We decided to spend a few days doing something in our holidays other than riding bikes. A hike was what we came up with a few months back and had every intention on doing some "walking training" for the 100k hike form Apollo Bay to the 12 Apostles however the only training I managed was a 2hr hike with 5kg in my pack, a 30min and a 2hr no pack walk two days prior. Here's how it went!!
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| All ready for the walk with plenty of fuel! |
Day One
Al, Nina and I left Apollo Bay at lunchtime and walked past
he first campsite and arrived into the second 22km later. 6 ½ hours on our
feet. Al told me not to put orthotics in as I hadn’t worn them yet. He wore his
dad’s orthotics and ended up with very sore feet! We saw 2 tiger snakes and
loads of wallabies. Only took a smaller backpack as Phil was meeting us at
Blanket Bay with ciders and our gear!! Phil couldn’t join us as he took a
tumble on our training walk 2 days prior and tore his rotator cuff. Shattered. Set-up
our tents and the ground was so hard we couldn’t get pegs in so instead had to
tie down the tent using our packs. Al said “I know at some stage you will
probably run into these bags but please try your hardest not to as the tent
will fall down.” About 2 hours later I tripped on a bag and brought the tent down,
with Al asleep inside! All I can say is he knows me too well!!
Day Two
Walked to Aire River, again crammed 2 sections into 1 day.
About 26k. 7 ½ hours on our feet. Feet
hurt. This walking business is hard!! Calves were aching, feet were aching,
hips and shoulders were aching!! Clearly don’t use these muscles riding a
bike!! Nina “mountain goat” Zepnick was in her element and left us all in her
dust. Al took out his dad’s orthotics and walked in shoes with zero insoles =
massive blisters.
Long beach section
left me feeling stuffed and unimpressed about the whole situation but did experience
a good sense of accomplishment. 
Day Three
Only 4 ½ hours of walking today. Scenery getting much more impressive. Some big climbs, loads of sandy sections. Phil joined us from today onwards, a mighty effort given his injury. Today was much hotter and we were left craving salt, luckily we had phone reception and got the message to Phil to bring chips and pringles!! Legend!! Cliff top views sleeping under the stars. Gorgeous!! My sleeping matt suffered a hernia making it useless to sleep on and Al the good lad gave me his.
Only 4 ½ hours of walking today. Scenery getting much more impressive. Some big climbs, loads of sandy sections. Phil joined us from today onwards, a mighty effort given his injury. Today was much hotter and we were left craving salt, luckily we had phone reception and got the message to Phil to bring chips and pringles!! Legend!! Cliff top views sleeping under the stars. Gorgeous!! My sleeping matt suffered a hernia making it useless to sleep on and Al the good lad gave me his.
Day Four
Another smaller day, about 5 ½ hours of walking. Starting to regret letting the boys do the grocery shopping as getting sick of tuna, 2 min noodles, chocolate, pasta with sauce, sardines and scroggin. Highlight of my day involved me not thinking for a moment and putting my walking pole out to the side. Unfortunately for Nina who was walking beside me I managed to accidentally time it perfectly so the pole went through her legs and catapulted her forward. She somehow managed to stay on her feet but she looked at me with complete rage and screamed “YOU $*(#^$# ANIMAL” it was almost like she had blacked out into a fury of rage that came deep from the core! I thought she was going to punch me in the face, but luckily we both started laughing hysterically and had to take a 5 minute break before we could continue on!
Another smaller day, about 5 ½ hours of walking. Starting to regret letting the boys do the grocery shopping as getting sick of tuna, 2 min noodles, chocolate, pasta with sauce, sardines and scroggin. Highlight of my day involved me not thinking for a moment and putting my walking pole out to the side. Unfortunately for Nina who was walking beside me I managed to accidentally time it perfectly so the pole went through her legs and catapulted her forward. She somehow managed to stay on her feet but she looked at me with complete rage and screamed “YOU $*(#^$# ANIMAL” it was almost like she had blacked out into a fury of rage that came deep from the core! I thought she was going to punch me in the face, but luckily we both started laughing hysterically and had to take a 5 minute break before we could continue on!
Day Five
Up early as a beach section involved getting across before the tide rose and this is the day of Snake Valley. Walked through a 5k section and saw 7 tiger snakes. Al and Nina were the brave ones up the front as me and Phil cowered in the middle. Not sure if Al didn’t see it or it snuck onto the track after him the moment I looked down and saw a snake a mere 5cm from my foot I froze with intense fear. The only other time in my life I have experienced this was the second I launched myself off of a bungee. Got through the snake zone and Phil had a turn up the front, apparently not through the snake zone as one slithered out in Phil’s path he levitated backwards and mid-flight suffered a cramp in his calf, resulting in a domino effect whereby we all fell into one another.
Up early as a beach section involved getting across before the tide rose and this is the day of Snake Valley. Walked through a 5k section and saw 7 tiger snakes. Al and Nina were the brave ones up the front as me and Phil cowered in the middle. Not sure if Al didn’t see it or it snuck onto the track after him the moment I looked down and saw a snake a mere 5cm from my foot I froze with intense fear. The only other time in my life I have experienced this was the second I launched myself off of a bungee. Got through the snake zone and Phil had a turn up the front, apparently not through the snake zone as one slithered out in Phil’s path he levitated backwards and mid-flight suffered a cramp in his calf, resulting in a domino effect whereby we all fell into one another.
Got to a point in the track where we decided to take a
different route to the one on the sign. Walked about 2k in the wrong direction
then had to bum-skid down a steep embankment not knowing if we were going in
the right direction and knowing there was no way to get back up if we were
indeed going the wrong way. Feeling hangry, tired and upset that I’d indicated
the right way to go, I thought Al and Phil had walked off and proceeded to
deliver a massive spray behind their backs (so wrong I know) I was so fuming I hadn’t
realised Nina was “sshhh”ing me as the boys were standing right behind me. Dam.
Apparently the look on my face when I realised was quite hilarious. All so
tired, hungry and over it we all burst out laughing.
This hiking business was much harder than I anticipated and I
was using muscles I didn’t even know existed!! Day 2 I woke up so sore and
stiff, my calves, shoulders, back, feet, hips were all aching. By Day 3 these
pains had subsided and I really got into the swing of it. Loads of fun and
great to do something a bit different. Had to park the car 6k from the 12
apostles and as we had already walked 30k and had to drive 300k back to
Ballarat we missed out on seeing them!! Into the car, smashed some salt and
vinegar chips and dimmies and drove home.
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| having fun with the shutter setting on the camera |
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| are we there yet? |
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| NYE - fair old view |
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