- Start date: 12 September 2020
- Age When Completed: 58
- Direction Walked: South to North
General Comments
This was an incredible way to spend my long service leave. It was a complete break from my normal too-busy life and provided a perfect opportunity for me to reassess what is important and what is merely habit. I went south to north as I liked the idea of ‘walking home’, and this was a good call.
Food/Supplies Comments
I used Australia Post for my resupply packages (posted periodically by my wife back in Perth), having discovered that you can register via their website addresses at each of the track towns. Parcels sent to those addresses are then trackable and you get notifications of their arrival - very useful. Make sure you keep track of weekends and public holidays though, as pickup can be tricky at those times.
Be aware your appetite can change significantly along the way - and this is a good reason to leave a fair amount of shopping for the track towns. I went entirely off instant coffee and sweet porridge before I got to Walpole.
Favourite Section
The sections were all wonderful in their own special ways. The joy of the track for me was experiencing the changes and contrasts in vegetation and terrain as I travelled.
Highlights
Watching parasailers and raptors all soaring next to the wind generators on the south coast.
Discovering how quickly my body adapted to the trail, so distances and hills which were hard in the first week or two became easy once the ‘trail legs’ were in.
Meeting a vast number of interesting people along the way.
Personal Reactions
I’ve done plenty of hiking before, but this was my first time solo. Dealing with occasional spells of trail boredom is a skill I honed as I went. I found myself listening to audiobooks on some of the easier sections and road walks, to distract me.
Wildlife
Not as many snakes as I expected, but maybe I’m a noisy mover. Saw a few on the south coastal sections and then not much further up - other than the python-in-residence at Mt Wells!
I had a couple of staring contests with big male kangaroos who seemed to be questioning my right to be on the track. Luckily they backed down.
Your Best Equipment
My Aku Alterra GTX boots, along with thick wool and thin wool liner socks. I had zero foot trouble for the entire end-to end.
My Garmin InReach Mini worked brilliantly as tracker and messaging terminal (with SOS capability). I was never out of touch with family and friends, and they could follow along at home as I walked.
Your Worst Equipment
Nothing bad enough to tag as worst. All my gear had been well tested on previous hikes.
Advice for Others
I met several end-to-enders along the way who still thought that their mobile phone would be able to get a help message out to a satellite in an emergency even if they had no mobile coverage. I had to explain to them that this was not the case, and go through how GPS and phone networks operate. I don’t think the Emergency 000 info on the hut noticeboards is particularly well worded, and this may contribute to these misunderstandings.
When you cross Irwin inlet by canoe make very sure that you have _all_ your gear in the canoe before crossing. I got across, got canoe stowed and feet dried and booted up and put my pack on before realizing that my hiking poles were still leaning on the boatshed at the far side of the inlet.