Australian Hiker

The day started early given I had just over 25km to travel and as usual I was creek bed walking, first past Wonoka Station that provides private accommodation and located about 3km in. For the first time a bit of a challenge with the creek bed to avoid permanent water bodies and slippery rocks due to some short showers.  Around three hours in it was time to turn off but the signage and exit wasn’t clear so after checking the Far Out app I managed to locate the turn about 20 metres back. I also came across a hiker doing this trail day by day, parking his car at a convenient location, walking in to his chosen destination then turning around and heading back to his car.

After a short distance I crossed the Mai  road and had a few kilometres of fence walking and opted to sit on a stile for lunch before I headed bush. I had a picture of heading up the hill, over the saddle and down into the valley below but that was not the case. My journey continued upwards as I made my way around 5km along a stone ridge line. And when I say ridge line I mean type 2 fun! In fact there were some stages that if you lost footing it wouldn’t have been a good outcome. A warning here that if you are afraid of heights, you should definitely take the Hawker bypass. While I don’t have a fear of heights I did take it slowly. I was travelling so slowly that I ended up taking just on 11 hours for the day. I had two goats towards the top look at me very strangely as to why I was here.

Finally I came off the hill and onto private management road and headed towards my campsite for the night. My problem at this stage was as soon as I hit the dirt road, my right leg complained very loudly, something I hadn’t felt since pre-hip operation. It actually felt as if the prosthesis was moving within my leg and causing some pain which definitely was a new experience, and a worry –  something I will need to keep an eye on over the coming days.

I arrived at the Elm School campsite and am surprised to find another hiker setting up for the night. She’s doing part of the trail as a holiday and is in no hurry. Another campsite overgrown but also one that has a single water tank, toilet and wooden platform. The water tank is almost a mini shelter and I know from talking to the northbound hikers that many sleep cowboy style under the shelter so they don’t have to set up their tent – in this case the other hiker is doing just that.

By the time I set up my tent and cooked dinner, it was dark but soon after I was in bed and within seconds of my head hitting my pillow fast asleep.

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