Day 239 Pine Creek to Black Soil Gully Track

 VIC Day 15 (239) Wednesday 19th January, 2022 21.6km

Early start again today. It's one of those steep days going down to the Macalister River.

The Morning Road

I've worked out it's the steep downhill that causes my right hip joint to ache. This is on top of the lump that is sore. On the Heysen I thought I had damaged the joint but an ultrasound showed it to be Bursitis, which is the lubricating sack being aggravated. A cortisone injection fixed it. I've walked all this way and haven't had any trouble till these steep declines here. Hope it doesn't flare up badly as by the time I finished the Heysen I couldn't sleep on my right side.

Going Down There

Slippery Gravel

Caledonia River Valley

Hitting the Macalister I then have to do 5 or 6 river crossings. No real problems as I find shallow rock hops on all the crossings. So no boots off.

Reminded me of the natural bridge in Albany WA. Hope it stands up to the erosion and forms a bridge.

The berry vine chocking the river edges

The designated camp site is across the river where the Caledonia River joins. I get across both but am not real happy with the camp spot. 30 metre tall widow makers all round and a wind blowing.

Not too hard river crossings. Lovely clear water.

Macalister and Caledonia River Junction.

Belinda has a quick look at the satellite view to see if mentioned grassy areas are any good. Bit hard but she can see open areas. I take a chance and load up with my 3 litres of water and begin the climb out of the river side. The mentioned grassy areas are not to my liking and I have to keep walking.

In the end I only have to walk 4 kilometres to where there is a track intersection that has a flat open area with no overhanging trees. The one has fallen already and has been sawn for firewood.

Camp spot

The zippers on the tent are starting to play up now. I must have kicked a brown dog somewhere. So far it's an easy over come with me just holding my tongue just right and slowly zippering up. If it doesn't mesh I back up and change the position of my tongue and go again. Painful when I need to pee in the middle of the night. Today I'm sure the Solar panel drained my battery pack instead of charged. I now turn off my phone altogether to save charge. The Inreach lasts about 3 days and I need to make sure I have charge for that.

Day 238 Howitt high plains to Pine Creek

 VIC Day 14 (238) Tuesday 18th January, 2022 26.7km

4975.1 / 256.8km

I leave Howitt Hut camp early. I feel well rested and as I walk out I only see one person moving about from the horse group. It is foggy but the initial part of the walk is fairly flat.

The Howitt Road

I notice in the fog my beard catches moisture. I wonder how much I can drink if U suck on it a lot? Tried it once.

Howitt High Plains

By breakfast I'm still pretty much in fog. The track is getting rougher as I go down the Butcher Country Track. So named apparently as the cattle duffers would butcher the cattle they stole and transport the meat this way to various mines.

My Breakfast Spot

Still Misty

The colours of the tree

Butcher Country Track

The day is unremarkable as we stay up high. The camp spot is where Pine Creek starts but up here and this side of the range it's a little dry and the water at the head has stopped flowing. I do follow a trickle into the bush and come across a silty puddle with just a small inflow. Enough for me to dig a hole in the mud and let it flow clean then dropping my water bag in the hole and just skimming the flowing clean water. It takes a while to fill the bag then I filter it into a clean water bag. Because I left my 3 litre bag down Dry Creek I can only collect 1 litre at a time. Takes a while but I get enough for night camp.

Looking over Caledonia River Valley

There are cleared grassy spots here and I'm setting up the tent and some of my mesh tears at the stress points. I wonder what I have done wrong for all this to start happening in the last week. I repair what I can with gaffer tape and Fixomoll. I
just need to keep the bugs out.

The repairs. These are the stress tears in the mesh

Day 237 Zero day at Howitt High Plains Camp

 Vic Day 13 (237) Monday 17th January, 2022

Zero day at Howitt High Plains Camp

The dead wood is artistic

The horse group arrived

My setup for the day

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28Karen Coughlan, Debbie Simpson and 26 others

Day 236 Wonangatta Station to Howitt Plains

 VIC Day 12 (236) Sunday 16th January, 2022 18.6km

4948.7 / 283.2km

Today is not a big day. I'm heading back up the range to my food bucket at Howitt Plains. Depending on how much food I have I might stop for a rest day. My legs are getting wobbly on these ups and downs. My day starts early and I pass through Wonnangatta Campsite proper after about 3 kilometres

A horse tour group

. Everyone is still in bed. There is one large group that look like a horse group by the logo on the 4wd. I did see a sign for a horse paddock but didn't see horses.

Woonagatta Station

I pass the old homestead site then move on and divert up to an old cemetery. The story tells a hard life with the Smith's leaving when the wife giving birth to twins died and the twins died 3 weeks later. The father and sons then left the property. The Bryce's were here a while but Annie Bryce lost her 3 year old daughter then her oldest daughter who had lived here for 17 years died at 21. Annie Bryce was the last person buried here in 1914 as she wanted to be with her daughters. Sad stories. I feel blessed to have 3 grown and healthy children. I would never really want to outlive them.

Cemetery at Wonnagatta. Sad

The trail turns up a two wheel track that disintegrates into mud holes the 4wdrivers have churned through. I think it's going to be a long day but after a kilometre or two even they give the track away and the trail descends into an old overgrown wagon track.

Dry river track

Old creek crossing. wood

The horse group has come down this way and I can easily follow the crushed grass. It then a couple of crossings of the Dry River which thankfully is not dry and then the trail turns into a animal track recently walked by the horse group. Easily followed and zig zagging its way up 1000 metres over the next 7 kilometres.

Looks like a camp spot

Track deteriorates but a NT sign points the way 

I stop to filter some water for the climb and when I leave I've left behind my 3 litre CNOC bag. Somewhere during the day I've also lost one of my Adidas camp slip ons. All this way and I lose two things in one day. Of course I note this when I camp and I'm not going back down the 1000 metres to find them.

Up Top

I get up top and it's the most pleasant walk I've had so far in Victoria. The path is a horse pad and of course they've zig zagged their way down. Churned the track a bit as it's a little damp and as they come back up later the following day I see there are about 20 of them in total. The group is from Mansfield. They have left some gear like a trailer and some tarps so that gives me good idea where to plonk my tent well out of the way.

The bucket.

I find the bucket undisturbed and cart it down to Howitt Hutt and work out I'm zeroing here tomorrow. It's good just to sit rehydrate rest the legs and eat the excess food. Every stop I've been setting up the Solar panel in the ultimate capture position and its not making much difference to generating enough power. I'm getting worried as the next town is still 9 or 10 days away. I turn off the phone and photos are short as I only turn it on occasionally.

Day 235 Cynthia Range Track t Wonangatta Statiom

 VIC Day 11 ( 235) Saturday 15th January, 2022 24.8km

Today was a long arsed day starting with one of those steep downhills that are taxing and dangerous to an old fart like me. Victoria is becoming my least favourite section.

Whilst Qld has a lot of road walking all of Victoria is as well, but the roads are 4wd roads that no sane walker or horse would love. Mountain bikes couldn't ride up some of these hills and only those mad downhill riders (thinking Ben McGrath) would ride down them

After dropping down the road, it was a pleasant walk

Still up high though

Anyway a long day getting over and down, I assume the Cynthia Range to then tackle 3 crossings of the Humffray River.

Here we go

Down down again

These are about upper thigh deep. The waters are fast and a little muddy but with skinny legs and poles I go ok.

One crossing of Wonnangatta River

The last river crossing is the Wonnangatta River which is clear water and rocky bottom about knee deep at most.

Wonnangatta River

I then manage about 6 kilometres more before I give it away and setup camp. I wash my clothes in the river water and have a bath. It's a lot warmer down in the valleys and the March flies and normal little black ones are becoming more prevalent. The fly net comes out more often now and it makes it hotter on the face but better than those little black bastards that hover and then dart straight in to the eyeball. Lots of sun today so there is definitely something wrong with solar panel.

Day 234 Talbottville to Cynthia Range Track

 Vic Day 10 (234) Friday 14th January, 2022 16.8km

I read the information board at Talbotville and attached was a little card say McAllister or McMillan was responsible for general massacres of the Aboriginal people around the area. The names are celebrated throughout the district and I wonder at the veracity of the information or do we just ignore this older history.

1st Creek Crossing

I'm having trouble with my solar panels. It doesn't seem to be generating

power and with overcast days I'm losing power all the time. I have to turn off the phone more often and photos become less. I have a clear day today so will check it out later. The trail does a 9 kilometre meander and I see the signs for the McMillan track that ends at the Pioneer Racecource but about 7 kilometre shorter with only the one river crossing. I decide to give it a go but it is not a maintained track and a couple of hundred metres short I'm bleeding from the overgrown Berry vines and have to turn back. Then it's a 2 hour walk around the original trail. Oh well. A lot of betadine on the scratches and start again.

Looking down from McMillan walking track

Makes me think though how much affect we've had on this country in the short

time we've been here. I'm wandering on roads and tracks. I don't know what it would be like through Virgin bush but it would have been a lot easier without blackberry vines infesting our waterways. I have to do 3 crossings of Brewery Creek and 1 crossing of Wongangurra River.

Wongungarra River

I meet a convoy of 4wds going to Dargo. The pub was going to reopen on the 14th, I don't know whether it did? I get round to Station Track, then comes the ordeal of climbing one of these ridiculously steep hills. It takes a few goes and the only consolation is it gets cooler by a bit as I go up.

River Crossing Number 3

The other problem was I had a full load of water as I can't work out where

the next puddle will be on top of the Ridge line. I sit down to have a rest and a convoy of 8 comes up the hill going back to their camp at Eaglevale. These 4wds love this country. Horses, mountain bikers and hikers not so much, or not these gravel roads. We have a chat as they pass. If they had come an hour earlier they could have least taken my pack to the top. But that's not the end of this torture. The road roller coasters its way to Mount Cynthia.

Private Property

Hill Climb

Road across the top

Looking back down the valley

I'm looking at some dark clouds rolling towards me and ask Belinda to check

the weather. A severe thunderstorm warning is in place for here. I find a spot on the track and setup the tent. There was a flat spot just off the track but that turned out to be the toilet. None of it buried of course. It's while I'm here looking at the view with the toilet paper and beer cans I dream up Shazza and Dazza.

I can just picture Dazza driving his old modified Nissan Patrol, mainly

because he couldn't afford a decent Toyota. Belching smoke and gravel as he tears the track apart as fast is better. He pulls up top and jumps out with a Carlton Dry (it seems up here) in one hand then his dick in his other as he belches while Shazza squats on the other side of the car. Dazza says, "love this view Shazza". "Yeh", says Shazza."How far to Dargo Dazza?". "About a 6 pack Shazza. How many cartons of beer did we pack for the weekend Shaz". "3 love". "Hope it's enough Shaz. Be a shit weekend if we run out. Ready Shaz?" "Yeh Daz" as she delicately places a rock to hold her toilet paper down.(For the Pixies presumably). The can gets a quick crush and is dropped beside the road as another tin is cracked open and the patrol belches more diesel fumes and tears a bit of gravel up,(maybe not if it's a Nissan) and they disappear. And thus it explains what I see when I get to the top of Mount Cynthia.

The track drops. Never seems to be a gentle slope.

The storm moves overhead and I sit it out in the tent. I'm far enough from

the edge to miss most of the wind. The bonus is I collect rainwater as it runs off the tent. The storm passes before it's dark but I stay where I'm at and spend the night.