ABOUT THE REAL HIKING GUIDE

Hello there fellow hikers!

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Our names are Rochelle and Sarah, we are both based in Cairns and share a love (obsession) for hiking and exploring Tropical North Queensland and beyond.  

We first met at F45 Cairns Inner West where one of our fellow gym buddies arranged regular group hikes on the weekends.

When Covid put an end to big group social activities, our friendship grew as we began ‘iso-hiking’ together. We try to get together of a weekend as often as we can (easier in Covid times when the rest of our busy lives were put on hold and made more difficult with Sarah being a shift worker). Once we had ticked off the more common and well-known hikes within a couple of hours radius of Cairns, we began exploring some of the lesser-known hikes and trails.

After experiencing a lack of available information and plenty of missteps along the way, over many hours of hiking, we started dreaming up the concept of starting or own blog to share our "real" experiences and adventures (or misadventures!) And this was how the idea for ‘The Real Hiking Guide’ was born.

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The "real" aspect of our blog reflects us wanting to provide an honest, personal and practical resource (ie. not sugar coated) suitable for everybody to read.

We don’t confess to be experts (certainly there is much evidence to the contrary) and we can definitely get it wrong. We haven’t always been prepared and some days (many days) just haven’t gone to plan. But we love hiking so we brush ourselves off, have a laugh, put up with the eye-rolls (“it would only happen to you”) from partners, friends and family and try again.

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Rochelle: I am a  family lawyer by day and explorer by weekend.  My aim in life is to find the perfect balance between working/pursuing a career and enjoying life and family.  I am married with two fur children.  I have always loved playing sport and when I moved to Cairns in 2017 I stumbled into hiking and haven't looked back.  I try to hike at least once a week, always chasing that sense of fulfilment.  My favourite hikes close to Cairns are Hitchinbrook Island, Lamb's Head, Devil's Thumb and Windin Falls. 

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Sarah: I am a paramedic by day (and night and weekend). My interest for hiking really got going when I first moved to Cairns for work about 8 years ago. I had heard of paramedics being dispatched for incidents on some of the local hiking tracks and wanted to make sure I was fit and able enough to make it to my patients without needing medical assistance myself! It didn’t take long before I was completely hooked. I loved the climb and was motivated for what awaited me at the top. I loved that it gave me mental clarity and that no matter what else was going on in my life, I could feel the stress leave me the moment I hit the tracks. My most memorable hiking accomplishments are summitting Mount Kilimanjaro in 2017, Everest Base Camp in 2018 and Hinchinbrook Island Multi day hike several times.