Through the mud

The weather forecast was looking bleak for the end of the week.  Following the grand advice, to do what you can while you can, I packed my trusty rucksack from the Camino, put in what I thought was about a day's food, and managed to wake up early enough to get onto the 7.41 train to Woodend. By 10 I was standing by a chilly Lake Daylesford at the GDT entry station.

I was surprised by how waterlogged everything seemed up there.  We have been having a fairly dry winter in Melbourne, and I live on sandy soil so water drains away quickly.  But along the trail, there was a lot of water in various forms - swollen creeks that I had to take off shoes and socks and wade through, large puddles spanning the track from side to side, and lots of mud that thoughtful four wheel drive vehicles had churned into an slippery goo.

The whole distance is around 50 k, and I wanted to get to Cresswick not too late, so I put in a long day on day one, walking till nearly dark.  I camped in the state forest near Barkstead.  It was a peaceful night with spattering of rain.  I took a tarp and bivvy combination which worked fine, everything was dry and I was warm.  It was nice to see the moon rising through the trees at some point when I woke up to roll over.

Seemed to take me a long time to get organised in the morning but I finally got back on the trail by 8.10.  I was glad I had stopped when I did, for even in the morning light, and with the GPS, I managed to loose the trail a few times.  It was a lovely morning, and I must confess I rather liked getting out of the regrowth forest - which seems sort of sterile and lifeless in places - and out onto some cleared agricultural land.   Mix of barnyard smells and open country reminded me of the Camino mornings, and I was lost in reminiscences when I walked past a marked turn and headed down hill for a good way.  Why is it always downhill when you miss a turn?

It was nice to get back into the forest towards Cresswick though - very pretty sections through there. Somewhere a few kilometres past the site of W.G.Spence's cottage I found this pressed metal shell decoration, lying in the mud by the track.

I don't know its origin or how it came to be there, but I took it as a good omen, and pocketed it.

As always, the last few kilometres of a walk is always the hardest.  I managed to slip on some particularly clayey mud, and twisted my knee, so I was a bit slow towards the end as well.  I met a lovely woman with a very friendly dog.  The dog was 12 years old, and had been living on a farm till its owner died recently.  It was now a town dog, and loving it.  It really liked meeting people and other dogs.  I had to give it a good pat, but as a consequence of dog patting, chatting and limping, I got round the corner onto the main street of Cresswick just in time to see the 2.49 Bus departing. I retired to the pub to have a glass of wine and console myself then hobbled onto the 3.49.  Next train stopping at Footscray didn't leave till 6.  Jess kindly came and picked me up, so I got home about 7.45.

My camera battery decided to give up the ghost so no photos.  I took a few gopro video clips which give some sort of idea of the conditions, though to be fair the mud is probably over represented.

So now I have a bung knee, which I hope will not prove to be a permanent fixture. I was glad to get a bit more of the GDT done, and I learned a few things.  "Less is more" is probably the most important thing - it would have been a lot nicer to knock off early, and loll about in the light on day one.  And it would have been  good not to feel under pressure on the second day.  Notwithstanding it was great to be out there.  The GDT Association do a fantastic job keeping the markers at every junction in good condition.  Chapeau to them.

To the Murray

Last week was grey and windy, so to stave off cabin fever I took the teardrop with my old home built kayak up to the Murray.  It was a spur of the moment thing, and I didn't get away till after lunch.  After nearly getting blown off the road a few times up near Kyneton and after almost running out of petrol - the wind with the kayak on the roof and towing the teardrop made a huge difference to petrol consumption - I made it to Koondrook.  Some tasty leftovers for dinner and a rainy cold night, but I slept well.  Perhaps too well for I didn't wake up till almost 9 am.  But I was out by 10, and launched the kayak at the convenient ramp, and rowed upstream for a few miles. I was looking out for a nice sandy beach for a lunch in the sun.  The NSW side is private property, and all the nice bends on that side have signs saying keep out, a bit mean if you ask me.  The Victorian side is State Forest, but the nice sandy bends seemed to have bossy possessive birds settled on them.  When I tried to land on this bend, I got told off in no uncertain terms by the pair of Eastern Masked Lapwings you can make out in the picture.

The GPS told me I was making about 2.5 knots against the current, and I rowed on for a few hours, looking for that perfect bend with nice sand, no houses on the other side, and sunshine.  I had to settle for one which was a bit on the muddy side and opposite three stonking great houses on the NSW side. Coming back I was making about 3.5 to 4 knots.  By the time I got back to the ramp, I was tired.  I am certainly not as fit as I was when I did the Murray Marathon 17 years ago.  But it was great to be back on the Murray.  I found myself day dreaming about just keeping on going, all the way down to the sea.

I stopped for the night in Barham Lakes CP, $15 for a nice grassy unpowered site with lots of birds including some magpies who appeared out of nowhere when I made a piece of toast.  They must have been watching me closely and decided that at last I was eating something that looked like Magpie food.

ABC news had a story prefiguring damaging winds to hit Melbourne next day, and after nearly getting blown away on the way up, I thought it would be a wise idea to take my time getting home.  I decided  on Terrick Terrick National Park as a likely spot, and headed that way next morning.  Driving south from Cohuna across the dead flat plain, you see a wonderful ochre coloured granite outcrop, Mt Hope. How could I resist?  I detoured, and spent a happy couple of hours exploring.

It is not far from Mt Hope to Terrick Terrick National park and its fairly basic camping ground.  I climbed to the top of Mt Terrick Terrick - not that hard as it is only a few hundred metres from the carpark - and decided to walk to the next granite outcrop, Regeis Rock after lunch. Getting there was basically a matter of heading more or less north through the open bush land.  It was great to just be able to walk without following paths or trails.  Perhaps it hooks into some archetypal memory of our ancestors walking into new territories.  Along the way there were some grand old trees, some with the scars left when the local aboriginal people had removed bark for things like bowls and shields.  Not much need for canoes out here.  

Climbing Reigeis Rock I thought I could hear the sound of young children's voices, carried faintly on the wind.  As I hadn't seen anyone all day and it seemed a long way from anywhere I thought it could be some trick of the wind in the place, or possibly a mental breakdown on my part,  but the wallabies seemed to be hearing something too.

When I got to the top I saw a dad with a couple of little kids heading on up, which was something of a relief as it showed I wasn't going crackers. 

I had the campground to myself, and found it rather strange to be the only person for miles and miles.  It was a wuthering night, with the wind roaring through the trees, but I slept well and got up in time to be on top of Mt Terrick Terrick to view the sunrise. There was a thick bank of cloud over on the horizon to the east, but still a lovely sight.  It was great sitting up there, layered up with the wind belting over the bare rock, watching the day begin.  It would be good for the soul to start every day like that. 

About three hours drive back home, through some evidence of the day before's storm in the form of trees and branches strewn about.  All in all, it was an excellent trip and an encouragement to get out and do more exploring.