Woke up on time and discovered that my tent was covered in bird shit.
So instead of a quick start, I had to clean it first.
My bag is and felt heavy and I kept focusing on short key points of the route today.
After 15 km I had a longer beard than usual because I won’t have reception in the next 7 days. I phoned my eldest sister for an update. After some adorable stories about my nephew, it was time to continue
Before reaching the 8 km farm track, I had a short conversation with three local farmers trying to figure out where their drainage pipe went. Shortly after I saw a woman cutting down the weeds and had a quick that. Looking at her I recognised her. She is the main character of One of my favorite TA 2019 stories. She saw me getting ready to sleep next to the road (because too late to finish the farm track) and she offered me a bed. But I refused because it meant walking the road I just finished walking. Then she offered to drop me off at this point, but I refused because I get up so early I would never asked that of her. But she promised me that she wakes up early to work at the farm and so I ended up staying with her and had a great night’s sleep!
I never thought I would meet Sharon again. But so glad I did!
After that, it was time for the farm track and the endless amount of stiles to climb over with a 20kg backpack.
At Pelerius Bridge the cafe was closed, but a little caravan sold coffee. Sitting dry and using my pan as a cup, I watched as the rain poured down. I chatted with a lovely family. When I said I had nieces and nephews slightly younger at 4, 3, and 1. The boy asked why I used the word slightly. ‘How old do you think I am?’ I said ‘ like 8?’. ‘No’ he replied, ‘I’m 12’. Oopsie
After almost two hours I decided to continue and try to cover the 25km to the hut. I don’t trust my tent in the rain any longer.
It continued to Drizzle on the road walk, but nothing too bad. I covered it pretty fast, but when a car offered me a ride till her house, I gladly accepted. It turned out to be like a 3 km hitch. But still, that’s about 40min of walking.
Once I hit the trail it was around 5 pm. The signs said it would take 4 hours to reach the hut. By that time I was also concerned the hut might be full. So when I reached Emerald Pools after an hour I decided to pitch my tent there and hope for the best.
After a swim and trying to dry off while sandflies swarmed around me, I pitched my tent, walked while eating, and eventually snugged into my sleeping bag.
Zilla-in-the-wild 