mine is a beautiful country
Hello internetty world, yes, I've missed you.
But it's a beautiful world out there, even without any platypus sighting.
Okay, so it started out rainy. Really really rainy, but there sort of wasn't any choice about not going- we'd paid our money, and we had raincoats... Well, so far so good. Okay, so 65 kms isn't that much. In the scheme of things. For a fit walker. HA! Well, too bad we're not that fit. Maybe we were the slowest 27 year olds to ever walk that track. Seriously. All the track markers that would say things like '3 hours', they tended to take us about five. We sort of... were slow. Just, really really slow. And the fact that the track is called the Overland track doesn't mean much, since in many parts a more accurate name would be the Underwater track.
Basically after three days of walking the bad weather more or less lifted and the last three days were sunny and beautiful.
Sooooo...
Day 1: Cradle Mountain to Waterfall Valley.
It poured. There was thunder and lightning. We left Launceston at 8am, got to Cradle Mountain around 11.30 and were on the track around 12.30. I guess we walked about five hours that day, and arrived at the hut absolutely soaking. It was kind of weird- I'd never been in a hut like that before, and we were the last ones there, so we had to get the spare spaces that were left, so I couldn't sleep next to Myles, and that was a bit sad. But we dried off, cooked a great dinner, survived in somehow...
Day 2: Waterfall Valley to Windamere.
It was a much shorter walk, something like three or four hours, and not too hard. It still rained a fair bit, but not like the day before. This time the hut was a little better- the bunks weren't all full and Myles and I got a double bunk, and Clare and Chris above us. Plus, we wandered around the hut and saw some little wallabies hanging out, enjoying the brief moments of sunshine- that was pretty neat, they're really not scared of people, but obviously don't expect food either- nothing worse than feeding wildlife since that hampers its chance of taking care of itself. (More about that horror story at the end!)
Day 3: Windamere to Pelion.
So. Today sucked. It was a totally long walk and it seemed like we would never get there. At one point, we thought we were much closer than we were, but no- we were still only halfway there... the rain continued! But Pelion hut is really nice- huge, but friendly layout, with an amazing view!
Day 4: Pelion to Kia Ora.
Waking up this morning was the point at which I cracked it- I want to go home. But, if it was three days in already, it's at least three days out. Gah. But. After a cup of tea and a little chat to the wallabies- those hoppies are SO CUTE!- No rain! The day has come up nice and clear, and it's a three hour walk- we make it in about four, maybe four and a half with a lunch break for soup on the way. Okay, so the hut here was kinda old and decrepid, and the day was so shiny and clear- so we camped! And- this is the point at which I started to ENJOY the trip. Going to sleep, waking up to the sound of the river really close by was awesome. And the stars! I don't think I've ever seen them like that before. Wow.
Day 5: Kia Ora to Windy Ridge.
Another short day, this time to the brand new hut at Windy Ridge, which promises to be a nice night. But somehow the hut is too big- too unfriendly, and even though it's new the dorms are still too cozy and so we decide to camp- Clare and Chris didn't get their tent out, but we did- and I swear, best decision! And the best bit, it was crazy windy- living up to it's name I guess- so the tent didn't have any condensation at all when we packed it up. Hooray! In terms of the walking today- we made a decision to leave tomorrow, rather than spend an extra night. Now, it's mostly because Chris' foot has started hurting, but I think also a bit because Clare has had enough. And once she suggested it, I was all in.
Day 6: Windy Ridge to Lake St. Clair.
Walking is short and HAPPY! We're nearly done! Now, from Narcissus bay, you can walk 15 kms around the edge of the lake- or you can radio for a ferry. No prizes for guessing what we did! Now, back in Lake St. Clair... we're a day early, so we have to camp in the camp ground there. But, there are showers, so... BUT. There are also possums. Not the garden variety. Not the shy kind. The kind which have been FED by people for the last fifty years and have lost all traces of possumness in their quest to get to food. And yes, they know how to break into a tent if the zips aren't done up 100%. Now, I feel terribly guilty, but when I realised our tent was okay I was so relieved. Clare and Chris weren't so lucky! Yuck! Their only saving grace was that they hadn't taken the sleeping bags out of their bags, or unrolled their sleeping mats. So the possum pee was just on the floor of the tent. And of course, all the remaining food we had wasn't worth having anymore. Luckily we didn't need it anymore, so we just threw it all out, took all our stuff into the laundry room in the hope they wouldn't try to get into the tents again, and cleaned up the tent. But it was pretty sad to see animals so torn from their own nature that they are so fat and don't have any fear anymore, or any way of just looking for their natural food. Completely different from on the track, where we saw lots of animals who were just not scared of us, but ignored us.
Day 7: Lake St. Clair to Hobart, via the pub.
Yes, that's right. Our bus isn't until 6pm, with a 9pm arrival in Hobart. So, since we're over the camp ground, and there is a pub down the road... well, we walked 5kms to get a beer. Seriously. And spend about five hours in the pub, eating lunch, drinking, playing cards, then the bus picked us up from the car park of the pub and took us to Hobart. The day in Hobart was lovely- SMALL town! But pretty, and nice market, and we saw heaps of people that we had met on the track. But a nice market, oh- and shopping! Lol. All our clothes were SO ICKY! So we all shopped. New jeans, t-shirt, and thongs- flip flops to the Americans, btw- so we could get out of our hiking boots. O. M. G. Best $6 EVER SPENT! LMAO.
So, overall: Basically, it was better than I expected, and it was something so different to anything I have ever done before, I am just really happy with myself that I did it, and that I didn't complain, and actually enjoyed it. It really feels like an achievment of epic proportions.
And, if you made it through that LONG post... well, you deserve a drink for reading for so long! Lol.
But it's a beautiful world out there, even without any platypus sighting.
Okay, so it started out rainy. Really really rainy, but there sort of wasn't any choice about not going- we'd paid our money, and we had raincoats... Well, so far so good. Okay, so 65 kms isn't that much. In the scheme of things. For a fit walker. HA! Well, too bad we're not that fit. Maybe we were the slowest 27 year olds to ever walk that track. Seriously. All the track markers that would say things like '3 hours', they tended to take us about five. We sort of... were slow. Just, really really slow. And the fact that the track is called the Overland track doesn't mean much, since in many parts a more accurate name would be the Underwater track.
Basically after three days of walking the bad weather more or less lifted and the last three days were sunny and beautiful.
Sooooo...
Day 1: Cradle Mountain to Waterfall Valley.
It poured. There was thunder and lightning. We left Launceston at 8am, got to Cradle Mountain around 11.30 and were on the track around 12.30. I guess we walked about five hours that day, and arrived at the hut absolutely soaking. It was kind of weird- I'd never been in a hut like that before, and we were the last ones there, so we had to get the spare spaces that were left, so I couldn't sleep next to Myles, and that was a bit sad. But we dried off, cooked a great dinner, survived in somehow...
Day 2: Waterfall Valley to Windamere.
It was a much shorter walk, something like three or four hours, and not too hard. It still rained a fair bit, but not like the day before. This time the hut was a little better- the bunks weren't all full and Myles and I got a double bunk, and Clare and Chris above us. Plus, we wandered around the hut and saw some little wallabies hanging out, enjoying the brief moments of sunshine- that was pretty neat, they're really not scared of people, but obviously don't expect food either- nothing worse than feeding wildlife since that hampers its chance of taking care of itself. (More about that horror story at the end!)
Day 3: Windamere to Pelion.
So. Today sucked. It was a totally long walk and it seemed like we would never get there. At one point, we thought we were much closer than we were, but no- we were still only halfway there... the rain continued! But Pelion hut is really nice- huge, but friendly layout, with an amazing view!
Day 4: Pelion to Kia Ora.
Waking up this morning was the point at which I cracked it- I want to go home. But, if it was three days in already, it's at least three days out. Gah. But. After a cup of tea and a little chat to the wallabies- those hoppies are SO CUTE!- No rain! The day has come up nice and clear, and it's a three hour walk- we make it in about four, maybe four and a half with a lunch break for soup on the way. Okay, so the hut here was kinda old and decrepid, and the day was so shiny and clear- so we camped! And- this is the point at which I started to ENJOY the trip. Going to sleep, waking up to the sound of the river really close by was awesome. And the stars! I don't think I've ever seen them like that before. Wow.
Day 5: Kia Ora to Windy Ridge.
Another short day, this time to the brand new hut at Windy Ridge, which promises to be a nice night. But somehow the hut is too big- too unfriendly, and even though it's new the dorms are still too cozy and so we decide to camp- Clare and Chris didn't get their tent out, but we did- and I swear, best decision! And the best bit, it was crazy windy- living up to it's name I guess- so the tent didn't have any condensation at all when we packed it up. Hooray! In terms of the walking today- we made a decision to leave tomorrow, rather than spend an extra night. Now, it's mostly because Chris' foot has started hurting, but I think also a bit because Clare has had enough. And once she suggested it, I was all in.
Day 6: Windy Ridge to Lake St. Clair.
Walking is short and HAPPY! We're nearly done! Now, from Narcissus bay, you can walk 15 kms around the edge of the lake- or you can radio for a ferry. No prizes for guessing what we did! Now, back in Lake St. Clair... we're a day early, so we have to camp in the camp ground there. But, there are showers, so... BUT. There are also possums. Not the garden variety. Not the shy kind. The kind which have been FED by people for the last fifty years and have lost all traces of possumness in their quest to get to food. And yes, they know how to break into a tent if the zips aren't done up 100%. Now, I feel terribly guilty, but when I realised our tent was okay I was so relieved. Clare and Chris weren't so lucky! Yuck! Their only saving grace was that they hadn't taken the sleeping bags out of their bags, or unrolled their sleeping mats. So the possum pee was just on the floor of the tent. And of course, all the remaining food we had wasn't worth having anymore. Luckily we didn't need it anymore, so we just threw it all out, took all our stuff into the laundry room in the hope they wouldn't try to get into the tents again, and cleaned up the tent. But it was pretty sad to see animals so torn from their own nature that they are so fat and don't have any fear anymore, or any way of just looking for their natural food. Completely different from on the track, where we saw lots of animals who were just not scared of us, but ignored us.
Day 7: Lake St. Clair to Hobart, via the pub.
Yes, that's right. Our bus isn't until 6pm, with a 9pm arrival in Hobart. So, since we're over the camp ground, and there is a pub down the road... well, we walked 5kms to get a beer. Seriously. And spend about five hours in the pub, eating lunch, drinking, playing cards, then the bus picked us up from the car park of the pub and took us to Hobart. The day in Hobart was lovely- SMALL town! But pretty, and nice market, and we saw heaps of people that we had met on the track. But a nice market, oh- and shopping! Lol. All our clothes were SO ICKY! So we all shopped. New jeans, t-shirt, and thongs- flip flops to the Americans, btw- so we could get out of our hiking boots. O. M. G. Best $6 EVER SPENT! LMAO.
So, overall: Basically, it was better than I expected, and it was something so different to anything I have ever done before, I am just really happy with myself that I did it, and that I didn't complain, and actually enjoyed it. It really feels like an achievment of epic proportions.
And, if you made it through that LONG post... well, you deserve a drink for reading for so long! Lol.