Matt Down Under

This should become one of the weirdest days on the track. It started like the previous day, with mild weather and a beautiful sunrise. Everything looked nice.

I was just about to cook some tea for breakfast, when - within seconds - a massive storm came up and blew me off the campsite. There had been no wind before, suddenly I had to pack my stuff in record time in order to save my tent and tarp. Breakfast was cancelled, and it started to rain. The wind was cold and strong.

I wasn’t happy with the way my second-last day started but that’s how things are. I only managed to drink my cup of tea, then I left without breakfast. I thought I’d better get going and stuffed some snacks in my pockets. The first hour on the track was extremely muddy, and with the constant rain and cold temperatures, it was really not was I was expecting when I got up early in the morning and looked at the beautiful sunrise.

The track became worse and worse, it was by far the muddiest section of the track, the whole track over the South Cape Range with the exception of the eastern end was a muddy trench, unbelievable. Wading knee-deep through the mud, facing cold wind and rain, it was horrible, the worst day on the track.

Then something happened that I didn’t expect. Suddenly I felt so much strength in my legs, I probably was used to walking now after a couple of days on the track. And the will to cross this awful section of the track as quickly as possible gave me unknown powers. I kept walking at an incredible speed, I didn’t care for mud holes anymore, I simply walked straight through it. I passed several other hikers on the track who crossed the Granite Beach campsite way before I left it. I felt like running over the track.

It was cold and wet, but I thought I’d only stay warm by walking. So I walked on and on and never got tired. Even though it was awful weather and the track was a horrible mess I arrived at South Cape Rivulet only 5 hours after I left Granite Beach. It was amazing, I felt like I had walked for only half an hour. I could have walked on for another couple of hours.

The wind became really annoying and stronger. Because I had to wade South Cape Rivulet, my clothes and shoes were pretty wet when I sat down at the Rivulet campsite to have lunch.

I wished I could have spent the rest of the day in my tent like some other people at the Rivulet campsite decided to do, but instead I decided to walk another hour or two to Lion Rock to have a shorter final day.

The wind was so strong that the sand really hurt in my face and on my legs. The walk to Lion Rock was relatively easy and crossed some other beaches. I didn’t care for the alternative route along the water that Chapman lists in the book, it was probably not the best weather anyway to follow the coastal route since it depends on tide levels.

When I arrived at Lion Rock it was still windy and cold, and my clothes were wet. I didn’t feel very well and only wanted to jump into dry clothes. Now I was really looking forward to returning home, it had been a tiring adventure. I prepared everything so I could spend the rest of the day in my tent, cooked dinner while in my sleeping bag.

The weather was awful, a constant mix of sunshine, rain, stormy winds, hail, it really gets on your nerves when it keeps changing all the time. It stayed like that all night.