Across the Territory

Photos
After meeting up with Gavin, Andrew and Tony in Darwin, we sorted out the car (a fairly new, but basic 4WD) and supplies (including the cheapest esky we could find).
Our trip began with a side trip to Litchfield NP, to view the north/south aligned termite mounds (as seen on David Attenborough), and a dip in the rapids (plus a short walk). It was the first swim of many.
Our first night camping was at Nitimuk (Katherine Gorge) NP, amongst the Agile wallabies, in a fairly popular campsite (it was peak Grey Nomad season). The following night felt much more remote, camped on the sand beside the water far from any proper campsites. We had walked about 15km to this spot, via Butterfly Gorge for lunch (and a swim), before heading back up to the top of the gorge, then down again to our campsite (and more swims). This was a spectacular campsite, and it was all ours.

One of many swimming holes

We returned to the visitor centre the next day, then headed out for a kayak with the masses. Fortunately, not many of the masses saw the Fresh Water Crocodile that Tony initially eyed (including a disbelieving Andrew and Gavin). I thought it may have been a plastic model, until it opened its mouth and hissed at us. At least it stayed there when when went swimming, just a little way upstream.
After Katherine, we headed towards Kununurra, stopping for a short walk in Gregory NP, before deciding to stop in Keep River NP, just shy of the WA border.
Keep River was a gem of a park - it had old sandstone mountains, which glowed vividly in the sunset. A short talk from the ranger filled us in on much of the management of the park (which is done in conjuction with the local Aboriginals), and the next day we visited a fantastic rock art gallery, and went for a short walk along the river, before continuing westward.

Relaxing at Keep River NP

Kakadu Ya?

Photos
Wilderness Adventures
After traipsing around the Red Centre, I headed north for a 4 day tour of Kakadu. I joined a small 4wd tour with 6 other passengers (and 2 guides) for an exciting trip around the Top End.
The first 3 days consisted of us visiting absolutely gorgeous swimming holes via 4wd and foot (anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours walking), swimming and eating lunch, relaxing for another hour or so before heading back to camp under the stars in a remote camping site.
Day 1 saw us go on a Corroboree Billabong tour, then had us visiting Maguk, which has a series of duck unders in the rapids above the waterfall, before we camped at Gunlom.
Day 2 involved a long, slow, 4wd jaunt (over 2 hours, and a bit of car sickness thrown in), before a 2 hour bush bash to Graveside, a wonderfully remote waterfall and plunge pool.
Day 3 saw us visit Twin Falls (no swimming there, due to the possible presence of crocs), and then over to Jim Jim Falls for a well earned swim.
Day 4 involved a visit to an Aboriginal Cultural Centre, where we were taught how to use a Woomera (although they call it something else in Kakadu), and then Ubirr, home of the most amazing rock art and views.
All up, a fantastic trip with great people. If you enjoy getting off the beaten track, driving on rough roads, and chilling out in amazing water holes, this trip is for you.

A happy camper floating to Twin Falls

Larapinta Walk

Photos
After returning to Alice, I joined the start of a half day trip to various West Macdonnell Range sites, piking at Standley Chasm so that I could walk back to Alice over 3 days and 67km. The rest of the gumbies bussed it back via Simpsons Gap.
Standley Chasm
Standley Chasm is one of the surprising number of permanent water sources on the Range. It was named after Ida Standley, who taught the children of mixed descent originally in Alice, then at Standley Chasm once they were booted out of town. It was then one of the first missions to return the land back to Aboriginal people, although not the original inhabitants. It has since been successfully managed as a tourist destination and kiosk.
My first night began with a cool drink from the kiosk, and then a cool drink from the heavens. Being a desert, rain is pretty rare in these parts, and winter rain is even more uncommon. So I spent my first night listening to the rain pitter and/or patter on my tent.
Next day I arose to cool temps, and began my march to a more populated destination. The chasm was rocky and narrow, and the surrounding terrain was rocky and steep. Spinifex grew in the flatter areas, and there were a number of trees around the chasm. Due to the overnight rain, I came across a bit of water in the creek. At my first major stop (Millers Flat), I came across two fellow walkers, and we exchanged rants on the cold weather. From there the track split - I took the high road via a 1000+ masl ridge, which offer fine views - chilled. This ridge soon descended to another, quite large water hole ("Fish Hole"). This was big enough to due a few laps in - except it was too cold. Soon after, I arrived at the Jay Creek campsite, where despite being the lone walker, three other guys were busy building a new shelter for the campsite. Once they finished their work, I enjoyed a few beers with them, along with a raging fire and a few shots of Jaegermeister. Slept well that night.

Fish Hole

The next day was a bit longer, but much flatter. It was very easy and enjoyable desert walking, cool but sunny. I met no one until the final campsite.
Simpsons Gap
The final night was spent at a popular tourist spot, where gumbies appear late afternoon and early morning to try and spot the elusive, but non-gumbified black footed wallaby. These wallabies are quite shy, but come down to dry if everyone is quiet. Once the brats left, I managed to see a few hoppers. That night, a dingo stole my baby water supply. It chewed right through the nozzle on my Chateau Cardboard water holder. Took me a while to find the damn thing.

Camping at Simpsons Gap

The final day involved a nice jaunt along some beautiful ridge lines, providing great views of the surrounding plains, and over towards Alice Springs. I came across a huge party of Australian Geographic invalids at one stage. Those guides must have patience...
Finish
The official walk ended at the Telegraph station, where there is permanent water in the Todd River (but is definitely not a "Spring"). Large numbers of people were enjoying the sunny winter's afternoon, ignoring the new territory liquor laws (although, there may be official blindness to drinking at this sight). I followed the river all the way back to town, where I returned to the same room and the same bed, next to the same fuckwit who snored like a freight train.

Central Australia Rocks

Photos
After the Rogaine it was time to chill out, and head to Ayers Rock and Kata Tjuta with Dunk, Grace, and Dunk's parents. We were travelling in peak season, amongst a menagerie of Grey Nomads driving Pradas and Landcruisers towing boxy living devices. This generally means comfortable camping in expensive caravan parks for the occupants of each vehicle. We spent a night in Alice, before heading out to Yulara, the Ayers Rock campsite.

Hooray! The rock!

Despite sticking to the mainstream tourist route, the sights are fantastic:

• The scariest moment was overtaking a 4 carriage road train
• Mt Conner pretends to be Ayers Rock, but Grace forewarned us (it's still cool looking, though)
• Roadhouses provide some of the world's most expensive ice cream
• Ayers rock looks much better at sunset or sunrise
• The nights are way cold
• Walking around the rock wasn't as good as expected, as various sacred sites prevented us from getting too close to the rock
• But it's still pretty cool
• Kata Tjuta offers a way better walk than the rock
• Zebra Finches look really cool in the wild
• But Rainbow Bee-eaters look much funkier
• Reptiles don't seem to come out in winter
• You need a permission slip to drink at the pub

After the others continued on to Kings Canyon, I returned to Alice to go a 3 day walk along the Larapinta Trail (why isn't it a track). After the walk, I spent half a day at the Desert Park, which I found fascinating as you could see heaps of fascinating birds in aviaries build over the spinifex. You can also see some of those types of birds in the wild at the park (they hang around because the place is watered). Someone recommended the film to me, especially the ending. The film wasn't all that special, until you get to the very end. Quite unique. See it.

Yeperenye Yaw

Australian Rogaining Championships 2007
Saturday 28 to Sunday 29 July 2007

Photos
Official Website

Arrival
Once again, it was time for Dunk, Grace and me to set off on a mad 24 hour dash in the wilds of Australia, only this time, it was central Australia, a place none of us had really walked before. Despite being unsure of what the weather or terrain would hold, we were confident that our recent 3 Peaks weekend (completed in 47 hours) and Turon River Rogaine (5th overall, 3rd mixed) would help us in our quest.
After arriving at the Hash House (start/finish) on the Friday, we found a slightly crowded but peaceful campsite, filled with brightly coloured desert birds and crusty rogainers eager for a good night's rest.

The Morning
Three hours prior to the start, we received our maps, which showed an ancient, dry river bed dissecting a series of rough looking mountain ranges. Using the most expensive contact Dunk found, we covered our maps and directions, and set about planning our route.
There were 7 water drops (no natural water on course, apart from a manky pool near checkpoint 120), and no huge climbs, although there were plenty of hills for us to traverse. We came up with a basic plan, submitted our intentions (for safety reasons), finalised our packs and clothes (I elected to wear long pants, to avoid spinifex spikes, the other guys had shorts), fuelled up, and waited for the start.

Planning our route

The Event
There were 130 teams waiting to start, and as soon as the gun we all headed out in a variety of directions. I'm always amazed how little time it takes for the teams to separate. Before you know it, the only people you can see are your team mates.
Conversely, it's often a surprise to come across other teams, especially when they come at you from the opposite direction. You start to wonder why they are walking in a totally different direction, and would you have been better off doing the same.
The day was unseasonally warm, and it wasn't long before we were walking across the centre section of the course, flat as a pancake, feeling the heat of the afternoon sun dehydrating us. I suddenly felt like I was in the middle of the desert. Well I was.
The navigation was fairly easy during the day, owing to the lack of ground cover (apart from the spinifex, which was usually easily avoided). But the best thing were the mountains. A couple of times they could be avoided, simply be walking around them, instead of over them. And there were no 300+ metre climbs (like most other rogaines). Woo Hoo.

Where to next?

We managed to get the highest scoring checkpoint, way up a gorge (which had a tiny bit of manky water in it).
We missed one checkpoint amongst a maze of small gorges and ridges, just after sunset. It was only worth 50 points, and fortunately we got out of it fairly easily (stumbling across a water drop with the tastiest oranges I have ever had (chilled, too)).
A couple of times throughout the night we came across cool patches of air, usually above creek beds. The temperature would drop about 5 degrees in these sections. But the oddest thing of all was a smelly patch, that lasted for about 100m (and no, it wasn't a fart). It smelt a bit sulphuric, and was quite odd.
We missed another checkpoint in the middle of the night, but this time it cost us 90 points. Once we decided to skip it, we were slightly demoralised, but we perked up a bit once we got the next checkpoint (over an hour later).
Just before dawn, a 30 minute nap was required. Grace was starting to feel like she was about to fall over (due to tiredness), but she was back to normal after the nap. I was feeling OK at this time, so I had a bit to eat, and took a few photos. I think I was still on LA time (I had just arrived back from LA a few days before).
The morning proved fruitful, but as we plotted our course back to the Hash House, we realised that we would not get to any more water drops. The day was heating up again, so we started to ration our water. About 45 minutes before the noon finish time, we ran out of water completely. By now it was in the mid 20s, but the sun was beaming down strongly, so it felt much warmer. We rushed back to the start/finish by the road, Grace leading the way. We arrived back with over 10 minutes to spare, and immediatley got something to drink. Then lay down.

We Finished!
It's a fantastic feeling to take off your shoes after a rogaine, and walk around bare footed. Likewise, a shower, where all the dirt, grime and sweat from the previous 24 hours disappears down the drain, always feels fantastic. And the food always tastes great - usually a BBQ, some soup, cheap cakes and cordial (although a coke would have been fantastic).
This time, I couldn't quite quench my thirst. I had been without water for too long, in hot dry conditions, whilst walking fast. My dehydration headache lasted for 2 days.

Three happy campers, after 24 hours

Final Results
We finished in 22nd, gaining 1880 points.
We were 7th in the mixed category, and finished in 23:49:03 hours.
Full results.

I'm not sure when the next one will be.

Turon Gold Rush Rogaine

Saturday 28 to Sunday 29 April

Official Website

So, on the 28th and 29th of April, I set off on a 24 hour rogaine with Dunk and Grace, in Turon Nation Park, which is just west of Wollemi Nation Park.
Our aim was to be competitive - we wanted to walk throughout the whole night, and walk fairly fast. I had competed in one 24 hour rogine previously, but it was Dunk and Grace's first.

The day started off wet, and most teams began walking with rain jackets on. Fortuantely, the light rain soon subsided, and we were left with a dry but windy (well, up on the ridges) day. The terrain was fairly hilly, from a minimum elevation of around 760masl, to about 1060masl. About a quarter of the rogine was over grazing land, and the rest was wooded. The totally amazing thing about the wooded area was that it was completely free of scrub. None whatsoever. Yet just 50km to the east, in Wollemi NP, I have encountered some of the worst scrub I have ever been through.
We hit our checkpoints fairly consistently, although we did managed to descend the wrong ridge around sundown.

Our first big break was at a lovely abondoned homestead, and we took about 40 minutes to eat our dinner. Just after we resumed, we had to climb one of the steepest (and most open) ridge we have climbed. It was straight forward to climb, just very steep.
We continued to hit the checkpoints at night, and enjoyed our next big break at the All Night Cafe (a fire with free coffee and cakes). Some people were sleeping by the fire, but head off again after about half an hour.

The morning got progressively harder as fatigue set in. At one point I had to convince Grace that we really had to climb this ridge, and not head down the unmarked road. Her body wanted to go downhill, and her head almost believed the body.
We struggled up the last few hills, but finished with about 20 minutes to spare. Finally.
When the results came through, we found we had come 5th overall, and 3rd in the Mixed Division, with 2590 points, only 270 behind 3rd place. Fantastic! We were pretty stoked, and we completed our aims.

5th Overall; 3rd in Mixed
2590 points
23:40