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Journal: |
I slept long, but woke up quite a few times during the night.
The floor of my lightweight tent is slippery and, because it was
pitched on a slight slope, my air mattress kept sliding down to the
bottom of the tent. I need to put something on the tent floor
to make it stickier. Anyway, I rose at 6:30am in the pre-dawn
light to find a light fog and very still air. Ghostly.
The previous evening I had finally spoken to Steve, the ferry man at
Burrinjuck, and he said that the earliest he could ferry me across
Burrinjuck Reservoir was 3:30pm, about two hours later than I had
hoped. This took the pressure off me for an early departure
and I had a leisurely breakfast and packed up, leaving the campsite
as the sun burnt off the fog at 8:30am.
Two kilometres later,
I became less leisurely when I remembered that I had left my
waterbag back at the campsite. I don't use it to carry water
while hiking, but it's very useful around camp and I did not want to
lose it. So, after a few curses, I hid my pack behind a tree
by the road and began to jog and walk back to the campsite where I
retrieved the bag. The round trip took about 40 minutes making
it likely I would not now reach the Burrinjuck Store until after
2pm. Suddenly, I was glad the ferryman was not booked for 1pm.
Thereafter, I had a very pleasant walk along rural back roads,
frequently shaded by trees with almost zero traffic until I reached
the boundary of Burrinjuck State Park and the track became more of a
fire trail as it descended through forest until nearing the shore of
Burrinjuck Reservoir. At that point my route left the
fire-trail and became a foot-trail that followed the shore for about
5 kilometres around to Burrinjuck Waters camp. The Reservoir
was very low and this meant there was a cleared rocky sloping area
between the forest and the water all around the Reservoir which, to
my mind marred the spectacular scenery just a little.
At
the camping area I found my way to the Store and was greeted by the
friendly proprietress who confirmed that Steve the ferryman was
expected at 3:30pm. It was now 2:30pm, so I bought some lunch
and a paper and sat outside in the sun at a picnic table and enjoyed
the warmth and mountain scenery. A couple of kangaroos
loitered outside the store and the proprietress turned on some music
for me. Very pleasant.
Steve arrived a little late and
very apologetic before towing his small boat down to the boat ramp,
along with a visitor. We launched about 4pm for the fast trip
across the Reservoir to a point on the southern shore where he
dropped me off. The low water level meant he couldn't take me
as far as I might have hoped, but he did his best, dropping me off
on a barren shore and pointing out a gravel road in a saddle which I
should make for.
After wending my way cross-country over the
barren shore, I finally reached the track and then followed it south
across some farms until it finally reached a more-travelled road and
I found a Hume & Hovell marker confirming I was heading in the right
direction. The sun had set and I enjoyed walking through the
rural landscape in a valley bordered by forested mountains in the
increasing gloom. My feet were starting to get quite tired and
I kept peering into the distance hoping to see some lights that
might be from the tavern I was heading for. Soon it was dark
and I was on a sealed road with just enough star light to stay on
track. I had a headlamp, but preferred to rely on the ambient
light and not to use it unless absolutely necessary. I did
nearly miss the turn-off to the tavern before arriving there at
6:30pm. There was very loud juke-box music playing and I was
told that they had given my room to someone else because I was later
than scheduled. I had thought about phoning ahead when I knew
the ferryman was going to be later, but decided against it.
Bad decision. It also turned out that the proprietress was
unwell and not about. However, what seemed like a problem was
soon resolved by some very helpful people and the proprietress, who
got out of her sickbed, and I was given some dinner and a TV to
watch in the rustic bar (as the sole occupant) while they sorted out
another room for me. The jukebox noise was generated by a
building crew working on some new accommodation who were having a
few beers and barbecuing their dinner. Everybody was friendly
and they offered me a steak, but the lasagne was already en route.
The tavern was originally a police station dating from the
1880s with lots of historic stonework, woodwork and artifacts.
I was very tired and badly in need of a shower by the time I
finished my dinner at 8pm. As I headed to my room, they
offered me some bread, butter and peanut butter to use for breakfast
since they did not expect to be up. It was very generous of
them and I just cut off the mould that was on the bread when I
reached my room.
I showered and washed out some clothes
before updating my diary while watching a DVD on the TV which had no
aerial/sattelite connection. What had seemed like a day of
small problems had turned out OK and I had met some very nice and
helpful people along the way.
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