26 - 29 September 2025

Overview

If you have ever dreamed of being able to find your way in the bush, this in-depth navigation retreat is for you.

Whether you're a beginner or looking to enhance your skills, Over four days Caro will guide you through practical techniques and theoretical insights to help you build your confidence in finding your way in the bush and making wise decisions in an outdoor environment.

Designed for bushwalkers, hikers, canyoners and climbers with little or no experience in map and compass navigation who want to cover the basics, through to intermediate skills associated with traditional map & compass navigation methods.

This retreat will cover the basics of choosing the right equipment, map reading and interpretation, reading the land, compass use, timing and pace, taking bearings and loads of other tips and tricks to help you recognise, prevent and solve the most common navigation challenges. Over the four days you will have ample opportunity to really hone in your practical navigation skills, ask as many questions as you like and walk away with the confidence to find your way through a variety of environments.

Think of it as a Navigation Getaway (or a bit of a holiday) that allows you to focus on learning with the standard 2 day course content, loaded with spending more time in nature with Caro and practising new skills.

Based in Grampians National Park, this retreat allows you to focus on your learning, while surrounded by nature and is fully supported by Grampians Peaks Walking Company, with catering, logistics during the retreat and camping accommodation included.

What's included

• 2 x Fully Qualified Guides to assist in your instruction and learning
• 3 x Breakfasts, 3 x Lunch, 3 x Dinners and snacks, tea and coffee
• Camping and National Parks Fees
• Tent hire
• Topographic Map (to keep)
• Compass (to keep)
• Copy of Caro’s book How to Navigate (to keep)
• Group first aid kit (your instructors are qualified in Remote Area First Aid)
• Third bullet point

What's not included

• Accommodation before or after the course
• Food outside of course hours
• Travel insurance
• Transport to Halls Gap, accommodation either side of the trip
• Personal hiking equipment and Sleeping Gear (Sleeping Bag, Mat, Pillows etc) Absolute outdoors does have these items available for hire if needed.
• Alcoholic or soft drinks

Itinerary

Day 1

Our private minibus will meet us at Brambuk National Park and Cultural Centre, where we will have a short briefing of the trip as well as a gear check before heading out into the National Park with a few stops at some of the highlights on the way to get our bearings.

Arriving at our campsite in the afternoon you will have time to get settled in before starting our first lessons for the evening.

Packed Lunch, Afternoon Tea and Dinner will be catered by Grampians Peaks Walking Company.

Day 2

Enjoy the sunrise from our gorgeous private viewpoint, go for a short walk or have a stretch on the camping platforms to start the day right before a delicious breakfast and fresh coffee to get the mind ready for a full day of learning.

Today, we dive deep into the theory behind navigating in wild places. Don't worry, it's not dry and boring (at least not when Caro teaches it). No question is a dumb one and we cover all the how-to and why-to's behind our approach to using a map and compass.

Tasty morning and afternoon tea, as well as a hearty lunch will break up the day, along with practical navigation exercises and demonstrations to keep us focussed inside our cosy classroom.

Navigation discussions will no doubt continue through happy hour and another delicious home-cooked meal provided by Grampians Peaks Walking Company.

Day 3

Here’s where we put our theory into practice! Popping a packed lunch into our daypacks, we head out into the National Park to enjoy all the elements Gariwerd/Grampians has to offer!

Moving through different vegetation types, we will find ourselves with a different perspective of the world around us, reading ‘map to ground’ and practising taking different types of compass bearings, for different purposes.

This is where our classroom learning really gets into our souls and everything comes alive!

Invigorated by our connections to Country, our new skills and each other, we will return to our camp for another delicious meal provided by our support guide from Grampians Peaks Walking Company.

Day 4

Another chance for a beautiful slow morning in nature, we will have some time before packing up our belongings and head off on our final practical navigation challenge. This is your chance to finalise any last skills and lock in the knowledge you have acquired over the last three days.

Our private minibus will return us to Brambuk, Halls Gap by lunch time for an optional final group lunch at the local Brewery.

Booking link will take you to Absolute Outdoors/Grampians Peaks Walking Company, my partners in this course.

Images in gallery are from the Grampians Peaks Trail. Images in body text are from Caro's various courses in the Blue Mountains and South East Queensland.