Narcissus Hut to Cynthia Bay – 17.5 km

Well…crap. There were no ferry spots available. Well there was two, and I did mull over leaving one of the kids behind but I concluded that my wife might notice one was missing. She is a perceptive lady. So walking around the lake it was. We were all totally gutted, as we were all pretty tired and in our minds the trail was already ‘finished’. Having the prospect of a nice ferry ride being taken away made the 17.5 km trek seem so much longer.

If I had brought more food we could have just spent the day at Narcissus Hut and taken the ferry the next day, but it wasn’t an option. To be clear, I did bring extra food, but I failed to account for the hiker hunger that kicked in for the kids after the second day. I needed to bring extra, extra food next time.

Note to self: Seriously dude, more food next time. A lot more food. 

Ignorance is bliss. If we had known how unpleasant the walk would be we would have stayed at Pelion another day and survived on Clif Bars. That’s how much it sucked, we would have preferred to eat the Clif bars for breakfast, lunch and dinner rather than walk around that bloody lake.

It was pretty at first. Penny mentioned that only one in four hikers ‘really’ finish the trail and that we should be proud. I love it when she does her best to be positive.  And it worked, for a little while at least. But it got pretty monotonous after about 2 km, once we were deep in the forest with no views to speak off and plenty of mud and roots to clamber through. This section also had a lot more knockdowns to navigate over, under and around. I guess because its not walked by as many people it doesn’t get the same level of care as the rest of the track.

We stopped for lunch at the 5 km point at Echo Point hut. It’s a pretty spot, and another time it would have been good to spend a night there and swim in the lake. The kid’s lunch consisted of Picnic bars that a kind hiker donated to us before the lucky bastard got on the ferry. I was left with a choice of Clif bars, so I made the logical choice and had nothing.

The last 12 km’s around Lake St. Clair were not fun. Apart from food, I had also run out of pain killers and my knees were suffering. I pretty much hobbled the whole way. And hearing the ferry go past a couple of times during the day was a bitter pill to swallow.

Note to self: Next time pre-book the damn ferry

But we got there, one bloody step at a time. In the last 3 or km’s there were signs of civilization and then the track changed to gravel wide enough for cars. The girls brightened up and were chattering and laughing as we crossed the Watersmeet.

The relief was palpable when we saw the Lake St. Clair lodge and Overland track end sign. I was fiercely proud of the girls for going the whole way. They did brilliantly and everyone who encountered them on the trail commented on how well they did.

Finished.

I was not sure what the accommodation situation was at the lodge, worst case scenario we would have to pitch our tent in the campground. But there were coin operated showers and a restaurant. At the very least we would be clean and well fed.

Ice cream, is going to save the day, again!

I needn’t have worried as Mary, who was working reception at the lodge, looked after us. Turns out she is from the Isle of Arran, within sight of Campbeltown in Scotland where my Dad is from. It’s also doubly mad given that my wife was in Campbeltown at that very moment and could see Arran from her window! We got a room with proper mattresses and the girl’s grabbed showers whilst I ordered some food. The showers were $1 for 6 minutes and I gave the girl’s $2 each. They had forgotten their clean clothes so I hobbled back to the cabin and when I came back about 5 minutes later they were still exclaiming about the miracle that is a hot shower.

I did regret the last day a little, and I was worried that it would leave a horrible (and unfair) impression of the walk on the girls. But they were buzzing with achievement and relief and we started talking about the next time we walk the OT, this time with mum in tow.

No matter how bad the hike is, if it finishes with pizza, fizzy drinks, ice cream, hot showers and a warm bed, it’s a good day.