12 May 2022

AAWT - Day 18-20 - Tantangara Creek to Kiandra

First two night/three day journey on this AAWT adventure. Completed over Dec 2021 / Jan 2022.


Poa spp. at Tantangara Creek

 
Many plains filled with wildflowers


Candle Richea Richea continentis- First time seeing this plant on the trail 


Alpine Rusty Pods Hovea montana


Dragonfly just hatched and drying its wings


Witzes Hut


Found this old blob-top bottle piece in the dug-up roadworks near Witzes Hut. Have left it in the Hut. The absolute largest number of brumbies ever seen in one spot near here at Blanket Plain- I counted 100 individuals at once.


Eucalyptus Leaf Beetle Paropsis porosa


Some thick patches of yellow Kunzea Kunzea muelleri



Woodruff


Hamiltons Orb weaver Araneus hamiltonii - is my best guess, but the patterning is not as angular/wavy as most photos indicate


Camp Night 1


Stellaria



Snowy Mountains Highway






Ruins of Kiandra



This burnt-out ghost town marks my completion of section 8 in Chapmans' AAWT guidebook. I have now done a whole section! I planned and enjoyed this section over many months-years in fact- because over time, so many things came in between me and a weekend in the bush. Parenting, Covid lockdowns, depression, illness, work, life, weather.

No super-special equipment, no food drops, no through-hiking with extended leave from work, etc. Mostly just me and sometimes a friend, and the occasional golden weekend of free time.

Section 8 Fun Facts!!

My favourite place:
    I love Murrays Gap


My favourite Hut:
    Probably Oldfield's


My favourite wildlife encounter:
    Lyrebird tracks and wild dogs howling in the snow at Murrays Gap
    

My favourite plant:
  Fairy Aprons at Murrays Gap


Most scariest episode:
    Driving back out on Bullocks Hill Trail, by myself, getting stuck, sliding backwards, getting stuck, sliding backwards, etc etc, then grinding my way up and out with every nerve jangling- on Xmas day with absolutely no-one around.
    Oh and also- walking in to Murrays gap in the snow covered track, and having wild dogs very close, and having some kind of low temperature asthma episode-bit freaky.
     And, walking past cranky wild horses is usually a bit freaky as well. They also don't like it when you are camped somewhere near anywhere they consider to be theirs.
    And feeling like I was going to die of heat exhaustion was also a tad scary.
    Many people ask me if I get scared out there. Yes.


The hardest part:
    Walking and walking with a big heavy pack.
    Continuing to get myself out there and make it happen when I felt lonely and could not get a buddy to hike with.
    

The easiest part:
    Ditching packs and doing day-pack walking. SO easy.


You can imagine how keen I am to walk across that big Highway and up that track towards Tabletop Mountain, and begin my journey into the Next Section of Jagungal and Kosciusko. But, there will be delays. Currently I am unable to drive as I have had a seizure and a shadowy lesion has shown itself on a scan of my precious brain. The brain that I need to help me do this stuff.

The day I put up my next AAWT post, I will be a very happy girl. See you then.






11 Apr 2022

AAWT - Day 17 - Old Telegraph Poles to Tantangara Creek

This was Christmas Day 2021, a day hike on the AAWT...



Heading down to the Murrumbidgee




Wasn't as hard to cross as I thought it might be




Across the river and heading north




Beautiful walking




The Old Telegraph Poles




This marker is where I made it to last time when I was walking from the North in cold and fog. This time, walking in from the south in sun and wildflowers.





The wildflowers seemed larger than usual - Yam Daisy Microseris lanceolata  




Cicada





Dragonfly




Subalpine Leek orchid Prasophyllum sphacelatum




Divergent lateral sepals - either Prasophyllum 
viriosum (Stocky Leek Orchid)  or P. candida (Kiandra Leek Orchid)




Podolepis daisy




Hamilton's Orb Weaver Araneus hamiltoni




The Jester Thallarcha jocularis




Tantangara Creek

17 Jul 2021

Old Adaminaby

 

The old church at Old Adaminaby




Views around the shore


Some kind of ceramic insulator


Plenty of building remnants


 Plenty of Yabby bits Cherax sp.




Same place, next day