday September 3. Today’s distance is around 15 kms. A bit of a late start today, around 0830h. The boys are still hard to wrangle despite being out in the bush. Breakfast consisted of porridge for all (except for the baby), and of course coffee. Today started with a steep climb through the bush (no tracks). This involved the use of map to ground, following the ridge until arriving at a Trig point some 5+ kilometres away. We were fortunate that my dad Paul had done the course prior and had a pretty good idea on whether or not we were heading in the right direction. Lunch consisted of vacuum packed ham and cheese rolls. We stopped by to have an eagles eyes view of the beautiful mountain ranges from a rugged rocky outcrop. After a break, some jelly snakes, Freddo frogs and marshmallows we began what really is over 7 kilometres of a treacherous descent. I was highly aware that I was fully responsible for the baby on my back, so I was taking extra precautions to ensure his safety. He was strapped in tight to his pack, and when I did take a tumble, he didn’t budge and nor was he ever at risk of hitting the ground. I did though, and it hurt. I thought I might have broken a couple of fingers, but in reality it was a bad strain. My wife motivated me to get up and keep going. At this point I was thinking about Fiji. Several hundred metres later and I hear a thud, thud, thud sound approaching me rapidly. I thought it was one of the boys, but it was a backpack that Alicia had decided would be better off travelling on its own down the hill, only she did not warn anyone that she was letting it go. Narrowly avoided all. She blamed tiredness for not warning us. The boys mostly slid on their backsides down the hill. It was a relief to get to the bottom, after a quad burning, slippery on loose rocks technical descent. The bottom of the hill presented us with the river, stinging nettles and made a great preview for day three. Tonight’s hut (Green Gully Hut) was supposed to have a hot shower, but the water in the tank was too low, so we missed out unfortunately. But the fireplace was good, the rain came in but not for long. After Swiss hot chocolate, we all slept pretty well that night, listening to the wind, the river nearby and the crackling of the open fire. 

Day Three: Tuesday 04 September. Today’s distance is around 14 kms but in reality is a lot more due to all of the detours required! Probably, collectively, our favourite day, despite the pain of the stinging nettles and the challenge of no track. Today we all wore long pants in anticipation of the stinging nettles ahead (with the exception of my Dad who wore knee high gaiters instead). The day started with a river crossing, which soaked the shoes through to the feet, except for Alicia who was wearing gore tex shoes. However, by the fifth river crossing literally 30 minutes later, her feet were also soaked through. We alternated between walking up the river, and battling the stinging nettles on the river’s edge. At lunch time, we came across the Canyon, that if full, there is no way to pass without an extensive detour. Due to the low rainfall in NSW, the Canyon had only waist level  water in it, at its lowest point. Crossing involved holding onto the boys, regardless they were still wet to the neck. I got across without even getting the baby’s toes wet. I went for a very quick swim whilst there (without pack and baby). The water was freezing but ultimately refreshing. After lunch we began the afternoon trek. This time even the cattle tracks disappeared. Meaning river crossings, map reading, more map reading, climbing over rocks, escarpments, and dealing with stinging nettles. The afternoon was very tough. But the scenery spectacular. We knew we had about five more kilometres to go. Alicia’s GPS watch told us that as did the map. Lots and lots more river crossings. Very challenging with the boys, the hiking poles were instrumental in providing stability over incredibly slippery black rocks. About 1630h we all arrived at the hut, the heavens opened and the rain came down hard. This hut, called Colwell’s hut is the most basic so far. The fireplace set way back, in the smallest of huts on this track. Dad and I slept outside as there was no room in the hut. I got the fire pumping though so I could dry out all of our soaked shoes before Day four. That night we went to sleep listening to the wind, rain and the river flowing. Looking forward to the last day. 

Day Four: Wednesday September. 5 Today’s distance is around 18 kms. The rain cleared overnight. The stars were a plenty when I arose. Our last breakfast, so we ate all the leftover food (minus lunch and snacks). This was great. The day starts with a 1000m climb in 3.5kms, and then the climb continues for an additional 7 kilometres. Wow, as hard as this was, it is still so much more enjoyable than descending. We arrived at the T intersection with the track from day one and turned left, knowing that the end and Cedar Creek Lodge was awaiting us in only 10 kilometres. At this point, the boys have white line fever and really want to get moving, occasionally breaking into a run over the next 10kms. We finished today in 6.5 hours, about an hour under the time required listed in the guide. Today was beautiful, lots of changing scenery, rainforests, moving fog and storms rolling in from the east. What a feeling it was to finish this hike as a family. We had a lasagna waiting in the fridge at the lodge as well as beer and red wine, and hot chocolate for the boys, to celebrate this truly amazing trek.