2019 Hume and Hovell Track

Day 12 Our Favourite things
It’s day 12 and we’ve had another frosty night this time at Junction Campsite. We woke to find ice on the outside and inside of the tent. As lovely it is sleeping beside a babbling creek, the combination of moisture and cold temperatures has its consequences. This morning was in no way as cool as yesterday so there is some good news. The Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 Platinum three season tent is surviving it all!
We have a morning routine but it was easier today to swap tasks. I packed up the inside of the tent and Gill collected the (icy) water to filter for the water bladders and our morning cuppa.
Junction Campsite is a really nice spot and we were sad to walk away around 7.30am. We headed off to Henry Angel Track Head only 6.5 km away and arrived in time for an early morning tea in the sunshine. We have been impressed with the campsites but especially the track heads on the Hume and Hovell Track. Henry Angel is no exception. The facilities are great and there is also some really interesting interpretive signage too.
We now head off towards Mannus Lake Campsite and fingers crossed, our food cache! The hike to Mannus Lake takes us through farmland and past the remnants of late 1800 gold mining operations. We’re also now very much walking in the footsteps of Hume and Hovell.
We follow the creek which rages beside us and Gill stumbles upon one of our favourite things – an echidna. It takes a bit of time to notice her and then it tries to hide when it sees me with that ‘oh crap I’ve been spotted look’. By hiding I mean moving six inches to the right and burying its face in soft soil … a case of ‘if I can’t see you, you can’t see me’ as well as ‘l’m sharp and pointy’.
We soon encounter the steep and long ascent through the Bugandyera Nature Reserve. The ascent was flagged as hard but given what we’ve encountered in previous days, it wasn’t too bad. The temperature today was 18 degrees Celsius and we were in full sun which did make it tough.
Once the ascent was out of the way, we meandered along to discover more of our favourite things. Gill notices a native hooded ground orchid and then another. I then see a different species and once we have our ‘eye in’ we see dozens and dozens. So many so that we stop taking photos. What a great day this is!
We see Mannus Lake from the distance and continue the long descent through rural properties. We get to the campsite and notice a couple who have set up their caravan on the other side of the camp site. We have two priorities now 1. dry out and set up our still sopping tent (a byproduct of the ice from the morning) and 2. recover our food cache. Gill handles the tent and I recover the food. Both tasks are completed with minimum fuss.
Camp set up and dinner done. I now have a late night planned doing the (late) podcast but at least I have 4G connectivity at Mannus Lake.

It’s day 12 and we’ve had another frosty night this time at Junction Campsite. We woke to find ice on the outside and inside of the tent. As lovely it is sleeping beside a babbling creek, the combination of moisture and cold temperatures has its consequences. This morning was in no way as cool as […]