Will Boag and his wife Corrie are long-time supporters of Shake It Up. They’re masters of a huge project, Will to Walk, where they travel the world and take on famous walks in some of the most beautiful and inspiring areas of the world. They’ve trekked in Portugal, France, Holland, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. This year, due to the Coronavirus travel restrictions, Will and Corrie are undertaking a new trek through country NSW and embarking on a ‘poetic journey’ to document their travel experiences. We spoke to Will about the journey and followed his journey this week through their blog.

What are you doing to shake things up this year?

Owing to the COVID 19, Corrie and I are unable to walk through Bavaria as originally planned. We therefore decided to spend money in NSW country (whose residents are desperately crying out for a cash injection), by travelling through some of our country towns. On our daily travels between accommodation stops, we will stop at smaller towns and parks to walk and eat in local cafes – we plan to walk around 10kms daily with the obvious social distance requirement.

We will post on my blog: willtowalk.com.au daily.

This will consist of a short summary of the day, a poem from previous walks, a photo and walking distance travelled. We hope you will join us and make comments on the blog which we will respond to daily.

Where will your travel take you?

It will be in 2 stages:

stage 1 – a round trip to Broken Hill

stage 2 – north coast to Qld border returning inland via Bourke

These stages may change though.

Will has been posting daily updates to his blog, including poems about the days walks. Our favourite poem so far, has been from the second day at Dubbo Zoo.

Sometimes things happen when you least expect

They can be good or bad, it’s not your choice,

For me, it comes from changes I correct

Or when I listen to another voice.

‘Twas at the zoo in Dubbo t’wards the end

Just Koalas – all I want to see,

Said Corrie – “there is still some time to spend,

Let’s go back and search another tree.”

He’d just come down to grab a bite to eat

A beautiful Koala, seen at last,

And on our own we had the perfect seat

To know they’re rarely seen, an extra blast.

Now only two, because they have no food

I hunger less, and now no longer brood.

You can follow Will’s blog here as he and Corrie complete their country NSW expedition.

If you’re inspired by Will’s trek, why not challenge yourself and join the Shake It Up Virtual Challenge. It’s easy for everyone to get involved, no matter your age, level of fitness or ability!