Training Log Archive: Wally80In the 1 days ending Feb 17, 2011:
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Thursday Feb 17, 2011 #
Trek (Overland Track) 3:00:00 [3] 8.2 km (21:57 / km) +400m 17:39 / km
shoes: Brooks Cascadia
Pelion to Kia Ora
We woke up to even worse weather than the day before so we had a luxurious breakfast of pancakes and coffee (oh yeh, we were roughing it) then sat around for a couple of hours waiting for the cloud to lift. We eventually gave up and started walking. The highlight of this day was meant to be the side trip to Mount Ossa, the highest point in Tassie but when we got to the turnoff we couldn’t see squat so we decided not to bother going up. In the brief clearings between showers we did get some nice views though.
We got to Kia Ora just as the rain stopped for the day. There was a group of boys already there that had bumped into one of the guided tours earlier in the day. These bludgers just carry a small pack and get all their food, wine etc provided for them at private huts with hot showers and actual beds. Whilst it is admittedly cheating it still didn’t sound like a bad idea. Anyway, they also fresh bake their own bread every day so these boys managed to scam a loaf. And we got to watch them eat it all. sigh.
It was also at this hut that I did the stupidest thing of the trip. Even though I had stopped wearing my icebreaker kit I was still pretty itchy and with only one non wool shirt left I was pretty smelly too so I decided to hop in the nearby creek for a wash. This creek was one of the special sort that when you first hop in you don’t think it is too bad. Only because it is saving up a special punch for when the initial numbness wears off. I apparently squealed quite loudly at that point. After I got out I realised what happens when you rapidly cool your body when you have a skin irritation. You get itchy. Really really itchy over your whole body. It wasn’t a peasant couple of hours after that.
But eventually it calmed down to only a major irritation and we set up camp on a platform looking over a lovely valley for the night. We had to be pretty quick getting in and out of the tent though due to the mossies and we woke up to discover that they HAD all seen Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds
We woke up to even worse weather than the day before so we had a luxurious breakfast of pancakes and coffee (oh yeh, we were roughing it) then sat around for a couple of hours waiting for the cloud to lift. We eventually gave up and started walking. The highlight of this day was meant to be the side trip to Mount Ossa, the highest point in Tassie but when we got to the turnoff we couldn’t see squat so we decided not to bother going up. In the brief clearings between showers we did get some nice views though.
We got to Kia Ora just as the rain stopped for the day. There was a group of boys already there that had bumped into one of the guided tours earlier in the day. These bludgers just carry a small pack and get all their food, wine etc provided for them at private huts with hot showers and actual beds. Whilst it is admittedly cheating it still didn’t sound like a bad idea. Anyway, they also fresh bake their own bread every day so these boys managed to scam a loaf. And we got to watch them eat it all. sigh.
It was also at this hut that I did the stupidest thing of the trip. Even though I had stopped wearing my icebreaker kit I was still pretty itchy and with only one non wool shirt left I was pretty smelly too so I decided to hop in the nearby creek for a wash. This creek was one of the special sort that when you first hop in you don’t think it is too bad. Only because it is saving up a special punch for when the initial numbness wears off. I apparently squealed quite loudly at that point. After I got out I realised what happens when you rapidly cool your body when you have a skin irritation. You get itchy. Really really itchy over your whole body. It wasn’t a peasant couple of hours after that.
But eventually it calmed down to only a major irritation and we set up camp on a platform looking over a lovely valley for the night. We had to be pretty quick getting in and out of the tent though due to the mossies and we woke up to discover that they HAD all seen Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds