Razorback
Razorback is 22km return hike from Mt Hotham to Mt Feathertop, high country at its best, Australia showing off her best nature beauty in the extreme alpine region. We prayed and weather danced for a good day, and when we woke up on Sunday, the sun was shining through the window, and welcomed by crisp alpine morning air. Cloud coverage was good, the temperature was a little cold, and that meant we could carry less water.
With a 9 kilo pack, containing water, our usual caesar salad and fresh bread we set afoot on the harsh terrains of Razorback trail. Absolutely impressed by the great alpine region around us, where the trail crawls along ridges and summits in a sea of mountains, and wild winter flora adorns the bare mountain top. The scenery was spectacular, and I was trigger happy with my Sony V1, took about 1GB of photos this trip.
The walk wasn’t difficult, but we were walking above the treelines, above any coverage and shelter, exposed to all the elements, rain, hail and gale force wind. The information centre lady warned us repeatedly, “DO NOT GO THERE”, “GAIL FORCED WIND IS APPROACHING”, but what does a mid aged woman with thick gold chains, high hairdos and well polished finger nails know about hiking right? Well, she was right… We couldn’t open our eyes at times, and the wind made the chilliness multiply, but it was all apart of the adventure, the getting lost and experiencing the elements. When approaching Feathertop, the north summit was covered in pitch black rain clouds, rapidly descending and expanding towards us, it was something straight out of a Lord of the Rings movie, we were scared. It was fortunate that it was only pouring on the drive back, but the fear, walking on muddy, icy track, slipping off a steep climb haunts us both.
The experience was of a lifetime, it was one of the longest treks Judi has accomplished, on a harsh trail, on a cold winter day. It is experience like this, we will treasure.
The rain
Woke up several times over the night by the strong gale forced wind, hail and rain banging the roof. The fellow hikers were deterred, the information centre lady was shocked to find out that we were still keen on hiking. May be we are really stupid, ignorant and nor did we realise of what was ahead of us.
We found our way to Mt Buffalo, a 45 minute drive from Bright. Put on our rain gear and toughed our senses, bravely stepped out of the car, it took me five seconds to realise it was a bad idea. We’ve never really hiked in the rain, only when it have been spitting and under an umbrella, but never in the middle of a heavy downpour, nor had 3 egoist male along trying to prove who is more of a man.
At least I finally got to test the validity of the salesman who sold me the Nataka water proof jacket. It was bad, pretty freaken bad, my camping pants were soaked in two minutes, everything waist below were soaked. However, I did learn a new trick, to tie plastic bag around the socks before step in to the shoe, that ensured just in case the shoes got wet, at least my foot stayed dry. It sort of worked, until we had to cross a river :)
The experience was unique, certainly entertaining to a degree, but will not be pleasant to repeat, it took almost a day to dry the shoes and clothes, I almost caught a cold, and Warren entered hyperthermia. It is these moments, when I do something unpredicted and something which I have never done before, makes it well worth the effort, makes every trip unique and interesting.
The drive
It was pouring and took us an hour to get to the Hume, it was interesting to find out Judi was scared of Brunswick, of its dank, old and Turkish neighbourhood. When we passed the best Roti in Melbourne, Bismi, all we did was to watch the shop fade in the rear view mirror, failed to taste the fresh made roti and nann. Didn’t really find a good place to eat dinner, stopped middle of no where, in a crowded diner, the smell of fried grease dense in the air. Settled with a hamburger with no where to sit, we found our way back on the Hume. It was like getting a car wash every time overtaking one of those huge interstate eighteen wheelers, the new Honda Accord which I borrowed from my father made it a little safer. We arrived at bright, at about 10:30pm, in the heavy rain, with strong doubts about the weather ahead, we tucked in early.
Mug mugging
After our first few trips, we decided that we are going to get take a part of the trip back with us everytime. A piece of memory, something to remind us of the experiences and the fun times we've had. So what did we decide? Mugs, there would be mugs everywhere, and that will be pretty to have around the house.
Reality is always a little different
Good mugs are hard to find, shops are usually littered with mugs the typical turist slogan and the jumping Kangaroos, mass manufactured overseas. That little mug, to represent the locality, the local culture are far rare. Often faced with disappointments, we surrender to Maxwell Coffeehouse, a global household cookware giant.
Travelling
Started having the feeling after my first big trip, it was about 97', travelled from Melbourne to Tokyo then to Shanghai and back. The feeling of growth, becoming a different person to the one departed from Melbourne 3 month earlier. The experience was very positive, and ever since, I love travelling.
Hope one day, I would be able to climb the highest mountain and travel across the largest desert. And with Richard Branson's new venture into space tourism, "flying me to the moon" is no long a dream.
Traveller Tales - Creation
Decided to create another blog for our travel stories, this way we can seperate travel tales and the average spit apart :)
