A dedicated lifelong walker, Sandra worked in Melbourne, Australia, as an archivist and historian after doing a PhD on the history of national parks in her home state of Victoria. In her spare time she wrote a regular column about bushwalking (hiking) in Melbourne's leading daily newspaper, and many articles and books on walking and national parks in south-eastern Australia (1977-89).Sandra moved to Scotland in 1989, and she still lives in Drumnadrochit beside Loch Ness.