DAY ONE

Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley Hut – 10.7 km

Up at 5 am

Another early start after a not-too-bad-but-please-miss-can-I-have-some-more sleep. The girls were super excited, but I was grumpy and irritable (well, more so than usual). Making sure they had eaten, that all our gear was packed, and that the room was only slightly trashed whilst the girls acted like Muppets did nothing positive for my blood pressure.

Ellie managed to spill Milo on her pants and so earned her trail name, Milo Monster, before she even set foot outside.

Our shuttle arrived at 630 am and we got all our gear loaded and I finally relaxed a little. Then I noticed everyone else packs were huge in comparison to ours.

Have I forgotten something? Shit. I think I’ve forgotten something.

The drive was pleasant enough and after a couple of hours we reached the start of the track. We picked up our passes from the visitor center, were an enthusiastic Ranger informed me that I could have saved $30 buy buying a different type of pass. I wasn’t too fussed, I know the money is going towards looking after the parks. Still, good to know for next time.

When unloading all the packs more folks comment on how lightweight our packs are.

Shit shit shit!

I laugh nervously and mutter something about having lightweight gear. Inside I am trawling frantically through the list of things I packed. I’m sure I missed something.

To be fair, my pack certainly doesn’t feel lightweight when I put it on.

Finally we get started. I really want to see a wombat in the wild. I have heard they are everywhere on this trail. Really it’s one of the main reasons we have gone on this trai…

‘Dad!’

‘Yes Penny?’

‘There’s wombat!’

‘Really?’

‘There’s another!’ calls out Ellie.

And there was. Two chunky, awesome wombats clambering around the trail. I had only taken about 20 steps. After taking in the awesomness of these majestic, portly beasts, I turned and looked back at the shuttle bus. It hadn’t left yet, maybe we could just call this thing good and…

‘Hurry up Dad!’

The girls were already 150 meters ahead and gathering steam. I shouldered my pack and stumbled after them.

‘Coming’

***

Everyone says day one is tough, probably the toughest on the trail. It’s also when your bag is at its heaviest. So…yay! And day one is tough. The climb up to Marion’s lookout was misery, though the bit with the chains was fun (obligatory ‘that’s what she said’). But the views were utterly spectacular. We had lunch at Marion’s lookout, just drinking them in.

I was a little worried about how the girls would go hiking with their packs but for most of the day they steamed ahead whilst I laboured behind.

After the climb to Marion’s lookout the trail levels out somewhat and there is plenty of duckboard to walk on, soothing my aching muscles. After Kitchen Hut (alas, it’s emergency shelter only) the track becomes a little bit meaner, with a nice gravel slowly giving way to annoyingly sized rocks designed to break ankles.

The wall was hit by the 7 km mark. Tears were shed, and there was much whinging, but the girls told me to stop it because I was embarrassing them.

However, everyone got a little over it on the last two km’s, which were filled with complaints of sore feet and tiredness. We were all ready to see the hut.

Ellie was voicing what we were all thinking.

‘This sucks!’

‘I’m tired!’

‘I’m hungry!’

‘Whose stupid idea was this anyway?’

It was pure joy when we finally saw Waterfall hut and it brought back memories of the Appalachian Trail. Seriously, seeing your camp after a long day of hiking is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

The kids were full of beans as soon as we took our packs off. And they jumped around the hut like crazy folk whilst I sorted dinner. Penny helped me out and got our bedding arranged and Ellie…well Ellie was performing acrobatics on the bunk beds which kept everyone in the hut amused and amazed.

As usual for the first day of a hike I was not hungry at all. I figured the girls would be, but they were the same. We only ate half of what I cooked. I wondered if I would come to regret wasting this food in the days to come.

Oh and I figured out why our packs where so light in comparison to other folks. The amount of food, and types of food people brought was insane. Bags of vegetables and fruit, tins of soup, beans etc. Massive cook kits. Huge bars of chocolate. Delicious yes, but heavy.

A lot of folks were pretty impressed with the kids being on the trail, especially Ellie being only 8. They smiled, but when they looked at me they shook their heads as if to say ‘what are you doing you crazy bastard?’ and I would nod as if to say ‘aaaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhh!’

Note to self: Bringing some fruit along at least for the first day or so is a good idea.