VIC Day 18 (242) Saturday 22nd January, 2022 21.8km walking
33.8km total
Today is a trip down to Knockwood via the Army Track. There are two river crossings. Of course the track is steep and slippery and I tumble twice. Once breaking my walking stick. I feel unbalanced walking with only one. It's been at least 14 or 15 years since I started using two poles consistently. These poles went to New Guinea with me. The plastic handle is split at the top and I hold it all together with gaffer tape. Which I wear down constantly due to the way I hold them. Also each pole has a section oxidised to the other so I've lost some adjustment. I repaired the broken pole by shortening it just slightly and it works OK so far. But it's a good excuse to modernise and spend money on a new set. I don't trust all mechanisms as I do put a lot of weight on them sometimes. I've had poles collapse before this set.
I'm due to get my last supply bucket down the bottom of the hill at Knockwood. There's a river that runs down towards Jamieson. I'm arguing with myself on what to do about the power and its only when I realise I won't have any photos of the last section of the track I decide to divert into Jamieson and recharge the battery packs. The bucket is hard to find as I hid it well. There were only 4 trees to look behind but I had lain a lot of fallen bark across the top and missed it on the first pass through. I didn't muck about and just through all the stuff into the pack and put the rubbish in the bucket.
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| Hidden under that |
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| The bucket |
I will pick up the bucket on the way back when I've finished. Then it's out on the road and start walking to Jamieson. Now I've driven the road when I put the bucket out and I knew telephone signal started about halfway back but my decision to divert was made from a long view of a map and it didn't look far. I thought about 15 kilometres. Belinda corrected my thinking, as she does, to a more realistic distance of 35 kilometres as it winds with the river. It was hard to walk the road as it reflected the heat and there is this cool looking river on your right just bubbling away. I wondered if my sleeping mat could hold my weight with pack and I just float. I walked past families camped and people fishing and just dribbled sweat.
I don't normally thumb a lift. If someone stops and offers I might accept. But after I had lunch I was still a long way so I decided to actively ask for a lift. After about 5 cars a lovely gentleman, Lyndon, stopped and offered me a ride. Very much appreciated. Couldn't buy him a coffee as he and his wife were due elsewhere.
As a bonus the general store makes good coffee and had Pepsi Max. One downer is, I left my hat in the car. Jamieson was full but Belinda had spoken to the caravan park and they offered me a patch of grass for $20 a night. Again, very much appreciated. They also let me plug the battery packs in the office overnight so they charged and I didn't have to hang about. Went to the pub and had dinner bought a bottle of Merlot and sat under my tree and caught up with the diary. Some drunks down the river woke me up about 2am but they soon tired and went. Now to rest my legs for the final push
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| Zippers not working |
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