Dr Worm (north Tarkine Rainforest, Tasmania)

After a fitful sleep, it was breakfast at 7:30am. A sleep in by trekking standards, although we were up earlier to pack down the interior of the tent. Breakfast was, unsurprisingly, porridge. I understand the reasons why this is the choice of trekkers, but I am not a fan. Nor is Dave. Despite that, we both had some to supply the energy required for the day ahead. Another 7km walk today. Allegedly.

Lani offered me a coffee. I replied that, a s coffee snob, I couldn’t recall the last time I had instant coffee. Slightly offended, she explained it was ‘camp’ coffee. Not camp as in flamboyant. I’d had it previously, years ago, it is ground coffee boiled up in a big pot and, while it delivers a substantial caffeine hit, I declined and had a cup of black tea.

Our spacious home.

Packing the tent down was quick and easy, but the need to reorganise your pack everyday wore thin quickly. This was essential because every time we reached a new camp site, we had to deliver our share of the group’s food to the kitchen. The required, sensible, weight distribution through the backpack meant the food bag sat in the middle of the pack. It also meant that all of the food was redistributed across the bags to ensure equity of the weight carried. While this was not a problem in the, so far, dry weather, it could become one if/when the predicted rain arrived.

So many mushrooms.

We spent the entire day in the rainforest, walking up hill and down dale. The variety of fungi is amazing. Every colour under the rainbow and a multitude of shapes. The forest is dominated by massive myrtle and leatherwood trees. We saw numerous bee hives on the drive and walk yesterday, specifically to collect pollen from the Leatherwood trees to make honey. It has a very distinctive taste apparently and is much sought after.

Somewhere in the Tarkine.

The Leatherwood trees were at the end of their flowering and there were petals strewn throughout the forest. It looked like the aftermath of a MAFS wedding ceremony (do not judge me). The white-petalled flowers were quite rare, individual petals were everywhere.

A Leatherwood flower.

On the way to camp, we crossed paths with numerous green rosellas, a cheeky grey fantail, a surprised ring-tailed possum and two tiger snakes. Tassie is home to three snake varieties, all poisonous. Happily, not aggressive like mainland snakes. They slithered away when we came into sight.

No idea. There were so many fungi.

The forest is not home to a lot of animals or birds, for that matter. As a survivor of Gondwana, it existed before animals and birds. While birds like Rosellas and Black Cockatoos have moved into the tree tops, ground level is home to mosses, lichens, fungi and weird canary worms. There are no heath plants to house, feed and protect smaller birds. Of course the yellow canary worm is the link to today's title Dr Worm by They Might Be Giants from 1998.

A yellow canary worm.

We made camp by 4pm to find the permanent tarps blown down. Not so permanent. The guides produced a replacement tarp from one of their backpacks and it was secured across a rope line between the trees. Shelter for cooking and eating if required.

Dave and I in the wilderness.

Food bags delivered and tents up, we removed our boots to check for blisters. Unfortunately, Dave and I both had a blister. Not a large one, but given what was ahead … Our guides carried the magic tape to inhibit blisters, Fixomull. It was used frequently by many of us and it worked. I shall be buying a roll to keep in my bushwalking kit for future use.

Dave preparing to attack his blister.

Water, as it was for the entire trip, came unfiltered from the creeks and rivers we crossed. Pure bliss. The water in Launnie is very heavily chlorinated. The creek was about 100m or so downhill to refill bottles. Dave and I calculated we had sufficient to get through the afternoon and evening and since we were crossing the creek in the morning, we would refill then. So we settled in on a log under the tarp … until it suddenly collapsed without warning. The log, not the tarp. Dave’s end, not mine. We both ended up flat on our backs, much to the amusement of the others – once they realised we were uninjured.

Our tent in the distance.

Dinner, sunset, bed.

Our guides Lish and Lani checking the map.

We had both purchased new light weight sleeping bags and mats, specifically for this trip to reduce weight. They both packed down much smaller than our old gear, another bonus. The sleep mats were very comfortable despite the tree roots we slept on. The bags proved to be warm, although we hadn’t experienced any cold weather. My pump also proved its worth. Tiny and weighing only 8 grams, it plugged into my power bank and inflated our mattresses quickly.

Slime fungus can move in search of food.

Weather: humid, cloudy, no rain.

Distance covered: 9km, not the projected 7km.

Total distance: 22.2km

Until tomorrow.