Day 5 -7 (We suck at this!)

Day 5--Kia Ora to Windy Ridge:

This walk was relatively down hill for most of the day (Hallelujah!) It's big attraction was it was 3 big waterfalls along the way.




The really big highlight however was Nathan and I saw our first snake in Australia (ever); and yes it was poisonous. It's a tiger snake (we think).

We walked into Windy Ridge just as the wind picked up and it started to rain (perfect timing). It seemed like too much work to set up so we spent the night in a brand new hut with a huge drying room and a large communal kitchen area where almost everyone spent the night reading and playing cards.
Day 6: Windy Ridge to Echo Point Hut
The next day was an easy downhill walk on planked paths through lush green meadows. With rain sprinkling intermittantly, the trees were filled with birdsong. Overheating in our rainsuits, we stopped frequently to consult the bird book looking for superb fairy wren, cockatoos, and kurrawongs. We reached the suspension bridge that marks the final leg...the walk to Narcissus Hut and Lake St Claire.


Most of the other hikers stopped to set up camp on the lakeshore, planning to take the ferry back to the end of the trail. In a fit of machismo, Nathan and I decide to complete the Overland Track on foot--walking to Echo Point Hut and the last 15km to the end of the Lake.

This forest track was less-travelled--overgrown with giant ferns muddy and less repaired. I had taken off the bottoms to my rainsuit to allow for better temperature regulation (whew...steamy), and within 15 minutes was a wet, muddy mess. We arrived at Echo Point hut to find a fire in the coal heater and a place to dry our soaked socks.

After dinner, we walked the lakeshore searching for platypus but there was not a single sign of good habitat or platypi frollicking in the dusk.


Day 7: Echo Point Hut to the Lake St Claire Visitors centre.
We got an early start on the hike back to Lake St Claire...the ferns were covered in a thick dew and caught the morning sunlight. Again, we were soaked and muddy in the first 15 minutes. There is something psychological that happens when you are told you are on the last flat stretch....every minor hill becomes a major discouragement. As soon as we met the first day hikers out for a walk, the remaining kilometers crawled by...."Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"

When we hit the national park, people looked on in an admiring disgust. Admiring our fortitude at the long hike, disgust at the smell which permeated our clothes--sweat and coal. Before heading for the showers, we paused to say goodbye to our friends from the trail and to sign the register completing our walk.

Finally clean, we bought a lunch of fresh fruit and coffee (which was a major treat after a week of freeze-dried food!) and caught the bus back to Launceston. We arrived at Kilmarnock House where we filled the jacuzzi with hot water, drank red wine, and ate pizza. HEAVEN.