Day 36 – Rain, Mud, Rain and More Mud – Goodnight to Piambie
From: Goodnight
To: Piambie State Forest
Distance: 28km
Total Distance Travelled: 1240km
Distance to Go: 1274km
There is not really a huge amount to say about today other than it rained. It rained a lot.
The rain started at around 5.30am and has been going all day. Packing up the gear this morning was fine because everything was protected by the tarp. Getting into the kayak however was very messy. The mud has turned both sticky and slippery (yes it is possible). It sticks to your shoes which then makes your shoes slippery.
The paddle was very blah. Buried inside my gortex hood, I just paddled and appreciated being dry (while in the the boat). I was dreading getting out, dealing with the mud and setting up camp in the rain.
I only had to paddle about 25km because I did an extra 20km yesterday. I am really glad I did that extra distance yesterday, because it would have been miserable doing it today.
After I hit the 25km mark, I started hunting for a campsite in the Piambie State Forest. Much to my delight I say a spot on the bank with a piece of carpet that went down to the water and some stairs cut into the bank. So I took it.
As soon as I got out onto the carpet, I realised how slippery everything was. I promptly started sliding down the carpet and my feet ended up in the river. I then climbed up the bank with some gear and on the way back down, I slipped down on the stairs and promptly slid down them on my butt. I had to do the rest of my gear ferrying using my paddle as a walking stick to stop me sliding.
I quickly set up the tarp and got out of my wet gear. The rain started to ease off, so I found some dead branches hanging from some trees (which are normally drier than those on the ground) and managed to get a fire going. The one great thing about River Red Gum forests is that there is always plenty of firewood on the ground. I was just saying to my family that if there isn’t any, all you need to do is just wait and something will fall to the ground soon enough.
Well as I am righting this, I can see the rain is clearing. So I might go set up my tent and start thinking about some dinner.
Robbo – you’re only a bee’s dick away (17 clicks) from hitting the halfway point!
Total Distance Travelled: 1240km
Distance to Go: 1274km
(assuming) There will be twisties and beer tomorrow!