So, after selling our tickets to Boogie Festival we decided we should def seize the Easter weekend with both hands and wrestle it into submission.
Good Friday we were up at the crack of dawn and off to Upper Ferntree Gully for some more 1000 steps action. This was a good chance for Anton to break in his new boots. After a trip up the Bellview track and down the Lyrebird, his heels were bleeding and blistered. That called for an end to that trip, and we were back on the train after only about an hour. There really is no other way to break in boots but to walk in them though!
Saturday was rest day, then we were up at the crack of dawn again on Sunday to pick up our 'Rent a Bomb' And what a bomb it was (the sky blue colour of it making up for a missing inner door-handle on the passenger side, and a few goes before starting up after it's been dormant for a while) At $35 a day you really can't complain. So off we drove to Kinglake to claim our pre-booked number 9 campsite at The Gums Camping area. Each campsite has a BBQ table and fire pit, so after driving around trying to find firewood for a while, we settled on some fire-lighters and charcoal instead. Pitched the tent, and then took off on a '4 hour circuit' according to the park ranger which ended up being about 2.25hrs. Probably a good thing because even with mega bandages Anton's blistered heels were bleeding again. OUCHY!
Here are some fun pics of the campsite and fire. This first one is Anton putting on his new boots, Rent-a-Bomb 'Barry' in the background:
This next one is on the 2.25hr walk. As you can see the trees are all charred from the Black Saturday fires in 2009. It it rather sad and confronting with the trees being a constant reminder of the tragedy, sort of like a living memorial I guess. 95% of the Kinglake National park was burnt and the Gums Camping area and some of these tracks have only just been re-opened after restoration:
Anton just about to eat a flaming marshmallow!
After quite a good night's sleep, we decided a longer walk was in order. We packed up the tent in the morning, and after grabbing a welcome coffee and croissant in Kinglake, set out on a 5 hour tramp. We really didn't have a clear idea how long it would take, but figured judging by the map, that it would take between 4 and 6 hours. Anton wore his sneakers as his heels were still too sore to endure a long tramp in his boots. The scenery on this tramp was much more interesting than the previous day. We headed along ridges and down dales, the weather varying between, rain (we had umbrellas) hail (thank god for those umbrellas) and shine! Because we are not yet fully equipped with gore-tex wet weather gear, I was hugely thankful Anton bought the umbrellas along. As luck would have it, we found a concrete pipe to eat our lunch in about a minute before the first hail storm swept in:
The second hail storm on the way back was brutal and all we could do for about 5 mins was crouch down and brace ourselves against a low bank with our umbrellas aimed against the storm! It was so loud it sounded like a huge plane flying low overhead. Nothing like a good storm in the wilderness!
Here's a pic of some fluro orange fungi on a burnt out tree. There were also incredible grass trees which were beautiful and strange and prehistoric looking.
A sunny spell after the rain:
We were glad to finally turn the corner after 5.5hrs and see Barry the Rent-a-Bomb waiting patiently where we had left him, but felt pretty proud of ourselves to have done such a challenging walk (with both terrain and weather!)
One thing it has revealed is that my boots are not up to the challenge! After 5 hrs walking on reasonably rocky ground, the soles were ripped to shreds! Not cool. So I have had to bite the bullet and buy some new ones from Mountain Designs today. Oh well, better to find out now than 2 months down the track. Blisters will also become my constant companions over the next few weeks, the only difference being that I will probably complain more than Anton about mine rather than his admirable suffering in silence. Here is a pic of the soles of my old boots, next to my new ones:
Good Friday we were up at the crack of dawn and off to Upper Ferntree Gully for some more 1000 steps action. This was a good chance for Anton to break in his new boots. After a trip up the Bellview track and down the Lyrebird, his heels were bleeding and blistered. That called for an end to that trip, and we were back on the train after only about an hour. There really is no other way to break in boots but to walk in them though!
Saturday was rest day, then we were up at the crack of dawn again on Sunday to pick up our 'Rent a Bomb' And what a bomb it was (the sky blue colour of it making up for a missing inner door-handle on the passenger side, and a few goes before starting up after it's been dormant for a while) At $35 a day you really can't complain. So off we drove to Kinglake to claim our pre-booked number 9 campsite at The Gums Camping area. Each campsite has a BBQ table and fire pit, so after driving around trying to find firewood for a while, we settled on some fire-lighters and charcoal instead. Pitched the tent, and then took off on a '4 hour circuit' according to the park ranger which ended up being about 2.25hrs. Probably a good thing because even with mega bandages Anton's blistered heels were bleeding again. OUCHY!
Here are some fun pics of the campsite and fire. This first one is Anton putting on his new boots, Rent-a-Bomb 'Barry' in the background:
This next one is on the 2.25hr walk. As you can see the trees are all charred from the Black Saturday fires in 2009. It it rather sad and confronting with the trees being a constant reminder of the tragedy, sort of like a living memorial I guess. 95% of the Kinglake National park was burnt and the Gums Camping area and some of these tracks have only just been re-opened after restoration:
Anton just about to eat a flaming marshmallow!
After quite a good night's sleep, we decided a longer walk was in order. We packed up the tent in the morning, and after grabbing a welcome coffee and croissant in Kinglake, set out on a 5 hour tramp. We really didn't have a clear idea how long it would take, but figured judging by the map, that it would take between 4 and 6 hours. Anton wore his sneakers as his heels were still too sore to endure a long tramp in his boots. The scenery on this tramp was much more interesting than the previous day. We headed along ridges and down dales, the weather varying between, rain (we had umbrellas) hail (thank god for those umbrellas) and shine! Because we are not yet fully equipped with gore-tex wet weather gear, I was hugely thankful Anton bought the umbrellas along. As luck would have it, we found a concrete pipe to eat our lunch in about a minute before the first hail storm swept in:
The second hail storm on the way back was brutal and all we could do for about 5 mins was crouch down and brace ourselves against a low bank with our umbrellas aimed against the storm! It was so loud it sounded like a huge plane flying low overhead. Nothing like a good storm in the wilderness!
Here's a pic of some fluro orange fungi on a burnt out tree. There were also incredible grass trees which were beautiful and strange and prehistoric looking.
A sunny spell after the rain:
We were glad to finally turn the corner after 5.5hrs and see Barry the Rent-a-Bomb waiting patiently where we had left him, but felt pretty proud of ourselves to have done such a challenging walk (with both terrain and weather!)
One thing it has revealed is that my boots are not up to the challenge! After 5 hrs walking on reasonably rocky ground, the soles were ripped to shreds! Not cool. So I have had to bite the bullet and buy some new ones from Mountain Designs today. Oh well, better to find out now than 2 months down the track. Blisters will also become my constant companions over the next few weeks, the only difference being that I will probably complain more than Anton about mine rather than his admirable suffering in silence. Here is a pic of the soles of my old boots, next to my new ones:
That's all for now! Oh we set up camp outside Piedmonte's supermarket on March 31 (my birthday incidentally) and sold 13 raffle tickets in 3 hours, so that was a good effort!
Next week is quiz night on Wednesday so between now and then we will need to plan some cool games and of course great quiz questions!
Wish us luck!
XXX
Hey Helen and Anton, Great story.
ReplyDeleteIn forestry we used to break in new boots by walking up a stream with lots of crossings. If you can keep the boots wet for most of the first 3-4 hours then they will more readily mold to your feet. If you can't find a suitable stream, fill them with water before you leave (warm, if you must!)and add more from water bottles on the way. Good Luck!