Waterfall Valley Hut to Lake Windemere

With the leaky thermarests, you might expect that it was a restless night. Exhaustion, however, is a wonderful sleeping pill. Nathan and I woke at about 8:00 (after most other tent hikers had breakfast and packed their tents and came by the hut to wash up their dirty dishes). Having realized that we were carrying much heavier food than everyone else, we decided to eat the heaviest breakfast we could....pancakes.

Our cookstove is a whispalite...which has a great reputation for being reliable, light, and boils water very quickly. Our stove also has a reputation for releasing the occasional fireball when you light it. I had wanted to buy another stove, but Nathan promised he would do all the cooking so I wouldn't burn my eyebrows off. Clever boy that he is, he had deduced that if he does all the cooking, I would have to do all the washing up. Let's just say, when you are trying to scrub off maple syrup without soap you realize just how smart your husband is.

As we packed up, hikers stopped by to chat. Their opening comment to Nathan was always, "have you seen your neck? It's really sunburnt." Yesterday had been a beautiful sunny day, about 85 degrees in Tassie. Not hot at all by WA standards. But, because of the heat in WA, we don't usually spend 10 hours in the sun. Both of us had sunburned necks, ears, temples, and perhaps most awkwardly the backs of our hands. Because Tassie has a reputation for being cold and wet, we had only packed about 2 oz of suncreen (and 10 oz of bugspray) and began rationing it out for our 7 day trip.

We hit the trail by 9:00 am (leisurely start) but weren't worried as today was a scheduled short day. The trail led off through a beautiful valley. As late as we were, we had the valley to ourselves. Looking at the birds and the clouds around the mountains, the sun peeking into deeper parts of the valley, it was like walking through a postcard.
As we hiked out of the valley, we crossed a large plain in full sun. Shade was rare and at every tree we passed a group of hikers stopped to rest for their morning snack. We marched on promising ourselves we would take a rest and reapply sunscreen at Lake Wills.

At the turnoff to the Lake, we dropped our packs. We had been warned about crows, possums, and quolls stealing food from packs at these turn offs. These animals were smart enough to know that food was usually kept accessible to the hikers so they looked for zippers to open in search of food. We covered our packs in our rain gear, then stacked our packs on top of each other to prevent theft.

After walking about 1k on a easy boardwalk, we reached a small beach facing Barn Bluff. We took off our boots (HEAVEN) and Nathan waded into the cold water to cool his feet. Now, you probably know but I have an intense dislike of ticks (some might call it a phobia), but reading our guidebooks had tranferred this phobia to other blood-sucking organisms. Listed under dangers in our guide book, were the following: Exposure, Snake Bites, River Crossings, Gastro, and Leech Bites. I don't want everyone to think I'm a big weenie. I don't like the idea of leeches but felt I could be an adult and calmly remove a leech if need be---- UNTIL I read the following sentence, "If unfortunate to have a leach in a sensitive place, SUCH AS AN EYE, then apply a mild salt solution until the leech releases." I brought an entire salt shaker to surround my sleeping bag in salt as a circle of protection.

I sat on the sand thinking about leeches and my hot feet when a family of 5 arrived at the beach. Scott and Christine and their 3 girls (Mikaela (14), Amy(11), and Sophie (9)). Everyone straight in the water to cool off. That's when I realized I was being a weenie....and I got in. It was bliss. Besides, with all these young girls they had much tenderer meat than me to feed on.

that's me, looking for leeches

When we left the lake, we returned to the turnoff to pick up our packs. A few people hadn't taken precautions, their bags had been burgled. Ravens had tried to make off with fresh apples. (For those of you non-hikers, fresh fruit is a LUXURY--very heavy. So to lose a lb of apples that you had carried over cradle mountain is a tragedy).

Barn Bluff on the left and Cradle Mountain on the right. We've come a long way baby!

The hike took us between several highland lakes, before we finally wound our way down to Lake Windemere, a large lake about 300 m from our campsite. We paused there for a late lunch before hiking up to the campsite to set up our tent. By the time we arrived, we couldn't find a tent platform to ourselves. We ended up sharing with a father and son, Michael and Chris.

At this point, we have another realization about why our packs are so heavy compared to everyone else. Nathan and I carry a 3-person tent. It has enough space for us to store our packs inside the tent without having to sleep on our side all night. Everyone else at the campsite has a 2 person tent and stores their packs in the hut (to prevent animal break-ins). Our tent weighs 4kg, our neighbor's tent was just under 2kg. We didn't even fit on the tent platform!

After setting up, we wandered back down to the Lake for a swim. The water was cold, but eventually Nathan tiptoed his way in. While we were swimming, we met another couple from WA, Sharon and Dean, that had made a goal to swim EVERY DAY on the trail.

Nathan thinks the water is too cold! What sort of Alaskan did I marry?

You may not realize how important this is. Most people (except Nathan and I) only bring 2 sets of clothes for the hike: A set of clothes you hike in, and a set of clothes that you change into at camp. With as physically demanding as some of the hiking is, you can imagine what the hiking clothes smell like even after 2 days. That's why swimming daily is a good goal. Nathan and I had one extra set of clothes that means we could wash one pair and wear a dry pair the next day.
There is a problem with this. It means you have to put a wet pair of clothes in your pack while you hike, which can be just as gross and if you think about it: WET CLOTHES ARE HEAVY. Next time, I think I'd rather stink.

Refreshed after our swim and dinner, we decide to sneak down to the Lake to see if we can achieve one of our goals for the trip, seeing a platypus in the wild. All is still in the deepening dusk, until a wombat snuffles its way across the path into some deeper scrub brush near the water. Eventually, we give up waiting and return to our tent. Tomorrow is the longest day of hiking and rumours have circulated it will reach 90 degrees. We promise ourselves an early start--7:00 AM.

Day 1; Ronnie Creek to Cradle Mtn to Waterfall Valley Hut

it's the big day....start of the Overland Track. Our stay in the caravan park wasn't too comfortable so we are easily up by 7:30 am, start the day with oatmeal and coffee, before donning our packs.

We load on our packs. Nathan's weighed 23 kg; 25 with water (55 lbs). Mine is 21 kg, 23 kg with water, almost 50 lbs. WATER is HEAVY! Each of us were hiking with 2 liters--so an additional 4.4 pounds of water every day.

We walk from the caravan park to the bus stop outside the cradle mountain park. After about 10 minutes, I'm thinking, "man this pack is heavy, I've got another 45 miles of this!" Bad sign! Once we are on the bus, we are excited that we are the only hikers on the bus. It means that our hike won't be like standing in line at Disneyland.

We arrive at the Ronnie Creek bus stop, the official start of the overland track. While we are taking the documentary photo above, a private touring company pulls up and unloads 12 hikers. Hello disneyland!

The hike starts in a highland valley covered in lichen, moss, and button grass with streams wandering throughout--prime wombat country. To protect the grassland, the hike starts on a boardwalk--its like a freeway and Nathan and I get a head start on the tour group. After a few km, we start a gentle climb up to Crater Lake. We stop for a brief pause to put on our Gaiters (heavy canvas shin guards to protect against snake bites) at the Cradle Falls, where the tour group catches up with us. As they are resting in the climb, we head up hill trying to put a little distance between us and them . From here it gets steeper climbing 300m in less than a km, so the tour group catches us again by the time we reach Kitchen Hut (our lunch stop), where we drop our packs for the climb up Cradle Mountain.

From Kitchen Hut, Cradle Mountain is a 320 m climb over 2.4 km. That sounded pretty steep, but after I took off my pack, I felt so much lighter I was sure I could manage 2.4 km walking. Foolishly, I hadn't realised that about 1/3 of the way up the mountain, you stop walking and start scrambling over giant granite boulders. This continues for a long time....just when you get to the top of what you can see, there's a saddle so you have to crab-walk down the boulders for .5 km before you start crawling over the really steep stuff on the way to the top.

We came from all way down there....pretty steep huh? On the far side of the lake, there's a little parking lot that you can just see in this photo - then up from that there's a belt of dark green trees. If you follow that around to the left, well, that's almost at the beginning of the trail. And we're about 1/2 way through the first day. I can't believe I'm still smiling at this point. Here we are approaching the summit! It was a little bit like the cover of the Led Zepplin album Houses of the Holy, only steeper.

By the time we get to the top, I'm too tired to look around.

After resting at the summit, we crabwalk down the rocks until we are able to hike again. Despite the fact that we still have 5 km to hike to Waterfall Valley hut, I'm grateful to finally be able to walk again. Even though its all downhill from here, the last few km take on that "are we there yet?" sort of feeling. My knees, feet, and BUTT are super sore from the cradle mountain climb, so when we get to Waterfall Valley where we are supposed to be camping, we collapse and decide to stay in the trekking huts provided. These enclosed shelters have picnic tables and a mattress free wood platform to place your sleeping bag on.

We are the envy of the other campers in the hut as Nathan makes his famous TVP burritos (with a special treat...FIRE SAUCE from Taco Bell. THANKS GRETCHEN!)...that is until we find out that fellow walkers Jo & Ben are carrying all freeze-dried food and their packs are 7 kg lighter than EACH of ours. Then we envy them a bit!

Exhausted we discover one fatal mistake: Our thermarest mattress pads BOTH have slow leaks (and slowly deflate over a period of a half an hour). Since some friends had borrowed them and had to use them to get out of the sand after they got stuck during a camping trip, we had made a point to test them before our trip. The leaks were just slow enough that we didn't detect them during our testing, but fast enough to deflate before we could fall asleep.

It's going to be a long night.

Overland Track adventure

I must have been crazy last July when I registered Nathan and I for the Overland Track in Tasmania. Our last hike in Minnesota was, um, "eventful." I badly sprained an ankle, Nathan got heat stroke (2x) and there were ticks, lots and lots of ticks. But hiking is like marathons, some endorphin-related amnesia kicks in and despite all practical experiences which tells you hiking is going to be hard and dirty, you dream of savouring a hot cup of coffee before an open fire, then ambling through pristine wilderness listening to birdcalls and babbling brooks. When in reality, there is a lot more sweat, dirt, and not enough hot coffee.

So, in July, I proposed a "cheap vacation" to Tasmania to hike the 80km Overland Track from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Claire. Nathan didn't argue, he's just happy for me to do the vacation planning for a change. I booked a hiking permit for the 29th December which only allows 60 people on the trail on our start date for a $250, plus a parks pass ($120). Then the plane fare, ($2400), then bus transfers ($240) then a hotel with a spa bath for the last 3 days ($450 ). Our cheap holiday--$3500, we could have gone to Bali for 3 weeks! but still not enough money for 2 plane tickets back to the US at Christmas.

You will notice the phrase mountain in the title, it didn't strike me at the time, but later planning the journey it caught my eye. What do they mean Mountain? Well, the tallest Mountain in Tasmania is Mt Ossa at 1600 m. (5300 ft) So, its not going to break any records in Alaska (but maybe in MN). The whole place is forested, hills and valleys sprinkled with highland lakes, and really ROCKY granite peaks. Sounds lovely, right?

On boxing day (26 Dec), we spent the bulk of the day packing our back packs, weighing them, taking out some clothes, weighing them again, taking out some food, weighing again, taking out mroe clothes, and weighing again. Without water or fuel, Nathan's pack weighed 22kg and mine was 20 kg. That night, we grabbed the red-eye to Launceston. We headed to our B&B, before explore the 3rd oldest city in Australia. The historic buildings have mostly been preserved the occasional modern or art deco building popping up. With a pop of 120,000 Launceston is the 2nd largest city in Tasmania (500,000), with 1/4 of the state a National Park.

After dropping our packs and catching a quick nap, we went out for a 5 hour walk, including Launceston's famous Cataract Gorge. We chose the steep zig-zag trail which provides beautiful views of the river. In the gorge, they have a chairlift over the lake. On the chairlift, Nathan spotted 2 seals. He just couldn't believe that they would swim up river to frolic in some Australian's swimming hole.
At the end of the day, we walked back to town looking for a nice pub for dinner.
As we headed to Launceston's downtown, we stumbled upon Launcheston's annual cycling race. From our vantage point in the pub, we were able to see Lycra-clad speedsters racing around our city block. We didn't understand the rules or who won, but it was entertaining to watch them cycling in circles to the applause of an enthusiastic crowd.

The next morning, we caught a bus to Cradle Mountain National Park. After dropping our packs at the Caravan Park, we went for a hike around Dove Lake and Wombat Pool, another 5 hour hike. (I don't know we kept walking, what did we think we would be doing for the next week?!?!?) On the way back from our hike, we had our first Aussie Wildlife encounter a Wombat.

Tomorrow, we head off for the first day of the Overland Track (Day 1--Cradle Mountain!).

Merry Christmas Australia style

We thought you would like to hear some Australian traditional Christmas carols--
I mean what do you do when every song you on the christmas albums refer to a white christmas?

Aussie Jingle Bells



The temperature is set to be above 90 so the reindeer aren't so appropriate. Here's Rolf Harris' solution.



Finally, you can't forget the historical issues.

Who's gonna make the gravy? This version by Paul Kelly.



I just love that one of the most classic Australian Christmas songs is the heartbreaking tale of someone writing home from jail. But still it strikes a chord for those of us who are missing friends and family this Christmas. So, from the penal colony, Merry Christmas.

Thailand itinerary 8

ummm...sorry, back to the trip (its been a very busy month more about that later).

Just a last few things about our Thailand trip which we haven't gotten too yet.

Day 8: Chang Mai Mega Tour
Awake in a rush because our alarm didn't go off and the "back up wake up call" wasn't clearly communicated. So we wake up at 8 am to a knock on the door to say our tuk tuk has arrived for the tour. We are out the door in 5 minutes, no coffee, combs and toothbrushing optional.

After picking up the other tourists...including 4 spanish tourists who meet on the tour bus and are fast friends within minutes, we head to the first stop of the day--the orchid & butterfly farm. As big of a biology geek as Nathan is, after a few photos the first priority becomes finding a coffee shop at the butterfly farm.

From there we headed about an hour into the country through some gorgeous lush hills on a barely maintained road. The first adventure stop--white water rafting. Nathan and I had more dangerous tours on our first kayak trip down the Iowa river, but it was fun and the kids with us had a great time. As long as we were wet, our guides dropped us at a waterfall for a quick dip. Several pools of fast moving water were the best jacuzzi we could ask for.

We had a lovely lunch before heading out for an elephant ride through the forest. Seeing these beautiful animals up close was wonderful. Following our elephant ride, our tour took us back to the river for a bamboo raft ride.

We finished our day with a walk to a hill village which featured members of the Long Neck Tribe. The girls wear brass rings around their necks to "protect from tiger bites". The Long Neck Tribes are Burmese refugees which are displaced around Chang Mai.

After a long day, we headed back to Chang Mai for a quick dinner before heading out to a Muay Thai boxing match. Nathan took hundreds of action photos of the night but caught a few fantastic ones.

Thailand itinerary 6 & 7

Day 6: Planes, trains & automobiles (longboat, ferry, taxi, and tuk-tuk).

We said good-bye to Phi Phi Island in the morning. We walked 1/2 mile from our bungalow to the longboats which took us to catch the morning ferry to Phuket town. It was a beautiful day, so we sat on the sundeck soaking in our last views of this tropical paradise. As the ferry moved through the water it disturbed the native flying fish. About the size of sparrows, these fish would skim across the water like a skipped rock. At times the ferry would disturb a school of them and it was like an explosion out of the water. After an entire roll of film, Nathan finally gave up getting a picture of their erratic acrobatics.
After negotiating hard for a taxi at the ferry terminal, we hired a cab to take us to the Big Buddha on our way to the Phuket airport. the Big Buddha is exactly what it sounds like:
45 m high and 25 m across the base, covered alabaster. Its funded by govt, entry fees, and other 'cause related marketing"--such as you can buy a bell to hang at the buddha's feet, or write your name on a piece of alabaster that will be cemented into the buddha. The project has been going on for 20 years, and this December will be a landmark. The eyes of the buddha will be placed on the statue. Then they will cover the base with alabaster and statues of famous buddhist monks.


From the Big Buddha,we arrived at the airport to catch a plane to Bangkok. Our travel agent had recommended that the night train from Bangkok to Chang Mai is a good use of time and money. For the same rate as your hotel room, you can get a comfortable night's sleep and see some of the country side.


Exhausted people were sleeping on the floor in the Bangkok station...I should have taken that as a hint. But I was too tired, after 4 days of sleeping on our resort extra-firm mattress. When we got on the train, our sleeping compartment was actually 2 bench seats facing each other, with a padded shelf above it. After dinner (which we passed on), the table was stowed beneath the seat. The seat folded down and our steward put on sheets, pillow and a blanket, before doing the same for the padded shelf. Curtains offered privacy for changes into your pajamas. The train was FAR more comfortable than the resort bed....ah,, [squeal of the brakes] adjust the pillow, I can't quite seem to block out the light....twitch the curtain, someone walking to toilet compartment. [repeat every 6 min]. Sigh, might as well start reading.

Day 7: Arrive in Chang Mai, Wat, Wat, Wat?

We arrived in Chang Mai on the morning train...searching the guide book for a place to stay. Lonely Planet thinks that we are "flash packers"--too mature to want to stay in a dorm room style backpackers joint with thumping music but too cheap to pay for concerige service, bellhops, and a private bathroom. We stepped off the train with a short-list of cheap hotels and were quickly targetted by "spruikers" for a hotel. The rate was right and we didn't have to share a bathroom. "SOLD!"
After a quick shower, we headed out into the Old town to eat some food from street vendors and check out the temples that are part of Chang Mai's fame. Our lunch was multiple, mystery, deep fried items (fish balls, chicken, wontons) provided enough energy to walk the Temple Trail. After seeing several Wats, we ended with a visit to Wat Chedi Luang, a crumbling ancient temple in the centre with a newer ornate temple nearby.
We caught a Tuk-tuk (a covered taxi/minibus that picks up multiple fares at a time) to the hotel. After another shower, we headed to the Chang Mai night markets for dinner and deals. As we approach the market, stall after stall of watches, DVDs, thai silk bedspreads, scarves, fisherman pants, t-shirts line street after street. We found the seafood market and caught a table for dinner of local fish curries.

Thailand itinerary 1-5

Day 1: Patong Beach--This is the Cancun of Thailand...beautiful beaches, filled with bars, cabarets, "cheap, cheap" market stalls. The beach may have been beautiful but not more beautiful than WA, and hard to appreciate as "tuk-tuk" drivers, market vendors sold Rolex watches for $10, and sequined women/men in drag advertised beer specials all vied for your attention. After walking throught the night markets, we found a bar where the most attention getting thing was a bottle of "CHANG" (thai budweiser) and a fierce game of connect 4.

Day 2: Ferry to Phi Phi Island: We came to Thailand on the edge of the Wet season. We found we hadn't quite missed the monsoons, when getting caught in the rain during a trip to the 7-11 left us soaked to the skin. After changing into dry clothes, we caught a taxi to the Ferry. The weather was still ominous for the ferry ride, and we got soaked again as we stood outside to watch the approach to Phi Phi Island. We took a Thai long boat to the resort, where we finished the day in style. Nathan in the beachside bar watching Eurosport, and me at the beachside massage stand getting my first Thai massage.

Day 3: OW, what sort of bed is this? I don't know if its a cultural thing (or if our resort was just really cheap, but I swear we didn't have a mattress, just a wooden plank wrapped in sheets. After a delicious breakfast (nothing like chillis in the morning) we decided to walk to town to book our trip from Bangkok to Chang Mai. 1 mile into town, being called upon by vendors. If a price isn't posted, you are expected to haggle. so as we walk down the street, we hear "pretty lady try beautiful thai silk, $500 Baht, wait---for you special price $300 Baht, ...$150 Baht--best I can do" We had a curry for lunch at a beachside restaurant before deciding to hike around the Island, top to bottom. With a humidity of 100% the climb to the top was exhausting and sweaty. After a change of clothes, we decided to finish the day with beer and massage on the beach.

Day 4: Ow, maybe we should sleep on the floor? Our next goal was to take a trip to Hollywood superstar Ko Phi Phi Leh . Featured in the movie The Beach, this limestone island juts out of the Andaman like a crown. White sand, turqoise water, green plants. thousands of tourists. snorkelling, a trip to monkey



Day 5: We decided to finish our time in phi phi with a kayak trip around the island. After a few false starts we paddled out to a more secluded resort where we had a plate of fruit, a beer, and some time in the hammock. This resort included my first trip to a squat toilet--but years of camping have prepared me for this moment.

Tomorrow off to Bangkok----