We protect what we love

FRIDAY . 26 . 11 . 21 .

Hello and good morning!

This week's newsletter is coming to you from Ngunnawal country (Canberra). Yep, I've migrated from my little studio apartment in Gadigal country (Surry Hills, Sydney) to explore local trails with some family friends for a few days.

From here I'll be heading to Jindabyne - an indigenous word meaning 'valley'. I was planning on running the '10 peaks challenge' (a 47km loop where you summit Australia's highest 10 peaks in a single day), however the weather does not appear to be in my favour. Regardless, I'll be spending some time outdoors, connecting with nature and I plan on bringing you some trail (and cycling) recommendations next week.

In this week's newsletter, the team at FWP are stoked to be featuring the legends at Fractel - a performance headwear Australia-based company, who are doing 'black Friday' a little differently (better, actually) - they're donating 100% of all profits between 26-29 November 2021 to For Wild Places. Read on to find out what this incredible company is doing, how they were founded and connect with some of their awesome (and sustainable) products.

FRACTEL

Performance headwear

We want to take this opportunity to introduce you to an amazing Australian-based company - Fractel. Born out of the need for a representation of both performance and style within the running and adventure community, Fractal is in business to create the world’s best headwear - this includes bucket hats, legionnaires, visors, beanies and bands. The 1% for the Planet company uses their experience and passion for running, community and nature to create a style of headwear that promotes adventure and uniqueness, for a community that loves to get outside and run.

Fractel isn’t just ‘fractal’, mis-spelt. Fractel has actually originated from the term ‘fractal’ - which is defined as an infinite pattern, often used to describe natural features. Fractel is inspired by this connection with nature and the potential to be infinitely occurring.

What makes Fractel even more special, is that from today until Monday 29 November 2021, they are donating 100% of profits to For Wild Places. Being a small Australian-based business, this is huge and it means the world to us - it’s a perfect example of small businesses and not-for-profits working together to save our wild places.

We’d love to encourage you to jump onto the Fractel website and make a purchase - all headwear is made from 100% recycled materials, up to 50% UV protection and just so darn trendy. We’d be thrilled if you can support this really incredible business.

You can check out their headwear in action, and learn more about Fractel, via Instagram and Facebook.

'FASTPACKING' THE AUSTRALIAN ALPINE WALKING TRACK

Raising funds to protect takayna

On Monday Giles @gilespenfold and Matt @ut_mbg set off from from Walhalla on their journey to traverse the Australian Alpine Walking Track (AAWT) headed north on Gunaikurnai and Wurundjeri country.

Matt and Giles are tackling this iconic 655km trail with two main goals:

Goal #1: To raise awareness of the beauty of Australia's wilderness and the need to protect it, and to inspire a greater care for our planet.

Goal #2: To raise funds for the @bobbrownfoundation, a non-profit critically fighting to protect takayna/Tarkine - a Tasmanian rain forest in extreme danger of total destruction through logging and mining.

The duo are 'fastpacking' (a form of distance trail running and ultralight backpacking rolled into one epic outdoor adventure) their way north, aiming to do 40km a day, carrying 3-4 days of food at a time, with packs that weigh approximately 12kg.

We're excited to announce that Giles and Matt will be hosting a post-factpack retrospective newsletter once they reach their destination and have some well earned recovery time! Even though they just departed, we're already looking forward to sharing their tales from the trail (I'm sure there will be plenty).

Have a wonderful weekend! We hope that, despite the rain in Australia's east, you'll still be able to get outside - try viewing it as a 'change of scenery' 😀

🙏🏻 🙏🏼 🙏🏽 🙏🏾 🙏🏿

Elanor and the For Wild Places team.

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We acknowledge the the First Nations people who have been custodians of land, waters and culture for tens of thousands of years. We pay respects to First Nations Elders past, present and emerging.

We would like to recognise the Ngarigo people as the traditional custodians of the majority of the region we know as the Snowy Monaro region, where this newsletter was written. We pay respect to the knowledge holders and community members of the land and waters and to Elders past, present and emerging. We also acknowledge the connection of other groups to this Country, such as Walgalu in northwestern parts of the region, Ngunnawal in northeastern parts and Bidhawal (sometimes spelled Bidwell/Bidawal) is the south around Delegate.

Always was, always will be.

By For Wild Places

We're a group of adventurers who love to

protect wild places we run on