Last night was cold! I needed to do a wee from 1:30 but didn’t want to get up so spent 4.5 hours waiting for it to be 6am! I had bizarre half wake half sleep dreams about breaking into shopping centres to use their toilets! The car told us it was 0 degrees at 6am. We’ve got a routine where I pack down the tent before I come down. Because we’ve got an extra thick mattress in there, it’s effortful to close it. It entails me standing on top of the lid and pulling it down while Jubble pulls from the bottom and we both try to get the clips closed. This morning was tough – it was frosty on top and soooooo cold trying to close the metal lid! We’d decided to pack up the tent straight away and drive to a place Jubbie could leave the car, have breakie there and then Jubbie would start the walk with me to Mt Tamboritha before we left each other for the day. So nice to be able to pull over anywhere, make savoury oats and a cup of tea then get going.
It took about 30 minutes to get to the top of Mt Tamboritha walking through beautiful alpine landscape. The trail was easy to follow although apparently on the way back Jubbie took a different trail by mistake but luckily ended back up on the same 4WD track we parked on. Going down from Little Tamboritha I met my first hikers of the trip. Three young guys struggling their way up hill under heavy packs listening to pretty loud music for inspiration. They’d been going for one day out of three and were doing it tough. The view coming down from Little Tamboritha was stunning – huge sweeping views out across the valley in both directions. The trail was mostly easy to follow and very well marked with a combination of red arrow markers and pink ribbons tied in the trees. I can see there would be lots of room to take the wrong spur down – a couple of times I think I followed animal tracks and started heading off the ridge before realising something didn’t seem right and climbing back up to look for the track markers.
The path narrowed down from grassy, treed almost avenues to thin ridges along the top of a spur. I found a super peaceful spot to stop for lunch and just take it all in. The track down to Breakfast Creek was very steep and was a combination of leaf littered that you needed to edge down sideways to avoid your feet slipping out from under you and rocks to climb down. There definitely wasn’t much strolling down. By the end my knee was pretty sore due to a tight ITB – nothing Physiotherapist Jubbie couldn’t sort out with an elbow! I passed another hiker on his way up, again listening to music.
The Breakfast Creek campsite was tiny and already pretty crowded, so Jubbie had us set up at Red Box campsite just a little further along the road. Such a fantastic site – really private with all the camping areas tucked away and even toilets! It was warm and sunny when I arrived and we spent the afternoon sitting in the sun, having a warm shower, doing some washing and planning the next few days. Such a treat to get into camp early and have sun and warmth. Every other day I’ve been in my warm jackets as soon as I arrived at camp. One of Jubble’s best ever purchases has been a Nemo portable shower. It holds 20 litres, he fills it at rivers along the way and then adds hot water when it’s time for a shower. We also use it for cleaning dishes and getting water for cups of tea. Too good. Chef Jublé made delicious chickpea curry for dinner and we went for a walk to look at Wellington River. I am now so aware of the bends and corresponding bluffs etc of rivers since my day along Moroka River. As soon as I see a river now I’m looking at where to cross and feeling thankful I don’t have to! I do have another crossing tomorrow but I’m sure it won’t be difficult, just annoying!
Kerry's Hikes 