Overland Track – Day Two

Despite being pretty tired the night before, none of us slept exceptionally well. I found I woke myself up every time I needed to turn over!
I had left my pack in one of the huts to keep it safe from hungry wildlife, as my pack had most of the food.
It was a horrible shock putting it on my shoulders when I collected it in the morning! Ow!

Time to say goodbye to Waterfall Valley and start the trek towards Windermere. 7.8kms and a lot less climbing.

The day was grey and misty and quite pretty – a change from the hot sun from the day before. Landscapes loomed out of the gloom and the colours seemed more saturated and interesting.

Today was Rachel’s tough day. The extended walk yesterday and the weight of the pack gave her shoulders a really tough time. To the point where I could see them swollen through her t-shirt! Concerned about long term damage, she wasn’t sure if going forward was the right thing to do.

We took plenty of breaks, talked through options and took our time.

Stopping to simply look around our world was wonderful.

We aimed to get to Lake Will (our lunch spot) before making any decisions on what Rachel was going to do. In the meantime, Jeff kept her entertained with stories and I kept taking the photos!

Like the day before, the terrain constantly changed as we traipsed along.

The damp weather brought out the best in the colours of the trees

By the time we reached the junction to take a walk over to Lake Will, Rachel’s spirits had risen considerably – even though the pain hadn’t lessened all that much.
We left Jeff, who made himself a coffee, and our packs to do the short walk to see the lake.

It was so nice to be pack-less! A walk sans 20kgs on your back is rather blissful!

Plenty of hikers were taking the opportunity for a swim! I can only imagine how ‘refreshing’ this must have been!

Short break over, time to get the packs back on and keep heading towards Windermere.

Plenty of fabulous lichen & mosses everywhere

Our little party got strung out for a while – Jeff went on ahead for a while as standing was making his feet hurt. Rachel kept her pace and of course I fell behind with my camera, swooning over the beautiful landscapes before me!

We eventually caught up to Jeff and all got back together again

A glimpse of the track before us

The boardwalks gave way to (slightly unstable) rocky pathways

Often when we stopped for a drink or breather but didn’t actually take the packs off, we would bend over and let our backs take the weight off our shoulders for a minute. It was a good way to get some shoulder-relief.

Windermere Hut and camping platforms were tucked away in a beautiful little area

Rachel chose a nice sheltered platform and shed her bag and took a moment to reflect! (er – maybe she was passed out??)

Our platform was tucked away in a corner, overlooked by a pandani family and their friends

We could have had a platform with Lake Views –

But we figured we would be in our sleeping bags hopefully asleep just as soon as dinner was done. Plus – the wind was getting up and this is the tent next door being flattened by it.

The platforms were really actually a lot better than I thought. They had chains to tie down the tents and the boards provided a good place to sit/lay down or spread things about and not get muddy. (Or, more importantly – leeched)

Lunch first. I got extra points for hauling along fresh tomatoes, mayo & my relish!

Best part of the day was ‘Snicker Ration Time’

This meant we had happy campers!

It’s no different in the wilderness than it is in town. You make dinner and unexpected guests turn up looking for a feed!

Time for bed!

Cheers