Total Distance – 837.1km
A Heysen Trail Story
AAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGG!! This morning I had a full on hissy fit. Swearing, muttering, angry. It’s the first I’ve felt real anger on this whole trip.
The reason? My stove has died. It actually died last night, so I ended up eating cheese on stale Naan Bread for dinner. I had been hoping that it was just too cold to operate my gas cannisters properly. Yes, that’s right…cannisters. I’m actually carrying two at the moment. So I slept with the full one tucked in the bottom of my sleeping bag, under the understanding that this morning everything would be working as usual. Wrong. Things weren’t working at all.
No coffee and it was freezing cold. Ice covering everything. Water dripping. And I lost it. Big time. AAARRGGGGGG!!!! Straight into my pillow.
It didn’t last long and once I got it out I felt better. Might as well get on with the messy pack up. At just the right time, Gail, coffee angel, yelled out hello and I sadly explained my plight. With that, she returned to her tent, grabbed her stove and set me up to boil some water. Heaven on a freezing cold morning. Thank you Gail for that kindness.
In a cunning, and maybe ill conceived plan, I ordered a new stove and had it sent Express to the small town of Kersbrook which I will pass tomorrow. It’ll be a 4km round trip detour into town, but if I can pull it off I’ll be happy. If it doesn’t arrive in time I’m not sure what I’ll do. Scream again probably.
Luckily, today’s walking was wonderful, relieving me of my gear woes for a while.
First up, a ridgetop walk over Little Mt Crawford. A beautiful bush track lined with banksias and basaltic rock. Sweeping views off to the left when given the opportunity.
The track descended into the forestry zone, lined with pines. A series of boardwalks crossed a marshy area, water black as tar with the tannins. Fantails and silvereyes darting to the waters edge. Roos lounging on the grassy fields.
The track then entered the Watts Gully Conservation Reserve. A road steeply climbing to a tower high point before transforming into an excellent bush track lined with flowering plants of multiple colours and varieties. This sort of track is why I love to walk, and it was so wonderful to snake down the mountain, losing all directional context.
The campground is busy! A group of school kids here as well. Once again, Cath and Greg have promised to come to my rescue and provide me with the boiling water I need for dinner. Legends.
There’s a little sun this afternoon, so I’m lapping it up. It promises to be another very cold night. For everyone’s sake, let’s hope my cunning plan comes off tomorrow. Otherwise, the screaming may begin in ernest. Again.
Be brave Lin! Hope your cunning plan (“its so cunning, you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel” – Blackadder) works out for you. You need your hot coffee in the mornings! xxxxxxx
At last! The Wonder Walker shows a teeny crack!! Great effort in consolidating those emotions!
Beautiful walk today. It’s amazing the difference between structured forests and wilderness natural bushland. But both have their place, I suppose….
Yeh pretty ordinary a half an hour or so – of mad searching didn’t reveal much, except to drain both our devices. Pretty sure it sounds like Carbon build up.
Sometimes the ‘Interwebs’ is fairly useless. But we tried. Dars orl we’ll do. X