So after a late arrival home (thank you Dan for picking me up from the train station and bringing me back to good ole staff housing at Shoalhaven) and a night’s sleep in my own bed (which I determined I have yet to spend five consecutive nights in!), I was packed and off again on Tuesday! Our overnight hike that was meant to happen at the end of last week was a go for Tuesday /Wednesday since the health of our trainer, Pete (PG), had been restored.
I had packed the night before figuring we would probably be going but we still had to pack our food and gear, which took us up until about 11:00, when we set off up the trail. On the way there we did a bit of map and compass navigation work, which was really good as I had already nearly forgotten! Different from the ridge trail, done in previous training, where you are given a compass and a bearing, this time we were given a map with the markers plotted on it and a compass to calculate the bearing from one marker to the next. Dan and I had fun navigating our way through the bush as PG followed, for the most part, silently correcting us only when necessary.
Using the compass to navigate and find the markers really helped to break up the trip and make it a bit more exciting. I’m not positive but I’d say the hike was about 7km. We arrived at our destination, a cow farm in Ilaroo referred to as “Lynches” as that is the name of the family who owns it, between 4:00 and 5:00. Lots of out trips involve either hiking or canoeing to Lynches and camping for the night. However, we were picked up by Tony and driven to another campsite for the night, one a bit closer to Waterslea but still a ways down the river.
Dan being attacked by the bulls at Lynches while we waited for Tony to pick us up.
This site is called Bangalee and is owned by a boy scout camp. Often times two groups will camp at Bangalee with one hiking there and the other canoeing there, both spending the night, then swapping canoeing or hiking for the return trip.
PG instructed us that the first thing you do upon arriving to camp is set up the tents since this is about 90 times easier in day light!! After setting up tents we cooked dinner. Unlike at the Marsh where we cook over the fire, we brought little burner things with pots called triangia (I think), which uses methane to cook – pretty cool.
It was really good to go through all of this before having to do it with a group of kids. My first time will be with another instructor so that will be very helpful as well!!
PG and Dan shared a tent and I had my own. I would compare the weather to early April as it is definitely not summer yet but the bitter cold of winter has already passed. Needless to say I didn’t sleep all that well once you combine the chilly weather with the hard ground! We did have foam pads but they did little for comfort! They did however give you about half an inch of insulation between you and the cold ground! I brought my hand warmers as well but only as a last resort if my fingers and toes started to go white!! Luckily I was cold but not that cold! It was possibly somewhere in the low fifties or around there?? 7 C – whatever that is – I need to get a converter chart! Whatever it was, I sure was glad I had packed my warm pair of socks, my thermal long sleeved shirt, and a hoodie to sleep in, even if it did mean I had to strap my sleeping bag to the outside of my pack instead of fit it inside, where it is meant to be!!
We “turned in” about 9:45 and I was the first one up in the morning. PG said we could sleep in and get up around 8 but I knew I would be up earlier. I woke up around 6:30 but then went back to sleep until 7:30 when I got up, went to the bathroom, explored a little, pulled some things out for breakfast, and finally began to pack my bag before Dan and PG finally rolled out of bed around 8:45!!
Tony showed up about 9:30 to pick up our tents but we were still cooking pancakes and had not yet taken down our tents so he decided to come back later – opppss.
Filled the water bottle and hoisted the packs back onto our aching shoulders at about 10:30 and we were off, homeward bound. Not far down the trail we came to a large creek or small river. Luckily the tide was out so the water level was low and only reached just above my knees. I hate putting socks and shoes on wet feet so I dried them off as best I could with my Smokey hoodie before we set off again. We went home via the ridge trail, giving us a chance to navigate our way through the markers going the opposite direction we had come from last time. We did very well and found all the markers accept one that we missed somehow.
A view of the Shoalhaven River from a lookout point!
We got back to Waterslea around 12:00, giving us time to put our gear away before lunch, a quick shower back at the house, and an afternoon of finishing our assessments from boot camp, which involved walking around waterslea and koolona and mapping all the fire hydrants, extinguishers, and hose reels – fun.
Another really really great training experience! At several points during the trip I could help but think that there really wasn’t anything I would rather be doing right then. And I’m getting paid to do this! Sure beats a desk job!!!!! :) :)
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