Last updated 15Aug23
The following may assist in maximising your use of Johnny Boy’s Walkabout Blog:

Home page

The home page is a list of Planned and Completed Walks.

The tab of Planned Walks  shows:
• walk description, including * = CBC trip led by me; s = CBC short notice walk; ! = private trip led by me; no marking = trip led by someone else; additional information
• distance – estimated
• climb – estimated cumulative vertical ascent
• grading – CBC grading; BBC grading.

Completed Walks are grouped by year (some of which can be toggled open and closed, older ones accessed via a link to a separate page) and show:
• walk # – with a link to an externally stored track overview map segment
• date
• walk – area; trip name with a link to the trip report (walks from 2014 onwards are presented as WordPress Posts; walks prior to 2014 are linked to the old blog)
• distance – actual distance walked, taken from walk-recorded GPSr track which has been subsequently cleaned up
• climb – taken from a Google Earth profile of the recorded track or, since Apr22, Garmin Connect data from MAP66i or Epix Gen 2
• grading – CBC grading; BBC grading
• photos – a link to externally stored photos. The link on the column heading photos takes you to an album of walk theme photos.

The menu structure provides access to:
• my Disclaimer, Warning and Advice
• welcome pages
• Other Resources – a wealth of supporting/technical/historical information.

Posts

Each post is a trip report and consists of:
• the walk description
• transport details
• any Additional Information
• Summary data – distance walked; climb – cumulative vertical ascent; timings; grading
• Track Map(s) – thumbnails linked to externally stored map segment(s) which may be enlarged
• Photographs – a link to externally stored photos
• Video – embedded YouTube video
• gpx File – a link to download the trip’s gpx file, which can then be loaded into a GPSr. Downloading gpx files later than 28 Jun 22 may cause a security warning. They are quite safe to download – it was my error in setting up the link.

(This section used to contain: Google Earth – a link to download the trip’s .kmz file; a Google Earth embed which is not functional via mobile access if you’re a tech head, you can download the .kmz file, have a look at it in Google Earth and convert it to .kml, then run it through GPSBabel (download GPSBabel from here) and output waypoints and/or tracks in formats useful for you (eg. .gpx to load straight into your Garmin GPSr or play with in Garmin’s BaseCamp; .wpt and or .plt to view via OziExplorer.However, from around Q4 2014 Google Earth embeds are driven via the Google Earth API which I can’t code. All previous Google Earth embeds in previous trip reports now do not function.)

(• kml File – from Dec14, a link to download the trip’s kml file, which can be fired directly into Google Earth. Superseded, as Google Earth can open .gpx if you change the GE file type to Gps or All)
• Track Notes
• Party – walkers
• the Next Tuesday Walk, if the post is a Tuesday Walk trip report
• Post Category | Comments | Tags – click on a tag to retrieve a list of all posts since Jan 14 with the same tag
• Social media sharing options
• Comment submission.

Trip reports for 2020 and 2021 are grouped in single posts. Some trip reports from 18 November 2021 are recorded in AllTrails.

Blog Facilities

Via the side bar (on all except the home page)

• Subscribe to Blog | Search Blog | Access to Archived posts | a cloud of some Trip report tags |

Via the footer

• Subscribe to Blog | Recent posts | Search Blog | Contact info |

Want to receive email advice of the latest trip report?

Subscribe to Johnny Boy’s Walkabout Blog via the SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG at the top of the side bar, or below. You will receive a confirming email. Then, once or twice a week, you’ll receive an email in your inbox announcing the latest trip report. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Searching for something on Johnny Boy’s Walkabout Blog?

1 The search facility is a WordPress Search which searches both the new and old blog, and years of linked trips.

2 Another search method is to do a Find (Ctrl+F) in your web browser. However, it only works on the currently viewed page/tab. That means, for example, if you are searching for a word which may be in a completed walk title, you need to have Johnny Boy’s Walkabout Blog home page open, select the Completed Walks Tab and toggle open all the available year lists. A bit painful and the years of linked trip cannot be included.

3 There are several lists which you can browse or search, then access the related trip:

• ACT border markers
• ACT high hills (20 named peaks over 1500m + 15 1400-1500m + a few more)
• ACT trigs (88 of them)
• ACT waterfalls
• Brindabella weirs
• High country huts (huts in KNP)
• NSW nearby high hills
• Points of Interest
• Plants
• Sites of Significance in the ACT

4 Trip report tags: Each trip report is tagged with the walk area (eg. NNP), distance (eg. D-20), climb (eg. C-900) and BBC grading (eg. G-13). Click on a tag in the side bar on the right to access walks with the same tag. If the tag you want to search on is not showing in the random cloud of tags, use the Google Custom Search to search on the tag. Use the format: walk area code (see the list to find the walk area code); or D-nn; or C-nn; or G-nn)

5 For a Google Maps/Google Earth search, see here.

Viewing Slideshows

1 The photo slider at the top of the home page can be paused by hovering on the picture. Hover off the picture to restart it.

2 Embedded slideshows (eg. in a trip report or on the Photos page) can be controlled via the back, pause/go, forward buttons. Hover on the photo to reveal these controls.

Want a Waypoint shown on the track maps?

1 Open the kml or gpx file in Windows Notepad by changing Text Documents (*.txt) to All Files (*.*).

(2 If only a kmz file is available, open it in Google Earth and do File, Save, Save Place As… change the Save as type to Kml (*.kml) and Save.)

3 Waypoints are near the top of the file, in Lat/Lon decimal degrees. For example:

<wpt lat=”-35.6961680″ lon=”148.8897340″>
 <ele>1795.000000</ele>
 <time>2010-11-06T01:29:57.002Z</time>
 <name>12 Mt Namadgi 1780m</name>
 <cmt>12 Mt Namadgi 1780m</cmt>
 <desc>12 Mt Namadgi 1780m</desc>
 <sym>Airport</sym>
</wpt>

4 Convert lat and lon from decimal degrees to degrees, minutes, seconds using https://www1.data.antarctica.gov.au/aadc/calc/decimal_dms.cfm . For example:

lat=-35.6961680 lon=148.8897340 converts to lat=-35º41’46.20″ lon=148º53’23.04″

5 Convert lat/lon in degrees, minutes, seconds to UTM using http://www.ga.gov.au/nmd/geodesy/datums/redfearn_geo_to_grid.jsp . For example:

lat=-35º41’46.20″ lon=148º53’23.04″ converts to UTM Zone 55 Easting 670978.059 Northing 6048104.699

6 Adjust UTM to MGRS. For example:

UTM Zone 55 Easting 670978.059 Northing 6048104.699 converts to MGRS 55H 70978-48104

Enjoy!