Melbourne Stroll

Spent 2 long weekends in Melbourne, strolled around the arcades,  down the Luxury boutiques... 

Walls of Jerusalem NP, Tasmania. 6 day exped.

An epic 6 days up at a 1200m base camp, with day walks.  Lots of snowy days...  for the second week of November. 

(Click on a Photo for large view and scroll them) 

In the Jetstar magazine... a young woman does the 3000km North to South NZ hike and it changes her perspective on life and herself. 

The small town of Launceston where I started after the flight 

After the Bus ride to Deloraine , Sunday Hitch-Hiking towards the trail start.

Tiny campground I stayed in Sunday eve, the next day I was at the trail start at 9am

 Typical Breakfast... Coffee,  Porridge in an insulated bowl.

 At the trailhead, 9am Monday

 Trappers Hut after a steep climb. 

Wild dog Creek campsite and my base camp at 1200m 

 My home for 5 nights at base camp

 Lunch prep the day before a day trip 

 The High plateau "walls of Jerusalem"  just above base camp

 Button Grass

 After a big dump of snow... spent Wednesday in the tent. 

Hiking in the cold, with wet feet due to river crossings and snow. 

Top of Mt Temple , 1500 m approx. 

 Dixon's kingdom Hut.  Very picturesque and neat entries in the log book

 Following the pink tape from Dixon's Kingdom to Ball lake (no proper track)

 Lake Adelaide . Did a 21 km cct that Thursday, cutting across to wild dog creek at the end of the day

 Pencil Pines, unique to Tasmania

 Snow on Cradle Mountain area 

 Woke up to lots of snow on Saturday. Hike out with a young couple. GPS used sometimes , as track covered in snow...  

Overall, a great intense experience, only a week off work building trails in the Grampians.  
Saturday Bus from Halls gap , shuttle, flight to Launceston (1 hr). Stay at Launceston Backpackers (very calm and good) , buy food at the local Coles.  Catch bus to Deloraine Sunday at 1pm.   Then Hitchhike to a few km of trail head, stay in small campgound. 
Monday get up early, Hitch and get to trail head at 9am.
carrying 27 kg (alpine tent, cold weather jacket and pants, 6 days food, GPS with topo maps, PLB,  Cooking gear , sleep bag, 2 mats. )

up to wild dog creek camp in 4 hrs. Set up camp and chill.
tuesday day hike.
wednesday in tent all day (heavy snow , then rain).

Thursday big day hike: 21 km cct : up to gates of Damascus, up mt Temple, down to Dixon's kingdom. Across to Ball lake then follow hard-to-follow track to lake Adelaide and beyond (overgrown , poorly marked, multiple river crossings up to knees/ groin).  Snow flurries all day. 
cut across last 1.5 km to get back to base camp - No track, some bog and thick forest.
Glad to be back in tent... getting mildly hypothermic. I get dry thermals on, make hot water bottle, eat and recover in sleeping bag. 

Friday another day hike , looking for baglet that ripped off my pack on Thursday....  not a big deal in the end, but I dont find it.... Tassie bush is unforgiving. 

Saturday pack up tent in freezing snow, my hands loose feeling. I sit down on mat, make hot chocolate and warm my hands back by pouring hot water on them.....
A lesson in how quickly things can deteriorate with very cold weather.  
Luckily I had my GPS turned on ,on the way in. So it had a coloured trace of the track, which we sometimes followed on the way out, as much of the track was covered in snow. 

I am lucky to meet this couple, and we drive back to Launceston, where I dry my gear, take a hot shower and eat stacks of food in the hostel. 
Fly out the next morning , and back to work Monday....