Roadtrip | Rachel Grindlay

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Carnarvon Gorge road trip (6-16 June 2024)

June 17, 2024 rachel

King’s Birthday weekend was coming up, and taking the rest of the week off seemed like a great way to get 10 days off in a row with minimal annual leave burnt. But where to go?

Carnarvon Gorge has been on my to-do list for a long time. Not sure exactly why – possibly because it’s mentioned in the back of Rick Jamieson’s Canyons Near Sydney book. (Not that Carnarvon Gorge is near Sydney!). Every time I’ve looked at it before I’ve been overwhelmed with how far away it is from everywhere, but this time it seemed like 10 days might be just enough time to make it worthwhile. Do we fly or drive? Tom convinces me that it’s probably easier just to drive since then we can take all our gear from home and not worry about weight limits on the plane. Slightly dreading the 1500km we have to drive each way I agree.

Day 1: Sydney to Quirindi (350km/4 hours)

We knock off the first 4 hours of driving on Thursday night after work. This puts us in striking distance of breakfast in Narrabri and then the opportunity to visit two areas we didn’t make it it to our on our previous visit to Mount Kaputar National Park – Sawn Rocks and Waa Gorge.

Day 2: Quirindi to Nindigully Pub (573km/7 hours)

Sawn Rocks, Mount Kaputar National Park

Waa Gorge, Mount Kaputar National Park

Mill-Bullah Waterholes, Mount Kaputar National Park

The schedule for the second day was pretty tight, but we managed to make up some time with the overly generous national park estimates for how long Waa Gorge would take to explore. We figured that gave us time to stop for coffee in Moree… but we’d failed to note where One Ton Post in Mungindi actually was. And had no reception – rather than just drive until we found signs we tried to find it (on the wrong side of the Barwon River). Any time we’d made up in Waa Gorge was squandered, but we made it into Nindigully Pub just on 5pm. We were somewhat disappointed that the thick stands of trees surrounding the pub obscured much of what had promised to be a good sunset.

Thallon Silos

Nindigully Pub

The pub was pumping and we somewhat accidentally found ourselves in the food queue, which was just as well, as otherwise we may not have got our first choice order. Live entertainment by Adam Kilpatrick was excellent – I couldn’t have pictured a more stereotypical Queenslander! (Maroons shirt & cap, stubbies & thongs… in 6°C) We particularly enjoyed his full rendition of American Pie towards the end of his set.

Day 3: Nindigully Pub to Carnarvon Gorge (491km/5.5 hours)

The next day was an early start, our preferred way to tackle a long driving day, getting a couple of hours of driving under the belt before breakfast (in Surat). With the schedule already falling behind we didn’t do the full riverside walk but it was good to stretch the legs out.

Roma’s supermarkets seemed packed with people like us stocking up for a few days. We managed to get in and out fairly quickly before lunch at Injune, in June (never gets old I’m sure). The only option was the pub of which we were 2 of 4 patrons. It’s hard to imagine the economics work – but I assume it must get busier at night. The chips were some of the best I’ve ever had – so crunchy!

Largest bottle tree in Roma

By the time we got into the Caravan Park at Carnarvon Gorge mid-afternoon I was ready not to do much for the rest of the day. Originally we had thought we might go and do a walk, but setting up camp, and not having to think for half an hour won out. That said there was a lookout to visit for sunset and some supposed platypus viewing to be had. Sadly, we didn’t look at the map properly and so spent a good 20 minutes looking for platypus at the swimming hole instead of the platypus area. Then mistimed our arrival at the lookout for sunset. Quickly dashing back to the actual platypus pool we did get to spot one before it swam off downstream away from where we were allowed to go. Ah well, can’t have it all. With a new moon the sky was dark and clear, the stars were phenomenal. It was also good to know we didn’t have any real driving for the next 4 days.

Day 4: Carnarvon Gorge caravan park to National Park entry (Driving: 6km / 15 min)

Another relatively early start, complicated by needing to pack overnight packs for the next few nights. But we managed to be walking by 9am which was the goal. The vegetation was so lush – not really what I was expecting. It really didn’t feel like we were in Outback Queensland. We did all the side-trips as we walked up the gorge; the Moss Garden, the Amphitheatre, the Art Gallery and Cathedral Cave. Wards Canyon was closed due to flood damage.

Beautiful day in Carnarvon Gorge

Tom in the Amphitheatre

The Art Gallery – the most impressive collection of art I’ve seen in one location

All 17 crossings up the gorge were labelled – though the signs got further and further back from the creek as we went upstream

Around one of the communal fires the previous night we’d met a couple of young guys who were heading out on the Great Walk and camping at Big Bend like us that evening. We kept leap-frogging them through the day – though they were doing was more exercise than us, as we dumped our packs at the junctions, whereas they were carrying them in and out on all the side trips. We also explored up an unwritten up side creek, which ended up being quite a lovely section of gorge/canyon.

Precipice Sandstone cliffs in lovely light

Big cliffs

Dramatic gorge, small human

Epic camp cave (Cathedral/Pitjara) – you can see why this was used by the local people for thousands of years

Eventually we made it to Big Bend – the last arrivals for the day, with 6 others already set-up. As such we got the ‘worst’ pick of the campsites, but we were happy enough with it that we didn’t bother moving when everyone else cleared out the next morning.

Our camp cave not quite so epic (or is it..)

We chatted with the two young guys until it got dark and cold. They headed for their tents, and we rugged up. Another couple from Cairns shared the picnic table with us while we had dinner. The third couple barely left their tent, so we never spoke to them. It was pretty cold, and the Cairns couple headed to bed by 6pm. That left me & Tom partying until 8pm.

Day 5: No driving!

It was a chilly night, we slept really well and after all our early starts were happy to have a sleep in. Our relaxed start meant we didn’t get away from camp until almost 10am. A day of exploring up-gorge with no real goals meant timing was pretty flexible. We had a successful day poking our heads up a number of gorges, generally getting stopped by some sort of chockstone block-up.

A canyon!

Tom in the canyon

Trying to replicate a photo of me in Blarney Canyon in Utah (turns out not that similar)

Tom looking small in a mossy section

Will he hop in the water in an attempt to continue upstream?

Large log jam!

Cliffs in the main gorge

Staghorns

Starting up another side gorge

up/down climb (depending on your direction)

Handy roots provide access into this side creek

Back at camp we had a new cohort of campers. Mum & 2 young daughters who were obviously experienced campers and quite precocious, plus a couple from Mackay on their final day of the Great Walk. They spoke of how cold it had been at the higher camps of the previous few nights. It seemed slightly warmer than the night before but still pretty chilly and yet again we were the only ones up at the late hour of 8pm.

Big Bend campsite reflections

Day 6: No driving!

On day 6 we were back to an early start, aiming to get up Battleship Spur in the cooler part of the morning. Not that it had been particularly warm during the day (maybe 19°C?), but a 500m ascent is a 500m ascent. What a delightful walk – the start of Boowinda Gorge was quite impressive, the scramble up the gully onto the ridge, then the ridge walking was excellent, before traversing across the tops to the lookout. We had a perfect day for it, and it was really enjoyable.

“the Subway” of Boowinda Gorge (at least that’s what it reminded me of)

On our way up to Battleship Spur

It took us 2 hours from camp to the lookout which was great timing for morning tea.

Battleship Spur viewpoint

Eventually we decided we better head back down. Everything had a slightly different perspective going the other direction. We enjoyed watching a couple of wedge-tailed eagles soaring just overhead, and Tom got to photograph the orchids we’d rushed past on the way up.

Tom in dinosaur country

At the bottom of the steep gully which gives access up to the tops

Back down in Boowinda Gorge, we headed upstream. I wasn’t really feeling it so I let Tom keep going while I found a nice flat rock to lie on. The sun vanishes early from the gorge in winter, and it was pretty chilly in the gorge, so it wasn’t quite as relaxing as it could have been. Tom eventually reappeared and said he’d found a flowing canyon only 9 minutes upstream. So we headed up to that, but I decided I didn’t need to go past the section where wading was required (Tom already had).

Tom found a wet canyon!

Back in the subway

On the way back down the gorge we had an unusual encounter. Two wedge-tailed eagles were perched in a tree in the gorge – seemed unusual, but maybe they roost there for the night?

It was a lot milder that evening – I didn’t even put my down jacket on till after 7pm. We had a full party around the picnic table – Mum & her daughters were still there, plus a couple from Kingaroy on their first overnight hike, and a couple from Brisbane just starting the Great Walk. Despite the mild(er) temperatures we were still the last ones up – at 8pm!

Day 7: National Park entry to Carnarvon Gorge caravan park (Driving: 6km / 15 min)

Day 7 was another full schedule so up early again – but to be fair when you’re going to sleep by 9pm, that’s still over 9 hours sleep with a 6:30am wake-up. The first half of the walk back down Carnarvon Gorge passed very quickly. The first of the day trippers we encountered quite early – unfortunately one of them had fallen in at Creek Crossing 10. We’d seen 2 people slip in there while having lunch on our first day. So beware crossing 10! The second half dragged a bit as we both waited for the turn off for Boolimba Bluff to appear. Eventually it did. We stashed our packs and walking on air with only day packs as we headed up to the lookout. The ‘steep and rugged’ walk up the gully reminded me of the Devil’s Hole in Katoomba and was lovely as it was in the shade. Apparently we’re fitter than we thought as we overtook quite a few people on our way up.

I obviously wasn’t that impressed with the view as I didn’t see fit to include a photo!

On our way back from Boolimba Bluff lookout. The sigh says “the next 300m is very steep and rugged. Recommended only for the physically fit”. Not sure what Tom was doing up there… 🙂

We were back at the visitors centre in time for lunch. We almost lost lunch to a determined kookaburra but fortunately it didn’t manage to make off with most of our cheese.

Post lunch we still had Mickey Creek, and side creek Warrumbah Creek that doesn’t even get a mention on the map, to do so Tom said there was no time for me to have a coffee. Boo. Turned out to to be a good thing, since by the time we’d been up the upper left fork and upper right fork of Mickey Creek and then explored a long way up Warrumbah Creek there wasn’t that much time left in the afternoon.

Found us another canyon

Turns out we left the best for last. Warrumbah Creek was a stunner. I think the other canyons may have felt a bit disappointing if we’d done this one first. Tom went a bit further than me, as I wasn’t keen to have wet shoes to go back down the flimsy branch we’d balanced on to get up the canyon. He didn’t get much further though as he came to a chest deep section, followed by a tricky looking climb up. With his camera/phone/gps in his short pockets it made it an easier choice to turn around.

Slanty corridor here we come

Canyon shoes come into their own for some bridging

Don’t think he bridged that pool!

Flimsy branch provided access up-canyon

Spectacular canyon

Back at the Caravan Park we prioritised platypus viewing over sunsets. The first pool didn’t provide much, so we wandered to the second one. Almost immediately I spotted some churned up dirt and bubbles. Bingo! We ended up watching two platypus swim about for half an hour. The closest view I’ve ever got of one. It was an excellent end to the trip.

My best platypus viewing experience – it was in fact excellent, even if this photo doesn’t perhaps suggest that

Day 8: Carnarvon Gorge caravan park to Toowoomba (611km / 7 hours)

Surprisingly (not), day 8 was an early start. We had an excellent breakfast in Injune (the sole cafe is open in the mornings), before stops in Chinchilla and then Dalby to stretch our legs walking along the river. I’d left booking accom to the last minute, and lots of motels in Toowoomba were full. Eventually I found us a much nicer room than I would have normally booked – and for once I took advantage of having a spa bath to soak my legs which were feeling the 4 days of walking.

Day 9: Toowoomba to Girraween National Park (191km / 2 hours 20 min)

We had a relaxing start to the day as we only had a couple of hours of driving and a similar amount of walking. Despite being our first visit to Girraween National Park we eschewed the popular walks and instead headed to the Mt Norman side to walk into a remote bush camp site I’d booked. I don’t think I’d appreciated the walk in was entirely on fire trail, but it was, so we made quick work of the 8km. Unfortunately the blue skies we’d started the day with were now grey clouds which didn’t bode that well for photography.

Stone gate entrance, Girraween National Park

South Bald Rock remote camp

Tom directed us to a track which led around the back of South Bald Rock and eventually up to the granite. At that stage I was wondering why we hadn’t camped closer to the summit as the thought of retracing the route after dark (or before sunrise) was a bit daunting. However, once on top it looked like we might be able to walk off the front back to camp.

Looks like sunset but it’s only mid-afternoon

Can we get off the front of this?

Camp is a long way down

Unfortunately it then started raining – that was not in the forecast! I’d been so casual about the forecast I hadn’t even brought a raincoat. Fortunately there was a large overhanging boulder near by so we sheltered under that with our happy hour while the rain blew through. In the scheme of things we couldn’t have done much better.

Hiding from the rain under a convenient boulder during an un-forecast bout of rain

The rain stopped for sunset but there was a bit too much cloud for anything spectacular. We made it back to the tent before the next lot of rain came through, so I got lucky on my lack of raincoat.

Actual sunset… Putin eat your heart out

Day 10: Girraween National Park to Armidale (265km / 3 hours 10 min)

Tom’s description of the morning didn’t make me rush out of bed to join him for a pre-sunrise hike back up South Bald Rock. I enjoyed being warm in bed while he went seeking sunrise. We walked out straight after breakfast and were back at the car by 11am. A bit earlier than expected – I was a bit over the walking – the weather combined with the fire trail made the trip a bit disappointing.

Instead we turned to the other thing we often do on roadtrips – wine tasting! Only 15 minutes up the road was Queensland’s premiere (and only!) wine region. We found ourselves at a winery with a generous lunch platter and tasting flight – an excellent way to spend a couple of hours before hitting the road to Armidale.

Day 11: Armidale to Sydney (480km / 5 hours 30 min)

We decided to take Thunderbolt Way back to Sydney – looking forward to a breakfast stop at the patisserie in Gloucester. We were very nearly too late as we secured the final two vanilla slices! Though to be honest I think the sausage roll was probably more impressive. Breaking the trip up we had coffee in Stroud, before the final push back home.

Total 2983km

Cycle Touring Part 3: Thailand (1-4 Jan 2024)

January 29, 2024 rachel

Following from Part 1 and Part 2

The border crossing at Poipet/Aranyaprathet was slow and hot. First we had to exit Cambodia, that didn’t take too long. Then walk across to the Thai border. Our Group Leader, who was Thai, was through in 10 minutes. But the rest of us, with our foreign passports, queued in a hot room for over an hour. Eventually we were all through. But then we needed get money, and as it was International New Years Day (as opposed to Thai New Year which is in April) the banks were closed. We found an ATM, but at 4 minutes per withdrawal, and 10 people needing to get money, we were there for a while… Eventually around 2pm we had our first meal in Thailand – pad thai at a road side stall for 40 Baht (~A$1). And it was pretty delicious, at least according to most of the Australians.

The itinerary had us doing 40km for the day and we only got on the bikes mid-afternoon. Needless to say most of us were dubious we would do the distance before it got dark, especially when we had a swim break with no urgency at Karbark Dam.

One of the interesting ‘features’ of the Thailand leg of the tour was that we gained a photographer, Mr Black. And not just Mr Black, also two of his teenage/adult children. So three photographers. Our group leader had already warned us before arriving that we would be photographed a lot, and there was “nothing he could do about it”. I think we were all a bit bemused at this comment, until after day 1, when we were forwarded the album link, and 15 minute Youtube video. And then we saw just how detailed the photographers were, including documenting those of us who went for a swim at the dam in multiple images. This blog post contains many photos by Mr Black and family – however, they are a small selection of the hundreds (literally) that Tom & I featured in over the course of the 3 days in Thailand.

First cycle stop in Thailand, Karbark Dam

Having a swim, along with the locals enjoying “International” New Years Day

Apparently most of the time no one is at the Dam, but there were plenty of people there enjoying the water. It seems only 5 in our group were interested in swimming, whether because it was too much of a pain to get wet/dry, or they were worried about getting something nasty from the water, I’m not sure.

It was a really refreshing break, and the next 34km were some of the most enjoyable riding of the trip. As it was so late in the afternoon we got quite a lot of shade over the road, and the temperatures were more bearable. We were also delighted to find Thailand had curves and undulations in its roads – something we had very little of in Vietnam & Cambodia. Unfortunately for me I ended up towards the back by myself – and had a couple of dogs have a go at me (and some of the others), which left me a bit shaken. I was very glad to finally get to the next snack break.

Me looking serious on the bike

Arriving at a snacks break late on our first day in Thailand

We re-grouped late in the afternoon as it was becoming seriously dusky. A few of us were thinking we would ride as a pack into our hotel, since we didn’t have lights on the bikes. But no, the final 6km of the day, we just rode in the low light and hoped the quiet roads were enough to keep us safe (they were). It was a very long day – 7:30am departure from the hotel in Cambodia – with the bus/border crossing/lunch taking us through till 3pm, and then 2-3 great hours of riding in the late afternoon. Despite some of the challenges, it was an enjoyable cycling day. The place we were staying put on a great banquet style meal for us that evening, and I think we all went to bed quite content.

The next morning we had a short ride to the local market, where our group leader gave us a tour. Some us would have rather have started riding to take advantage of the cooler part of the day…

The photographers photographing another photographer during our market visit in Kabinburi

Market delights

At the markets we purchased some turtles and live fish. We rode a few km along the road, for another break, to release the turtles and fish into a dam, to get good karma or something.

Turtles from the market, which we then released in a lake

Part of the reason for my frustration at the slow start was this was to be our longest day of the whole tour. Advertised at 70km on the itinerary, but if we wanted to ride hotel to hotel then it was 100km. We hadn’t had any other opportunities to avoid the bus so most people were pretty keen to have a crack at the 100km. Anyway, after the market and turtle release, we got down to business.

Group riding, Team #6 very visible!

The roads in Thailand were good quality, but with enough bends and undulations to make them interesting. Late the day before Tom had managed to fix himself on the back of the strongest riders and draft his way to the end, unlike me who had battled into headwinds for much of the afternoon. We managed to both get up with the strongest riders this day – what a joy it was to have finally found my cycling legs after the previous few days. While there was no way I could lead out the group I could hold on in the draft. Less time on bike was an obvious consequence of being up the front – in some sections we were averaging 29km/h. By myself I was probably capable of 24km/h.

Tom, fashion icon

me & Tom on the road

Are we riding in Australia? (Eucalypts a common plantation crop) Tom & I holding on to the back of the strongest riders.

Thailand snack breaks were a smorgasbord of delights

We knocked off about 60km before lunch. The heat was upon us, so the afternoon was broken into 10km segments. This meant a drinks break every half an hour or so, and by chunking it out like this, it meant everyone in the group managed the 100km.

One of many dogs we encountered. Mostly they were no problem….

Arriving at a drinks/rest stop

That’s not to say there weren’t some Strava fails. The strongest rider in our group had forgotten to start his tracking until 10km in, so he spent part of the afternoon riding out ahead, and then coming back to us, to try and make up the “missing” 10km. Another lady got to the end with her Strava only tracking 98km (though others had 100km), so she proceeded to ride around the car park for a further 2km. Only to have her Strava die just as she finished (don’t worry, it recovered later!).

Hotel car park… venue for 2km of laps

The crew packing up the bikes after our penultimate day

Our final day of cycling was 50km, which seemed like a breeze as Tom & I once again hitched our wagons to the front riders. That morning may have been the most enjoyable – lots of curves and small hills and an excellent rest stop at a cafe with coffee frappes.

Tom the cyclist

Rachel the cyclist

Playing it up for the cameras

Start of the final leg of the trip

Enjoying the final section

Most of the group

We finished up in the middle of the day at Khun Dan Dam, where the same 5 of us who had swam two days earlier, had a swim. Then it was onto the bus for a few hours into Bangkok.

Having a swim below Khun Dan Dam, at the end of the cycling

All up the Thailand cycling was the most enjoyable for me. This was for several reasons;

We spent more time riding point to point, instead of taking the bus, making it seem more like a tour/journey
I had found my cycle legs and worked out how to draft
The roads had curves and undulations instead of being dead-straight and flat.

That said, the overall tour was good for seeing 3 countries while getting a decent amount of exercise. Riding around Angkor Wat was also a highlight.

Overall Summary

Cycle Touring Part 2: Cambodia (26 Dec 23 – 1 Jan 24)

January 29, 2024 rachel

Following Part 1

Lunch was the first priority after the border crossing. We got our first taste of Cambodian food – delicious curry! We did a somewhat meaningless section of cycling along the main road on our new bikes after lunch. At a fairly arbitrary spot we stopped riding and got the bus into Phnom Penh. I was excited that our new bikes were the same Trek hybrid model that I have at home. The only disappointment – mine was blue instead of red.

We had warning about how bad the Phnom Penh traffic was. The bus driver was a superstar – handling the tight corners, in narrow streets, amidst the large amounts of traffic. We were pretty happy to be based out of the same hotel for 3 nights. In retrospect I think the tour could have spent one less day there without suffering for it.

Our first full day we took the ferry to Silk Island and rode around. It was a pretty short day – 20km was the consensus from most people’s devices. That did mean there was time to explore in the afternoon if you wanted to. Tom & I got as far as a money changer to get a dreadful rate on our remaining Vietnamese Dong, otherwise stuck to the air conditioned hotel room. Fortunately some of the others in the group were a bit more motivated and managed to corral most of the group into tuk-tuks to a rooftop bar, which overlooked the river and had great views of the city in general.

Our second full day was sight-seeing via bus. No bikes in sight. The morning was pretty depressing – first up, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former school which served as a Khmer Rouge torture centre. Over 20,000 people were once incarcerated and tortured there. Then we went to the Choeung Ek Memorial, where a stupa made up of some 8,000 human skulls marks the site of the infamous Killing Fields. This was where the prisoners of Tuol Sleng were executed and nearly 9,000 corpses have been exhumed from the area. Heavy stuff, and unsurprisingly no photos.

The afternoon was stifling hot and most of the group were pretty over the sight-seeing. Going around the Royal Palace a tactic of running from shady patch to shady patch, while listening to our guide, was employed.

Tom at the Cambodian Royal Palace

Grounds of Royal Palace

We hit up another rooftop bar that night, and then Tom & I felt very daring by going to a restaurant on the way back to the hotel with no English menus.

The next day we were off the bikes again as we spent 7 hours on the bus to Siem Reap.

Drinks at our rooftop bar at the hotel in Siem Reap

We were all excited to be back on the bikes on our first full day in Siem Reap (where we also had 3 nights). The riding to and around Ankgor Wat was very scenic, quite shady and enjoyable. Up to that point in the trip it was my favourite cycling day.

Angkor Wat fashions

Central tower symbolising Mount Meru

It had got so busy at the top that they closed the right-hand staircase to upward traffic so the congestion could be cleared from the top

Angkor Wat

Boo!

Engravings

Very scenic riding!

Bayon Template, Angkor Thom

Some of the group at Ta Prohm

The queue for the Tomb Raider shot at Ta Prohm… I didn’t wait.

Plenty of other (non movie famous) tree roots

Our next day in Siem Reap we rode out to Banteay Srei via Pre Rup, about 35kms.

Tom in front of Pre Rup

Tom started a trend…

Climbing Pre Rup

Banteay Srei

Doors for making the non-royals feel small

Most of the group at Banteay Srei

In the afternoon there was the option to cycle back, or else go on an excursion to see some of the floating villages on Tonlé Sap. 6 of us elected to go on the excursion. It was probably the most authentic view we got of Cambodia through the trip – seeing the fishing ‘industry’ of the town, and then heading to Tonlé Sap via boat past the floating village.

Visiting the floating village at Kompong Khleang

Our excursion ended up being quite a lot of bus time. As it was New Years Eve, and Siem Reap seemed to be the place to be, the traffic returning to town was pretty busy. We’d been kept awake by practice runs for NYE for the previous 2 nights, but I was so tired that I fell asleep at 10pm and didn’t hear much at all!

The next morning was, unfortunately for those who had stayed up, an early start to get to the border. We left behind our Cambodian bikes and crew after a 3 hour bus ride to Poipet.

Continue to Part 3

Cycle Touring Part 1: Vietnam (23-26 Dec 23)

January 24, 2024 rachel

From Đồng Hới we returned to Saigon – with more time that expected due to our flight rearrangements. We visited the War Remnants Museum which was sobering, and also interesting to read from a Vietnam bias.

Hipster cafes along with the best of them in Saigon

More upbeat was a Street Food Tour on the back of scooters with local university students. We got some delicious food and it was also great (if slightly terrifying) to be part of the traffic chaos rather than just dodging it.

Street food tour

We survived the Saigon traffic

View from our room. This was a quiet traffic moment!

The next phase of the trip was a 13 day cycle tour (though day 1 & 13 were just arriving/leaving). The trip was marketed as Saigon to Bangkok which sounds pretty impressive. However, there was a lot of sitting on the bus as well as cycling, so maybe not as impressive as it sounds.

We met up with the group in Saigon. There were 16 paying clients on the cycle tour – many countries represented – Scotland, England (3 resident, 1 via Greece), Canada, New Zealand, Poland (via Switzerland), the remaining 8 living in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Brisbane). Probably a few too many Australians for some people! We had a consistent Group Leader across the 3 countries the tour went to, but local crews (& bikes) in each country. At minimum we had a bus driver, truck driver, mechanic in each country, and other cycle/tour leaders/photographers (!) depending on where we were.

Unsurprisingly, given the traffic in Saigon, we didn’t start riding straight out of Saigon but got a bus south to the Mekong Delta.

The Vietnam bus

Our first day was only 30km of cycling, followed by a boat trip to our homestay for the night. This happened to be Christmas Eve. Saigon had been in full Christmas mode – Christmas trees, Christmas carols, Christmas decorations everywhere. But once we got into the more rural areas there was little to remind you of it.

I think the group had been a bit apprehensive of how basic the homestay was going to be – it was better than I was expecting. Segregated rooms (well walls) in a large building with en suite (outdoor) bathrooms.

Mekong Delta boating

Group on the boat

Christmas Eve dinner

In Vietnam we were on Trek mountain bikes as the surfaces weren’t consistent, particularly while we were riding through the delta on paths that were largely used by pedestrians or scooters. Christmas day was one of the longest cycling days of the trip. We had some lovely sections, including through a flower market, and some lovely shady paths through rice paddies.

Christmas day touches

Rachel cycling

Tom cycling

Delta cycling

Goose farm in the delta

Christmas day lunch

Ferry across somewhere in the delta

However the itinerary had set an expectation of 75km, and the day had been full of misinformation. “It’s 1km to lunch” 4kms later… etc. So when we were told at 70km we had another 15km to go, with another (optional) 29km to the hotel, I wasn’t too happy. In the end 4 of us pulled up stumps at 75km, 7 going on to 85km, and then 5 strong riders doing the optional 29km to finish with a 114km day. My ego was a bit deflated stopping at 75km but when I saw the state of my saddle sores later that evening I knew I’d made the right choice.

Going to the homestay on the first night we had to pack a small bag with our overnight gear, rather than take all our luggage. This essentially locked us into whatever we’d decided we needed for day 2 of riding as well. It wasn’t ideal as we had to make those decisions before we’d even seen the bikes. I’d made a poor choice of bike pants for day 1, and continued to suffer for that choice on day 2 as well.

Our third day of riding took us on a very straight road all the way to the Vietnam/Cambodia border.

Rice paddies en route to the border

Bye, bye Vietnam. At the border with the Thai crew

Riding in Vietnam was over just like that. Whether it was because it was Boxing Day, or just lucky, the border was very quiet and so we got through as fast as a group of 16+ foreigners could expect to… We were obviously an unusual sight as the border guards were taking photos of us queuing – of course we didn’t dare take any photos ourselves.

Continue to Part 2

Short walks on East Coast of Tassie (21-25 June 2023)

June 28, 2023 rachel

Fly into Launceston. Beautiful day, if very cold, 2°C – car still covered in ice when we go to pick it up. Groceries then coffee & French vanilla slice in Campbell Town. Lunch in the very busy car park at Freycinet National Park. Hate to see what it’s like in summer!? Head up Mt Amos. Dire warnings at the trackhead – which for once actually seem legitimate. The granite would be a slippery death trap in the wet.

Lower slopes of Mt Amos

A steep section!

Almost up the steep stuff

Really fun walk up, overtaking a few people. Timed it well as a large group left the summit as we arrived. I leave off climbing a rounded boulder as not sure I could get off. Fabulous views but light a bit flat for the photographer. But still, it’s pretty speccy! And Tom made it! His hardest walk in 3 (?) months. My biggest climb since mid-April. Kicking goals all round.

Views from the top over Wineglass bay

Tom enjoying the scenery

A photo of the two of us (a rarity)

We spent a while up the top but with it being the Winter Solstice the sun was setting not long after 4:30pm… As we descended we came across a couple we’d overtaken not far from the start still on their way up. Think they’ll be pushing it get down in the light. The descent is unlikely to be faster than the ascent, if anything slower with a number of steep smooth granite faces to be carefully negotiated (for most it’s an on your bottom proposition).

Speccy sky as we start the descent

Not sure how much use the poles are when the rock is this steep

Views over Coles Bay

Safely back down we head for our airbnb. Some confusion with East v non-East streets but Coles Bay isn’t that big so it only delays us 5 minutes. Views of the Hazards out the window and a hot drink in hand – the most satisfying day we’ve had together in months.

A casual delicious dinner 2 minutes walk up the road, and then the only downer of the day – NSW getting thumped in the State of Origin.

We both sleep well and with sunrise not till 7:30am there seems no hurry to get moving. Back to the far less busy car park in the morning. This time to do the Hazards Beach – Wineglass Beach – Wineglass Lookout loop. A fairly overcast cool day kept our breaks fairly short.

Tom walking on Hazards Beach

Crossing the isthmus to between Hazards Beach & Wineglass Bay

Find a lunch spot on the rocks at Wineglass bay

Tom tuckered out from the ‘very hard’ walk up to the Wineglass Bay Lookout

Requisite happy snap of Wineglass Bay

The only whale sighting of the trip (it’s a bike rack)

Then a quick nip around the Cape Tourville Lighthouse track. Worth it for the views, not for the (modern) lighthouse.

Making it back into Coles Bay just as the rain started I was exceedingly disappointed to find the only open cafe’s coffee machine was on the blink.

The rain fell and fell. The forecast rainfall continued to increase.

Dinner for tonight was a short drive away. We were the only booked patrons for the evening – like having a restaurant exclusively booked out… In the end there was one other couple and as we were finishing up a group of 5 who were offered take away pasta as the kitchen was largely done. So hopefully the restaurant managed to break even for the night. And home in time to see the women win their SOO game.

Most of this rain fall on the second afternoon/night we were there

The rain didn’t let off and by 8am 90mm had fallen in 17 hours with more to come. No point leaving our accom before we had to. A visit to the patisserie in Bicheno was the obvious next stop since it was still pouring. We rescued a young woman from sitting outside by sharing our table. She was travelling from Austria and we had a good chat. The croissants were very good.

Then since it was still raining The Farm Shed for some wine tasting. 10 wines. No change to my view on Pinot Noir but I persist in trying. We came away with a bottle of that classic cool-climate varietal Tempranillo!

Bicheno Blowhole – hard to distinguish from the swell

The rain seemed to have pissed off so we checked out the blowhole then headed to St Helens. We wandered down to the waterfront admiring how still the water in Georges Bay was, particularly given the large swell all the way up the coast.

Very still waters of Georges Bay

After much agonising we ended up with somewhat healthy dinner supplies and headed back to our cosy airbnb. Reading, dinner, a GWQ (15/25), several rounds of Boggle. The first game the highest scoring 2 person game we’ve played (Tom 29, me 28).

Another great night’s sleep and sleep in. Eventually we got out into a surprisingly sunny day. Headed to Binalong Bay and walked from Skeleton Bay – Skeleton Point – Grants Point. We rock hopped a bit around Skeleton Point though Tom came a cropper and bashed up his left shin fairly impressively. Between Tom’s shin and a somewhat ‘meh’ feeling about the walk (it was fine… just not going to deliver anything we hadn’t already experienced) we decided to head back to the car a bit after Grants Point rather than continue to Dora Point.

Scrambling near Skeleton Point

Coffee on the deck at Meresta was speccy. Beautiful day. Headed out to The Gardens which were disappointing. A short track surrounded by houses, farmland and infrastructure and not really anything more scenic than we’d already experienced. Plus a chilly nor’easter made it quite cool. Instead we backtracked to Sloop Rock Lookout and found a spot out of the wind for lunch. No sign of any whales though.

Lunch at Sloop Rock Lookout

Since we didn’t have any other ideas for the day another coffee at Meresta would have been rude to bypass. Then back to accom, reading, wine/cheese before heading out to find dinner without a booking. No luck 1st try but ok on 2nd. I had what seemed like an entire cauliflower in my bowl of cauliflower bites to start which unfortunately spoilt my appetite for mains.

Walking Binalong Beach

Didn’t sleep that well and we’d planned a busy final day back to Launceston so were on a tight schedule. Got away later than hoped and it was grey rainy day. Our first objective Ralph Falls – we thought better of not long after attempting the road. Eventually finding somewhere to turn around we beat a retreat to St Columba Falls which were pumping impressively.

Tom with St Columba Falls behind him

Lovely fern section on the way to St Columba Falls

Then the Giant Tree circuit.

Largest girth tree in Tasmania

Rain made for less pleasant driving conditions for much of the day. I was relieved to get to Scottsdale for lunch at a cafe there. Continual rain meant a slow trip to the airport, and a bit of a rush to repack only to be delayed. Ah well. A reasonable 5 days for a trip organised less than a week in advance.

Nelson to Christchurch (3-7 Jan 2023)

January 8, 2023 rachel

Nine glorious days of fine weather had to come to an end at some point. We thought it was at the end of the our 9-day trip, but the good weather still existed on the other side of Takaka Hill. In Nelson we had a glorious dinner by the river the night we finished, and then a lovely (if we ignore the sore feet) walk towards Tahuhanui.

Sunset in Nelson

A relaxed start the next morning had us meandering towards Murchison where we enjoyed “caesar salads” (with the non-traditional ingredients of cabbage, carrot, tomato..) – I didn’t care about the unusual ingredients I was just happy to be eating fresh vegetables! Post lunch we had a short stop at Maruia Falls, before our indulgent night of the trip at Maruia Hot Springs.

Maruia Falls- created by earthquake uplift

Unfortunately no one gave me the memo to bring my fly face net – it would have been perfect. Submerged in the outdoor hotpools it was just my face that the sandflies had access to. Next time it will be an essential item on the packing list – and to be honest, might be something worth throwing in for any NZ trip in summer.

Maruia Hot Springs

The weather was meant to be worst the two days we were in Arthur’s Pass. We tried to be ambivalent about it – after all we had just had the most amazing weather for the part of the trip where it was most important. Heavy rain warnings were in place for much of the North Island and parts of the northern South Island. While we weren’t under a warning there was still the potential for plenty of rain. On the bright side we were in a motel not a tent!

Lookout Keas about!

Those pesky keas

A guilty looking culprit

The rain set in not long after we arrived in Arthur’s Pass village. When it eased off a bit we took the chance to walk to the Devils Punchbowl (waterfall).

Devils Punchbowl

This was followed by an early dinner at the Wobbly Kea. Arthur’s Pass seemed to have the most pronounced staff shortages of anywhere we had been, leading to reduced menus/opening hours and at times poor customer service (not at the Wobbly Kea which was excellent despite its challenges). I understand the issues and have sympathy for the individual business owners, but it does make travelling a bit of a drag. How’s that for first world problems?

The next day we’d been hoping to do Avalanche Peak but with the conditions there was little point. Checking the MetService forecast in the morning we saw there was 38mm of rain forecast for Avalanche Peak for the afternoon, but only a few millimetres for the morning. Better get out and doing something in the morning then. Though then we checked some other forecasts which suggested the afternoon would be better than the morning. Who to believe? In the end we got going and had a relatively dry walk up the Arthur’s Pass Walking Track. At the top we even climbed a bit of a way up the Temple Basin track to get a view of a waterfall (when the clouds cleared enough).

Precipitation

Large daisy

Part way up the Temple Basin Track

We were somewhat bemused as we started seeing a string of people just starting out as we got nearer to the village on our way back – one commented “what a stunning day”. I guessed she’d driven from Christchurch which was still having good weather (but look out the next day). We looked very overdressed in our tramping rain jackets – which admittedly I did need to take off just before the end as I’d got too warm. A small part of me was wondering if we should have waited – but then about an hour after getting back to our motel it poured. And poured. And poured. So much so the smugness threatened to overwhelm our motel room. Eventually it eased off enough for us to run across the road for a coffee. And do a bit more wandering the small tracks around town. Once again glad I wasn’t in a tent.

The next morning we set out in wet conditions towards Christchurch. I had picked out a walk but it involved a 2000m+ peak which seemed a bit pointless/masochistic given the weather. I would have liked to give the Cave Stream Creek cave a go – but at 13°C it didn’t seem like the most sensible option for the day either. Instead we just checked out the inlet and outlet – next time.

Cave Stream Creek exit (creek entrance)

Funky scenery

We also stopped at Castle Hill and did the tourist walk there – the rock formations were great. Eventually we found ourselves at the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch – where randomly we bumped into 2 people we’d met at Fenella Hut on 1st Jan. And there endeth the holiday.

Mudgee wanderings (17-19 June 2022)

June 19, 2022 rachel

It was finally time to use a gift voucher I’d been sitting on for almost a year. After months of rubbish weather nothing could be taken for granted about whether we’d be able to fly. Fortunately a week of fine weather lasted, and the forecast fog was insufficient to cancel the flight. Using the voucher in June was part of a cunning plan to avoid getting up too early – only a few days off the winter solstice meant probably the latest start one could hope for. Our accommodation was only 5 minutes walk from the meeting point, so a “civilised” 5:25am alarm gave us plenty of time to make the meeting point at 5:45am.

The weather was being fickle. We set off to the launch point for Plan A, but some further wind testing by the pilot had us driving back across town to launch point B.

pre-dawn light

Getting the balloon ready is a bit of an operation but eventually we had lift off.

Prepping the balloon

Almost ready for us

Beautiful colours

About to take off (photo: Balloon Aloft)

And we’re off

A bit noisy!

Lovely early morning light on the hills

Sunrise (photo: Balloon Aloft)

As I enjoyed the views towards the Bylong Labyrinth Tom reminded me of our trip there almost exactly two years earlier. This weekend was definitely a lot easier!

Tom & the Bylong Labyrinth in the distance

Lush Mudgee surrounds after months of rain (photo: Balloon Aloft)

Single file sheep

In the balloon

Flying (photo: Balloon Aloft)

Hot air balloons cannot be steered – their direction is solely dependent on the wind. This makes determining the landing spot somewhat interesting. The wind continued to be a little difficult throughout our flight. Landing spot Plan A came and went with us not in a position to land.

In cloud

Passing over a rocky ridge

Landing spot Plan B was probably more of a hopeful rather than realistic option. It looked pretty good as we were coming in (photo below) but the wind pushed us across towards the trees as we got lower, so up we went again.

Landing attempt #2 (of 3) (photo: Balloon Aloft)

Our third spot worked out well, and it was a very gentle touchdown. The landholder came over to check us out as I don’t think this was a regular landing option – looking rather grumpy – but he was fine just his natural look I think. The kids being taken off to school had a rather different attraction to look at next to the driveway!

We survived (photo: Balloon Aloft)

The real work started after that – getting the balloon back in its box, and the basket on the trailer. We had definitely earned our breakfast by the time we got back to Mudgee.

The rest of the day was spent eating and drinking. As you do.

Lunch

Dinner

So the next day I decided we really needed to do some exercise. We did the Castle Rocks Walking Track. Tom informed me we’d done it before – but given it was in 2008 I feel like it was reasonable that I didn’t remember it. The walk itself is pretty boring (4km of flat firetrail each way), but the pagodas and views at the end are lovely.

Tom & Castle Rocks

We also checked out the Putta Bucca wetlands – unfortunately (but not surprisingly) no platypus sightings.

On our way back to Sydney on our last day we stopped off and did the Ferntree Gully walk. The signs warned of excessive amounts of mud, and also sections which would require significant fitness and agility. We didn’t experience any of that so I guess we were lucky! While it’s only a short loop it’s a good one which I’d recommend for anyone in the area looking for a hour(-ish) walk.

Tom in Ferntree Gully

Impressive fig tree

Dumplings

Lastly we visited Hassan Walls Lookout in Lithgow. Hard to believe for the many, many times we’ve been through Lithgow we’ve never been there. Well now we can say we have!

A very relaxing weekend if not overly energetic.

Roadtrip

Mt Kaputar (22-25 Apr 2022)

April 26, 2022 rachel

After being somewhat scarred on our trip over the Easter weekend we weren’t that keen to venture off-track again. But mainly the rain had returned to the East Coast. I was heading to Tassie the weekend after so I wasn’t that disappointed with the forecast since I figured that meant I’d have the weekend to prep. Then Tom announced we should go to Mt Kaputar for the long weekend. “Right…” I say. “It’s a bit of a drive”, he says. “How far is a bit of a drive”. “6 or so hours”. “Oh”.

Tom’s plan involved leaving Thursday night, staying in a motel around the halfway mark, and then finishing the driving early Friday morning so we could be walking most of Friday. It seemed like a dreadful idea! I had a busy week at work, and if we went, I would only have one day between this trip and my Tassie trip. Every fibre of my being said we shouldn’t go. So reluctantly I agreed.

Tom, to his credit, organised everything. A bit dangerous on his part, since now I know he can do it 🙂 All I had to do was pack my individual stuff and hop in the car. We had Thursday night in Murrurundi – it’s claim to fame being where Tom’s great-great-great… something-or-other was a police officer. We were on the road again by 6:30am on Friday and so it was a completely reasonable time when we started the walk to Mt Yulludunida, loaded up with our overnight packs.

Tom on the way up Mt Yulludunida

Morning tea with a view

Tom’s vague plan had to been to climb up, explore part of the plateau, find a high camp, then explore another part of the plateau the next day. As we ascended we checked out the vegetation (relatively thick) and the general landscape (quite rocky). Finding a campsite might be tricky? Having morning tea on the northern summit of Mt Yulludunida we had a good view of the plateau. The plan quickly changed. We decided to try and traverse the Yulludunida spine, then come back and try and find a campsite on the western part of the plateau.

Mountain Lake

Thankful to dump my heavy pack (we were carrying water for two days) we set off with day packs to the Northern summit. While it was a nice day the cloud frustrated us, creating shadows just when we wanted to take a photo.

It was a pretty fun traverse. Going out ahead of Tom so he could take photos I watched him descending from the main summit. It looked so dodgy – but having just done it myself I knew there wasn’t really anything sketchy about it. (That said, I was glad to be wearing my grippy climbing approach shoes).

Traversing the spine of the range

Continuing the traverse

Eventually we got to a gap in the range – only a metre or so wide, but coinciding with a drop. Tom tried to find a way down, but his commentary did not fill me with confidence. We decided we’d come as far as we were comfortable so it was time for lunch. What an amazing spot. There were several wedge-tailed eagles catching the thermals around us, and at times they were only 10-20m away.

Tom checking out whether we can keep going

After lunch we reversed our traverse and reclaimed our packs. We headed out into the bush across the plateau. The busy work week I’d just finished was starting to catch up with me, and when Tom said there were some workable campsites at the knoll we’d paused at I was happy to stop. I thought Tom wanted to camp there as it had good views of the cliffs of Mt Yulludunida. However, when we walked out (sans packs) to the end of the plateau and found some reasonable flat spots near the cliff edge we decided to go back and retrieve our packs. I slept for the rest of the afternoon while Tom went photo hunting.

It was a lovely sunset and we had an enjoyable happy hour on the cliffs.

Sunset & Happy Hour. The best time of the day.

The photographer

It started getting a bit breezy so we retreated back from the cliffs to get some shelter. We got through dinner before it started blowing a gale. The tent was a little away from us, and I’d been down a couple of times to check on it as it was not particularly well-pegged as we were camped on rock. The third time I checked it I didn’t feel safe leaving it alone!

From that point, one of us was in it until the next morning when we took it down. A pretty miserable night followed with the wind whipping the tent down on top of us. We didn’t do the fly up because of the extra sail effect it was having. All our gear was at my feet in the tent so that it didn’t blow away outside.

Site of our dismal night

We survived the night.

Not sure it was my worst night camping. We tried ranking them as we walked out. I think our night at Goosenecks State Park in the US is still my number one. That was also a very windy night.

There wasn’t any discussion about exploring the rest of the plateau. By unspoken agreement we headed directly back to the car, and then to Narrabri for a coffee. After the coffee I was feeling slightly more human. We picked up some firewood and the physical newspaper (how novel) before heading back out to Mt Kaputar.

On our way out

We headed up the Mount Coryah walking track, unfortunately getting to the main lookout at the same time as another group. Not having understood the track I pushed on thinking we’d be doing a circuit of the plateau and returning that way. It was only after we’d descended and started skirting under the cliff that we realised we would not be returning to that lookout without turning around. We settled with having lunch on a rocky outcrop before heading back to the car.

Below the cliff line on Mt Coryah

From there we headed to The Governor (Corrunbral Borawah). The walk description said: “The walking track follows an easy sealed boardwalk to The Governor lookout, where you can bask in the superb scenic mountain views. You’ll see majestic mountain gums and vibrant wildflowers in the spring. The second half of the track, though, will definitely get your heart racing. Ascending steeply via ladders, you’ll have to do some rock scrambling, but it’s all worth the effort.” I was excited for the walk and the scrambling, and then felt completely ripped off when I’d got to the end without using my hands. There were good views though.

By then it was time to go and settle into our, hopefully far more sheltered, campsite for the night. Unusually for us we’d decided to book into the official national park camping. We were less than delighted to find that half the campsite was a construction zone, which was visually jarring. But more intrusively there was work going on in the middle of a Saturday afternoon of a long weekend. Diggers that beeped every time they reversed, trucks and utes driving in and out of the campground. And they didn’t even knock off early. Finally at 5pm there was peace. We were a little annoyed since there had been no information about this when booking the site. We may well have made different plans had we known.

Ah the serenity!

Tom decided sunset was going to be viewed from the Mt Kaputar Summit. Fortunately we were allowed to drive up there. We weren’t the only ones, or the only serious photographers, but we were the only ones with cheese & crackers & port!

Slightly less effort to get to compared to the trig station last weekend!

The joy of a well-pegged tent, in a pretty sheltered campground, led to a good night’s sleep. Despite the campsite being booked out it was very quiet. That was despite the large group of climbers who were camped next to us arriving well after dark. I didn’t know where they were all going to sleep as there were about 8 of them and the tent platforms were only big enough for 1 or 2 tents. But I should have known better – all bar 1 were sleeping in their cars – and they turned in before 9pm.

The next day we opted to do the Kaputar Plateau Walk. This is an 8km loop but 2km of it is on the road. We did the 2km down the road to start. It was surprisingly cool in the shade as wound our way down the mountain. The highlights of the track were the lookouts. We had morning tea at Lairds Lookout which had great views towards Euglah Peak. The family that was leaving as we got there said we were lucky as normally it was a favoured goat hangout. No signs of goat for us though. We went looking for Euglah Cave, and found it (we think!).

Tom and Euglah Peak from Lairds Lookout

Returning to the track we followed the fire trail uphill. Some sections were not too far off feeling like a ‘real’ bush track, others were clearly fire trail. Rangers Lookout gave us good views in the opposite direction towards the Bundabilla Cliffs. Rather than an early lunch we returned to the car and headed back to the campground.

Rangers Lookout

We’d hoped to walk from the campground on the link track to the Bundabilla Circuit. Tom had seen the link track had been closed but was supposed to now be open. Unfortunately the website wasn’t accurate and the link track was still closed. And there were workmen again! On the Sunday of a long weekend!? We did the Nature Trail since we were on it and had lunch on one of the benches along it so that we weren’t next to all the trucks at camp.

Mid-afternoon we drove round to the start of the Bundabilla Circuit since we couldn’t walk there. It had plenty of viewpoints, and the side trip to Lindsey Rocks gave us more great wedge-tailed eagle viewing.

Another lookout…

By the end of the day, I was happy just to settle down at camp, but Tom needed to do sunset at Mount Kaputar again. I left him to it! The campground was only half-full which was quite the contrast to the night before.

Looks cosy in this direction!

Our final day we got going pretty early to get some of the 6-7 hours drive under the belt before we even realised. As it was Anzac Day not much was open in the towns we went through, and the main road was closed off in Gunnedah for a parade.

Burning Mountain Nature Reserve was a good way to break up the drive with a solid 4km walk to see the burning coal seam.

Unsurprisingly every pub we drove past looked packed. Fortunately we managed to get some filled rolls to take away in Scone before the final push back to Sydney. A very enjoyable weekend away, which just proves your instinct is not always right.

Lower Zambezi – Zambia Part III (5-10 Aug 2018)

August 18, 2018 rachel

After a few days at my school reunion (Part II) we were ready for the next part of our trip. We left Mkushi early on Sunday morning to drive to Kariba. We had a much better trip to Lusaka compared to the way up – a lot less traffic as we were earlier in the day. We had lunch at one of the big malls in Lusaka – they were very impressive – you could have been anywhere in the world!

Lunch stop in one of the several large malls in Lusaka

Then we still had a few hours drive to the border post at Kariba Dam. The border formalities went relatively smoothly. As we were taking our hire car across the border there was a bit more paperwork. Everything I’d read on the internet had led me to believe we were going to be hit with large ‘taxes’ for taking the car into Zimbabwe but only US$20 poorer we were across – I’m not complaining! We finally got to where we were staying about 5pm – so an 11 hour day of travel. We got to enjoy sunset on the edge of Lake Kariba for a bit but then we needed to sort out our gear as we were starting our canoe safari early the next morning.

The canoe safari ended up being just me, Tom and 3 guides; Norman, KK and Thomas! (Thomas was a trainee, normally it’s just 2 guides to a trip with up to 8 clients). We started off with a shopping trip for any additional beverages we wanted and then we had a few hours drive to Chirundu.

About to leave Kariba Town

Looking down the Zambezi escarpment – very hazy due to seasonal burn-off

Just as we were about to start heading down the Zambezi escarpment one of the guides got the driver to pull over. It seemed the bearings on one of the wheels on the trailer had gone. After a bit of chat the driver and guides decided we’d just keep going. We made it to Chirundu safely though the wheel looked a little worse for wear!

The wheel with the broken bearings in Chirundu

We had lunch on the riverbank while the canoes and gear got sorted out. KK found us some Baobab fruit to sample. They were quite nice.

Baobab fruit – quite tart but tasty

With the guide to client ratio as it was Tom & I both got to go in a canoe with a guide which made things pretty relaxing as all we needed to do was paddle (sometimes) and they did all the steering. Norman told us he normally tries to split couples up in the canoes otherwise they tend to not enjoy the trip.

Riverside scenery – luxury lodges and elephants!

Photographer, baobab, fish eagle (in the tree) = match made in heaven

Idyllic river paddling

The first day was fairly hard for non-conditioned paddlers like us. We did 4 hours in the canoes without stopping (~25km) so by the time we pulled into our island for the night our bottoms were pretty sore. I was beginning to wonder if I’d got in over my head!

African sunset – camp night 1

KK cooks up pork chops on night 1

I was more relaxed when I realised we’d done almost a third of the distance on the first day. Day 2 was another 25km day – but done over 3 stints so more chances to stretch out. We started the day with hot drinks and biscuits.

Some serious wind shielding for the kettle!

The hippos were always lurking

River-level views were pretty good

Elephant and cattle egret

We had breakfast after a couple of hours of paddling, then lunch a bit later. Hippos were ever present so the guides were always on alert to make sure we took the best route around them. Our lunch spot was down a side channel, and there was a large pod of hippos on the shore next to where we needed to go. Hippos want to be in deep-ish water when feeling threatened so a bit of slapping the paddles on the water got them all moving.

We’re aiming for the tree on the right… just go to get the hippos out of the way first!

And they’re off! including all the birds off their backs

As soon as they were in the water we zipped through the side channel entrance that had been full of hippos only moments before. We had lunch and a long break in the heat of the day before our final stint of paddling for the day to camp.

Sunset – day 2

As we’d done half the paddling in the first two days the third day was fairly relaxed. We followed the pattern of the previous day but drifting more and paddling less.

Morning tea stop day 3

Sunset – day 3

The final day was only 8km so we covered that in about an hour. Then there were trailers to load at Mana Pools, more National Parks paperwork and then a long drive back to Kariba.

(If I was planning this trip again, knowing what I know now, I would have looked at a provider on the Zambia side as it would have saved us both driving time and border crossing time and expense. That is in no way meant to reflect poorly on the company we went with – more that we probably could have saved ourself a day or maybe more of driving.)

And before we know it that’s the end

The drive out of Mana Pools was made unpleasant by the presence of Tsetse Flies which have a fairly painful bite. And similar to the March Flies in Australia they need to be well and truly squished to kill them. We were all pretty glad once we were back on the escarpment without them.

Lunch stop on our way back to Kariba

Once back in Kariba we had border formalities to go back to Zambia (Siavonga). I thought maybe all these ‘taxes’ were going to come on the way out – but other than a K20 (A$2.70) road toll we got through unscathed.

Our original accommodation provider couldn’t take us so other arrangements had been made on the Southern Belle – a moored houseboat on Lake Kariba. Probably an upgrade from what I’d booked!

The Southern Belle

For a while it appeared we might have the entire boat to ourselves, but there was another group of 4 guests. Of which 2 turned out to be the parents of one of my school friends who I hadn’t seen since 1994! Such a small world.

Southern Belle relaxing

Southern Belle lounge room

From Siavonga it was back to Lusaka. And primarily for the location north of the airport we stayed at a small ‘game park’ just out of town. Having done ‘proper’ safaris in Namibia and Botswana this wasn’t particularly exciting though they did have some gorgeous cheetahs.

Tom’s found a friend

Just a yawn right?

Rachel’s found one too

Of course when we got on the plane there was an article in the in-flight magazine about how these sorts of animal interaction experiences should be avoided due the exploitation of the animals, unhealthy breeding industry which it promoted etc. I’d like to think the story we got told was true – that the cheetahs had been found as orphans – they’d been at the property 6 years. I would’ve been happy just to watch them as we haven’t seen any cheetahs in the wild during our African adventuring, but as evidenced below we got quite a lot of interaction.

And thus ended our Zambian adventure.

Mt Mumpu – The Return – Zambia Part I (30 Jul – 1 Aug 2018)

August 15, 2018 rachel

The last time I was in Zambia was 1996. A lot has changed since then! For one I am 22 years older. Another, I am now an adult. This was one of the more stressful trips I’ve organised – information on the internet isn’t as easy to come by but more importantly my trust that things I had booked would work out was low.

The internet was full of death-inducing dangers of driving in Zambia. There’s not a big car hire industry in Zambia and I had booked with a relatively unknown (at least by internet recommendations) company. We arrived into Lusaka early on our flight from Johannesburg, having left home some 20 hours earlier. Reaching the front of the queue at immigration we were informed we needed to be at the desk next door. So we duly shuffled across, upon reaching the front of that queue we were told we needed to be in the queue next door. What? We’ve just come from there? Turns out there was a little window we’d missed where KAZA visas are issued. Eventually being served from that window, the lady then battled with the password for the special laptop, the printer, the print alignment etc. Forty-five minutes later we both had KAZA visas, and the luggage was only just out so no time really lost. Our car hire man was there, and we were whisked away to a dark, deserted car park (it was 9:30pm by this stage) to collect the car. It was a full 4WD Toyota Prado rather than the ‘medium SUV’ I’d booked. Bonus. It felt like the classic set up for a mugging. I was pulling out my credit card, licence, passport while Tom was being dragged around to inspect the car in the dark. We survived the dark car park and soon I was driving to our accommodation for the night. That was all pretty straight-forward as well.

The next morning we had breakfast and then headed to East Park Mall to do some shopping. I was impressed by the mall. Unfortunately because it was Sunday most of the shops didn’t open until 10am, so we couldn’t get away until after then. The camping store I’d hoped to get a gas canister from had one sort with the screw (EN417) attachment but it wasn’t quite the type we’re used to. With no choice we hoped it would work. We picked up a local SIM card as well as some groceries and fuelling up the car. Tom took the first leg of the driving which wasn’t much fun as we had to firstly get out of Lusaka and then once on the main road there were numerous trucks going at variable speeds. It made overtaking a much more challenging experience due to the large variety of speeds being done, by the vehicles in front, the vehicles approaching on the other side of the road and the vehicles racing up behind you that were game to overtake multiple cars/trucks at a time. On the plus side the road was in much better condition than I was expecting with very few potholes.

Not finding anywhere suitable to stop for lunch Tom ended up doing over 4 hours straight driving, and lunch was eaten while we were driving. It was with great relief we finally got to my old school friend Nicky’s farm in Mkushi. I last saw Nicky in NZ when we were both 19 and we did a 2 week road trip around the South Island. A lot has changed since then! We had a lovely evening outside around the fire with Nicky & family (husband, 4 kids, 2 fur children) before crashing out. The next morning Nicky’s Mum & Dad & sister popped by – it was great to see them, as they had been wonderful hosts to me for several weeks in the summer of 1996/97.

Next stop was Ndubaluba to get a map for our Mt Mumpu mission. Abe gave us a map and the loan of a water filter, but the most complex thing seemed to be the driving directions! We hoped we had all we needed before hitting the road for Kundalila Falls. Despite suggestions we should pretend to be locals to get the cheaper fees I couldn’t bring myself to outright lie when asked what country we were from. So K150 each later we had our invoice – only 6 times the local rate! We wandered around to the look-out of the falls, then headed down to the bottom. The base of the falls was in the shade and despite being a bit sweaty by the time we got down there was no real temptation to go for a swim. Tom spent a while photo-faffing before we headed back up.

The photographer at work at Kundalila Falls

At the top the campsite was pumping! We had been warned that there was an Ndubs group there, so it wasn’t hard for me to pick out Mr Thompson (my ex-Geography teacher, now head of the outdoor centre). We had a most enjoyable evening with Mr T, and the Banani school group – including their presentations of Super Supper. It was our coldest night though – was very glad of my warm sleeping bag that I almost hadn’t packed.

Kundalila Falls

Views from the Kundalila Falls viewing area

After visiting the view point again in the morning, and with final tips from Mr T on Mumpu we hit the road. We made good time to Mkushi, but then it was a very slow drive out to Changwena Falls. We had a mud map of the route but we weren’t super confident in it. The key direction was to turn right at the Upper Lunsemfwa Primary School sign… we got to a sign, I thought I could make out the lettering so we turned. The road was increasingly sketchy and we were both desperately hoping we were going the right way because it wasn’t going to be much fun having to drive back out with no reward.

The sign!

Eventually we became confident we were on the right road. We found the other turn-off with the bits of tape on the tree and soon we were at Changwena Falls along with the crowds. We had also been warned that a Duke of Ed Group would be finishing up there, so we weren’t surprised. What we were surprised at was the annoying bitey flies (bees?) that were everywhere, including in your ears and eyes and nose. That made our decision on whether to walk to the base that afternoon pretty easy – anything to get away from the insects! We scored a colour map from Josh, to replace the B&W one we’d been given by Abe, and then we were off.

What we would call a fire trail had been established to a base camp below Mt Mumpu so it was easy walking in the late afternoon.

The firetrail to the base of Mt Mumpu

We passed a burn-off along the road on our way. Unfortunately one of the last things Mr T had warned us about was the possibility of fires and the danger to the car. While I wasn’t concerned it meant Tom had a sleepless night worrying about it.

Seasonal burn-off next to the fire trail

After some quick photos of the mountain in the sunset light we got camp sorted. Our gas canister had been a dud as our stove wouldn’t screw into it far enough to release gas, so it had been ditched and we were back to cooking on the fire. It was a super windy night which didn’t help our sleep.

Camp below Mt Mumpu (if you look carefully you can see the cave)

Tom was so worried about the car and out of control grass fires he wanted to bail straight back to the car. I was having none of it. So shortly after 7:30am we left camp on our way up Mt Mumpu. It looked exactly like the photos from 1994 🙂

On our way to Mt Mumpu

Starting to get steep

The mouth of the cave

A bit of scrambling keeps things interesting

Bat guano. Mmmm.

More scrambling in the cave

The section up through the cave was trickier than I was expecting. But then I realised most of my memories from the 1994 trip were just based on the photos and video. There was quite a lot of scrambling, a bit of pack passing and some grunting from Tom as we squeezed through a couple of the smaller holes.

In the cave in 1994

I can see the light!

Looking back through the dark section

Tom emerging from the dark, squeezy section

Once through it wasn’t quite over, we had to find our way out on to the ridge, disturbing some baboons who were quite vocal in their displeasure but soon headed off.

Taking in the views

There was still a bit of work to be done to get to the summit. We arrived at 9:30am – 2 hours after leaving camp.

The trig has been pushed over, with a cross in place at the summit now

I was hoping to somehow recreate the summit shot from 1994 but the Trig which had existed then has been ~~pushed over~~ hit by lightning.

The 1994 summit party (I’m in the middle in the red/white striped top)

The 2018 version – standing on the original trig spot

We enjoyed the views for a while before heading off the other side.

Tom with views of the Irumi Hills behind

We picked our way down another ridge and found the walking similar to The Kimberley region in Australia. Spinifex-like grass which was slow-going at times, or fast if it had been burnt out.

Easy walking through some of the burnt out areas

Enjoying lunch in the shade

Other than deciding to go through a swamp for about 200m at the bottom of the ridge we descended the walking was very pleasant. We picked up the fire trail we’d come in on a bit further along and were back at, a now empty, campsite by 2:30pm.

Back on the fire trail

We hadn’t actually been down to the Falls when we’d arrived the previous day. I didn’t really remember them, other than in 1994 I knew we’d swum there. They are stunning. Again we could have been in The Kimberley. We had a good wash, though didn’t stay in too long as the water was brisk. Unfortunately the annoying flies found us and eventually I beat a retreat to the tent.

Enjoying a well-earned swim at Changwena Falls

Tom ‘posing’…

Some of the 1994 contingent enjoying Changwena Falls

We had a pleasant night around the campfire. I was surprised at the amount of rubbish that has been left around camp – Mr Solomon would have had our heads! I cleaned up most of the toilet paper and foil in the fire, but don’t think I got to everything.

Camping at Changwena Falls

On the drive out we discovered the back of the sign was very clearly lettered! So if driving out there and in doubt – have a look at the back!

The back of the sign

A fun trip, though going up the cave was a bit harder than I was expecting – quite impressed by my 14-year old self!

See the later part of the trip here: Lower Zambezi

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