A wanderer's blog...“A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free. ” - Arthur Schopenhauer
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Tasmania, the hidden jewel of Australia 2011/08/01-15 day 5
It’s a WONDERFUL DAY!!! You can guessed why by looking at the picture above, haha!!!!
Although my mobile phone alarm did pissed Alex off a bit early morning with the black eyed peas – I gotta feeling’, LOL. The alarm went off non-stop even though i have turn the power off inside my backpack until the battery went dead, LOL I didn’t hear it meant i have a pretty good sleep last night, haha.
But otherwise it’s a WONDERFUL MORNING to wake up!!! My god, i was SO EXCITED again when i viewed out of the window, it’s SNOW!!! LOL!!! And this time there’s quite a bit of it that fell last night. I quickly went out for a walk in the slippery melting snow, but it was AWESOME to see the pure white scene!!!
Obviously the swamp hen has been working hard around the hut for its breakfast, haha. I was so excited that i went back into the hut and wrote “Merry Xmas” on the window!!! I felt like celebrating a white xmas!!!
Next on, it’s time to hit the track again, it’s so nice to to see the trail dotted or covered with snow!!! But obviously the snow only fell on certain parts of the track, as we went further, there’s less trace of snow anymore.
Even the track pole got frozen!!! haha!!! And full of moss growing on it!!! That’s Mt.Oakleigh in the faraway view from the pine forest moor, we were heading for the next hut sitting right at the foot of Mt.Oakleigh!!!
And then it started to rain with a bit of flurry
Then big snowflakes came pouring down for a while, haha.
We visited one of the cradle mountain hut’s hut (of course it’s locked), these hut are 10 times better than the park’s huts of course, furnish with kitchen, sink, proper chairs, proper heating system, hot shower, modern toilet…etc. BUT IT”S PRIVATE so YOU GOT TO PAY TOUR FEE!!! it’s NOT CHEAP too, haha. But of course, the best of all is you don’t need to carry heavy load, you only need clothings, bit of water, some snacks etc, and there’s hot shower and hot meals and WINE waiting for you at the hut, you have proper bed too!!! of course, this cradle mountain hut tour is good and important as Alex said, it provide opportunity to those that couldn’t handle the heavy load but yet willing to pay to see and experience this AMAZING wilderness!!!! It will help create awareness to those that couldn’t do the heavy load still and more people will see and appreciate the beauty and hopefully help to conserve this place.
The journey continues…falling logs are sometimes problematic to hikers, as it can block the path.
Can’t remember is there a name for this waterfall at all, haha. The hike continues to the lowest point throughout the whole overland track, called frog flat. It’s wet and muddy as expected due to it’s low point. We had our lunch here in the rain, haha. There’s still a third of the track from here to the new pelion hut.
Finally!!! It’s certainly a long day!!! The shoulders were getting tired and sore, lol. My eyes kept eye-balling for the hut’s rooftop when we were near Mt.Oakleigh, however, every turning was a disappointment, LOL.
The big front balcony of the new pelion hut with amazing view of the pelion plains in front!!! HOW NICE!!!
The view of the new pelion hut and toilet next to it. The boardwalk in the picture leads to an open view of Mt.Oakleigh. This hut is really HUGE that it seems like 2 huts, with two communal areas, two heaters, both connected by a door in between.
Mt.Oakleigh!!! Simply breathtaking even though the clouds haven’t totally clear up yet!!!!
After a bit of rest, we dragged our bodies to visit the old pelion hut located half an hour away. It’s tiny compared to the huge new pelion hut, haha. It’s actually a hut build due to the mining further down and it’s 100 years OLD!!!! Really a heritage needed to be protected!!! The picture on the right shows the wooden uneven bunk for zzzz, i can felt instantly that it’s not the most comfortable bunk, LOL.
On the way back from the old pelion hut, one can see Mt. Pelion east which is the tiny rocky peak brightened up by the late evening sun ray in the picture. On the way to the new pelion hut, we also passed Mt.Pelion west though we couldn’t see it due to clouds and i missed the junction that leads to Mt.pelion west which Alex pointed to Jono.
More panoramic view of Mt.Oakleigh!!!! It’s a bit of a pain waiting for the sunset colours and clear skies in the freezing temperature, LOL. We did not have time to climb Mt.Oakleigh though it tempting!!
The new pelion hut is the junction of few different tracks, one can walk the Innes rack + arm river track or walk to Lee's paddock which are another few entry into the overland track. Hear from Alex and saw online that Lee's paddock is another amazing place with the tiny hut located next to the river and surrounded by mountains!!!
Dinner!!!! Alex’s recipe – Tuna + rehydrated green beans + mesh potato!!! DELICIOUS!!! I have since make this on my own for camping trips, haha.
At night, again there’s nothing much to do, no star gazing under the freaking cold weather too, haha. But in every hut, we always have a night visitor or i should say a night resident scavenging for food – the overland track possum!!!! It’s not scare of human, and are some of the fattest possum i have ever seen!!!
We were praying that the weather will not be too bad the following day, our extra aim was Mt. Ossa the next day, the highest on Tasmania island!!! Hehe
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