Facts about us

Graham McLean, TWE's proprietor, and our Tour Guides and Drivers, are experienced bushwalkers and trekkers, with long-standing ties to Tasmania. They seek to share their love of the extraordinary diversity of Tasmania's unique wilderness areas with other Australians and visitors to our country by offering guided bushwalks for small groups to Tasmania's National Parks throughout the year, supported by complementary accommodation and transport services.

Our Tour Guides

Our tour guides are all suitably qualified academically and by experience, and all hold First Aid and Food Handling qualifications.

They have been specially selected because of their:

demonstrated leadership and interpersonal skills
personal experience and general knowledge of Tasmania's environment,
flora and fauna
commitment to preserving Tasmania's unique environment
enthusiasm and energy

Graham McLean

Graham's association with Tasmania began during the 1950s as a young teenager when he hitchhiked around the island camping and using YHA Hostels.

His love for Tasmania's national parks was further influenced by Sir Edmund Hillary with whom Graham McLean, walkiing tour guide and Operations Manager he was fortunate to spend a week at a mountaineering camp in 1960, snowed-in during a blizzard at Mt Field National Park.

In the late 1990s he resumed his acquaintance with Tasmania after walking many of Victoria's iconic walks (Victorian Alps, Grampians and Wilson's Promontory).

Although he has walked all routes offered by TWE his experience also extends to other Tasmanian and overseas destinations such as the fabled Routeburn Track in New Zealand and the arduous Kokoda Trail in New Guinea. He has trekked in Patagonia on the Paine Circuit and around el Chaltén (Monte Fitzroy) and more recently in East Africa on Mt Kenya, the Crater Highlands and Mt Kilimanjaro. He has also revisited New Zealand where he trekked around Mt Ruapehu in the Tongariro National Park.

He is qualified in Tour Guiding and Outdoor Recreation, with Remote Area First Aid and Food Handling qualifications.

Trevor Beltz

Trevor Beltz, walking tour guide Before qualifying as an Eco Adventure Guide, Trevor ran his own landscaping business for 25 years.

He writes: “As a seventeen year old I was introduced to some overseas visitors who had come to Tassie to take part in the protest against the damming of the Franklin River. I was born here and had done nothing to understand or appreciate what was at risk of being lost. I joined these people and played a very small part in the blockade, but came away educated by the overwhelming beauty of the area and the passion of the people involved.

This protest was successful in saving a true pristine wilderness area. Tasmania has world class forests and coastlines that are still under threat from inappropriate and unsustainable practices. Sustainable, eco-friendly tourism is the answer to looking after these magnificent areas, for people to enjoy, explore and admire for generations to come. Just by visiting us and having a unique, fun experience on your holiday here you will help to preserve this great little island.”

Alexander Büstos

Alex has been interested in life in the outdoors since growing up in the highlands of the Andes in South America. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Ecotourism while working as a guide and mountaineer on the volcanoes of Ecuador. Serendipity and random moments brought him to Tasmania where he has now settled with his young family, and has broadened his interest in the tourism and hospitality industry. His passions are music, rock climbing and Tasmanian beer.
Walking tour guide Madeline Cahill

Madeleine Cahill

Madeleine somehow finds time to combine a scientific career (she's an Oceanographer with a PhD in Physical Oceanography), motherhood (three children), rock climbing, kayaking and even competitive ocean swimming with bushwalking and tour guiding! She qualified as a guide in 2006 and has led many tours for us since then. Her clients appreciate her passionate interest and expertise in all things natural, and her care and attention to their needs when touring with us. In all her activities, she brings with her a passionate and committed interest in the environment and issues of sustainability.

John Cannon

John has discovered life after the Public Service as a tour guide! He has had a lifetime interest in leading Walking tour guide John Cannon bushwalks that has ranged from ‘peak-bagging’ to ambling along admiring the wildflowers - more leaning towards the latter nowadays. This interest has spawned some 1400 media articles in a regular newspaper column, and a rather higher number of bushwalks.

"I believe that bushwalking is so good for you both physically and mentally: it’s all good when you’re out there," John said.

While Tasmania has been his main area of interest, he has bushwalked in every Australian State and Territory, and participated in overseas treks in New Zealand, PNG, Nepal, Kashmir, Peru, Chile and Norway.

He formally represented bushwalkers on the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Consultative Committee, and was part of the furniture at the Nomenclature Board of Tasmania.

Stefan Hampel

Stefan is one of our most experienced senior guides.

He writes: “I was born in Germany and have lived in Australia for over 30 years, 21 of them in Tasmania, where I have hiked extensively over the years and am very passionate about the place.

I have been working as a professional guide in Tasmania for six years, after qualifying at TAFE Tasmania as an Eco Adventure Guide (Certificates III and IV). In my spare time I try to venture further afield and have hiked in places like Patagonia, Asia, Europe and the rest of [mainland] Australia.”

Glen Kowalik

Glen, a former Survival Training Officer, Antarctica, and Station Leader, ANARE Macquarie Island, is one of our most senior guides with over 40 years of bushwalking experience in all seasons in Tasmania. His CV includes impressive testimonials from the State’s Search and Rescue Organisation for assistance with many searches for missing bushwalkers, and is coupled with extended alpine mountaineering expeditions in New Zealand and Europe. More recently, he’s trekked extensively in both Nepal and India, and brings all his life experiences with him when guiding our clients.

Kate Marcus

Walking tour guide Kate Marcus Kate, a working mother of two and a passionate bushwalker, as well as leading our tours, still finds time in her busy life to volunteer with the State Emergency Service and the Scouts. She is a qualified Eco Adventure Guide (Certificate III) and has been a Tour Leader now since 2006.

Her clients appreciate her infectious good humour, her enthusiasm and her genuine concern for them when on tour - traits that have endeared her to them and have added immensely to their enjoyment of their experience with us. She is a great advocate for Tasmania's natural wilderness environment, and is committed to its preservation for future generations to share and enjoy.

Greg Phillips

Walking Tour Guide Greg Phillips Greg, (with a PhD in “a bit of everything … fisheries crises in particular and understanding societal dysfunctions and sustainability failure in general”), has a varied background that includes remote area logistics and tourism, academia, and government natural resource science and management. His passions include bushwalking, trout fishing, travel, reading and good conversation.

He writes: "I feel that guiding and driving with TWE is more like therapy than work and I really enjoy the interaction with our many interesting clients."

Inger Visby

Walking Tour Guide Inger Visby “Inger, out where the wild things grow”

Inger is a passionate environmentalist with a particular interest in our State’s unique flora and fauna. She lives on the outskirts of New Norfolk in the Derwent Valley on a semi-rural property where she enjoys vegie and fruit gardening. Born and raised in Denmark, she became an Australian citizen after moving to the Derwent Valley in 2002.

She writes: “…Since moving to Tassie I have bushwalked extensively around the state and seen with my own eyes much unique wilderness that is not found anywhere else on earth. Sadly, I have also seen the devastating moonscapes left behind after clearfell logging. I recognise the responsibility we have to be accountable stewards of these special places. The world is extremely lucky that there is still such unique biodiversity and we must do all in our power to preserve it, because once gone it will never come back, to the detriment of all living species.”