Journal:
Around midnight I was woken by more rain squalls,
but could tell I was starting to feel better.
At 6:30am, during a lull in the showers I began
packing up and getting dressed as much as I could
inside the small tent. The tent was quite
exposed and I was a bit worried about it's
stability, but it survived the night fine, as did
some gear I had stowed under a nearby log wrapped in
a tarpaulin for the past 36 hours.
The weather was kind while I finished packing and
ate breakfast, with just the odd sprinkle of rain,
and I was on my way by 8:30am. I didn't feel
100%, but more just "washed out" than ill.
The early walking continued along a forestry road
that was bordered on the left by almost continuous
and park-like picnic/camping areas populated with
the usual yellow-leaved trees and kangaroos.
To the right was old pastureland dotted with
blackberry bushes and further up plantation pine
forests or eucalypt forests. I wondered
whether they actually mowed the grass in the
picnic/camping areas or whether the kangaroos took
care of it. These areas were vast and there
was something surreal about me being the only person
there. I guess in the summer months they are
quite popular.
Eventually, the trail climbed away from the
Blowering Reservoir along a disused fire trail
through eucalypt forest occasionally offering nice
views back down the dam and, at one of these, I
stopped for some lunch around noon. Although
it was still showering occasionally, it wasn't that
cold and I only needed a T-shirt and shorts for the
bulk of the day after starting out in several layers
including rain protection. What rain there was
in the afternoon, seemed to get evaporated from my
T-shirt by body heat from the climb as fast as it
got wet.
The firetrail reached a summit about 1:30pm and then
my route followed a little-used, rough and sodden
foot trail down a small valley switching from side
to side of a stream on little wooden bridges.
It was pretty, but it was wet. I was glad of
my good boots and gaiters which kept my feet dry
though overhanging branches kept my T-shirt wet.
At 2:30pm, a bit quicker than I had anticipated
(which is always nice), I arrived at the Ben Smith
Campsite which had a nice shelter and rainwater
tank. I boiled my usual cup of water to chuck
in a bucket of cold water and washed and set up
camp. I may sleep on the table tonight in the
hope that I can dry out my tent. Hopefully it
will be too cold for mosquitoes. The
temperature has certainly dropped and record lows
are forecast for this weekend.
I had a hot chocolate for afternoon tea and then
updated my diary before having an early dinner and
then plan to listen to the Budget reply speech from the
Opposition. I'm now exactly one day behind my
original schedule, but have no real need to make up
the time, so will just adjust everything by one day.