Historic rail trail: Wolter's epic 70-day campervan adventure for his 70th

Setting off for an arduous adventure is not something many people would think of doing for their upcoming birthday, but for one Victorian man it was something he always wanted to do.

Wolter Kuiper, 69, became passionate around the age of 49 about the discarded rail lines that pepper the country and became a volunteer for Rail Trails Australia.

The soon-to-be 70-year-old wants to see more people "embrace" the long-abandoned transport corridors not just for exercise but to enjoy the history, as well as the nature now inhabiting the once-busy public transport lines.

"There's over 150 that are open," he told ACM (the publisher of this masthead).

"I just enjoy the serenity of it."

The bridges and tunnels that many disused rail corridors have were built by hand, some by convicts, and with horse and carts bringing the supplies.

But some railway lines were closed within 30 years or less of first opening.

"The generations have paid for them, but it's great to see people actually using them," he said.

The idea to explore 70 of the trails on his e-bike in the lead up to his 70^th birthday came to Wolter in February 2025 - but wishes he had thought of it sooner because he could have avoided some very cold winter days.

"I was riding and getting very wet and cold, but that's just part of life, isn't it?" he said.

The solo adventurer, who accomplished the 70 rides by September 2025, broke the trip up into three segments, travelling in his campervan to cover trails across South Australia, Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

Amazingly, it took him exactly 70 days.

"It's bizarre isn't it?" he said.

Even though he had ridden most of them before - joking he has an "obsessive cycling disorder" - he said there is always "new stuff to see" and was never bored.

"I'm at the stage in my life where there's a bit of reminiscing going on," he said.

But not every aspect is for the faint-hearted - he was 'buzzed by magpies" several times and had to avoid a few tunnels.

"Some tunnels you can't go in because it's become like a habitat for the micro bats," he said.

But for the most part Mr Kuiper was in awe of the animals and plants that had reclaimed the land for themselves.

"There were lots of birds in Queensland, like on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail," he said.

The keen cyclist said all the rail trails are a "corridor of animal life surrounded by paddocks or pine plantations".

"And then you can imagine wombats just wander along the rail trail at night, and go back to their borrow in the morning," he said.

Mr Kuiper didn't do any trails that were under 1 km, opting for the bigger corridors, such as the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, which took him four days to complete and there was one in South Australia that is 107 km long.

The cyclist's advice for people wanting to start exploring the free rail trails across the country is to not have "range anxiety" with their e-bikes, and to carry their charger because someone is always willing to let cyclists charge their bike.

But because he had a "decent" bike, he rarely had to charge mid-journey.

His other tip is to learn about the history of the trails and embrace it.

"I like to think about the men and women that were involved in building it and breaking their backs and living in terrible conditions," he said.

"And, you know, it's for our benefit."

Want to start planning your rail trail journey? Click here for Rail Trails Australia, a non-profit, volunteer-run organisation.