August 26, 2009
Whilst in Tasmania next January hiking with the family I thought, why not do an extended Wilderness Walk with some mates.
I have invited a bunch of guys from Perth and Melbourne to come with me, 10 in all. Not all confirmed but at least 8 are.
We are doing a walk called the Mount Anne Circuit in the South West National Park. Mt Anne is the highest in the S/W park and although the walk is only 4 or 5 days walking, it contains some of the hairiest walking I have ever done. Should be fun!
August 26, 2009
Our family are doing the famous Overlland Trek, a 7 day walk in the central highlands of Tasmania, The Cradle Mountain – Lake St Claire National PArk.
Here are some nice snap shots I saw on the web over the weekend web surfing, these are taken on the track we will be walking-
July 1, 2009
Well, I have been hanging out for the 1st of July for a few weeks. Today bookings open for the Overland Track hike in Tasmania. It is a popular track with people from all over the world so they have a limited number of spots available each season for walkers to protect the environment/track/huts/tent sites etc. Bookings opened today, by the time I got online at lunch time already the 28th Dec was booked out, the next day had 15 spots left so we grabbed 5 of them for Christine myself and the 3 girls.
It is a 6 – 7 day walk depending on how many side tracks you take. It has some nice huts along the way, but you have to carry a tent by law in case the hut is full. They let a limited number of people onto the walk each day and you can only walk north – south. It sounds all regimented and I guess it is, but I think it is better than being crowded out on a walk that feels like St Georges Tce…Pitt Street? (depending on what your main street is!) There are many spots to camp and the camaraderie at night with other walkers is all part of the experience. It’s certainly is not a walk you do to be away from people, but away from everything else – it is! The country is amazing. I did this walk under cloud and rain in about ’87, then again in good weather in ’93 on my honeymoon. Christine and I can’t wait to share the experience with our kids!
May 29, 2009
Thinking that another trip to Tasmania might need to happen. It has been 2 years this Jan, so I just need to work out how to get there (will we drive, fly?), what to do there when to go (next Jan?) and who will come. Christine and I would love to walk together in Tassie (again) and the kids are at a great age to do do a good walk (Overland?). But I would also like to do a hard core walk in the South West National Park like Mount Anne. So maybe we could work it all into the dream!
Mt ANNE CIRCUIT – SOUTH WEST NATIONAL PARK
Mount Anne from the shelf camp
DURATION: 4 Days
TOUR GRADE: T2 – Narrower but distinct tracks, which can be muddy in some places, in pristine natural environments. Facilities are minimal and you will encounter few other walkers. These moderate tours require a reasonable level of fitness.
Mt Anne (1425m) is the highest mountain in Tasmania’s southwest. It is perhaps one of the most spectacular highlights you will see on this circuit. The tour also features breath-taking examples of Tasmania’s recent glaciations such as dramatic ice-carved cirques, knife-edge ridges and dolerite remnants of former landforms. Wander through mossy alpine forests, ancient pandani groves and discover bright green cushion plants. This tour takes you deep into the heart of Tasmania’s World Heritage Area, and allows you to explore one of the world’s last temperate wildernesses.
POTENTIAL ITINERARY & TOUR DESCRIPTION
Day 1:
Main rd to the Eliza Plateau
Leave road and drive through a magnificent temperate rainforest at the start of the South West National Park to our start point at Condominium Creek. Climb the spur from the button grass plain through mountain forest past High Camp Hut and take in the spectacular views of Lakes Pedder and Gordon. Negotiate an incredible boulder field to the Mt Eliza’s alpine plateau and arrive at our campsite among the cushion plants.
Day 2:
Eliza Plateau to the Pandani Shelf Camp
Cross the Eliza Plateau, negotiate another giant boulder field and descend to the Pandani Shelf Camp to set up camp beneath the towering stockade of the dolerite columns of the Eliza Plateau. Option to climb Mt Anne or explore the pandani groves and pristine tarns.
Day 3:
Shelf Camp to Judds Charm
Flank the Eliza Plateau along the knife-edge dolerite ridge to the Notch, with views of the incredible remnant of Lot’s Wife. A steep descent to the Lonely Tarns by Lightning Ridge and through a lush ancient pandani forest to our camp at Judds Charm.
Day 4:
Judds Charm to Red Tape Creek and Main rd
Ascend the flanks of Mt Sarah Jane, explore the plateau, then descend through a dense melaleuca grove to the button grass plains of the Anne River .Arrive at the finish point at Red Tape Creek for our return drive to main rd.
Find the rest of my family somewhere in Tasmania…hopefully wait for me to come off the mountain!
May 27, 2009
Best in full screen, and I am sorry it’s not in High Def, but you get the idea, we had some fun… I hope it lasts with the music, sometimes YouTube cuts them when you broadcast someone’s song with the clip!
May 18, 2009
Well for those long term viewers and odd followers of my quirky ways, you may remember that I bought a pair of shoes over the internet a couple of years ago.
What I was too embarased to mention was that after recieving them in the mail they were too small. I have suffered painful feel for 2 years and have finally given up on these..dare I say…$250 paid of quality walking shoes.
With some of Mr Rudd’s generous $900 I went off to my favorite shop Mtn Designs last Saturday and picked up a pair of Salomon’s for the bargain price of $200. Heck I turned down the pair of Raichle’s I tried on for $275!!
I wore these nice shoes for a couple of hours before deciding to return them as they were too small. I took them back today and tried on a slightly larger pair of the Keen (the ones I bought on the internet) they were nice, but heck I like a change -
I ended up with the next size up of the ones I had bought Saturday. The Salomon Elios GTX.
Tonight my feet are killing me – I will push through! This weekend I have to walk over 40Km in these new shoes hmmm
March 10, 2009
January 8, 2009
I know, I know, many people write incredibly deep stuff on their blogs, spiritual stuff, and the stuff that makes for really good reading, even controversial stuff.
I pride myself on the ordinary! Like the Resurrection of an old sleeping bag.
You may remember that I got a new sleeping bag for my birthday/Christmas due to the fact that my 21 year old bag was torn, stitched, torn, stitched and… torn again. But I could not bring myself to throw it out after getting a new one (sleeping bags are a big deal to me you might have noticed).
So … In order to fully resurrect the old bag, it not only needed stitching but re-filling with down (as in the chest fluff of a small duck) Where would I find such material other than down at the local lake? Haaaa – When I was in Nepal in 1987 I remember buying a massive down jacket that was used in a NZ attempt on Mt Everest and sold to me after the attempt failed. I used this whilst up in the snow in the Annapurna Sanctuary in Nepal – and not once since! So I dug it out of a box and Christine and I started slicing and transferring fluff from the jacket into the bag.
The bag had 220 grams of fluff added to it taking it from a 1200g bag to a 1520g bag, not too bad. I think I just took it back down to about a -3 degree bag. But in the process Christine and I had some fun filling the house with VERY small feathery stuff!
November 19, 2008
Over the past year my trusty old sleeping bag that I got to go to Nepal and stay warm in has blown itself to bits. Well I guess Nepal was in ’87! So 21 years, not bad! Considering I would sleeping in it maybe 90 – 100 nights out of 360!! Not always but over the last few years that has been the case. I think I went through a ‘no outdoorsy’ stage towards the end of the Whitford years. To busy doing ministry to enjoy God’s creation.
Last Sat night whilst sleeping on the floor in a church in Northbridge the holes all lined up and released a great dump of soft duck down all over the floor, up my nose, in my mouth and in other crevases of my body! So after trying to stitch it up so many times, I have decided to take advantage of Main Peak’s members sale and get myself a new bag. This will be a Santa Claus gift from someone so I am not allowed to see it yet.
But, do I go down or synthetic? All those in the game would know there are many issues surrounding this question.
Synthetic, you need more fill, to get more warmth, hence more weight and more size.
BUT – It keeps you warm even if it is a bit wet and it dries much more quickly. This is good for me as I am wanting to do a bit more Kayaking this year now my shoulder is on the mend. These bags are good solid bags and much cheaper…it was this last point that helped me decide – I am going for a Mountain Hardwear Lamina 20. For all you sleeping bag techs here are the stats – Welded layer construction so it maintains loft in the bag through repeated washings and compression cycles. This comfortable, roomy, mummy cut bag is insulated with ThermicMicro™ fill. Face gasket and Ergo Draft Collar work together to seal in warmth.
Rated at 20 to -6
Weight 1346 g
Here is a pretty pic for you –
September 25, 2008
Well it turns out a few other people had brought in faulty mats just like mine. They have decided to stop producing their name brand mats and re-release them later in the year having changed their manufacturing plant (to the same factory who produces the worlds leading sleeping mat…the Thermarest, but this is information that I can’t tell you or I have to kill you).
In the mean time, they offered me my money back. I suggested he just give me the equivalent Thermarest.
(price of orig – $120 – I don’t ‘know’ this, it was a gift – Price of replacement $199 at no cost to me!)
I love good customer service! Mountain Designs Whitford City – You rock!
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