A public talk on whether hikers should carry a safety device, like a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), or Spot Tracker. How does a search and rescue operation work? What safety devices are available?

Two guest speakers:

• Trevor Arnold, SES Commander North Region and Manager Technical Rescue Services
• Anthony Chan, Electric Bug (retail)

Wednesday, 12 June 2013, 7.30pm

Venue: Burnside City Uniting Church - Cnr Portrush Rd/Fisher St, Tusmore (Enter from Fisher Street).

Trevor Arnold will speak on:

• How SES see 'remote' as in 'remote outback'. Should bushwalkers really equip themselves with a safety device?
• The role of SES as a volunteer organization - how they are alerted to and respond to an emergency
• Approximate time delay from call up to arrival on site, for instance for Parachilna in the Flinders Ranges
• What is the surest device to achieve the surest response in the shortest time? Comparison of PLB and Spot devices
• case stories

Anthony Chan will speak on:

• How to use technology to keep ourselves (bushwalkers) safe in the bush
• Comparison of devices (initial costs, recurring costs, reliability)

Please bring $5 for donation to offset cost of Hall hire and refreshments - there is no need to book for this event.

View event on Facebook

Help plant 760 trees on the Heysen Trail along the Bundaleer Channel, near Spalding.

• Thursday 13th June
• Friday 14th June
• Saturday 15th June
• Sunday 16th June

If you are interested in being involved in this Greening Committee project, please contact Neil Nosworthy at neil@noztours.com.au or on 0447 922 617.

1. 'Walk and Talk' day - Saturday 25 May

Get a behind-the-scenes look at some outstanding environmental projects at Cape Jervis on this 'Walk and Talk' day.

Meet the Cape Jervis Coastal Community Group, COOTS group in action, Hooded Plover Recovery and Marine Debris Survey volunteers and others experts on this coast.

Visit the Natural Resources website for more information.

2. Tree planting - Saturday 1 June, Sunday 2 June

Join the tree planting efforts at the start of the Heysen Trail.

For more details view the tree planting invite or contact carolyn.schultz165@gmail.com.

The Greening Committee is looking for volunteers to help plant 600 trees along the Heysen Trail between Worlds End and Burra. We have scheduled the planting for Saturday 1st June, Sunday 2nd June and Monday 3rd June.

We are proceeding in cooperation with the End-to-End 5 group who will be walking from Worlds End to Burra and on to Wandallah over the weekend. If you wish, you can mix some walking with some tree planting.

If you are interested in being involved, please contact Neil via neil@noztours.com.au or on 0447 922 617.

We're phasing in a new online walk registration system. When registering for walks online, you will need to log in using your membership account details. The phase-in period, from April 2013, will see each walk grade brought over to the new system.

View full details of new walk registration system.

The Heysen Trail through Bundaleer Forest, near Curnows Hut, remains closed following the January bushfire (Northern Guidebook, chapter 1, map 4). ForestrySA is operating heavy machinery throughout the forest, removing unsafe trees, which may fall at any time.

We expect a temporary re-route to be in place in June. Details will be published on our Re-Routes page, and via our Twitter page, which is also displayed on the front page of our website.

It was a successful day in Elder Park with many people checking out walking options, lots of gear was sold, and a chance to chat with friends after the summer break.

Official Opening by the Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood. Entertainment by Bodaduck Bush Band and the Sing Australia choir. Plus a talk by Tim Macartney-Snape, Australian outdoor legend who has climbed Everest twice.

A Day on the Heysen Trail - The Warren Bonython Memorial Walk was well promoted with the yellow shorts art installation and many people enquiring at the marquee.

Now the season is open, check out the walk programme and plan your walking year.

The opening of the walk season Take a Walk event is this Sunday, at Elder Park in the city.

From 10am to 3pm, on the northern side of the rotunda at Elder Park, the event features:

• Entertainment by Sing Australia - of which six of our Friends of the Heysen Trail members will be singing.
• A Day on the Heysen Trail - The Warren Bonython Memorial Walk will be promoted with an art installation.
• 30-60 minute Come and Try walks by the Heart Foundation and Adelaide Bushwalkers. Registration is not necessary.
• Garage sale of pre-loved bushwalker gear in our marquee.

We're launching a new online walk registration system. When registering for walks online, people will need to log in with their membership account details.

The phase-in period will see each walk grade brought over to the new system, beginning with the Warren Bonython Memorial Walk on Sunday 14th April.

When registering for walks using the new system:

• you'll see that your details are already entered in the walk registration form
• you can register anyone within your membership account via any of those logins
• payment for your walk will be via a single page payment gateway, which is considerably easier to use than the existing PayPal payment gateway. Financial transactions will be processed by NAB.
• For security reasons, we do not store credit card details
• You will be able to view your walk registrations
• From July 2013, you may be able to view a list of all walks you have previously participated in.
• You will know when your walk grade has been transferred to the new system, as the registration page will ask you to log in. If you are already logged in, you'll see that your details are already entered in the walk registration form.

A letter was mailed out this week to active members who have not previously accessed their online membership account.

If you are unsure as to what your login details are, or have lost your password, you can recover your details. If this doesn't immediately work, a flow chart is available to assist in understanding how to access your login details. Please contact the office for further assistance.

When logging in to the website, you can change your username and password to something meaningful. You can also review your email address, Trailwalker and email subscription options, and renew your account.

The new system will streamline processes for walkers, walk leaders and the office.

We hope you continue to enjoy walking with us, and remember, you can undertake any of the tasks listed above by contacting the office directly.

It's just 6 days until we launch the Day on the Heysen Trail - the Warren Bonython Memorial Walk event.

We're launching the event with an art installation this Sunday at Elder Park.

We'll start taking walk registrations on Sunday, 14th April. The launch this Sunday will be at Elder Park, next to the Festival Centre in Adelaide city, at the Opening of the Walk Season event. The Opening is an event organised by Walking SA, and many bushwalking clubs, to promote the start of the hiking season, now that cooler weather is upon us. The Take a Walk Opening of the Walk Season event is from 10am to 3pm.

So come down to Elder Park to say hi and check out the art installation! It's got a strong connection to Warren Bonython, who was renowned for wearing his bright yellow shorts.

Remember, from Sunday you can register for the section you want to walk on October 6th. Use our Walk Selector tool to review available sections. Several bushwalking clubs and schools have exclusively booked out some of the 60 sections. Registrations will close in late August.

The event registration fee is $20 per hiker, to cover logistical and insurance costs.

The walk is open to all.

Visit www.heysentrail.asn.au/wb-walk/ for more information.

Registrations for October's Day on the Heysen Trail - The Warren Bonython Memorial Walk event open on Sunday, April 14. We'll be launching the event in a very unique way, at the Opening of the Walk Season at Elder Park.

A Walk Selector tool is now available - you can sort through the 60 sections of the trail to determine which one to hike on the day. Visit www.heysentrail.asn.au/wb-walk to preview the 60 sections. View the individual section pages to see a map, fuller description and more photos of that section of the Heysen Trail.

Want to know more about this special event? Visit www.heysentrail.asn.au/wb-walk/

The Opening of the Walk Season is just a month away, on Sunday 14 April, at Elder Park in the city.

Visit the WalkingSA Facebook event page.

• Come and Try walks by various bushwalking clubs from 10am. Registration will not be necessary.
• Entertainment by Sing Australia - of which six of our FoHT members will be singing.
• A Day on the Heysen Trail - The Warren Bonython Memorial Walk will be promoted at the event with an art installation.
• Garage sale of surplus bushwalker gear in our marquee. Have something to sell? Contact the office for more info about how you can sell it on the day.

View the Take a Walk brochure.

Our AGM is this Friday from 7.30pm, at the Woodville Lawn Bowling Club, Oval Ave, Woodville South.

Guest speaker Terry Kreig, who circumnavigated Lake Eyre on foot with Warren Bonython AO, will present a talk on "Walking with Warren".

Hear about our Association's activities in 2012 and plans for 2013, meet your council and find out how money will be spent.

There are two environmental programs in the coming month.

Firstly, the Cape Jervis Coastal Community Group is having a working bee on Saturday 6 April and Sunday 7 April, removing tree guards from Lands End, which will be repurposed elsewhere along the Heysen Trail, collecting plant material and a cuttings workshop. Further information is available on the CJCCG's website.

Secondly, there is a Cactus Kill week near Palmer, organised by the SA Murray Darling Basin NRM Board. From Monday 29 April to Friday 3 May, accommodation is available, and day-trippers are welcome. Further information.

The talk on safety for people hiking in remote areas, which was due to be held on Tuesday 12 March, has been postponed. The main speaker has been deployed to duties in Victoria. We'll advise of the new date later.