The following passage is an excerpt from the introduction of a book entitled “Wonderful Walks in Victoria”. It was published in 1931 by the “Betterment and Publicity board of the Victorian Railways”. There was a push to get the metropolitan population out and about via the railways. The language is rich and inviting.
Walking for health and pleasure is increasing in popularity in Victoria every year.In recent times the rare beauty of much of Victoria’s countryside, and the splendid grandeur and rich luxuriance of the mountains and valleys of this State have become better and better known.
No holiday season passes without innumerable parties of healthy, enthusiastic boys and men, and, in these days of energetic womanhood, young women, too, taking the road for health and pleasure—pleasure which no other form of travel can give.
Of all forms of exercise, there is, perhaps, none better or more convenient than that of walking. Walking brings us out into the open, where the air is purest. It increases respiration, bringing greater supplies of pure oxygen to the lungs, and insuring a pure blood stream, without which we cannot feel fit and well. It makes the heart beat firmer, and it clears the brain, giving a feeling of exhilaration and well-being which, alone, makes this exercise well worth while.
As a recreation walking is not easily surpassed. As an exercise it is known by all health authorities and students of physical culture to be one of the best which the human being can enjoy.
The walker is master of his own destiny. He may stop where he will and proceed as he likes; he may loiter amid the forest to boil his billy in a delightful spot by the stream; he may diverge as he wishes to enjoy more thoroughly the glories for which our magnificent mountain areas are so notable.
The Order Of Walkers 