10th September 2017

Crawford Drive (pick up) = 153.1km

After a cold and damp, as in dew, night we were thankful that we had our new -10C sleeping bags. Very grateful that we had a clear dry night. The weather has turned in our favour and has been phenomenal for both hiking and camping out.

First order of the day after getting dressed and trying to stay warm was to recover our food etc. that we had suspended from a nearby tree. Lari and I have developed a routine that makes breaking camp in the morning a seamless operation, she sorts out the gear inside the warm tent while I get the breakfast and other stuff done outside the tent. This way no clashing and slowing the process. 

All packed up a ready to go with no Black Bears to be seen anywhere, we set out off up 1.5km of bitumen road climbing gradually up the escarpment, then off into the woods to finish the climb. The terrain is getting easier for the most part with the odd dyke or gully to scramble over / through. Our trail fitness and the terrain easing plus the fantastic weather is allowing us to enjoy the trail a lot better. Our rock hopping skills are improving dramatically with each day as we haul our butts and packs around the seemingly endless array of Bluff’s on the Peninsular section of the trail. At times our packs bounce off the trees and saplings as we twist and turn, step up, down and over the broken ground, then you get teased by a section of beautiful soft earth through open woodland. The are still lots on Fungi to be seen with the odd new one coming into view. This trail continually teases and tests you just to keep you from getting complacent. 

We got to our pick up point after 21km of trail in a bit better time than we had expected but we still feel that something is not right with either the published distances or we are covering ground slower than we estimate as we certainly feels that we are walking at par or above par but just don’t match distance and time as we would expect. The bottom line we are both up to trail fitness and apart from the few niggles you feel when pushing your body to the limits everyday, feeling in fantastic shape.

Our ride into town, The Crabby Cabby, was waiting for us when we stepped into the car park at Crawford Dr. The run into Wiarton was a very welcome interlude to our day. The Crabby Cabby is a wonderful local character and obviously knows his way around. 

We arrived at our accommodation for the night and I was very disappointed as I the place I really like was 6km out of town and I had thought the place I booked was almost in town. It appears I made a major cock up because the accommodation is substandard and about 2km out of town. I could not cancel but I did manage to reduce our stay to just 2 days with paying a penalty 3rd day. I am trying to rearrange our schedule and gain a few days into the next town down the trail. 

We will be doing a few sections from here with shuttles to and from and using our lightweight day packs that let us cover more distance each day. We will also be able to travel a bit lighter with our big packs as we will not need to carry any food for a while. Not that we were carrying a lot of food in the first place but every gram less is easier on the bodily wear and tear.