Lots and lots of walking

Yeya all,

Pre-summer storm with hail and heavy rain is approching Melbourne as I type now and I'm happy to be inside dry and watching the scenic lightnings through the window :). I was amazingly quick on the bike home from work since everyone kept talking about this big storm coming.

October is gone, quick as the other months, being doing many things and I'll try to summarize it here below for you all my dear readers :)

Toolangi forest walk with MUM - around 22km in 7 hours - October 2

First weekend of October was a social one with a day visit to Werribee to see the kids and family, always good to see the kids, Oden and Savanha, they are getting bigger for every time I see them, but they still welcome me with the biggest hugs when they see me :).

Went for a day trip with MUMC outside of Melbourne on Sunday morning, did the Toolangi Circuit Walk, took us around 7 hours with lunch and rest stops. Beautiful forest walk and up to the top of hill (1027m). Ended the walk with a delicious dinner in Healsville on the way back to the city.

The 9 brace MUMCers who defited the leeches during the Toolangi walk - Krissie as the leader this trip, bottom left side

2nd weekend of October me and Mick flew up to Brisbane, QLD, to meet up with the grand Buckley family:). It was good to see them all, his mum and dad, his brother and sister. Did see a shy koala in the garden, no snakes even if they had a big python a few days before (maybe next time I'll see one, who knows).

See the koala with the fluffy ears?

Lovely puppy Molly liked my feet haha :) .. Gray and Naula's dog

3rd weekend of October I went on my biggest challenge trip ever with MUMC, 24-hour walk from Mt Bogong to Mt Feathertop. Well, we didn't quite made it, 5 of us (started 9 in total) didn't finish the whole walk since one of the guys in the group sprained his ankle and it had swolled up and was painful to walk for him. The decision to stop was good for me since I was getting very tired after 15 hours of walking and was looking forward a bed and pillow in Falls Creek where we slept in a ski lodge while the rest of the group (the quick group) kept walking for 28 hours before they finished the walk and picked us up the next day after the car shuffle was done. Well done guys and thanks for the trip Luke!

4rd weekend of October was spent at home drying food non-stop for 3 days with the club's flash dehydrator. Dried fruits, pasta, rice, curry with tofu and pasta sauce .... took a long time, but we got food for 4 days for the Overland Track. Bough a a really nice tent, Venus Extreme (Exped) and I bought myself a brand new backpack (65 to 85 litres, LowAlpine).

Last week was spent preparing and packing for the Tassie trip and the Overland Track. Flew to Devonport on Thursday morning, 27th and were picked up by Tony and Merril who we met along our day walk in Tassie over Easter. Tony and Merril are the nicest old couple in Tassie, they took good care of us, had a great dinner in the evening and provided us with lots of info of the track and some other walks around Tassie and drove us to Cradle Mountain on Friday morning. Both me and Mick are very thankful of the help, drive and time that both Tony and Merril spent with us, thank you! I hope that when I'll grow older that I'll be as social, nice and appreciate life and nature as much as Tony and Merril does today :)

First day on the Overland Track, started on Friday 28th, from Ronny Creek, heavy heavy day with all the food and water to cary, with a steep walk to Marion's lookout. Stopped at Waterfall Valley hut for the night after 5 hours of walking, slept like a baby with the waterfall running next to the tent.

First day - Overland Track - October 28 - on the way to Waterfall Valley hut

The track - bord walk is really nice, had my board walk song (I love the board walk, I love the board walk sha la la la la) - but there wasn't much board walk so I was really happy when long sections of board walk was coming along the track

Tent is being pitched up by Mick, he took the tent pitching seriously :) ... first night in the new tent, smelt new and lovely

Waterfall Valley hut - 1st hut on the track, spent one night here

2nd day on the track - had long walk from Waterfall Valley hut to Pelion hut, over 25km, skipped one hut along the track, Windermere, since the weather was ok ... by the time we got to Pelion hut it was pouring down with rain and I was stuffed up with all the roots and waterholes along the track

Happy me on the 3rd day - walked from Pelion hut to Kia Ora - stopped by 3 huge waterfalls and skipped Mt Ossa sidetrip since the weather was bad

Wombat walking on the track - had a look at us and took of again :)

Suspension bridge crossing close to Narcissus hut, getting closer to the end of the walk, pretty cool bridge, only one person at a time was allowed to cross

OK, to sum up the Overland Track: we finished the walk in 5 days (planned for 7), really good walk, not that hard after a few days of warm-up, there are many huts along the track, well marked track with splendid sidetrips to do if the weather is good ... which it wasn't for us so we had to skip Mt Ossa, Mt Barn Bluff and Pine Valley track ... so next time we'll do Mt Ossa via Jerusalem National Park and stay at Pelion Hut and walk up to Pine Valley hut via Lake St Claire (by ferry this time) and do the Labyrinth and Mt Acropolis. Tassie is a place that I'll return to with pleasure, it's always beautiful and I'm always sad to leave this island.