3/28/2016

So here in Oz we get a 4 day weekend for Easter. How relaxing! Damien and I spent it doing the Viking circuit-the toughest hike in Victoria. As I mentioned in the previous blog we left after work on Thursday and stopped for pizza in the middle of our 5 hour drive up into the mountains. This is where we hiked:

Or more precisely, here:

The first night we arrived after 10pm so we set up the tent right next to the car and enjoyed a night of car camping(aka extra pillows and blankets) before starting the walk. 

Viking-razorCircuit Day 1:

We had a slow start with toasted hot cross buns and packing the bags. I carried: 1 tent, 1 stove, 2 pots, 3Lwater, clothes, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, food for 2 people for 3 days. Damien carried: 15L water, sleeping bag, sleeping mat. It might sound silly but we didn't know where we were going to find water and didn't want to be thirsty. We started the walk easy enough, 3km in we dropped a bag at the junction with chips, 2L water and chocolate. Shortly after the junction our path turned from "doable" to "very difficult to locate" after bush bashing on the side of a hill we made it down to a 4wheel drive track called Zeka spur track, though with the number of 4wheel drives we saw it could have been a highway. It was a long steep downhill and with the heavy packs we slid and struggled down for hours. 

At the bottom was a beautiful river, the Wonnangatta. I wanted to set up camp but we had lunch and kept going.

The last hour was a struggle uphill. We had a 800m climb over 2miles so we split it up between the first two days. We made in 500m up and thought we would find a camp site. We didn't but we made one on a bit of a slope. For dinner we had broccoli cheddar couscous and Haloumi. Then it was straight to bed at 9pm. 

Viking-Razor Circuit Day 2: 

Since we had made it half way up the hill day1, we had to climb the rest in the morning, after porridge and hot chocolate. There was a group of 7 who passed us on the uphill. We hung on to the back and made to the top with them. 

That was South Viking, then we journeyed on to other unnamed peak which I called little Viking, and then up to the Viking on sparsely defined tracks. It was a long slog but we made it.

By then it was 1pm. If up was bad down was worse. We had a very steep down through a chute and some rocks.

We continued down to Viking saddle where we had lunch at 3pm. From there we walked up to the Razor. Past South Razor the track disappeared again and we cut across some rocks. We did find the track again and continued toward Mt. Despair and camped at the base. It was a long slow day of walking and somehow we only made it 7miles. 

Again rice for dinner and asleep by 8:30pm.

Day 3 Viking-Razor Circuit: 

On the third day we finally got an early start. It was also mainly on well defined track which was AMAZING. We made it to the top of Mt. despair, then we dipped into Catherine Saddle. At Catherine saddle we met an interesting guy who goes to the top of mountains to talk to other people on the top of mountains with a radio/fishing pole. I didn't really understand but it sounded cool. Half way up to the next mountain Damien decided to take a semi-defined shortcut. Again it was bushbashing for about 1km. We finally came back out on to the track and continued to a car park/campsite with water from our friend with the fishing rod/radio. We still had plenty but took another 2L just in case. From there we went up Mt. Speculation where we had the best view so far. 

From there we went down into horrible gap and up onto Mt. Buggery.

Then we went into the terrible hollow and onto the crosscut saw.

We made it to Macalister springs camp ground around 6pm. There was a beautiful toilet.

It was busy so we headed back to the car. We walked 2km together then Damien grabbed our drop bag. He was being slow so I stole the chips and walked ahead. He was actually being really slow so I beat him back to the car. I decided to go back and help so I took my flashlight(it was getting dark) and my phone. After a km when I hadn't seen him I started to get nervous. I made it all the way back to the bag drop and didn't see him. By that point it was pretty dark and foggy so I ran the 3km back to the car. When I was almost back, much to my relief I got a text from Damien. He was at the car somehow we managed to miss each other on a single track! Crazy! By that point I was overwhelmed and exhausted. We start driving back toward home and made it about 500m before giving up due to the fog and sleeping in the car. 

That's the Viking-Razor in 3 days! (My car is tired too)

3/24/2016

I was going to blog last night, I even started but I was very busy and once I finished I moved straight to bed. 

I had a very good and very busy Wednesday. 9 hours of work, cooking and packing. In Australia we have a 4 day weekend for Easter so Damien and I are hiking the Viking circuit in the Victorian Alps. We are doing a 63km hike over the next 3 days and then coming home Monday. We left straight after work today so I had to pack before leaving. I also had to freeze our remaining 3kg of figs as they will not last the weekend. The roads were crazy today with pre-holiday traffic but we got out of town by 6pm and headed to Tralagon for a pre-hiking meal of all you can eat pizza. It was a bit disappointing. 

By the time we got to camp it was dark so we set up in the light of the car. 

I'm looking forward to sharing some incredible mountain pictures with you on Monday:) 

3/22/2016

Hey two days in a row! It has been a good week so far. I have had 2 good days at work and I'm using up the fresh fruit. I made fig risotto. It was great. Tonight I made zucchini pasta with cauliflower sauce and many many tomatoes. So I'm enjoying cooking but our stocks don't seem to be decreasing by much. Tonight we went orienteering. Damien did a bit better than me but I was very happy with my 21 checkpoints in 1 hour. Otherwise I am working hard to finish my MBA work before going camping this weekend. 

3/21/2016

I did slightly better than last blog but not really. I have been a bit unmotivated recently for everything. I am working on my permanent residency visa which is quite draining. I have also been struggling a bit with allergies which has put me into a fog too. Now before you freak out, I am not doing permanent residency so that I can run away with my hot Australian and live here for ever. I am doing it so that I can come home and then have the option of coming back to live/work in Australia later if I want to or if a certain sister does her post-doc in Melbourne. 

Otherwise I have had a few adventures:

I have worked more on the puzzle. It is slow going but I am making it.

We went to a friend's house for an epic game of 500. They asked that I make wings and I did 4 flavour worth!

7 of us just went to Adelaide for the fringe festival and WOMADelaide, a music festival. It was great fun. We saw 7 shows at the fringe and then spent 1 day at the musical festival.

Today, we went to the market and got 35lbs of tomatoes and 20lbs of figs. 

Those picture were what was left over after I made pasta sauce, fig ice cream and a fig salad. 

I was enjoying making the pasta sauce. I am no where close to as good as Grammie but it was still pretty tasty and a wonderful consistency. 

I have also started the last class of my MBA which means that I am on the computer just before bed. Let's see if I can do 2 days of blogging in a row :)