Day 10 - The 12 Apostles

Date: 19/12

There wasn't much to see between Devil's Kitchen and the end of the trail at the 12 Apostles. About 7km from the end, I left most of my gear at the hostel I'd be staying at which made for light walking. There was also a nice little wetlands boardwalk between the track and the hostel.

Wetlands near Princetown, Victoria

My first glimpse of the Apostles

The Apostles were interesting, but even mid-afternoon on a Wednesday they are overrun with tourists. I managed a few photos, and then headed off to the visitor centre to get a coffee and something warm to eat for the first time in 5 days.

Well, that's me done then.

Two of the 8 remaining Apostles. There were never 12. 

A few more apostles. One collapsed a few years back.

While snacking on a sausage roll at the end of the trail, I chatted with a family from California and a German woman with a lot of walking under her boots. We talked about great hikes we'd done and I managed to show her an echidna just before she left Australia to return to Europe (no good pics, sadly).

The hostel (The 13th Apostle, in Princetown) was great. The hosts were incredibly helpful and friendly, and the whole thing reminded me a lot of the better hostels along the AT. After 5 days of walking, I wasn't all that social so I mostly just headed to the local tavern for a pizza and some beer and then crawled into bed. It was a busy hostel, and the young'uns were up to party though, so thank God for ear plugs. (Actually, they were loud right up to almost exactly 11pm and then immediately went silent, so it was one of the more considerate backpacker groups I've encountered.)

I did (finally) manage to get a sunset here. Not quite the rugged coastal setting I would have liked, but it will do.

Oh sure, NOW the sky lights up like a painting.

In the end, the Great Ocean Walk was terrifically rewarding. I'd recommend it for anyone looking to do 5-7 days. It's not too challenging, and there is tonnes of natural beauty to keep you going. Altogether a great way to kick off my holidays.

Tomorrow, I shuttle back to my car and head home.

Day 9 - Wreck Beach

Date: 18/12

Well they weren't kidding. The trail did get a lot more challenging today, and I did some damage to my Snickers supply at dinner.

As usual, my early start meant a lot of kangaroos:

Roos in the Mist

How many roos can you see?

At one point, I felt like I was back in Tennessee on the AT.

Déjà vu

The original roos.

Most of the walking was steep descents and then steep ascents. The rewards were non-stop though. Every point I climbed over offered stunning coastal views, and every descent yielded beautiful rainforest like growth and beaches.

Some of the wildlife was exciting, in the sense that I almost stepped on what appeared to be a mulga snake, which is odd because they aren't typical this far south. Just another Queenslander escaping the humidity for a holiday on the south coast I guess. Still, nothing gets your heart pumping faster than one of Australia's native people-killers rearing up into a strike position. I looked into its eyes and there was nothing but darkness there. I guess I backed off far enough to make it happy though, since it eventually just slithered its little soul-less self across the path and out of (my) harm's way.

"Please don't kill me please don't kill me please don't kill me"
(looking closer, I think it's an Eastern Brown)

There were also some more benign encounters.

The rest of the day was less eventful. I managed to hit Wreck Beach just after low tide which meant I could explore it a bit. The ruined anchors and machinery from destroyed ships are a nice reminder of why I don't fuck with the ocean. I made sure to get past any narrow bits long before the tides rolled in and made camp around 5pm.

Pretty sure this one didn't actually land like this.

I swear I'm not just downloading Google Images.

Devil's Kitchen Campground should be renamed Dunnyview, because the toilet block has an absolutely stunning view. If there had been a decent sunset, this is where I would have come to see it. Sadly the clouds ruined my sunset once again, but not before I snapped some beautiful shots of Wreck Beach in the golden light.

'Waiter, could you seat me near a window?"

"Will this do?"

Once again, looking away from the sunset paid off.

Final day tomorrow, which means both the 12 Apostles, and a meal that isn't made of wraps or ramen. To the finish!

Day 8 - Johanna Beach

Date: 17/12

As usual, I'd planned to get up for sunrise. Luckily (?) I woke to the sound of rain drops on the tarp over my tent, which told me there was no sunrise to see. Combined with a short hiking day, there was no reason to get up.

Even with a bit of a lie-in, I headed out around 8 under misty rains. This meant keeping the camera hidden for the most part which means I didn't get a lot of shots. It was a beautiful walking day nonetheless, and I still managed to take more than a few pictures. One of the advantages of leaving earlier than everyone else is that I usually get dibs on the wildlife along the track, like these dark black kangaroos I'd never seen before.

The early bird catches the roo. The early bird also gets to walk
into all of the spider webs that have been made across the track.

The highlight of the day, though, was 2 kms of beach walking to get to our campsite. Just as I finished the beach, the clouds were lifting and the rain stopped. The result has been a really nice afternoon at by far the most beautiful campground on the walk. Johanna campground overlooks Johanna beach and the Johanna River. The name isn't hard to remember.

Hard to beat this view for a campsite.

Not far from the campground is a hang gliding launch site and from there, more views of the coast but also views of the farmland that is on the other side of the dunes and ridges.

Farm valleys behind Johanna Campground

Not a bad way to end a relaxing day. This is definitely the campground of choice of you're planning to spend a few days on the walk. A bit of a hill to get between the beaches and the camping, but well worth the effort.

Tomorrow is my longest day of hiking: 27km to Devil's Kitchen. Everyone keeps warning me that this section is much more difficult than what I've done to date so I guess I'll be earning my Snickers tomorrow.

Day 7 - Cape Otway Lighthouse

Date: 16/12

Today was finally the warm, beautiful sunny day I'd been hoping for. After arriving at camp so early yesterday, I set out planning to take my time and maybe steal a hot lunch at the Cape Otway Lighthouse. On my way to the promised café I was treated to beautiful beaches, and tempted by the crystal clear flat waters of Crayfish Bay for a swim, but decided it was too early in the day yet.

You can see Cape Otway Lighthouse in the distance.

Crayfish Bay looks great for snorkelling

I also came across a tiger snake, one of Australia's more deadly critters. I snapped a few shots and then crept around it while trying to telepathically send the most unthreatening thoughts I could imagine.

"I'm just a friendly wind, breezing past you quietly and unthreateningly."

When I finally made it to the lighthouse, unbathed but also unbitten, it turned out the café was only accessible if you paid the $20 fee to see the lighthouse grounds. I know it's Australia's Most Significant Lighthouse (whatever that's supposed to mean*), but I wasn't paying for the privilege to pay for an overpriced coffee.

Instead I headed to the nearby campsite for a 20 minute nap. 90mins later, I woke up and continued my way to the next campsite. I opted for a somewhat longer route that would include Rainbow Beach, and even added the 2 extra kms of beach walking to get to rainbow falls. Not sure it was worth it, but it wasn't not worth it.

There are falls in there somewhere.

Camp was on the banks of the Aire River, a murky brown river teeming with bird life finding meals among the reeds and fish. I had a quick dip there to rinse the hiker off (really should have made the trek down to Crayfish Beach) and spent a delightful evening watching the birds.

There were also more koala about and while the sunset was marred by incoming rain clouds, there were some stunning landscapes to shoot. Sometimes the best sunset shots are behind you.

Aire River at sunset

Koala in golden light

Tomorrow is a short day to Johanna campground which is supposed to be stunning. We also have a 2km beach walk. Here's hoping for good weather.

*Apparently it was Australia's first lighthouse, and also was the first one European ships would see when coming around from the west.

Day 6 - Great Ocean Walk

Date: 15/12

Melbourne was a bit of a break from the countryside, involving a lot of eating and drinking and trying not to get washed away in the rains. Yesterday I made my way to Apollo Bay and organized myself for the walk. All of that is to say that you didn't miss much.

This morning I finally set out on the Great Ocean Walk. The forecast was for a lot of rainy weather, clearing a bit in the afternoon.

Rain meant I didn't want to take my camera out so it was a (largely) camera free day, which is too bad since the first few kms produced a seal on the beaches around Marengo. I've seen seals before, but I've never been 20m from one just lounging on a rock. After that the walk entered the forests, which were pretty, but in the unphotogenic way that characterizes grey wet days in the forest. I met a few hikers, including a large, supported tour group that is camping with me for the first three nights.

This guy hung out eating in the trees on our campground.

But the highlight of the day, no doubt, was seeing my very first, second, third, fourth, and fifth koalas in the wild! This included one misty silhouette of a koala high in the trees grunting at the other koalas around, and one mother with her joey on her back.

I can finally check koala off the list of Australian wildlife to see.

I had to do 22km today, and wasn't sure how long that would take. Between that and the rains, it was a pretty business-like day of hiking and I found myself at camp around 1pm. This was way too much time to spend at camp, so from now on I'll be taking it much easier. Fortunately there were a number of koala around to stare at for ridiculous amounts of time, much to the amusement of the Aussies who are used to them.

Anyone know what this is? Angler fish? Puffer fish?

Camp was nice and near a beach (which produced this puffer? angler? fish), but pretty foggy. An earlier campsite had not had any suitable trees for hanging a hammock, so I was a bit worried that I had set myself up for a very uncomfortable few nights. Fortunately, this campground had lots of spots for hammocks and so it was all good.

Since I'd decided to carry my heavier camera gear, I had also decided not to bring a stove or pots in order to save space and weight. This means that all of my dinners will consist of wraps with cheese and sausage*, or peanut butter and granola. Under normal circumstances, this would be fine, but tonight it seemed a bit underwhelming next to the tour group's catered dinner of sausage curry stew.

But even a boring meal can't ruin the feeling of sitting on a beach watching the surf come in while I write this.

* I would really have preferred tuna, but it's hard to find the soft foil packets of tuna in Australia. This also means I won't be revisiting Blueberry Crisp's preferred meal of a tuna and peanut butter wrap. Stop making that face. It's much tastier than you think.

NSW and Victoria Adventure

For some administrative reasons, I had to take a lot of my annual leave in December this year, which left me with most of the month off. To fill the couple of weeks before Xmas, I've set out to hike the Great Ocean Walk, a 100+ km coastal walk near Melbourne.

The plan is to take three days to drive the NSW and Victoria coasts before stopping to visit friends in Melbourne for a couple of days. Then I'll head to the start of the GOW, and spend 5 days hiking the beaches, forests, and rivers, terminating at The 12 Apostles. A bus ride back to my car and I'll head back to Sydney, but crossing through country Victoria and the NSW interior.

As with the AT, I'll post each day in sequence. Like a lot my travel these days, I'm treating it as a bit of a photo expedition (see my 500px profile for a recent trip to Vietnam, or follow my Instagram). I've brought my DSLR and will be hauling it along everywhere with some others gear.

I don't have my laptop to deal with the photos so you're probably seeing all of these posts after I've completed. Which means there's no need to panic no matter what I post. If you're seeing these, it all turned out fine.

Onwards!

Paralympic Flashback

My post for August 6th in the White Mountains was titled More Of Same. Here's the whole post, reproduced for you:

Not much to note today really, except that I dodged two rainfalls by hanging out in huts where I met lots of nice families. Unfortunately, I left my map at the last one so I'm now mapless until Hanover.

That's it. I didn't get into any details, even though, in many ways, this was one of the most interesting days on the trail.

I think I was just too tired to get into details.

But today, a year and a half later, I'm going to fill one of those details in.

What I didn't mention is that one of the families I met and chatted with at length at one of the huts was Dannelle Umstead's. Her kids were wearing Australia green and gold caps, and when I asked about it they explained that it's because their mom travels a lot.

She travels a lot because she's a visually impaired Paralympic skier. She skied for the US Paralympic Team in Vancouver and Sochi and has three paralympic medals to show for it.

And today, she skis again representing the US at the Pyeongchang Paralympic Winter Games.

So I've decided to revisit that blog post just to say how cool it is that I met a paralympian. As much as I love the Olympics, I find the Paralympics about 10 times more inspiring. All olympic and paralympic athletes achieve levels of athleticism that most of us can only dream of - but paralympic athletes do it toiling in relative obscurity and with a tiny fraction of the financial support that other olympians get.

So I'll be watching the Paralympics again this year, and though I'll obviously be cheering for the Canadian athletes first - I'm also looking forward to seeing Danelle at work.

And just because I didn't include a photo last time, here's one I took that day:

New Camera and New Friends

The new DSLR makes selfies harder.

After the sad death of my camera on my last outdoors adventure, I went out and bought myself my very first real exchangeable lens DSLR (Canon EOS Rebel T6i/750D for camera gearheads).

Last weekend, the camera made its first trip into the bush as I hiked the 45km long Six Foot Track over a couple of days with a group of new friends.

The Cast

I was invited along by Anna, a good friend who is also an outdoor adventurer. She had a trip planned with two Brits and a couple of New Zealanders - making us a pretty eclectic mix of ex-pats. Most of the group were new to trail names, but the girls all found themselves with one by the end.  You can see from this group photo that I'm still getting used to the camera.

Anna (Gollum), Nigel, Krissy (Necky), Kirsten (Gnomey), and Mack

The Hike

For those not into the local bushwalking scene, the Six Foot Track is a 45 km "trail" that is probably most famous for the annual Six Foot Track Marathon race. It's one of those trails that everyone does at some point, and so this was our turn. As it turns out, the Six Foot Track really ought to be called the Never Ending Dirt Road. It felt like we spent half a day hiking in the woods, and a day and a half walking along a dirt fire trail - shared with trucks, cars, and dirt bikes. I wouldn't rate it highly for the walking.

On the plus side we did end up with some good wildlife. In addition to the usual array of kangaroos, wallabies, and lorikeets, we saw two echidna, a wombat, a lyrebird, and a large goanna. Sadly, I have still not ticked koala off of my list of Australian fauna seen in the wild. Next time, I guess.

Goanna gettin' hisself some eggs

Kangaroo. Tree. Harmony.

There is also a long suspension bridge at around the midway point which made for a bit of fun.

Necky did not hate the suspension bridge.

Trail Philosophy

Every hiker has their own approach to being on trail. After doing the AT, my style now leans heavily towards "minimalist self-deprivation." I also lean towards "camp is the place you stay while you wait to walk again." This is not a common hiking philosophy. The 6' Track crew was keen to get to camp early to have lots of time there. They also had a very different meal philosophy - where I happily dine on a diet of cliff bars and peanut butter wraps for a few days, our meal plan for this weekend included:

• fresh wraps with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, cheese, and deli meats for lunches; 
• mushroom risotto, banana custard, and a bit of port for dinner; 
• and coffee, tea, eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast.

All of that was made with fresh ingredients, from scratch. Mack is a killer trail cook. Mack also made me carry a lot of food. I have mixed feelings about Mack. (But then, I've made a conscious decision to carry rocks for nothing in the past, so I suppose I won't hold this grudge.)

Trail cook extraordinaire.
Also an all around delightful guy.

Besides the gourmet food, it was rather nice to have some real time hanging out at camp. I even managed to redeem myself as a fire builder after the fiasco of my last attempt in Australia. I didn't even have to resort to accelerants.

Nigel takes a moment out from wombat spotting
to look very British on some logs.

Most of the highlights of the trip involved a lot of conversation, laughter and inside jokes. Unfortunately, those are difficult to convey here. Here's a picture of Necky trying to explain to Gollum what a meerkat is, for a flavour of the sort of thing:

If only the Italian word for meerkat was "meerkat",
this would have been much easier.

All in all, the hike was a great time. The trail itself was forgettable, but as is often the case in these things, the people made all the difference. I guess that's a good general life lesson: visit beautiful places, but most importantly, bring beautiful people.

Gnomey proves that even walking on a dirt road
can be fun with the right companions

Happy Trails!

(More photos taken with my shiny new toy here)

Day +a lot - Reflection (27/1/2017)

So, I'd been struggling to figure out how to wrap this whole thing up.

Luckily for me, so has Cinderella. Even more luckily for me, she figured it out first, and so perfectly articulates my feelings months later, that I'm not going to bore anyone with my version.

Go read this. The details might be a bit different (I wanted to quit a lot sooner, and cried less but probably swore more), but the general sentiment is pretty much exactly how I feel now, 56 days on.

Day +1 - Normals in the Mist

Today I begin a long study of Normals in their natural habitat‎. To prepare, I have tried to disguise myself as one of them by putting on "jeans" and "a shirt" (see attached Figure). Thus attired, I walked among them for a few hours. It's a grey and misty day, which seemed to help my cause. They were preoccupied with finding shelter and warmth, making it easier for me to pass mostly unnoticed. I did notice some minor alarm whenever a Normal did take note of my strange face, but they generally preferred to scurry indoors than worry about this hairy stranger.

All in all, they're a trusting species and allowed me to interact without incident. I was even welcomed to enjoy a meal at one of their "restaurants." If they were surprised by the amounts that I need to eat, they gave no sign of it. I am hopeful that, in time, I will be treated as just another Normal.

Day 155 - Nero (3/12/2016)

‎This morning the five of us (Flatlander, Blueberry Crisp, Lancelot, and Equinox) headed out for the last 8 miles of our journeys. Our final nero.  I'm deeply grateful to have shared my last 700 miles with them.

Tonight, I'm in a King size bed at the Amicalola Falls Lodge. Tomorrow, I start the drive home with Papa Wallaby.‎ I wonder what the next chapter will bring.

‎Wallaby out.

End: ‎Springer Mountain 

Total: 2,121.4 miles, (67.7 on fire)

Day 154 - One More Sleep (2/12/2016)

Hard to believe that 154 ‎days ago I used the same title before the start of this crazy journey. Today it's a propos. Flatlander has been campaigning for mid-day nap time since we started hiking together 700+ miles ago. She finally got her wish. She, Equinox, and I all slept cold (read, poorly) last night, so weren't moving well. After lunch we curled up in the sun and took a nap. It meant an hour or so of night-hiking, but it was worth it.

Tomorrow we summit. Amazing. I also get to see Papa Wallaby again. It promises to be a good day.

Start: Blood Mountain 

End: Hawk Mountain 

Distance: 21.2 miles

Remaining: 8.4 miles

Day 153 - So Close (1/12/2016)

Just 2 more sleeps now.

Not much happened other than walking. We stopped in at an outfitter in Neels Gap, where we got free ice cream and coffee. It turns out we're only a day behind Legs, Foggy, and Littlefoot!

Start: Blue Mountain

End: Blood Mountain

Distance: 21.2 miles

Total: 2,159.8‎ (30 to go!)

Day 152 - Just Section Hikers (30/11/2016)

I‎ realized this morning that we have 70 miles to do, no more resupplies, and when we finish, we go home. We're just short section hikers now.

It rained most of the day, including over an hour of serious downpours. It wasn't fun, but with only three days to go, I feel a bit like nothing can ruin the hiking now. Besides, with any luck the rain will improve the fire situation, and the forecast is for cool, but dry and sunny weather from now until Springer. We really can't complain.

Just 3 more sleeps until I'm bedding down in a king size bed at the Amicalola Falls Lodge.

Start: Dick's Gap / Top of Georgia Hostel 

End: Blue Mountain Shelter 

Distance: 19.1 miles

Total: 2,138.6

Day 151: 0 = 68 (29/11/2016)

This is it. The day we shuttle past the fires. Because my feet are so sore, I decided that I was going to hostel again near the Dick's Gap trailhead. The others also had less severe foot issues, so no one objected. Best of all, Equinox gave me a prescription strength Naproxen which helped enormously and by the end of the day my feet felt fine. Not great, but the soreness was dull enough that I figured drugs, sports tape, and desperation to finish with the trail family would keep me going.

We got around the fires thanks to the generosity of a friend of Flatlander's who drove 3 hours to pick us up, let us resupply in Hiawassee, then left us at the hostel. We cannot be grateful enough.

Speaking of the trail family, Lancelot reappeared this morning!! He pulled 30 mile days, hiking late into the night to catch up, so we're all together again. It seems Equinox (a German PhD student living in DC) has been adopted as well, so we're thinking of renaming ourselves Katie and the Foreigners. Lancelot is an honorary Canadian, because Connecticut kind of sounds similar. It was either that, or rename himself Katie. 

Since we had a kitchen at the hostel, we made risotto and brownies for dinner. It turns out it is possible to make too much food even for 5 hungry hikers. Still, it was a nice candle lit dinner with wine and friendship. I'm going to miss this group.

In less cheerful news, Gatlinburg is burning to the ground and all of the Smoky Mountains is now closed to AT hikers. Several friends have been evacuated, including Trout. Luckily no one has been physically harmed, but it's a sad situation.

In the end, we're 67.7 miles further down the trail without any hiking. We're also in Georgia, the last state on the trail. The end is truly nigh.

Tomorrow the forecast is for cold and rain. Wet feet are at the root of my foot issues, so it could be a challenge but... only 4 more sleeps to Springer!!

Start: Nantahala Outdoor Center 

End: Top of Georgia Hostel

Distance: 0/67.7 miles

Total: 2,119.5 miles