31 May 2010

Overland Track Jan 2000 - Day 9

Lake Will and Waterfall Valley Hut

The following day we visited Lake Will, technically at the base of Barn Bluff, though an ascent from the lake would be rather ferocious. Threatening, misty clouds simply evaporated in the sun, leaving sandy beaches, complete with guys talking about surfing! I could imagine that with the right sort of wind, it may get some waves, but the water was hellishly cold (hellishly cold?).


We trudged on to Waterfall Valley Hut, a destination that kept on picking itself up and moving further away, much to our annoyance and the boys’ increasing dismay. “Just around the next bend” and “Just over the next rise”, blurred into “Just wait ‘til I get my hands on the cartographer”, a person who obviously had never factored human tiredness into their map-making.
That afternoon, having set up camp in what seemed like Central Station after the less populated sites of before, we embarked upon our silliest idea of the trip, climbing Barn Bluff then and there. We set off briskly, but being a 600 metre climb, and after getting to within about fifteen minutes of the top, tiredness set in, weather looked more threatening, and we had to turn back. It was a great opportunity for character building, though I don’t think we quite rose to the occasion. Tired, dejected and upset, we all stumbled back down to camp.

Our spirits were brightened by a visiting wombat and quolls. The wombat had a purposefulness about it that reminded me of that possum. I guess it comes from being so close to humans who would like to feed it rather than watch it eat its normal food. Quolls on the other hand, whilst quite fearless about humans, would rather be watched running around, and would flit from place to place so fast that they would be gone before I could even pick up the camera. Think of a Jack Russell Terrier on amphetamines and you’ll get the idea!

As seen on Andrew Purdam's Bushwalking Treasure Box blog.

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