In our series Who I Walk With, best friends Kerry Chick and Jan Burleigh know each other so well they don’t need to fill the quiet spaces with chatter.
Kerry (57): “Jan and I are work colleagues, plus we both love bushwalking. We’ve explored the Perth Hills, Stirling Ranges, Yanchep National Park, Walyunga National Park, Dwellingup, Paruna Wildlife Sanctuary, 1/3 of the of the Pilgrim Trail from Subiaco. Sections of the Bibbulmun Track from Perth end; Mt Dale, Mt Vincent, Mt Cuthbert, Monadnocks, Mt Cook, Wellington Dam - Collie, Dryandra National Park, Gidgegannup, Rottnest Island.
Jan has the same love of being in the bush, exploring, loving the wildlife and just being in the ‘walk’, enjoying the serenity. She shows a great sense of fulfillment of completing a long walk, except perhaps the day after visiting Paruna National Park.
Jan has a great sense of humour. I love the fact that we can both stop, explore, and take photos freely without feeling we are slowing each other down. In addition to that, and with her creative imagination, Jan’s photos give a wonderful display of every walk. She would have one of the best photo albums I’ve ever seen.
One of my favourite hiking memories with Jan would have to be the time we ventured down to Porongurup National Park. We made the walk up to Castle Rock for breathtaking views towards Albany and the Indian Ocean. The following day we ventured past the Tree in the Rock, to Hayward Peak, Nancy’s Peak and then onto Devils Slide. They don’t call it Devils Slide for nothing! It was a beautiful mix of flora, granite rock, trees and the views were magnificent. It was a challenge and so worth it.”
Jan (48): “I met Kerry at work and soon discovered we had a mutual love of hiking. We hiked occasionally together but it soon became every weekend as we started doing longer and more adventurous hikes. Whilst we predominately hike local national parks and the Bibb Track, (because it’s awesome and has great access close to Perth) we have also embarked on hikes in the Stirling Ranges, Porogurups and Albany.
Kerry is one of the only people I know who still gets as excited as me when we see kangaroos on a hike (we see them most weekends). Even though we walk together we walk our own hikes and can find ourselves not always within sight of each other, giving us some quiet alone time on the trail which we both enjoy. Other times we have a good chatter, so it’s a great balance.
I love taking photos of scenery whilst Kerry loves taking photos of the amazing Perth wildflowers. So now I have a greater appreciation of wildflowers with a slight addiction of looking for orchids.
Kerry reacts with a great sense of accomplishment after a long challenging day on the trail and we often stop on the way home for a sugar hit or lunch. A good meat pie for a late lunch always goes down well.
One of Kerry’s best traits is walking in silence. Often when I hike with other people they continuously feel the need to talk. Kerry and I have long periods where we walk just enjoying the sounds of the bush. This also allows us to see more wildlife. She has also managed to impart a growing appreciation for wildflowers.
My favourite memory was when we finally saw our first echidna. It has been a bit of a joke that in years of hiking neither of us had seen an echidna. We ended up seeing four on the day we saw our first in Dyandra woodlands. A great day.”