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Cathedral Ranges State Park |
Saturday - Camping
Last weekend we went camping and hiking through the beautiful Cathedral Ranges and were met Sunday morning by our friend Pat who guided us bushbashing.
A few months ago we started to buy some of the equipment we will need for Kokoda and last weekend we got to use most of it. When we go to Kokoda we will be carrying our tent, mattresses and sleeping bags. We have bought the lightest equipment we can.
It was a great weekend even though it did include a couple of mishaps......
On the Saturday we decided we would get up early and head to our 'camping store' to buy some of the things we still needed like gaiters and water proof pants.
We then headed on our way and decided to stop for lunch at Buxton near the Ranges and hopefully get a short walk in after lunch. Well that was the plan anyway....
While eating lunch Jeremy asked 'Did you pack the sleeping bags?'
Mel 'No I didn't, did you?'
Jeremy 'No, you were in charge of packing'
Mel 'Yes, but I asked you to get them down last night....twice'
Jeremy 'But you didn't check they were packed'
Mel 'No, but I asked you to get them down last night and if they were out of the cupboard I would have seen them to pack them'
And so it went on!
Well I was adamant that we weren't going home, I decided that this was a test and that we just had to think of a solution. So we went back to a camping store about 20 mins down the road.
We didn't want to buy more sleeping bags as the ones we have bought weren't cheap! So we settled on two camping blankets that we figured we could use again.
Off we headed back to the ranges. At the campsite we started to put up our new tent when we realised the pegs didn't fit in the eyelets! Back to the bait & tackle shop down the road to buy new tent pegs.
Eventually we had camp all set up and the fire going. Half a bottle of whisky later (to keep us warm) we went to bed with several layers of clothing and about 3 pairs of socks on.
Note to self - next time remember the sleeping bags......we froze all night and didn't really get a very good night sleep. I have never been so cold in my life and at one stage I actually thought I had frost bite in my big toe.
But at the end of the day it just gets added to our list of experiences. And of course we will never forget our sleeping bags ever again.
We were lucky though because we had bought insulated matresses so that saved us from feeling the cold under us.
We were lucky though because we had bought insulated matresses so that saved us from feeling the cold under us.
Sunday - Bushbashing
Next morning we were up early - had no choice really as we were still freezing, Pat met us about 9am and we headed off up to the Cathedral Peak.
From here we went bush bashing. Wearing our new gaiters and with our packs on we headed up to the peak, just before we made it to the top we headed down the side of the range where a gorge runs all the way down the side. The gorge isn't signed or mapped on the main Cathedral Map.
Pat had done this trek a few times so we were in good hands. We trekked through dense bush, over rocks and steep drops. We had to steer clear of blackberry bushes and stinging nettles.
Half way down we stopped for lunch. It was such a great adventure, we had a ball and part from the climate I think it was the first taste of what we will be walking through when we do Kokoda.
Off to do Sugarloaf another peak in the ranges this weekend.
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| Made it! |
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