Geoff Schafer – A pioneering patron

HikeWest Patron Geoff Schafer, instigator of the Bibbulmun Track in 1972 and founder of Perth Bushwalkers Club in 1969, celebrates another milestone in October this year – his 90th birthday.

HikeWest is honoured to enjoy Geoff’s continuing association with our organisation since his initial appointment as Patron in late 2017, one recognition of his outstanding pioneering contributions to bushwalking in WA. An earlier recognition was the naming by the Bibbulmun Track Foundation of the Schafer Campsite along the Bibbulmun Track as a lasting tribute to Geoff’s initiative and successful lobbying in 1972 for a Perth to Albany Walk Track. That track became the forerunner to the Bibbulmun Track (ref. History).

Though born and raised in Melbourne and currently living back there, Geoff spent his working life in WA and has maintained longstanding links to bushwalking in WA. In addition to his role in the founding of Perth Bushwalkers Club, he was also for a time a member of the Western Walking Club which was founded earlier, in 1937. Both clubs remain members of HikeWest today.