Meal Plans

Physical and mental training is an important part of planning a bush-walk such as the AAWT. An equally important aspect is meal planning and nutrition. There are many requirements of food en-route…

Firstly, it has to be tasty – There’s no point in taking it if I’m not going to eat it. Fortunately, there’s not much that I don’t like, although I can barely tolerate anything remotely spicy. Having said that, there has to be some variety, as eating exactly the same thing every day for the duration of the hike would be horrendously dull.

Secondly, it has to last well. Anything that goes off within a few days will be of no use, which rules out most fresh food. This means that some nutritional value will be lost from eating mostly dried and processed food, but this can be overcome somewhat from taking rest-stops in towns (such as Bright, and the few ski resorts along the route).

I plan to make use of food drops along the way. This involves sorting food into roughly week-long supplies, which are then stored in secure containers (such as metal drums), and then securely hiding these containers at pre-designated points along the route. It’s important to ensure that they’re secure, as if you lose one, or animals can get into it, the walk will be all over.

This way, I only have to carry a weeks worth of food at a time, which is much more practical, and allows for some variety. Many walkers dehydrate and vacuum pack their food, which aids in ensuring the food won’t go off. Here is a sample menu which could work:

Breakfast:

• Muesli/wholegrain cereal (with powdered milk)
• Dried fruit/nuts.

Lunch:

• Salami/Cheese in wraps or Ryvita-style biscuits

Dinner:

• Minced beef, with onion/garlic and sauce, with noodles or rice.

Snack

• Dried fruit
• ‘Hard’ fruit – Oranges, apples etc – Fleshy fruits are too easily squashed

This is a good start, but doesn’t allow much variety. Different flavour sauces can be used for the dinners, but breakfast and lunch have no variety to them. Then again, variety takes second priority to ensuring the meals are nutritionally sound, are easy to prepare, and won’t go off.

Water is another issue. There will be creeks/rivers where water can be collected from, although these are notorious for drying up, especially during warm weather. Therefore, I’ll need to consider alternative water sources in case nearby creeks are dry. It will obviously be necessary to purify water, either by boiling it or using purifier tablets.

Boiling water takes time. Water should be safe to drink after boiling for 1-3 minutes – depending on altitude. Using purifier tablets, will take less time, however, they may leave an insipid taste. I expect I’ll use both methods at some time on the trail.