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Day: |
007 |
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Date: |
Sunday, 14 November 2004 |
|
Start: |
Khancoban |
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Finish: |
Mount Hope Track |
|
Daily
Kilometres: |
72 |
|
Total
Kilometres: |
883 |
|
Weather: |
|
|
Accommodation: |
Tent |
|
Nutrition: |
Breakfast: Muesli
Lunch:
Bread and peanut butter
Dinner: Bread and peanut butter |
|
Aches: |
|
|
Animals Seen: |
Kangaroos |
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Pictures: |
Here |
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GPS Track: |
|
|
Journal: |
I decided to watch the Australia vs France
rugby game which was on TV at 7:00am before leaving, so got up at
6:40am. While I watched the game, which Australia lost, I
packed up and had breakfast so left right on 8:30am when the game
finished. I rode to the Khancoban general store and bought
stuff for gorp and had an orange juice. I left town at 9:00am
and was immediately confronted with a very long hill. I cycled
a bit, but walked a lot as well. I quickly realised that with
my late start and all the walking I would be struggling to make Tom
Groggin by lunch and Benambra for the night. I plodded on.
There were lots of motorbikes coming the other way. The
weather was better than yesterday but still cool, overcast and
occasionally drizzling. The forest was alpine and the scenery
pretty.
Eventually I reached Tom Groggin picnic ground around
1:30pm and had lunch. I read the notes and looked at the maps
and checked out the ford across the Murray River. It looked
dangerous to ford and eventually I rode back a couple of kilometres
to Tom Groggin Station and crossed the river on their causeway and
then found my way to the Tom Groggin Track. I stuffed around
for a while before assuring myself that I was on the right track and
headed south-east. Immediately I was confronted with a huge
boggy red clay hill. It was extremely steep and I could only
make progress one step at a time. If Tom Groggin Track was
going to be like this all the way it was going to take me days.
There was no alternative but to keep going. Eventually I
reached Boggy Creek and filled my water containers. The Track
became less muddy but was incredibly steep. It went up from
500m to 1,400m in a few kilometres. I had to rest every 100m
or less to recover and did almost no cycling.
At last I
seemed to reach the top and got to do more riding. Earlier
than expected, Tom Groggin Track turned into Mount Hope Road and I
knew I was through the toughest bit although I was still walking up
the bigger hills. At 7:00pm I stopped in a saddle and found a
place to camp. It was quite cold but I got everything done and
was in bed by 9:00pm. |
|
ADVENTURE LIST
Round Ireland
(2016)
Hume & Hovell Walking Track
(2013)
Via Alpina
(2012)
Australian Alps Walking
Track
(2011)
Land's End to John O'Groats
(2010)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2009)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2008)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2007)
Australia Tip to Top MTB
(2006)
Adelaide to Darwin MTB
(2005)
Sydney to Melbourne MTB
(2004)
Three Peaks Race
(2004)
Appalachian Trail
(1986)
Alpine Track
(1983)
|
