Hi! Getting on to the last couple of days of our hike!
The night was spent in the rather large Bert Nichols Hut.
The eating area was huge – but no heating so everyone remained fairly rugged up for the nights feasting.
Fiona and I slept in the cave down the bottom!
This platform area is great for viewing the mountains… when its not clouded over like this morning!
Anyway… here’s a slightly dodgy photo of a few of us finally putting on those cold socks and boots and getting ready for the jaunt down to the final hut.
Day six is a much easier hike than the rest of the trek. 9km in a gradual descent to Narcissus.
At this point, you can really feel you are on your way home.
There are still a few creeks to cross, but nothing so dramatic as we had previously encountered
We’d occasionally break out into the more open forests with the taller trees.
Then back into the darker moss covered bush
It was turning out to be a lovely day… no pack covers today!
Even after 6 days, I still can’t help stopping to snap a few more fungi photos
Yup… we are on day six!
Despite the great weather, there is always a good chance (or three) to muddy up the boots again
Crossroads
This is the part of the track where you now may meet walkers coming up from Lake St Clair. Beyond this point in the hiking season is a no go – the Overland is one way and you need a permit.
Often people will hike up to Pine Valley and over the Acropolis. This is actually where Fiona’s husband Paul was. He and a friend were doing a couple of days hike then the plan was they would meet us at the end so we had a ride home.
Martin, Angela and Paul caught up to us here and we all enjoyed a sit down and snack in the gorgeous sunshine.
Onward! (After yesterdays efforts I was quite nervous watching Fiona balance on anything!!)
Still a few wet paths to slosh through
So far so good… Fiona hasn’t fallen over today! đŸ™‚
Finding good huggable trees
Its hard to believe that a few days ago we were fighting our way through severe wind, rain, snow and blizzards!
Such an awesome feeling!
When you reach the bridge you know you are getting close to the hut!
Not far from Narcissus we met our first deadly creature! A beautiful tiger snake who was enjoying the sunshine as much as we were! It was in no hurry to relinquish its spot in the sun either! Finally it slithered off and we continued on.
Narcissus was a quaint little hut – tiny compared to the hut the night before!
I dashed down to the jetty just in time to say goodbye to a good number of our hiking buddies who were taking the ferry across Lake St Clair and finishing up their Overland Adventure
It was a magical afternoon – we sat in the sun outside the hut and lunched with Angela (who shared some of her soup) Paul and Martin. It was blissful relaxing and chatting – nobody was in a hurry to do anything that afternoon!
Down on the jetty, Adam and Mark brought out the vodka – I tell you, that was warming all the way down!
Pretty sure Fiona is just relaxing and not passed out or anything…
As for me? I am all about style when it comes to evening wear on hiking trips!
It was so enjoyable watching the sun go down.
Our last night on the track!
It was probably one of the best nights! There was some funny conversation over dinner (confessions of how many pairs of undies everyone brought along and how much toilet paper people were left with!!!)
Many of us stayed up much later than normal (until 7.30pm!!!) out on the helipad watching for shooting stars! We finally saw a brilliant one scratch its way across the heavens. Feeling fulfilled, we were able to troop off to bed – but not before everyone went on a frantic food barricading mission as we read on the noticeboard there was a marauding mouse in that hut.
I think some of us were awake during the night on ‘mousewatch’ as the enterprising rodent managed to eat its way into a few things!
Ahhhh – the joys of bushwalking!
Finally to sleep and ready to tackle our final day!
Cheers
