This is it! The Overland Track January, 2013.

It has taken the start of the next adventure to force me to finish (read start) the blog on our Overland Track Journey. My plan here is to keep it short but hopefully sweet!

Firstly, If you want to walk the Overland track with the best people in the world, you need to chose Andrea, Liz, Mic, Richard and Robyn! Best travel partners that anyone could have and if you ever get the chance to check out the video doc (may eventually be posted) you'll understand why!
Okay so, flights booked, walk dates booked, equipment bought, post walk accommodation booked, transport booked and just about everything else we could do to prepare done! Oh and of course, we trained..... another champagne anyone?
Our flight across the Tasman was standard, we charted our own A320 to ensure the trip was trouble free! (see picture).

We arranged bus transport to our Cradle Mt accommodation with Tiger Wilderness. Efficient pick up from Launceston with on-board tour guide, slight hitch on pick up at the end which was remedied with a couple of phone calls!  Our overnight accommodation was at Waldheim Huts. Basic accommodation but perfect for us to cook our last steak and drink a well selected bottle of Shiraz (perhaps two? And, a bottle of champagne for good measure) before heading off in the morning.

Day One - Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley (10.7kms - side trip to Cradle mountain 2kms).

After an uneventful sleep, at this point I was wishing that I had bought my ear plugs, we woke to bacon, eggs and adventure in our hearts! All packed and ready to walk off into the wilderness! Sunshine greeted us and remained throughout the day! We did the side trip up Cradle Mountain and it was undeniably worth it! The views spectacular albeit an energy burner. No matter where we looked the view was awesome. The climb up Cradle is brilliant if you are a mountain goat. It is like rock hopping but over giant boulders - great fun!



Climbing to Marions Lookout

Ronny Creek
 

Crater Lake

Crater Lake

Dove Lake

Kitchen Hut



Barn Bluff

 

After what seemed to be an eternity we arrived at our first night camp, Waterfall Valley. Boy, was it good to get the pack off and relax after what was an absolute blinder of a day! Don't tell anyone but the Ranger on duty allowed us to set up in the group area! Waterfall Valley was absolutely beautiful and even looked better in the morning as we departed on our second day.



 

Richard and Liz perched above Waterfall Creek

Walking into out first camp at Waterfall Valley.

 

Day Two - Waterfall Valley to Lake Windermere (7.8kms - side trip to Lake Wills and waterfall 5kms).

 

With Barn Bluff setting the scene for our second day we ventured up the hill and onto Lake Windermere. The day was another out of the bag with beautiful sunshine all day. We took the side trip to Lake Will with our lunch, the trip turning out to be a little less than our expectations. The trouble came when we decided to head to the Innes waterfall at the end of the lake.... that was a trip! Scrub, mud, scrub, mud! All in all, we did enjoy a 'nice' lunch on the banks of Lake Wills.

Walking out of Waterfall valley

What started as a clothed dip in
Lake Freezamere ended up in a skinny dip!
No photos..... that we will publish!

Lake Wills - Innes Falls



Awesome views were the order of the day!
Every time you thought you had seen it all, there was more to come!

There is no doubt that it was a long day, made longer by our side trip to Lake Wills, but what a day. Awe inspiring views all day long, beautiful weather finished off with a relaxing campsite. Liz, Richard, Andrea and I enjoyed a refreshing swim in Lake Windermere. When I say refreshing you can assume freezing! It certainly finished of another exhausting day in the best possible way.

Day Three - Lake Windermere to Pelion (the longest day on the walk, 16.8kms)

Every day ends with an opportunity to stay in a hut, but Pelion Hut was our first and only hut stop. And what a hut, more on that later.
The day started in stark contrast with the previous two days... rain! Our first experience on the track of wet weather and just quietly, it wasn't all that bad! The fact that we were walking through rain forest was apt. The forest seem to come alive with the moisture, with drops of rain highlighting every different moss and lichen.



Yes! It was wet!

The hump back of Overland

Even the spider webs were wet!

The girls on the track!



 On arriving at Pelion the weather was still overcast and looking less than favourable. So a decision was made to spend the night in the hut, from that moment on the clouds cleared and the sun came out to dry our tents, socks and bones! As you can see our accommodation was very good and apart from the snoring we had a very restful night!



Pelion Hut sleeping arrangements!



We spent the afternoon sunning ourselves on the boardwalks, stretches and massages were the order of the afternoon! What started out as a damp awaking ended in a beautiful sunset and one we watched and will remember for a very long time!





The view from Pelion Hut - Mt Oakleigh!

Barn Bluff - for the last time, also taking from the balcony at Pelion Hut!





 Day Four - Pelion to Kia Ora (8.6kms - side trip to East Pelion 2kms).



Bright eyed and bushy tailed!

 

 The day started with a warm and dry breakfast in Pelion Hut. The day was a little overcast and as we started the climb to Pelion gap 1113m the cloud thickened! Our aim for the morning was to climb to the top of East Pelion but cloud stopped us just short, we did however get a glimpse just prior to returning to our packs at the Gap. 

 The views around the valley from Pelion Gap are extraordinary, everywhere you look there are mountains. While the clouds were a slight hindrance they didn't get in the way of some awesome views. This was probably one of the easier days travelling around 10km with our side trip.

Easy walking on the track out of Pelion!



A tantalising glimpse of East Pelion before
the cloud stopped us in our tracks!

Mt Ossa!

You start and finish the walk at the same elevation but in between you climb 300metres in the 8.6kms! We finished the day with a swim in Kia Ora Creek...now that was cold! But, by then the clouds had disappeared and the sun warmed us as we rested around camp, enjoying a beautiful evening. We were all tired, but without doubt agreed that every day had been brilliant. We were very blessed to be experiencing the Overland Track in all its wonder!


Cathedral Mountain

Not a bad view from our camp at Kia Ora!

Kia Ora Creek - even colder than Windermere!

Day Five - Kia Ora to Windy Ridge (9.6kms - Side trips to D'Alton, Fergusson and Hartnett Falls 2.5kms)

While the evening ended with beautiful weather we woke to it bucketing down! It certainly made for an interesting pack up! Once again we donned jackets and ponchos and headed into the weather! This was waterfall day and we took every side track opportunity to witness the spectacular falls. The pictures say it all! The rain didn't really give up the entire day and we considered sleeping in the newly built Burt Nichols hut. Fortunately the weather eased as the hut was full with snorers. After setting up our tents we ventured in to the outer hut area (without open wood fire) and ate and relaxed before turning in. It had been a very tiring day and once again delicious fatigue set in and a great nights sleep was had!



D'Alton Falls

Fergusson Falls

Water Falls and rain forest gardens were the highlight of the day as we walked through drizzle, mist, cloud and the like. The weather matched perfectly with the terrain and once again made the journey. 



Hartnett Falls

A small creek on the way into Windy Ridge Hut




Forest wonderland!

The view from Windy Ridge Hut! Dark and Gloomy



Day Six - Windy Ridge to Pine Valley (10kms)

The walk into Pine Valley is uneventful, yet after the last few days we were all pretty tired! Our intention was to do the side trip to the labyrinth in the afternoon but we were all happy to spend the afternoon in the hut and warm ourselves by the potbelly! Mic slept from lunch until dinner and needed it!



Looking a little puffy eyed!



Still Smiling!






Day Seven - Pine Valley to Narcissus (9.6kms - side trip to The Acropolis 6kms)

Forget the gloomy weather from the day before, our last official walking day turned out to be an absolute ripper! The photos will say it all suffice to say it turned out to be one of our hardest days! But was it worth it. We began the day with the journey to The Acropolis. While only 6kms it took us the best part of 6 hours! This is not an easy walk by any means, with steep exposed sections once you leave the surrounding forest. Rock hopping and scrambling up the side of The Acropolis made for another interesting challenge. The entire walk was spectacular but once on the summit it was difficult to hold back the tears as we witnessed one very special 360 degree view over the Tasmanian wilderness! As I remember the day, I don't think the photos will do the view justice.

 

The Acropolis

From the summit

The team on top!



Lake St Clair



Frenchmans Cap 

Narcissus River

Narcissus River

Richard off the Jetty!

Our last camp set up!

 

After taking millions of pictures and soaking up the grandeur we had to depart what has to be considered the highlight of the journey to make our way to Narcissus Hut. This became a bit of a route march as destination sickness had set in. Behind us the Overland Track was becoming less of a focus as we began to concentrate on the first beer and or champagne as our reward. But... there was still more to come for us. Tired and elated we walked in to Narcissus Hut site, set up camp then wandered down to Lake St Clair for a swim and freshen up. Cold, but was it worth it, everyone felt rejuvenated! On waking the next morning we packed and prepared for the boat trip to Cynthia Bay. Just to top the trip off we had a final farewell from the local Platypus!

 

Day 8 - Narcissus Hut to Cynthia Bay via the Ferry! (0.3km to the Jetty!)

Our last day of the journey! A gentle stroll down to the Jetty and a leisurely ferry ride to Cynthia Bay and of course, the celebratory drink at the end of a 91+kms remarkable trip! Our next stop Hobart for a few days R&R and that, my friends is another story not to be told here!

 

Another perfect day!

Cynthia Bay Jetty!

A well earned refreshment!













 

 

 

 





The Overland Track

Firstly, I have to apologise for the delay in getting this post out. It is nearly four months since we completed the Overland Track. It hasn't taken me this long to recover!
Alright I am ready now to take the time to build this post over several days or weeks, such was the epic journey that we went on, it deserves depth of response.
I have to say that without doubt it ranks as equal with the best journeys we have taken with friends. Nearly a 100 kilometres walked over eight days, a day journey to the start of the walk and three days at the end celebrating with awesome friends.
Early starts, long days, sunshine, rain, spectacular scenery, nudie swims, sore bits (all over), challenging moments, tears, laughs, smiles...... You name it, we had it and loved the entire package!
At the end, the only question we had was, "where next!" Oh, and of course how much for the bottle of "Jansz"..... Not that it mattered how much we paid at 10.30am to celebrate the end of the journey... Just quietly, it was worth the $58!
So before the walk began our first day started at 5.30am With the journey to the airport..... To be continued!

The Overland Track!

If twelve months ago you told me, the next twelve months would be gone in a flash, I wouldn't have believed you! But, here I am and it seems but just a wrinkle in time that the decision was made to head to Tassie?

Okay, so we have spent a shite load on packs, tents, stoves, sleeping mats, bags, ponchos, goretex this, goretex that, lightweight, waterproof, fast wicking, super absorbent stuff. Oh, don't forget the dehydrator, vacuum sealer, bush walking recipe books and .......more stuff.

We have trained in numerous locations over Victoria. Learned a heap of new skills. Built up our bushwalking fitness. Camped in some awesome sites overlooking valleys, mountains, rivers and streams. Most of all we have loved every minute of the adventure thus far.

On Monday we commence the first day of our Overland trek and we are excited. We are sharing the journey with two other couples who have equally contributed to the gross profit of various outdoor equipment suppliers. We can't wait to get out boots out on to the path and look forward to providing a photographic diary of our trip to any who may read with interest.

Mark and Andrea

Brisbane Ranges - Cathedral Ranges combo!

Better late than never and this update is certainly late.

Brisbane Ranges

A revisit to Brisbane Ranges for another practice round as well as sharing the walk with Mic and Robyn. We once again, met at Boar Gully campsite and headed to the Pines Carpark to comeence the walk. The weather this time around was forecast to be pretty good for the length of the walk. For Mic and Robyn it was a chance to experience a three day walk with a decent 14kms second day.
While, excactly the same walk as previous the change in the bush was evident. The entire place had grown over after having a reasonable winter. While not in abundance wildflowers were present as can be seen in some of the pictures. In direct contrast was the level of the rivers, there was hardly any water in Little River and the surrounding creeks.

Below is a group of pics of wildflowers and walkers. Apart from a brief, but heavy shower of rain on the second afternoon we managed to enjoy clear weather, lovely open fires and campsites to ourselves! We all comfortably made the three days and are now looking forward to the Overland track in January.

On our first visit with Frank and Wendy the river
was tumbling over Andrea's feet level!

Our campsite and fire at the Little River.

Donkey Orchid (Diuris)

Cathedral Ranges

Andrea and I visited the Cathedrals once again for a training run prior to Christmas. It was a bloody hot weekend and our intention was to walk to the Farmyard on Friday evening then return to the Jawbone carpark via Neds Gully the next day. It was a great indication of our fitness (even after our winter layoff). Our first walk at Cathedrals saw us arrive at Neds Gully pretty tired and ready for a sleep (we camped the night at Neds Gully). On this occasion we completed the walk back to the car without too many dramas. We did enjoy a swim in the Little River before lunch.

Cathedrals is not an easy walk with the rock hopping and bush bashing required due to the overgrown scrub! We did enjoy the company of three goats as we walked across the ridge to the Cathedral.
Some goats and Wildflowers

Baw Baw Part 2 - The training recommences!

So, winter has come and gone! Layers of adipose tissue that had been removed prior to the hibernation (read not sleeping just being lazy in a good paddock) period have returned and it is time to work back down to a playing weight suitable for summer and our fast approaching trip to Tassie!

With three walks planned over the next month our return to Baw Baw was our first. Before I get too far into the story, I have to say that Andrea has maintained a good level of physical activity over winter, while I haven't!

Our intention was to do a repeat of our previous trip to Baw Baw, but unfortunately a severe storm had left several trees over the access road to the Mt Erica car park. We decided to head to St Gwinear car park and depart from there. With only an hour or so of light remaining we walked the 3kms to the campsite nestled between St Gwinear and Camp Saddle (on the Alpine Walking Track). It was a very chilly night and we woke to a very stiff tent and frost all around! It is one of our most favourite spots to camp as you have the entire valley to yourself!



Photo taken the next morning!

  


On the way to our first night camp, we started to glimpse patches of snow here and there. This became more than just a glimpse as we started walking the next morning. We decide to head toward Mt St Phillack, the Alpine Walking Track welcomed us with mud, snow, rivers of water running down the track all making the going very slow and quite tiring. Mental note to self......doing a couple of walks to work with a 15kg pack doesn't constitute fitness training! After reaching Mt St Phillack (not very far 2kms....) we continued to St Phillack Saddle. It was at this point we had the choice to head over to Baw Baw or continue onto Mt Whitelaw and Stronachs camp.

We decide on heading to Baw Baw. We took a track that started around 100 metres up from the sign post which led as to Sandys Flat and West Tanjil Creek. We walked up onto the Ski fields following the Village Trail and had a pleasant lunch in the Village.


Where was that track?

West Tanjil Creek

I've got to say that we were both pretty buggered! Andrea was feeling better than I was but it was a very hard slog all morning. So far we had travelled around 7kms...it felt like twice that!The Village Trail does a circuit around the ski fields after lunch we continued to follow the circuit....from here the day developed into a real slog. We found the track directly up to St Phillack Saddle that commences at Baragwanath Flat. It looked okay but as we progressed it was far from it. The photos tell the story, but once again it was mud, water and snow...finding the track with limited signage was impossible. By the time we got back to St Phillacks Saddle we had covered 8kms through scrub that tore at our legs, mud that clogged our boots and snow which had us off track on several occasions.

The decision to head back to Camp Saddle and possibly old faithful for the night was made quickly as we were extremely tired by now. For the first time during the walk we actually felt like we were walking down hill. This was a huge relief to our wearisome legs. We arrived at our campsite about 6.5 hours after departing, having covered around 14 kms. We ate a slow dinner and headed into the tent soon after and both were a sleep before it was dark!

 

We were going to explore the valley up into Mustering Flat, but by the look of the overgrown track we decide to head up to the summit of St Gwinear and then back to the car. 

Not a creek?

What started out as a regular walk in the park turned into a good strength builder and a sharp awakening to the work we need to do before the Overland Track. Mt Baw Baw is a wonderful place for a walk. It is quiet and peaceful and provides space for the brain to clear the cobwebs!

Baragwanath Flat

 

 

Baw Baw, what a great training run...I think?

Next Trip - Brisbane Ranges!



Brisbane Ranges - June 2012

Okay, it is time to test our gear in the winter and with the weather report looking.........well, looking like a mixed bag we head to The Brisbane Ranges. The three day hike along The Burchell Trail extends for 38kms and we were walking north to south. Wendy and Frank decided to join us, initially we were going to camp at Fridays Campsite on the, you guessed it, Friday but, the weather was less than pleasant so we decided for a morning start instead.

We met up with Frank and Wendy at Boars Gully Campground to do a car shuffle. They piled into our car and we headed for Steiglitz. The walk can commence in a number of locations but we left from The Pines car park.

The weather was trying to improve but as we walked we had our jackets on, then off, then on, then bugger it, we'll leave them on! The entire length of The Burchell Trail covers a variety of terrains which never leaves one bored, from narrow tracks to roads, to steep accents and descents, rock scrambles, muddy trails and river rock hopping. 



Old Mill Campsite

We arrived at Old Mill Camp early afternoon, plenty of time to get a fire going and prepare for the evening. The sun had a minutes opportunity to pop its head out just before setting below the hills surrounding our camp. It was a lovely night by the fire with the occasional star-glimpsing opportunity.

The next morning wasn't so favourable as the weather closed in once we had eaten breakfast. breaking camp in the rain went well and we discovered we can take down our tent while leaving the fly erected. Regardless of the weather the walking was enjoyable and as mentioned diverse. The Grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) are prevalent and provide a garden like appearance to the bush.  

At the start of "the drop!"

Little River

The weather eased as we descended down into the Little River area. On arrival at the campsite much criticism was given to the fire provided, although after some thought we considered the fact that we had a river view, with a pool beside our open fire... to be a selling point. It wasn't long after our arrival that we were belted by a hefty shower of rain. Luckily we had everything organised so we remained dry. Once again we finished the night with a fire, not quite as inspiring as the evening before and a little damper. Bed at 7pm is a tad early, but after the 17km walk we were happy to relax in our sleeping bags. Ironically, the clouds dissipated and the stars burst into life.

With clear skies the inevitable occurred and our tent and everything around was covered in ice! Awesome! Warm porridge for breaky and a chilly pack up and we were on our way. While cold to start the sun soon warmed us nicely and we continued our walk to Boar Gully.
All in all an enjoyable walk with a wide variety of terrain to challenge and enjoy.

We would like to head back in the Spring as the wildflowers would add another dimension altogether. Oh.....wet, cold weather gear, big tick!

Thanks Frank and Wendy!