Manny had a touch of man flu this week and we took it easier this weekend, only walked 10kms because we were both a bit fatigued from broken sleep. Craig was away for the weekend, so we didn’t even get going till 9.30am! Having said that we tackled some pretty mean hills in that 10kms, including the one ahead of us in the picture above, around that bend it just kept going up and up. You will notice there is an overturned vehicle as well. This was the first of two cars we found on this stretch of the track. It would seem that some joy riders abandoned the vehicles after totally trashing them in the park. The tyres were scrubbed out, the windows smashed and debris strewn along the track. The tracks are rough and very rocky, it would have been a bumpy ride. We dropped into the Police Station on the way home and gave them the details. Once again it was glorious warm, sunny weather and we commented that all through our training we’ve only encountered rain once so far. With only three weekends of training left perhaps we will have to wait for the mountains of Asturias and Galicia to get wet?
1 Comment
My fourth climb up Mt Warning and I found all the training made it less effort than past attempts. With only 5 weeks till we leave Australia we've stepped up the intensity of the the training to a fast 5km walk every evening and a big walk each weekend with full packs. We collected Craig at 6am @ his local 7Eleven with takeaway coffees. Started the walk @ 7am.; it's a 5 hour return walk, 4.5kms up with a chain climb up to the summit. As we ascended we passed lots of young people on their way down who had walked up in the early hours to watch the sunrise. They said about 60 people had been up there. The track is fairly rough & today it was quite damp which made more slippery than I'd experienced before and muddy in places. The walking poles were invaluable yet again. The weather unseasonably warm but made for fabulous views of the caldera and north to the Gold Coast and way south of Byron Bay. Warm again today. We headed out early again with Craig who invested in a pair of poles since our 20km walk last week. When we arrived the parking area was chockers and I realised that the Kokoda Challenge started this morning. (96km run/walk in 24 hours through the Gold Coast Hinterland). We decided to have an easier day because I had some Flu this week. We had an unpleasant encounter with 2 riders on dirt bikes in the National Park who didn't like our protests at their presence. NNP is a very popular with mountain bikes and will host competition in the 2018 Commonwealth Games but motorised vehicles are banned. We finally had an early start, which was thanks to inviting Craig to join us. We arranged to meet him at 7am. Craig has known Manny since they started high school together and I'm sure there were times he came to regret his decision to join us on the longest walk so far. Craig does regular, long walks at the beach but he isn't used to big hills. He did really well and never grumbled despite being in pain for the last few kilometres. There are some really steep climbs and treacherous downhills, which we took very slowly and carefully. Craig found a handy stick. We finally cracked the 20 km . Having plenty of food & water helped.
On Saturday I cast my vote on our way out to Nerang National Park. We'd planned to walk 20kms today but after 2 hours we'd only managed to cover 4kms. I couldn't believe it. Shortly afterwards we found a location marker & discovered that section we’d just walked was rated advanced.In praise of walking poles:
I'm no fan of gadgets or gear, I will make do, if at all possible but as my Father would say ‘there’s nothing worse than a convert’, well that is me. I poo poo’d the thought of walking sticks, Manny railroaded me into a pair and from first use I was a a convert. Last weekend’s walk was a testament to the wonder of poles. They saved me from several twisted ankles and are a great reassurance heading down really loose surface, wearing a heavy pack. Further up this slope Manny stumbled when the loose stones went from under him. They didn’t stop the fall but reduced the damage. |
AuthorMy interests are photography and family history research. And I like to cycle and travel. We are walking the Archives
May 2019
Categories |