snippets, news, phone pics, adventure reports, quotes to move you, images to inspire and memories to live by
awildland going commercial? not really…
9 Nov 2026 - So we did this on Saturday….at Black Gully Festival in Armidale. It was an experiment, and the results are still being assessed (moral, emotional, financial). Highlights were running into old friends, lovely comments from strangers, the creativity of our stall with signage made from topographic maps and display supports made from found objects.
The inevitable challenges were exhaustion and the grief that follows. This weird life where you can be bopping along to the Dandy Warhols on the drive home then be a hot mess of tears and choking on your avocado and hummus biscuits at Edgars Lookout because you are staring into the Chandler River where we walked and explored with a joy that is lost to me now. There is a good day (and Saturday at the markets counts as one of those) then the distraction fades and the reality of loss snaps back into sharp, painful focus.
And, amongst that, look at what we did.
Kate and I with a market stall, our beautiful awildland banner, Caz’s stunning pictures all around us. What we didn’t sell I will try to get onto the website shop once I work out how.
21 October 2026 - it's spring and flannel flower season on the east coast and time to go orchid hunting...
Copper Beard Orchid, Bongil Bongil NP
Hat Head National Park
Flying Duck orchid, Hat Head
10 Sept, 2026 - like it says in the latest awildland story… photographers live on high points. Only one of these photos proved of any use for researchers tracking the recovery of a rare patch of Antarctic Beech (Nothofagus moorei) growing in Cathedral Rock National Park, NSW. The trees impressively survived the November 2019 Guyra Road fire. Their tenacity, eh. The photos here are pre-fire (from 2011) and in the top left picture you can just make out one bunch of dark green foliage that hints at the presence of the beech trees. Visit the STORIES page for all the details and the PHOTOS page for more of Craig’s pics showcasing the different moods of this remarkable little park.
6 Jan 2026 - A quick post to let you know the current issue of Wild magazine (#198) features a tribute to Craig (sample pictures above). I am sincerely grateful to Wild Magazine editor James McCormack for making space to showcase Craig’s extensive photographic legacy. It was impossible for me to select images from Craig’s vast catalogue so that tough job went to James and the result is a varied and beautiful spread of images from across many different adventure locations. Compiling the accompanying words, in a way that would honour Craig’s humble nature (but not deny his profound impact in life), was also difficult. But the Wild magazine piece also includes tributes from friends and colleagues. These do a true job of illustrating Craig’s “stoke” for the natural world and his kindness in the human one. No doubt he would be embarrassed by all the fuss but also, I hope, quietly chuffed by the appearance of such a variety of his images.
— Chrissy xox
Sad tidings.
Many of you likely know already, but it is with deep regret that we have to announce that Craig ‘Casual’ Fardell, has moved on to adventures in another realm. He succumbed to his battle with cancer on 5 June 2025.
Cas was half of the amazing awildland couple (along with Chrissy) who inspired us all with their adventures, eloquent writings and amazing photography.
Everyone will have their own reflections on the life and legacy of Cas. He was a mentor and friend to so many and his calm, kind, thoughtful, stoked and humorous demeanor is what drew so many to him. There are few people on the planet who loved nature more and explored its varied, wild places with so much passion and skill. He was a master of bushcraft and adventure sports. He was also one of the best wildlife and landscape photographers around, capturing beautiful images that will continue to lead viewers to dream, reflect and plan adventures for many years to come.
In one of Cas’s final emails, he said "No regrets, all things positive. Keep paddling, keep walking, keep exploring because that's what life is all about". He was a true legend.
Please offer your love and support to Chrissy in this very difficult time.
Brian C.
5 March 2025 - There is no better place for the green than #BarringtonTopsNationalPark (picture above). Research has shown that exposure to green spaces can have a profound calming effect on our minds. It has been associated with reduced stress levels, improved mood, and increased relaxation as well as enhanced cognitive function, creativity, and overall psychological wellbeing. Get into the green today! 💚 of green. Feel good green.
25 Feb 2025 - Phone photo dump (below) from an early summer trip to Mt Rogoona in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, Tasmania. Had looked at this peak from many different places, so it was nice to finally be on it. The views were spectacular, especially lying tummy down atop its absolutely arse-tingling western cliff face. Pics include summit views to Lake Myrtle, flowering honey myrtle and orites, clouds and old cob Casual.
7 Feb 2025 - What a perfect day to get nostalgic about the subtropical rainforests of our old stomping ground in northern NSW. It was hot and humid in Hobart this week (35 degrees max, and at 8pm it was still 31). We stopped by the Botanic Garden and sought shade in a dense patch of trees where suddenly we spied the distinctive red blooms of the Illawarra Flame Tree (Brachychiton acerifolius). So many memories of this tree - it standing like a beacon amongst the dense green of the forests of the Dorrigo Escarpment; and stumbling across its unique bell shaped flowers forming a red carpet on the forest floor in rainforest on the Comboyne Plateau. These pics are from the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Rawson Falls Walk in Booranga Nature Reserve and a little bit of Goldsworthy inspired artwork Cas did at the Gardens.
15 Jan 2025 - The stunning wildflower show in Tasmania this summer rolls on and on...our New Year's Eve camp in the garden of Bellendena montana (Mountain Rocket). Swathes of it flanked this grassy marsupial lawn. Bellendena montana (Mountain Rocket) is the only species in its genus and its heritage is thought to be over 85M years old! It is only found in high-altitude subalpine and alpine regions in Tasmania. While mountain rocket flowers are gorgeous, its autumn seed heads are equally striking forming dense clusters of bright red seed. Guess we will have to go back to this amazing spot in a few months to compare beauties.
"For Nature is a lavish giver in beauty, in health, in peace, and in interest, and none there are to whom she will not give who go to seek."
.
— Archer Russell, Australian nature and travel writer, 1881-1960.
New Year's Day 2025. Cuvier Valley, Tasmania. Phone photo dump. Not Plan A, not even Plan B. But we'll take it...
28 Dec 2024 - Richea scoparia, Pine Lake Walk
28 Dec 2024 - Field of joy. It kept on giving.
28 Dec 2024 - Macro magic
28 Dec 2024 - Yes, it really was that profuse and colourful!
28 Dec 2024 - Pine Lake Walk, Central Highlands, Tasmania
23 Dec 2024 - A little 3 day jaunt of our own creation through the Southwest National Park in Tasmania. Trick being, the writer forgot to take her notebook and the photographer forgot his camera. In the end it didn’t matter. We had food and we had fun even with the 200m section of scrub that took us two hours to get through. Phone pics (above & below) of the good bits
Edward Abbey
“to not just think about nature but to think with nature”
17 Dec 2024 - "Curiosity may be considered by many as the greatest trait in the advancement of humanity, but I am learning that it is worthless without a bit of fortitude." Chris Armstrong, Wild, Issue 194. Some more pics from our 19 day adventure through Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, which features in the current issue of Wild mag. Grab yourself a copy or for extra snippets visit our Stories page. Curiosity and fortitude - might make a great awildland t-shirt one day soon.
24 Nov 2024 - Kunanyi mist. A day above the Organ Pipes.
24 Nov 2024 - Daisy Bush. Kunanyi/Mt Wellington
13 Nov 2024 - Tasmanian Waratah. Tatnells Hill.
13 Nov 2024 - Tasmanian Waratah. Tatnells Hill.
3 Nov 2024 - Bennetts wallaby. Meehan Range.
3 Nov 2024 - Native leek, bushtucker. Meehan Range
3 Nov 2024 - Macro magic. Meehan Range, Tasmania.
“All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare, said a wise man. If so, what happens to excellence when we eliminate the difficulty and the rarity?”
- Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
12 Oct 2024 - Click the pic for our new story about Tasmania's Tyndall Range and plans for its development as the state's next "iconic walk". We attended a PWS information session the other week and had blogged about this place before so felt it time to update that piece.
6 Oct 2024 - Possibly Cas's favourite location in his favourite national park in Tasmania. Sentinel Range, Southwest National Park.
10 Sep 2024 - Unlocking access...