Head in the Clouds – Feet in the Dirt

Hello!!
The day before we started our hike, the lovely Margie drove in tandem with us down to Lake St Clair so we could drop our car off at the finish point.
Then drove us all the way back to Cradle Mt and left us to start on our adventure!
It was a great idea staying at the Waldheim Cabins the night before. They are situated practically at the start of the track!

The cabin we had was a practical one room affair – four bunks and a kitchenette.
Showers and loos weren’t far away.
Along with mattresses and a heater – it was going to be a comfy nights start.

The local Currawong was waiting at the front door to see if I had heard the rule about not feeding birds and animals!

The views out the window were great and we had a relaxing night since we had been on the road since 8am. Its not only a long drive down that way, but slow too – mostly due to being stuck behind people who are confused about what the accelerator pedal is for and can’t think to pull aside for those of us not wanting to travel at 40km/hr!!

I’d packed a picnic lunch that stretched to dinner that night and lunch the following day! Not bad!

It was so nice and easy to wake up ‘on site’ have some brekkie, pack up and head straight out onto the track!

Amazingly it wasn’t raining!! It certainly wasn’t hot and dusty, but it was perfect hiking weather.
We headed down the hill which soon intersected with the Overland Track.

We said good morning to a wallaby (Squint and you might see it at the base of the tree):

Then started making Jeff pose for photos (“Its for your Mum – Smile!”)(You’re welcome Judy 😀 )

Before long we were heading up.
Firstly through the tangled greenery by the stream

And out towards Crater Lake (I think that blue pack ahead is ‘Manchester Guy’) (Everyone seems to get a label until names are exchanged. Its happened every trip. Last time Fiona and I were ‘The Cousins’ This time I was ‘Photography Lady’ :D)(Day 5 I finally got Manchester Guys real name – Brett)

It certainly wasn’t hot enough for a dip at Crater Lake but it was nice to put the packs down and take a breather.

The water was low so got to check out inside the boatshed too

Packs back on, we start the slog up to Marions lookout.

Oh those stairs!

Despite not being as prepared fitness wise this time, I didn’t feel too bad about the whole climb up! Not that I did it skipping or anything – just not as tough as it can be!
It did get pretty windy!
Oh… and for the first time I had the camera out for this tricky little bit:

Good fun hauling yourself and pack up here!

Actually the chain really helps!

The views get better, the wind gets stronger and the climb isn’t done yet.

First peek of Cradle!

Its always a nice bonus to get the good views when you reach the top

We were way too early to sit and eat lunch so we were happy to get some snaps and push on.

I love the path along towards Kitchen Hut and the base of Cradle. The world just stretches out ahead of you.

Jeff was very happy to have poles this time around. He is a bit of a classic at twisting ankles and the poles really kept him steady this trip.

Is it me or does that pincushion plant look like a smiling person?
Anyway, we still have half a days hiking ahead – but will share that with you another evening!
We have a friend arriving tomorrow so most of my day was sadly taken up with housework and not gardening or photo processing! 🙂

Hope you are having a lovely weekend!
Cheers

Hello!
I picked these… yesterday?? I wasn’t going out to pick but they were there being very noticeable. Then I couldn’t resist the cherry tomato heart to spice up the photo.

So… the nests have been a bit empty!! Sigh. Locked the feathery ones up for half the day hoping they would just lay in the coop.
Nup… not a solitary egg.
But when I let them out one of them made a bee line for the tree cuttings! She must have had her legs crossed all morning! Anyway, she gave away one hidey hole nest!

I still have a bit of searching to do to see where the girls that lay the white eggs are hiding theirs!! Little pests.
That whole area needs chopping up and putting in the trailer ready for a tip trip. And yuck… the eggs are filthy!!

I spent quite some time doing the rounds of the garden today – picking mostly tomatoes!
I am slightly overwhelmed at the moment! 14.5kgs in todays haul!!
Tomorrow I am going to need to do some more chopping and cooking!
A friend is arriving the day after tomorrow so going to have to squeeze in a little housework too! 😀

Hope you have a fab weekend planned!
Cheers!

Here we are! At the start of the climb up Tasmania’s highest peak, Mt Ossa!
Jeff called me out for my last post touching on this saying I didn’t make it sound like it was very hard. 😀
I’d like to correct that. It was no walk in the park. We are not super young and fit so for us it was quite an effort. The climb was steep and at times dangerous with having to get over large rocks and boulders with no discernible path.
However – to date I think its been my favourite climb!
(Get yourself a cuppa – this is a long winded post 😀 )

The first part of the climb is on well constructed paths, with real steps. It goes up a lot, but takes away the unsure footing of loose rocks and roots.

The views start getting great even at an early stage

Mt Pelion East

At this part of the hike, we are basically skirting Mt Doris, who sits beside Ossa. People who don’t want to climb Ossa can climb Doris or simply get to this point – that the rangers call the Japanese Garden.
Its so unexpectedly delightful

The scrubby bushes, pincushion plants, rocks and weathered wood really make up a beautiful area to walk through.

I really was lucky to be in this spot when the sun came out!

So – now we start going down to then start going up the REAL climb!! Clearly my ‘false summit’ is not the top since there are those nice big craggy peaks either side, but I mistakenly thought that was as far as you could go. (Learning curve coming up)
The tiny yellow dot circled in red is Yoshi – one of our fellow hikers from Japan who was madly fit and seemed to scamper up mountains! Perhaps his presence here gives you a little scale!

So… up we go! (So glad I have a camera. Marvellous excuse to stop and hyperventilate take photos)

See the mountain on the left in the distance? Thats Mt Oakleigh. We walked from that area that morning before we even thought about tackling this climb! (Right then I was feeling rather accomplished haha)

And onwards/upwards

We met Gloria on her way down. Can you believe she is afraid of heights!!?? She didn’t go all the way to the summit but to get where she got to was pretty amazing as even I got unexpected vertigo at times when I turned around and saw the drop!

Actually, it was in the spot in the photo above that I had to step further into the mountain as I turned and blanched as the effect was a sheer drop off right at my feet!

Steep as it may be – it was still so beautiful with the continual rockery gardens.

Where the fun starts…

We are still lucky to be getting views. At times the clouds would roll in and obscure things.

This section is totally ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’. There are posts that guide your general direction, but you have to select the way – not all rocks are fully stable either!!!

I was not a fan of this slab!! It was grippy enough underfoot but I found it slightly unnerving! Its not a short drop if you happen to tumble!

The closer you get, the huger and more impressive this mountain becomes

Thats Jurassic dolomite you are looking at there (and Jeff 😀 )

Now looking back the view is truly spectacular!

But we ain’t done yet!! We actually missed the little dogleg climbing up and across – happily some other hikers appeared out of there coming back so we were able to correct our (happily short lived) mistake.

Coming out on the other side I am not sure I was expressing happiness and enthusiasm when I saw how far we still had to go! Returning hikers were assuring us that the worst was over!!
Again – those tiny dot people are for scale and it didn’t look like a hop,skip and a jump to me!!!

Still… there was no way we were giving up after coming that far!

Its amazing how far you can get on your own two feet after a relatively short period of time! That saddle quickly moved into the background.

So close to the end!

The area at the top was a fabulous plateau of rocks, pincushion plants, mosses, grasses etc.
And it was flat. Bliss

One final little rock scramble and we were at the top!
Proud moment for the Millars!! 🙂

Mt Ossa – 1,617 metres (5,305 ft) above sea level. Tasmania’s highest peak.

We were pretty much the last of the Overland Hikers up here and it was a little chilly up top. No time to linger for excessive amounts of time – it was a long way down and we still had to collect our packs and hike a couple of kms or so into camp.

Still lucky with the views!

Going down is tricky. Its a slow process while you make sure you have stable rocks underfoot and your balance is sure.
It was quite a relief to get back to the ‘path’ (as narrow and steep as it was)

Disappearing down

Back on the beautiful tracks that skirt Doris!!

We are so pleased we did this. It was a challenge for us but a spectacular experience.
I must say were were pretty tired that night and my legs acted a bit wobbly on the final descent into the camp area!

Anyway, now I can actually go back and start working on Day One’s story and photos!! 😀 Hope you enjoyed!!
Cheers!

Hi there!
Quite a day on my feet!
Went to the bank this morning and started the process of organising some available funds from our home loan so we can get those trees removed!
Then came home to finish off the relish.
While that was cooking I spent time cutting up those three huge beetroots!
They totally filled my big pot so I had to wait until the relish was done so I could use the bigger pot to cook them in

As you can see above, I also managed to get the basket of picked thyme into the netting, so now its hanging in the slate room smelling rather nice!
I finished off the photos from the mountain climb, but will wait until tomorrow to write up a post. It somehow got late!!
But all dishes (finally) are done, food put away and bread is baking.
I am deciding what to do with all the current tomatoes – I think I will take a break from the kitchen and see if my friend wants to buy a few kilos… will only be a few days before I will be stocked up again 🙂
A day off tomorrow to laze about??
We shall see 🙂
Cheers!

How great are the colours here?? I finally escaped the kitchen to pick some tomatoes etc… didn’t even really get into the cherry tomato plants. Just mostly went in to get the nice big obvious ones!

I spent a bit of the afternoon sorting, washing, chopping and cooking tomatoes.
First up – the start of a new batch of relish.

Since chopping up 6lb of tomatoes didn’t put a dint in my supply, I continued chopping and filled another pot – I wanted to cook it up and freeze it in portions. I managed to fill several containers!

Since I noticed I am running a little low on pickled beetroot, I pulled out three huge ones from the garden!
Will add that into my kitchen jobs tomorrow while I am making the relish.

A nice little capsicum that I forgot to cut up for the nights salad…. tomorrow!

I realised that the lettuce was along far enough to be able to start picking leaves again! Yay!

Found some more tomatoes, a few cucumbers, more passionfruit and lovely corn too… last of the first two plots!! Its been so enjoyable!
Hope you’ve all had a wonderful day!
Cheers!

Hello!
I made a pretty good start in the library today, clearing and sorting ‘stuff’
Its going to take a while – you know when you look through things and get distracted by reading or a walk down memory lane with things you find!
Pip wasn’t at his most helpful. I was trying to cut an article out of the paper when he kept flying in to ‘hide’ under it.
He blends so well you’d never know he was under there…. except for his butt haha

He was totally having a good time!
I quit mid afternoon – one can have too much of a good thing – went and picked heaps of thyme for my net dryer then spent some time pre preparing dinner.
I am enjoying this meandering pace!
Hope your weekend is going great!
Cheers

While we were hiking I told Jeff that when I got home I was going to spend a week being a complete sloth.
So far its not working out. 🙂
Today I made a start on ‘proper cleaning’ by sorting out the clothing issue and giving our bedroom a thorough scrub.
I’ve only made a rough start on post processing our hiking photos – and have decided to start on the mountain climb of day 4 rather than being chronological.

Since they are not done and photographing housework is not my thing (neither is housework but we all have our challenges haha) I’ve got a few tree images to share.

I love the trees on the Overland Track – so many different colours and textures to enjoy.
And in the rain/damp the colours come up beautifully!

The yellow trunks are my favourite!

Tomorrow I hope to make a start on a new batch of relish since I have so many tomatoes. I also have high hopes and grand plans of sorting out the ‘library’ (which now doubles as the room to put everything that you don’t want visitors to see and trip over daily)(Yes its a disgrace!)
I hope your weekend involves more fun and less housework!
Cheers!

An exciting day at Norwich House… my favourite time in the garden finally arrives! Digging potatoes!
The poor old plants were very ready to come out.

Happily we had another lovely sunny day today, so we put on our gardening clothes and hats and got to it!

We were digging up so many huge sized spuds!

Every minute or so we’d stop to show each other the size of the potato we just found! 😀

The biggest one weighed in at just over half a kilo!! (maybe not the one pictured…)

We actually had to make two barrow trips to the front lawn as there wasn’t enough space in it to fit them all at once!

My almost non-existent OCD kicked in and we sorted the potatoes by size. This year we had an ‘Extra Large’ category and a ‘chook’ category (anything too small or green or fiddly to bother cooking so will eventually be chucked in a pot to cook for the chickens!)

Jeff wanted to weigh them this season so we dragged out a duffle bag and the luggage scale.
We dug up 90kgs (just a shade under 200lb)!!
Think thats enough??

Anyway, we had a lot of fun and got fantastically dirty!
We’ve boxed them all up and stored them in the shed. I have a small box in the pantry for use right now.

In other gardening news…
Beau put all these tomatoes in the freezer for us while we were away! The day after we arrived home I did a round of the garden to pick some more.

Excited to see some of my yellow tomatoes finally ripening!

The new lettuce patch is doing nicely.

The lettuce in the straw bale is looking rather tragic!! Half died, but some are hanging in there. Will give more attention to them!!

Something for dinner last night.
And a pear!!

The cow-ravaged corn patch (whats left of it) is going well. The cobs haven’t filled out yet but we are just finishing off the last lot so these will be ready to go soon! Happy I got the timing right!

Three new cucumbers!
A rock melon!! I’ve not had success yet so fingers crossed for this fellow.

Passionfruit keep falling too! Lovely!

Plenty of cherry tomatoes on the self seeded plants at the back of the hothouse. I got around to picking these this afternoon!

Yesterdays basket of fresh stuff!

I love weird carrots! This one was fab!

I did the rounds and picked about 8kgs of tomatoes (17lb) a few more cobs of corn, found some runaway zucchinis, more passionfruit and some herbs.
Dinner tonight was about 90% home grown. I stuffed some tomatoes tonight and we ate a scandalous amount of corn!!
Life’s pretty good eh?
Hope you have a wonderful weekend planned!
Cheers!

Hello!!!
Feast your eyes on that VIEW!!
We got in last night and slept very very soundly after the most glorious shower ever!!
We had a great time – different challenges each day, but oh so satisfying.
Life is simple up there. The anxiety melts away as you pack up your gear, walk from A to B, unpack, change, eat, chat and sleep (well… toss and turn on a camp mattress for 12 hours haha)
Then… wake and go again!
The scenery is ever changing and gorgeous.
We were pretty lucky with the weather. The forecast rain rain rain rain, snow and rain didn’t eventuate.
It was cold enough but only on day five did we get significant rain and snow flurries as we hiked.
The highlight was getting the chance to climb and summit Mt Ossa, Tasmanias highest peak. Absolutely stunning! A rather huge challenge and NOT a walk in the park but worth every ounce of sweat!

I am going to drift my way through the next week – work on the garden and the photos 🙂 I wrote a diary while I was up on the hike so I could copy my thoughts into the daily account of our hike this time.
The garden is pumping out tomatoes and tonight it was great having fresh food again!

Hope your week has been fantastic and I will be dropping back again soon with hiking stories and garden tales!
Cheers!

Well – I’ve a confession. I’m not really all that bright.
Who thought leaving two point five days to get prepared for a huge hike was going to be ample time between saying goodbye to guests and heading off??
Hmmmm???
So… I’ve been running about like a Hairy Goat for days. (Are hairy goats a thing?)
And why the shoes? Oh, because on Saturday one of my comfortable-as-gloves hiking boots split. Meaning on top of whatever else I had to do, Monday I had to find new hiking shoes and not least break them in – before Friday!!!

They didn’t have my beloved boots in my size in stock of course so had to find something else. The lovely shoe shop lady let me take these home without paying to walk about the house and take time to decide!! How great was that?
Anyway, they are lighter than the leather boots and will hopefully dry out quicker. I took them for a test hike around the river yesterday and not a rub at all let alone a blister! So – hopefully I won’t have New Shoe Regret this upcoming week. (and yes I managed to remember to return and pay)

We had a lovely 5 days with Yusuke and Megumi. A nice way to finish Megumi’s stay with her husband arriving and doing some fun sightseeing, catching up and eating all the good stuff!

They are in Melbourne now enjoying their last couple of days in Australia.

There has been so much to do! It would have been great to have more time to just rest a bit before heading out, but… no rest for the wicked!!!
I had to pick most of the corn today before leaving as a little grub was getting into the top. I didn’t want to come home to lost corn. We ate 2 big cobs each tonight at dinner, I’ve given some away, sold some and frozen the rest.

Its turned really cold tonight!! The tomatoes were just starting to really come along! Hopefully the warm autumn weather will return. Still a lot of green tomatoes out there to turn.

Picking up passionfruit daily now!

I did a bit of a run about town delivering eggs and veggies on top of seeing the doc and getting a B12 boost!

We drugged Pip yesterday so he wasn’t so uptight when going to the vet for his steroid injection! He was super mellow and floppy all day! The vet was able to give him the shot while he was still in the cage with only one small protesting meow!! So much better for everyone!! 😀 (Cousin Beau is house sitting. We usually give Pip a tablet daily but giving cats pills successfully is only for Vets and the Super Skilled (us)(haha) So the injection is a good tide over for when we are away)

Anyway, I think I have everything together… best get to bed as we have a long drive tomorrow. If all goes well, we’ll be walking out Friday Morning.
The forecast? Rain Rain Rain and snow! haha. Probably wind too.
We aren’t fazed. We will just be happy to get right away from it all for a short time!
Have a lovely week ahead and think of me trudging through the wilderness with my 18kg pack!! (Yes, camera is in!!)
Cheers