We woke to the sound of thunder. It was disturbingly loud and promised to deliver the rain we’d been expecting. It was quite pleasant to lie snug and warm in the pre-dawn, listening to it roll across the valley, despite what it might bring. As it eventuated, there was more noise than substance, at least for where we were camped. There was a brief, very light, shower of rain before dawn and another at breakfast. Nothing substantial and certainly nothing to impede the breaking of camp.
Breakfast under the tarp was the usual porridge and tea. While the brown sugar made the porridge slightly more palatable, I was still not a convert. By the time breakfast was over, our tent was dry enough to pack. Today’s walk was 7km, allegedly. We’d see what my Apple watch had to say at day’s end. The bonus was that our new camp site would be home for the next two nights.
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| Purple coral. |
Our walk today included two rest breaks plus lunch. We were underneath the canopy the entire day which protected us from the intermittent drizzle which persisted on and off for around an hour all up. It wasn’t really enough to get us wet.
The rainforest is populated by three main species of tree, myrtle, leatherwood and sassafras, and a proliferation of tree ferns. The ground is carpeted by mosses and lichens in all shades of green. Actually, everything is covered by the mosses and lichens, the ground, the trunks of trees and ferns, and the trees that have fallen. It is a wonderland of muffled sound, soft footfalls and filtered light.
There are reportedly over 400 varieties of fungi in the Tarkine. We saw fungi of all colours, shapes and sizes, from huge bracket fungi to small emerging coral varieties, from white to red to purple and all colours in between.
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| One of the many bracket fungi. |
Our undulating walk was more pleasant today due to the drop in humidity. While we had some steep sections to negotiate, there were no sections that caused me to sweat profusely enough to have it drip off my nose. That said, the forest is an ever-changing landscape and trees come crashing down on a regular basis. Negotiating these fallen giants and following the magic pink tape trail markers could prove challenging. Especially if the fallen tree also obliterated the site of the tape. At one particularly smashed up gully courtesy of a very large fallen tree, our lead guide for that section, Lish, found some “track treasure”: a lone walking pole that must have fallen from someone’s pack during a previous expedition. Rather than add weight to her pack, Dave adopted the pole as his own for the remainder of the trip. A quick Google when we returned to civilisation revealed the pole to be a Black Diamond Distance Carbon FLZ worth $180 when new. Score!
At the crest of one hill was a wooden sign post. In one direction was heaven, in the other, Tarkine Falls, our destination. Heaven can wait, I quipped as we changed direction to the falls. And yes, dear reader, the obvious link to today’s title, a cracker from Meatloaf back in 1977.
Our camp site was less than a 45 minute walk from the signpost and we were ferrying the food bags to the kitchen by 3:45pm. Fortunately the tarp was in place as the light drizzle continued. The tents were constructed under the tarp and then walked into place and anchored to the ground. It was a mini production line and effectively ensured a dry tent for the night.
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| A mood shot of our tent. |
The rain stopped and the brave and energetic walked to the waterfall to refill water bottles. This included Dave who carried water for a number of the other walkers who opted to stay around camp. We gathered under the tarp around 5pm for tea or hot chocolate, as the afternoon drifted towards dinner. That evening, dinner was tofu laksa with fresh snow peas. Dave’s palate was certainly travelling to new places on this trek. I even saw him eat a chicken and salad roll. (from Dave: Snitch!)
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| The rain made them prettier. |
This group was, without doubt, the most cohesive group with whom I’ve ever walked. I posed this conundrum to everyone on one of our rest breaks earlier in the day: if there is always “that someone” in any given group, and this group doesn’t have “that someone”, does that mean I am that person? Or is it Dave? It garnered a few laughs and the acknowledgement that we didn’t have “that someone”.
Before bed, I decided to brave the toilet trench. The darkness wasn’t really a concern but being attacked by giant moths flying at my headlamp was, well, distracting and disconcerting. Back down at camp, we headed for the tent and bed. Getting in and out of a two-person tent proved challenging. There was limited space to sit to remove your boots and stash your pack in the vestibule and changing for bed meant lying down to remove your existing clothes. A wet tent fly only exacerbated things, but our mattresses were comfortable, sleeping bags warm and the tent, despite conditions, was dry inside.
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| The symbol of the Tarkine: a curling fern frond. |
The distance of today’s walk was an estimate because my watch misbehaved and didn’t fully track two sections.
Weather: some light rain
Distance covered: 10.5km.
Total distance: 32.7km
Until tomorrow.
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