5th October, 2009. Another rainy spring day. This time we gathered quite a party to climb Mt Tennent with us, including Peter, Fred, Glenda, Terryn, Mike and Meg. The weather fluctuated from t-shirt weather to gloves, wet weather jackets and beanies on top, where it rained as we had lunch. Brrr. Great company and an invigorating hike!

27th September, 2009. On a wintry spring morning Pete and I decided we had better keep our training up, so off we headed to Mt Tennent, and climbed the 4.5 km to the ridge where it meets the Australian Alps Walking Track. Surprisingly it was quite calm and protected while the wind was howling and sleet was falling elsewhere. Lots of beautiful spring wildflowers, and the creek was flowing – a rare treat!

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Our need to get fitter and accustomed to walking up steeper and steeper hills inspired us to schedule a weekend at Kanangra-Boyd National Park with Ange and Rohan, Fred and Andrew. An excellent choice. Most of us hadn’t been there before – fortunately Andrew had, as the area is not for the navigationally challenged! We camped at Boyd River crossing and had the luxury of the campground shelter more or less to ourselves, complete with roaring fire.

Saturday’s hike involved following the ridge walk along the plateau, down a rocky gulch, along underneath steep rock walls on sometimes very loose ground, up and down steep ridges to a restful lunch spot at Gabe’s Gap. The weather was unseasonally warm and the views were amazing, wilderness in all directions. We turned around and were well and truly tired by the time we got back. But a barbecue dinner, a drink or two and Tina’s magnificent carrot cake revived us.

On Sunday after packing up we walked to the base of Kalang Falls, scrambled a bit down towards the main falls, then hiked past the Dance Floor cave and on up to the Plateau walk, heading south this time, but with insufficient time to descend to the Kowmung River – some other time perhaps! Another warm day with a very strong wind, which made us avoid cliff edges. Lunch at the car park before we parted ways and headed home. A fun weekend. Thanks to Andrew for organising it and leading us along the right paths, and to all participants for their good cheer and good company!

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For our annual escape from the rigours of a Canberra winter we headed north to Queensland, checking out some places in NSW we hadn’t been to before  (Orange, Hill End, Mudgee, Coolah, Lightning Ridge, Angledool, Goodooga). After a rather cold start in NSW, and cold nights but lovely days in inland Queensland, the weather became warm and sunny, beautiful one day, perfect the next. Among the highlights of the trip were Carnarvon Gorge, where we hiked overnight to Big Bend and thus had much more time to appreciate the beauty of the gorge; Hinchinbrook Island, where we did a day trip by boat, including a 5.6km hike along beaches and through bush; lovely rainforest in various parks; the Central Queensland Gem Show at Monto (for Kath) and Australia Zoo (for Pete) which despite all the “Crikey” moments is beautifully presented and deservedly popular.

Our plans to do lots of hiking were somewhat shattered when while walking at Jourama Falls, Kath twisted her foot, which took two weeks plus to return to normal. So there was a bit of reading on beaches, looking at parks and gardens and the sights of Townsville (very nice, we decided!) and generally not straining oneself, which is what a holiday should be about anyway! We finished with visits to a friend, David, who generously showed us around his permaculture farm near the Bellinger River and the surrounding area, and cousin Shirlie and husband Ian, who once again regaled us with good food and fine wine.

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