Beth and Mark's Gap Year 2014: Lakes, Lost Days, Lockups and Lessons Learnt

I have been a little slack with updates, for which I do apologise, but plead extenuating circumstances (remember my phone mishap which seriously curtailed my internet activities). This post will, like the last one, be courtesy of MacDonalds – who seem to be the only provider of “free” Wi-Fi along our route.

We continue to progress in small increments. Our next stop after Lake Macquarie was Myall Lakes, which was an exhausting (not really) 2 hour drive away. We camped at a beautiful little National Parks Campground called Mungo Brush which was right on the banks of Lake Bombah and abutting a beautiful little rainforest. Our campsite was certainly one of the nicest in the campground. Unfortunately for us, the National Parks focus in the Myall Lakes Park is water based activities, so there is something of a dearth of walking tracks, we did find a few quite nice ones however which met our requirements.

Our campsite appeared to be a favourite local spot for prawn fishing, and we were treated each night to a parade of local fisher folk working in pairs wading through the shallows in the dark dragging a device resembling a tennis net to catch the poor unsuspecting crustaceans. This activity progressed well into the night, but far from being a disturbance, it was actually a lot of fun to watch. On the day we were leaving we were offered a bag of prawns, but unfortunately we had already packed the fridge away, so we had to reluctantly decline.

We really enjoyed Myall Lakes, but we have figured out (via our olfactory senses I think) that 3 days without a shower is probably our limit, so it was time to move on, this time to Booti Booti National Park a little further up the coast (almost to Forster). This park takes up a small piece of land with ocean one side and Wallis Lake the other side. Only one night here, but we managed a lovely walk which covered lakeside, seaside, rainforest and some serious (albeit short) climbing and descending, we also managed to wash and dry a load of laundry (well almost – bamboo fibre walking socks stubbornly hold moisture).

From Booti Booti we headed for the hills of Barrington Tops via the historic village of Stroud and the lovely little town of Gloucester both of which are about 100m above sea level and treated us to about 30ish degrees temperatures. From there it was all uphill in terms of elevation but all downhill in terms of weather. The campsite we chose to stay at was called Junction Pools and is one of the highest (1,600m above sea level) and more remote places in the park and involved a 12 kilometre 4WD trail which took us over an hour to traverse, by which time it was pouring with rain and freezing cold, and we were provided with yet another opportunity to hone our wet weather camp setup skills, but at least we were better off than the only other poor souls at the campground who had tents to erect. After getting ourselves established (quite skilfully and efficiently I might add) we checked to see how the tent dwellers were progressing. They were wet and had been attacked by leeches, but their tents were up and they indicated that they were well equipped with antifreeze (in the form of alcoholic beverages) so they would be fine. We made a mental note to be leech aware should the rain abate and we head out for a walk.

I said it took “us” over an hour to cover the 12km track to our campsite. “Us” was in fact Beth who had decided to be the driver on this day. This was the first serious test of the capabilities of our off road vehicles and of our skills in guiding them. I have decided that I am not a very good passenger in this type of situation. Beth did a sterling job of getting us to our destination relatively quickly and in one piece despite my constant advice and little shrieks and winces accompanying each of the perils I perceived at every rock, pothole, water patch or tree we encountered (and there were many). For the record, I drove out, and it was good fun, but it took me just as long as it took Beth to drive in, and to her credit, although my driving produced more thumps and bumps than hers, she did not outwardly display any of the passenger discomfort that I did (I am sure however that there was some inner turmoil happening).

We did manage a nice walk without getting very wet and without having to pick off too many leeches. We went to a place called Carey’s lookout, where I believe that there are stunning views to the valleys below. Unfortunately, although we stood at the lookout, we cannot confirm this because all we could see was a sea of white cloud in front of us. Upon our return to camp the heavy rain set in, and for all we know it is still hammering down. The positive in all of this is that I was able to catch up on some reading (The Book Thief was consumed by me over two days – highly recommended) – the negative of course was that we again needed to pack up wet. Oh well – I guess it’s character building.

We had intended 3 days at Barrington tops, but after two we became stir crazy and again started chasing good weather. This time our quest for sunshine took us to a town on the north coast called South West Rocks, and this is where we have been the past four days enjoying relatively fine weather and all the wonderful things that South West Rocks has to offer. The historic Trial Bay Gaol is just around the corner from our caravan park. It was built in the late 19^th Century as a new prison concept whereby prisoners were to be engaged in a public works project to aid their rehabilitation (in this case the building of a breakwater – which of course was never completed). There were enormous cost overruns and schedule blowouts associated with building of the gaol, and once it was commissioned it seems to have been an abject failure in meeting its intended purpose (not much has changed over the years has it?). The gaol was closed in the early 1900’s but was pressed back into service as an internment centre for enemy aliens during WW1. The term enemy alien seemed to cover anybody with the slightest connection to Germany regardless of their beliefs or allegiances. Again, it sounds a bit familiar (think bigotry and injustice in the name of “the fight against terrorism”). Anyway, not quite Port Arthur but very interesting nonetheless.

We have also been able to enjoy some lovely walks, and today’s walk (from the Smoky Cape Lighthouse to Gap Beach via Green Island lookout and return – 12km) was particularly nice despite mosquitoes, spiders and snakes doing their best to spoil the fun. We applied insect repellent for the mozzies, but this didn’t help with the huge and very strong webs (often containing huge and very strong spiders) which were frequently strung between trees and across our walking path. Unfortunately we appear to have been the first walkers on some of these tracks for some time, so we needed to be very watchful for the webs or risk wearing a spider on our faces. Some close shaves, but we came through unscathed at the end of the day, albeit with walking poles thickly coated in very sticky and tough gossamer from breaking holes in webs.

We had our closest encounter yet with a snake today, and again it was Beth who was nearest the action. This time it was a dangerous red bellied black snake. We are quite sure of this because we had an excellent view of the red belly as the snake propelled itself off the embankment beside and just ahead of Beth (presumably in fright) and “got air” (i.e. left the ground) as it crossed the track then allowed gravity to work and take it further down the hill. Taking a photo of this snake was entirely out of the question – I have never seen a snake move so quickly – neither have I ever seen Beth move backwards so quickly.

Yesterday I went for a run early in the morning (my first run for more than a month) on a very flat and even 7km path, and whilst I think I am developing good walking fitness, clearly my running fitness has fallen away a little (time was OK, but residual soreness was not), so perhaps I need to do a few more little runs in amongst the walks. (By the way, my early morning run did not excuse me from my daily walking regimen – which is probably why they have been infrequent).

It has been such a nice stay at South West Rocks that we are a little afraid to move on, but move we must, and tomorrow we head to Armidale via the Waterfall Way, which I am led to believe is quite beautiful – let’s hope that the weather Gods are kind to us.

A couple of little gaps that I should fill in.

Beth and I have discussed the naming of our vehicles, and we have resolved that there will be no pet names assigned. So from hereon (unless I forget) I will refer to them as “the car” and “the trailer”. Pretty dull I guess, but that suits us. (Did I just call ourselves dullards?)

Walking poles. For years I have watched hikers wander around with walking poles but have been somewhat disinclined to use one myself. My stated rationale is that I get by perfectly well without them and why encumber myself with another piece of equipment. Truth be known however, I have probably equated “walking pole” with “walking stick” and seen them as a mobility aid and their use as a concession to frailty. i.e. There is maybe a macho ego thing happening here? Having been given a walking pole as a gift from my parents-in-law I have something of a dilemma. I don’t need one of course – but it would be rude to not use it. What to do?

Whilst we were walking in the Blue Mountains we happened upon an older couple wielding poles, and I asked them how they found them – adding of course that I didn’t think I needed one just yet. The old man waxed eloquent about the benefits to him of the pole, but he added a perspective I had not previously considered. He said the pole isn’t a walking aid for older people, it is a piece of sports equipment used by elite athletes to help them perform at their very best. I rather liked that perspective and it (as well as a little gentle persuasion from Beth) convinced me to take the pole on an outing the next day. My assessment? I am not yet convinced that every walk warrants the pole, but it certainly is a performance enhancing device in steep rocky terrain – and it also works well for poking holes in spider webs. So thank you Helen and Trevor for the thoughtful and useful gift and the Blue Mountains gentleman for helping to reverse my polarity.