20/08/2012: My family has been hound hunting in Oz for over a century but my back (and ears) will just not let me continue any longer with this great sport, so yesterday I gave away my last four beagles to a young hunter who can make much better use of them: a very sad day. […]
Back from four days’ hiking in Wonnangatta-Moroka area with a young American friend, Steve Hutcheson whom I met on the Dusky Track earlier this year: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-friend-i-met-on-the-dusky-track-fiordland-nz/ The rivers were flooded and difficult to cross but the weather beautiful. Probably sub-zero of a night but warm and comfy for us thanks to my Tyvek tarps and
I have been hiking in Fiordland NZ for ten days and have now returned ‘bowed but unbeaten.’ Met some great young people on the trail (and some not-so-great) and saw, as usual quite a lot of evidence for the continuing existence of moose there. I will post a photo of the best toilet view in
I’ve just spent four lovely days in the Wonnangatta-Moroka NP track clearing and blackberry spraying. Two guys had decided to camp in one of my spots and use all my firewood. Apparently they think I am a public servant as they did not replace it even when asked. The things you see when you have a
My new pack arrived (the Six Moon Designs ‘Swift’ – 450 grams) and it looks good. Improved its load transfer with 22 grams of carbon fibre arrow shafts, instead of their proprietary ‘hoop stay’. I am using my Neoair pad in the pad pocket which is very comfortable. Looking forward to trying it our for
I have been thinking it would be a really good weekend to canoe the Thomson River given the projected (over 30’s) temperatures even though there is not a lot of water (suits me). Unfortunately my wife Della no longer feels confident enough to canoe the Thomson, so I am thinking about going by myself which
My old ultralight pack (330 grams) is beginning to shred so I thought I would try one of these (at 450 grams) – probably suit as carry-on luggage too. A good buy at about A$150 delivered: http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/packs/Swift.html My choice for the other two of the ‘big three’ are the Thermarest Neoair Regular (370 grams) mat
This year was certainly also ‘The Year of the Dog’. Once we owned 17 dogs! A year ago we still had 8, a healthy number. We are now down to one (Tiny, our son’s 12 year old Jack Russell). I decided to give away the last half dozen of my hounds to a young fellow hunter as
We celebrated the sale of our farm with a week’s holiday touring Tasmania in February. Strangely we did not walk the South Coast Track again but we did camp in the Franklin-Gordon and Arthur wildernesses amongst other things. This sounds a lot better than it is, particularly the Pieman-Arthur and Tarkine wildernesses which as far
Every time he turns at Centre Pass to survey the magnificent view down the Seaforth Valley to the Fiord, he wonders will it be the last time he gazes on such a magnificent view? It is the last thing you do, you should do it at least once. Steve will do it again and again.
