Registration & updated final event details will be available

here on Monday 15th Feb

The weekend will feature a series of “Come n Try” events including a 1 hour Metrogaine, 2 hour bush rogaine, Come n Try multisport race and off-road triathlon as well as a longer event for those ready to move up to the next level or kickstart their year with some off-road action. The longer distance race should attract some of the best triathletes and multisport racers in North Queensland, some of whom will be preparing to tackle the legendary XPD Adventure Race when it comes to the region in May 2010.

A highlight of the weekend will be an Outdoor and Adventure Sport Expo to be conducted on the Sunday morning from approximately 9.00 am until 11.00 am. This will provide additional activity and interest for spectators while the off-road triathlons/multi-sport races are in progress.

We believe this will be the first Expo of its kind in Far North Queensland and provides a fantastic opportunity for businesses and organisations to promote to their target market – outdoor and sports enthusiasts.

In keeping with the “come n try” theme of the weekend there will be a number of local clubs conducting demonstrations, workshops and activities promoting the wonderful Tinaroo environment.

The Program

Tinaroo Tourism and Recreation Group members are also offering great deals on meals and accommodation for those seeking some Adventure on a Summer’s Weekend.

Adventure HQ and Tinaroo Tourism and Recreation Group acknowledge the generous support from our major sponsors: It’s Extreme and Pump n Pedals.

For further information please contact admin@adventuresportnq.info or phone Kim on 0407 725 909 or checkout the events page here.

If you are unfamiliar with our events, below is a brief description of each of the event types included in the proposed program.

What is a Metrogaine?

Urban navigation – participants are given a street map with the street names deleted and a clue sheet. Numbered checkpoints are marked on the map and the clue sheet provides description of the feature/object on which they will find coloured dot. Once located, participants mark off the relevant colour against the clue on the clue sheet. They hand in the clue sheet and the team with the highest score wins. In the case of a tie, the placings are assessed on time. The race time (eg 2 hours) is the maximum time participants are allowed on the course before points are deducted as a late penalty. No compass navigation required.

What is a Rogaine?

Bush navigation – participants are given a topographical map and a clue sheet. Again numbered checkpoints are marked on the map and the clue sheet provides a description of the feature/object at which they will find a unique punch or electronic tag which they use to punch their scorecard or electronic tag. The scorecard or tag is handed in at the conclusion of the event to determine scores and placings. The aim is to accumulate as high a score as possible in the allotted time (or less). As above, time is also considered where there is a tie of scores. Compass navigation is required.

What is a Multi-Sport Race?

A multi-sport race is essentially any race that has more than one discipline to it, but generally refers to an event that includes trail running/hiking, mountain biking, and canoeing/kayaking but may also include abseiling, rock climbing or other forms of traversing various geographical features. Compass navigation is generally not required as courses are linear in nature and well signposted by the course designer.

What is an Off-Road Triathlon?

Triathlon is also considered a multi-sport race as it comprises the three disciplines of swim, run and ride. In an off-road triathlon the swim leg may be substituted for a canoe or kayak. The run is usually on a trail through the bush rather than on a marked road and the ride is completed on a mountain bike rather than a road bike or triathlon specific bike and again the course is generally on trails through the bush rather than on a marked road.

Happy Racing

This is all really new to me, I do confess that I am a novice at adventure racing and racing of any kind to be truthful. With my first race being OnaMission 2008: what a good way to start things off.

So second time round and with a little more preparation, advice and past learning experience I managed to find myself a new (virgin) team player better known as Alex, and get signed up for a crazy day of adventure racing.

Now some of you went as far as doing the long course, I don’t know how but I take my hat off to you; for standing in my shoes it looked “long” hot and something that may actually require training and endurance and maybe inner strength to break through pain barriers I’m not ready to go to myself yet. So I opted for the short course again, quite happy to “play it safe” ha ha. We arrived in Mission and got ready for registration by conserving our energy and watching those keen on doing gear checks, practice paddles and other things you do before a race. I started to question my relaxed manner but this was brief, I had tactics (once again laughing at my sense of humour). The registration was brief and the briefing well explained by this time it was getting late and all we needed now was a cuppa tea topped off with a little in-house rivalry, nothing like healthy competition between friends (our rivals being uncle Muzza and Graeme).

Its race day. I think its important to mention things that might be occurring for novices and even the experienced racer. Its the many unspoken records that can be achieved (on a personal level) on race day, the likes of time management and the simple things like gear checks (did anyone forget anything?), boats set up and ready to go, bikes in rack, energy food shoes and water all in correct places-CHECK!. Even the simpler things like needing to do the pre-race poo. The last thing you want is an inconvenience during the race-now don’t get me wrong if you have to go you have to go but preferably before or after the race has finished!!! And in amongst all this I managed to dress, pack up camp and have breakfast before 6am. On any other day this may not have been so easy. These are some of the things needed to make a multi sport adventure race work in your favour.

Lets cut to the chase, Alex and I were off and paddling perfect conditions, flat water beautiful day no crocs and the pace was on. My shoulder was ON fire too but thank god for team mates who pull you through. Making sure our kayak was turned round ready for take off we shoed up and raced off. Now last year I walked this part so already improving my race performance I jogged some of this “knarly” running track and killing myself bolting down the track last year I took the easier option and sprinted back to the kayaks. Tactics! A little disappointed with the slight head wind on the return paddle but my shoulder didn’t kick up such a fuss so all was good. Not to mention seeing our rivals not too far in front giving a little extra momentum and some friendly chit chat along the way made for a fun and rewarding race.

I’m really trying not to drag this out but I don’t want to give you the impression that we had a cracking pace. I can remember thinking the tortoise and the hare. Slowly wins the race, its got to be all about tactics. Anyway onto the bike leg but first a lovely choc brownie, glug of water and a taste test of a torque energy bar. I was powered up and ready for the walk to the ditch. Safely mounted on my bike we were off or at least Alex was-not even breaking a sweat. As for me I did everything to keep up or at least catch up. Despite the few grizzles I heard about a beach ride I really loved it, got in a good zone and with no one behind us. Now I wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not I was on such a high that my brain made me think we were doing really well-stroke that ego! And that ego just smiled a little more when we got to the Licuala track to see our Muzza and Graeme in a little spot of bother. My team mate mumbled something and encouraged me to power up we were in front. From last year I enjoyed the way this years track flowed and wasn’t so cranky to get off my bike which made the riding flow so much better. Scooting through the cool forest past a rotting pig carcuss and back down towards the beach for the last leg of the race.

The beach run. Once again on any other day a beach run is really nice but today it just seemed to hurt a little more than usual. Shoes do make a difference so I have already learned from previous experience. What more can I say we were near the finish line and incredibly some of the long course competitors were getting close to finishing as well.

Their fitness level and speed just blew me away giving me an inch more momentum and I was back into the run/walk mode while my team mate pranced around with the energy to do cartwheels or crazy stunts of some kind with Andre’ as he ran past in the opposite direction-what did he eat for breakfast that I didn’t. We made it through the final posts with a photographic finish and a great smile on our face for a day well spent!!!

17th October, 8am start.

Register from 730am

Events: 10mile, 5mile

Gold discovered

When William Kraft discovered gold on the north-west slopes of Bartle Frere in the 1930s, prospectors eager to reach the area made a rough trail from the coast over a saddle in the Bellenden Ker Range. Men and pack horses carried equipment and stores. The trail fell into disuse when the goldfield failed to live up to its promise. The Trail has been open recreationally since 1986, closed for a period after cyclone Larry and now ready for you to test your 10mile pace off-road.

The trail run will commence at The Goldsborough Valley Camping area (Kearney’s Flats). The Goldsborough Rush trail run will take you along the northern section of the Goldsborough Track to the East Mulgrave Causeway (be prepared to cool off) and return the same way. A Water stop will be available at the 5 miler turn around, but you might like to carry your own. The weather is likely to be typical October NQ weather so expect hot conditions. The trail is mostly shaded

How to Get there

From Cairns travel 23km south to Gordonvale and turn right onto the Gillies Highway. Continue along the highway for about 6km and turn left onto Downings Road at the signposted Goldsborough Valley turn-off. Cross Peets Bridge and continue for 16km to the Goldsborough Valley camping and day-use areas. The last 5km of this road is unsealed but well graded, although it can be slippery in wet conditions. It is suitable for conventional vehicles, but please drive with caution. Drive slowly and watch for wildlife and oncoming traffic. It is not recommended for caravans, buses or trailers.

Saturday August 15th culminates Ben’s rise to fame in winning this years Pyramid Race in a time of 1:23:12, not the record, but a great achievement for a first attempt.

Congratulations Ben from Adventure Sport NQ!

Back earlier this year I think maybe June… Now known as the Weldon family (Lise, Kaia & Kristian) put there time aside from a busy work schedule to holiday in beautiful Nepal. I think pictures are greater than words so check out there Youtube videos!

Everest & Bhote Kosi Nepal

The last video of our holiday to Nepal and what an adventure. From Bungee jumping and meeting the locals to flying into Lukla and walking to see Everest as a family was sweet. Read on
Jomson trek and Pokhara Nepal

The first 5 days of us in Nepal. A snippet of trekking the Jomson trek, hanging and singing in Pokhara and taking a ride in Kathmandu.

Chitwan & Kathamandu Nepal

Three days in Southern Nepal with the family. Riding Elephants, bikes and dodging poo.

If you haven’t already met this great family, make sure you take some time out and say g’day. Are you planning your next adventure?

An exciting and challenging course has been designed with extreme adventure racers and new comers to this style of racing catered for.

Take-off will be September 12 & 13th. Click here for race info & entry

A new Adventure Racer is in the midst… lookout!

First of all sorry guys (Andre & Liv) about the embarrassing but beautiful photo above. It just had to be done. if you have been around the Adventure Racing community in the last year you would of met this great couple.

With the James Grant Memorial Multisport Race held last weekend and Liv being very very pregnant, she came out to watch the race and relax in the rainforest atmosphere of Goldbrough. Unknown to most Liv started having closer and closer contraction during the day, Andre had planned several exit strategies from the race if the time had come to bring a new born racer into the world. Luckily they had time for the race to finish and hang out for an hour before dashing home to grab the baby bag then shooting into hospital.

After a perfect and all natural labour Liv and Andre (now known as the ‘Rock’) delivered a beautiful healthy seven pound girl late Sunday night (26th July). They have named her Shanti.. it means peace…

Again congratulations and we all look forward to meeting your little Adventure Racer in the future.

From 24 Isaac Smith Close, Kewarra Beach [my place], to end of Moore Road, behind Paradise Palms golf course, along Ck to Petricola St/Tobias Close. Up Forgan Smith Track to forestry, L turn to ‘Telecom Track’, along this track to Black Mountain Rd, L on Green Lane to Gregory Tce, R on Salamone Dr, up to Weather Station, down towards mountain /Worlds tracks, towards Kewarra side back onto Moore Rd and Home.

The Bibbulmun Track is WA’s only true long-distance walk trail, stretching from Kalamunda in the north to Albany in the south with a total of  963 kms  (depending on who ones asks!).  It is run by volunteers from the Bibbulmun Track Foundation therefore no cost involved to walk the track or stay in the shelters situated approx a day apart.  It took a long 48 days between 22nd Feb and Good Friday (well planned finishing date – not!) for Team BMT (named after Byron, Marika and Tony) to complete this giant feat but all completed it as ‘end-to-enders’ in good spirits (with only a few aches and pains).

How does one plan for such a long walk??

Firstly, one needs good equipment (50-60 litre hiking pack, well worn- in hiking boots (met one guy walking the entire track in Volleys), Trangia (truly useful Swedish invention), wet weather gear (found out the hard way my goretex wasn’t waterproof anymore), an inflatable mattress (not a yoga mat like Tony’s friend brought along for the last 2 weeks of the trip – not much left of that!), a warm sleeping bag and thermals (even in summer nights get down to 5 degrees with days up to 40 degrees), a trusty hydration pack to carry lots and lots of water (started out carrying 6 litres each but got down to about 3 litres) and food that ensures you get enough calories per day. It also takes great support (with Tony’s girlfriend Holly and wonderful parents Joe and Judy) to help assist in restocking food, supplies and someone else to talk to once in a while!!  And one must have the flexibility to change plans.  We found this out the hard way in the beginning when we had planned to walk over 40kms for many days in a row but after day 2 realised we had set ourselves a task nearly impossible.  Was this a holiday or an SAS boot camp??

The initial 9 days between starting the track and our first town (Dwellingup) was mostly through mixed Jarrah and Wandoo forests with some largish mountains in between (or hills as we called them from a fresh body).  The excitement and eagerness was overwhelming as was the weight of our packs (20-25kgs which were soon offloaded in Dwellingup to only 15-20kgs).  Also started out using water purification tablets but soon realised that the rainwater tank water at each shelter was pure even though tannin stained with a few wrigglies in them (chux works well as a strainer).   Hard ground (with gum nuts and pea gravel) made for extremely sore feet at the end of the day but alas we had inner soles waiting for us in Dwellingup (thanks to Holly).  Got our first taste of rain on day 4 but WA didn’t put up a fight for us Nth Qlders (just drizzle all day long but enough to realise to put your goretex on and not try to brave it out!!).  This was the hump day for all of us where we started getting the sore shoulders, knees and hips.  Wildlife to note on this first section was the tiny red pepper ticks (everywhere!).  Dinner on day 6 was well received as we found a roadhouse not far from the track and gorged ourselves on homemade pizzas (no steaks for the boys as kitchen closed!!).  Went back for breakfast.  We soon realised we were following someone whose track name was ‘waugal stalker’ (named after the serpeant like snake on the track markers you follow).  At each shelter there is a register you fill in with your thoughts and further intentions, she was only a few days ahead of us!!  She had been so kind to leave some of her pumpernickel bread and peanut butter so we carried it to add to our stockpile – just made our packs heavier and mouths dry – we found out why she left it behind then!   Met a daywalker a little way from Dwellingup who informed it was only 7kms to go but in actual fact we think it was more like 15kms (do not ever tell hungry tired walkers a shorter distance to make them happy – it doesn’t make them happy!!).  Met ‘Skittles’ (named because he likes to eat Skittles!) at the Dwellingup pub who had been following us from the start and knew us already from our notes we left behind in the registers (he ended up completing the track in half the time we did with only a 9kg pack!).

From Dwellingup the track enters the Murray River valley and parallels the river.  This was our first chance to swim even though we had been washing quite well with a saucepan and rainwater.  Celebrated Tony’s 31st birthday with a sweet pastry and candle purchased in the restock in Dwellingup (and ‘skittles’ had left a crunchie bar behind too).  Tony’s dad Joe joined us for 10 days – think it was his longest 10 days ever!  But did very well considering we were 10 days fitter than him.  He brought with him a feast of delicious food that much to everyone’s sadness I weaned down to the basic necessities – it all adds to the weight in the pack after all (did keep the dark choc though).  Wildlife worth mentioning on this section was the nasty bee that got me good on the inner thigh – lucky I’m not allergic to bees as Tony and Joe were!  The virgin jarrah in this section was a nice relief as a lot of the bush we had walked through had been burnt.

Had our first rest day (after just over 2 weeks on the track) in Bunbury.  Nice to sleep in a proper bed, wash our clothes and have a well earned rest.  Had a swim in the ocean and was visited by a curious mother and cub dolphin who came close enough to touch – now thats wildlife!!  Back on the track we found ‘Mumballup Tavern’ – famous for the wacky owners who, while we were there, were drinking the last of the whisky before a new bottle – the last of the whisky ended up being 5 glasses full!  I must admit though their ‘famous’ burgers were truly delicious (had offered to give mine free if I cooked them all! – didn’t take them up on the offer).  Bill Bryson’s “A walk in the woods” was the perfect companion at the end of a long day as it reminded me how lucky we were to be out in the bush doing what we love.  We were getting good at finding the best ‘lunch logs’ by this time and had gotten our lunch routine down pat (peanut butter was my savour).  Joe’s last day on the track with us was a shock as Joe’s fitness had improved so much that he was a new man and had us running behind to keep up.  Had a Buddhist retreat experience in Balingup which was worth every dollar we donated to stay there.  Fruit trees full of plump juicy peaches, apples and pears had us giggling like school children.  Had finally caught up with ‘waugal stalker’ (a 19 yr old from Brisbane) walking the entire track alone and couldn’t have weighed more than 40kgs!  Strong girl!

My favourite shelter on the track was at Blackwood.  It was situated in amongst a pine forest overlooking the Blackwood Valley.  Shared our first hut with someone (after 3 weeks) and was quite put out by having to stick to a corner of the picnic table and keeping our sleeping arrangements neat and tidy.  Nice to share stories of the track though.  We walked through a mix of jarrah and karri forest not far from the Blackwood River from here to Donnelly River, with sections being pleasantly flat.  The Donnelly River, much to the Nth Qlders amazement was dry (as were most of the creeks and rivers along the track).  The township of Donnelly River Village was like stepping back in time with accommodation in old mill workers cottages, the café selling 1 cent lollies and housing a haunted school (were we had the pleasure of spending the night in one of the schools bunkhouses).  Bunnings used to run a forestry operation there but that tourist attraction was closed as the building had been condemned.  I think the tourists come here now to feed the very tame emus and kangaroos.  The emus tried to fight me for my corn chips but I wasn’t letting them have any of my well received calories!!  Met an English family car touring around the south west who must have felt sorry for us and give us their leftover beers.

Got our 4th day of rain walking out from Donnelly River Village but considered ourselves lucky for being only the 4th day out of the entire walk.  Track followed the Donnelly River (with water in it) for quite a long way.  Conversations started resigning to babies names – Karri as a girls name and Jarrah as a boys name.  We came across an abandoned car in a section of the track where it seemed impossible for a car to get into??  Day 25 and another early morning wake up call (Tony’s mattress deflating as he lets the air out) made for another early start to a day where I would spit the dummy and demand another rest day sometime soon.  Soon got over this as today was possibly the nicest section of the track so far (between Toms Road shelter and Boarding House shelter).  Met a friendly tiger snake who tried to sneak into the shelter to catch the mice but startled me as I was reading so had to go!  Tony (Mr Snake Handler) carefully pulled him by his tail down the hill.  Another day of drizzling rain and cold and wet gear got us to the lovely Beedelup National Park with its beautiful waterfalls and to Karri Valley Resort (a short detour from the track).  We weren’t about to skip this detour as our stomachs were craving hot chocolates with whipped cream.  These were the best hot chocolates I have ever tasted with steamy warm milk poured over rich dark chocolate buds – pure decadence.  Contemplated staying at the resort the night to get warm and eat but we were no pussy’s – we kept going.  Tiger snakes were becoming a daily sighting from here.  Our day into Pemberton showed sunny skies and a spring in our step as we were getting to another town to restock, shower and spend the night in a motel.  The brewery at Jarrah Jacks was calling our names!

Pemberton and the home of the 60m Gloucester Tree (a fire lookout that can be climbed if you’re brave) was a welcome change in environment as we were now getting into the massive Karri forests (a spectacular tree with whitish bark).  Day 30 had us all in low spirits as had a bit more rain and were possibly very fatigued by now.  However our spirits lifted as Tony’s friend invited us to his farm for a BBQ dinner (as it was not far from the track).  He showed us around his farm and I asked a hundred and one questions about his cattle, his horses, his family, his home, etc.  Tony’s friend Gavin joined us on Day 31 to spend the last few weeks with us (he’s the one with the yoga mat!).  Another wet day but nice and cool as getting very close to the coast and the sand in our boots.  Made a mental note to self to buy ear plugs to block out Gavin’s snoring!  Coastal heathland vegetation, sandy tea-tree flats, farmland and bits of Karri in between made for beautiful walking until we met another walker coming the other way who hadn’t see anyone in 6 days and couldn’t stop talking!  Had our first fire in a scarce fire pit and a refreshing swim in Lake Maringup (WA’s 2nd largest freshwater lake).  Complete fire ban up north (that ended at the end of March but we didn’t know that) therefore our first fire and our last as the fire ban extends south all year.  Sunrise over the lake was truly spectacular but didn’t even contemplate following Tony in for an early morning swim – brrrr!!  From Lake Maringup to Dog Pool we got into the boggy areas (which were completely dry and completely out in the open), apparently in winter this area is inundated with water and very difficult to traverse.  Due to the open terrain and the hot sun, at lunch we stopped to take off our socks to dry them out – a big reason you get blisters is from wearing wet socks.  Dog pool wasn’t what the name suggests – no wild dogs sitting at the waters edge ready to tear you apart – just some wild pigs on the other side of the pool scrounging around for food.  There’s nothing nicer than to jump into a cool, not so clear, tannin stained pool to ease those sore muscles and my sore shoulders as my pack has somehow become lopsided over time and was now sitting over on one shoulder – didn’t want to get the “oh *#@* it disease” so attempted to fix but made another mental note to buy new pack.  Nearly had ourselves marron for dinner but bush tucker men Byron and Tony weren’t in much luck today.  Mt Chance offered us a 360 degree view from the granite outcrop behind the shelter and this is where we met the famous ‘Wrong Way Jim’ or the ‘King of all Snorers’.  Doesn’t take much to figure out why he got these names.  He did give us some good advice on dehydrated food (which his wife does in their K-Mart special food dehydrator).  Anything from Cottage Pie to Green Chicken Curry to Apple Strudel, our dinner wasn’t so appetizing this night I must say!  Day 34 and only the 2nd time to share a shelter.  Another rainy day (until it stopped once we got to the shelter) and quite overgrown in areas.  Had lakes in my boots from the water dripping down the inside of my gaitors, made another mental note to buy waterproof gaitors.  First day of daylight savings saw clear skies and positive attitudes and had us hitting the ocean for the first time at Mandalay Beach (so named as the ‘Mandalay’ ship became beached here and every 10 or so years the sands shift and the ‘Mandalay’ appears again).  Not on this day though.  Must have felt extremely good today as decided to ‘double hut’ and then have a short day into Walpole (and a longer rest).

Walpole was like walking into an oasis with cafes, pubs, cars and internet!!  Locals ever so friendly by calling everyone they knew to ask if they had the same camera battery charger as mine as I had usefully forgotten mine (or do I recall saying it weighs too much!)?  Had a night in a cute little house in town (thanks to Tony’s mum Judy) and feasted on homemade lasagne and too much red wine.  Another of Tony’s friends Ryan joined us from here on what was meant to be his 4 day holiday but pulled out after 3 days due to injury and realizing it wasn’t much of a holiday!  Red Tingle tree area (looked like something out of The Lord of the Rings).  Franklin River shelter was a welcome sight after a day of cold, wet walking.  This shelter was built up on stilts and situated right on the Franklin River, very serene and peaceful place until the group of year 12 Outdoor Ed students and teachers turned up.  Ear plugs came in double handy this night.  They ended up being a great bunch of kids who encouraged us to join in on their team bonding exercises.  They asked us all kinds of questions about our planning, preparation, training and were generally interested – wow!  Sheok forests for the next few days made for soft walking underfoot and soon got to the award winning Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk.  It offers a remarkable canopy-level experience of the ancient Tingle forests and is well worth the penny.  From here started seeing a few more walkers on the Track (now getting to about 3 or 4 a day).  Day 39 and my hardest day, I hit a wall and struggled to get into camp at Ramehead.  The last uphill haul was very challenging both physically and mentally but the view at Ramehead made up for it with amazing views out over the limestone cliffs and the Southern Ocean.  Cold, cold night.  Was perhaps a little delirious walking into Peaceful Bay (could have to do with the wet, cold and windy weather) and thought we had seen seals frolicking in the ocean, after about an hour we decided we were just seeing things and kept going but to this day I still do not know if they were seals or not!!  Byron caught his first fish with his bare hands today – wow, he really is turning into a bush tucker man but unfortunately didn’t grasp it tight enough and it got away.  Treated ourselves to an on-site van at Peaceful Bay Caravan Park (a 60’s style retro van in a concrete bunker is all it was – our little bomb shelter).  Watched the local salmon fishermen hauling in their catch but was told that there are no salmon this year – in fact not many fish at all – so fishermen very unhappy.

Wading across the Irwin Inlet (naked) was a fun experience (a woohoo one actually), we sent Byron in as the guinea pig to test where the shallowest path was to get across and then when he was safely across we followed (with packs sitting on our heads and firm footholds so we wouldn’t topple over).  Was even more fun to realise we had just saved ourselves 6kms by wading the inlet as opposed to walking all the way around – and much more fun!!  Hard going on the soft sand dunes but wide views to the inland lake and out to the ocean were rewarding.  Wildlife worth noting were the mice who tried to get into our food packs, only managed to get to Gavin’s flatbread and cup-a-soup!! (good combo).  7kms of beach walking (or 1.5 hrs) along Mazoletti Beach allowed us to take the boots off and get a good foot rub.  The ruggedness of the coasts along this section was breathtaking and the many secluded bays we came across were truly spectacular.  Parry Beach Campground a lovely area under a peppermint grove.

Our Day 43 Denmark rest day was well worth it, we knew we only had 5 days left and could truly splurge on this next section as was nice and short with shortish days.  Wrote up a decadent menu and then attempted to find all the ingredients at the IGA.  The Track crosses the Wilson Inlet via a ferry service (which apparently doesn’t run anymore) so walked over the sandbar at the mouth of the inlet and followed the old waugal markers to meet up with the ferry pier (looked very disused).  Walked through long overgrown grass so were concerned for snakes but didn’t even see one (probably helped I was singing and clapping my hands very loudly).  Wildlife worth noting on this section was the huge sea eagle hovering overhead with an enormous wing span.  Tonight was Byron and my attempt to deliver a ‘special restaurant’ meal to everyone.  Chilli noodles, capsicum strips and rice crackers for nibbles, 2-minute noodles stirfried with garlic tofu, baby corn, capsicum, garlic and mushrooms and then for dessert vanilla custard and easter eggs!  Told you we were going to splurge on this last section.  The track hugged the coastline for the final 5 days offering glorious rock pools and spectacular views and weather stayed gorgeous and sunny but still nice and cool.  Very popular for salmon fishermen and there certainly wasn’t a lack of fish here that these men were catching!  Views over West Cape Howe from the shelter and some red wine to top off a nice days walk.  7 other walkers from West Cape Howe to Torbay – we were told the coastal sections are much more popular or was it that the long weekend easter was coming up??   Dingo Beach has stuck in my memory as the place I nearly died!!  Waves didn’t look that big until I dived into them and nearly didn’t come out.  Got pummeled to the point where I didn’t know what was up and what was down.  It was apparently very funny to Byron and Gavin who were watching from the beach until I came racing out with only half my clothes on ranting and raving like a lunatic.  I was scared!!  You know how you see messages written in the sand and it looks so easy, well its not.  I tried to write a birthday message for my dad but kept getting footprints in the message, serves me right for trying to be a perfectionist!!  2nd last night on the track and we had a very tame bandicoot come join us.  He was missing half his tail, maybe some hungry hiker got it??  Wildlife worth noting on this day was a gigantic stingray that had his tail caught in a commercial fishing net, the fishermen chopped his tail off with a knife and threw the stingray back in the ocean – hope it survived??  Last night on the track and Gavin came up with the idea of ordering pizza – who would believe it – would Domino’s deliver pizza to our shelter in the middle of nowhere?? NO but they delivered to a car park 5 kms from the shelter which the boys thought was only 3 kms so they had to run to make it in time – what better way to end our monster hike than to end it with pizza delivered to the end of the earth!!