Skip to main content

A walk in an Australian park: most-loved walking cities in Australia 2012




The lifestyle magazine Prevention Australia (April, 2012) found Canberra to be the second most-loved walking city in Australia. The ranking was: Melbourne, Canberra, Noosa, Shepparton, and Adelaide.

The magazine said Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria in the south of Australia, was voted number one by its readers because although it “has a reputation for European-style cafes, exclusive fashion boutiques and quirky backstreet bars, it’s a prime location for dedicated walkers too.”

Of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and a landlocked territory between Melbourne and Sydney, the magazine said “there’s no wonder Canberra residents are born walkers” due to its “sunshine, challenging hills, lake views, national monuments and parks.”

Noosa, on the eastern coast of Australia, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Brisbane in Queensland, with its beaches, natural beauty, coastal scenery, brilliant weather and the Noosa National Park accommodating koalas and birds is ideal for walkers. It includes heritage walks, beach walks, and hikes in the hinterlands.

Shepparton, an inland city in the northeast of Victoria about 180 kilometres (112 miles) from Melbourne, boasts a healthy lifestyle program including initiatives such as the walking paths, annual Pedometer Challenge, and regular Twilight Strolls.

Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, has a Mediterranean climate, the Adelaide Hills for bushwalking and a long strip of coastline. The Adelaide City Council lists self-guided walks through many city and beachside suburbs with notes on urban artwork, cultural sites, historical buildings, geological rock formations, and hidden coves. The Adelaide Hills has national parks, wineries, native trees and wildflowers, waterfalls and gullies, and historic townships.
 Prevention magazine says walking is simple, can be done virtually anywhere, and can lead to good health and weight loss. Walking is a moderate-impact aerobic activity. For optimal calorie burning, the aim is a “fast walk” or “power walk” at about 7 kilometre per hour pace (4.5 mile per hour pace) which can burn about 200 calories over 30 minutes. However, any walking and movement has benefits for joints, muscles, heart, bones, circulation, and wellbeing.




MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing
1 comment
Read more