Monthly Archives: December 2015

My camping stove

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I like to travel light so I was relieved to discover the Kathmandu product, the Backpacker Titanium Stove.

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More information can be read at this site. Unfortunately, I purchased my stove at the top of the market – should I have waited for the sales?  No – I have no regrets. Already the stove has been used a few times and I love it. So tiny and compact, it weighs under 50gms and a mere 75gms when folded into its case. While its fold out arms appear delicate, they comfortably and strongly support my billy heavy with water and rehydrating food.

The burner screws easily onto a 230gm butane/propane mix gas canister.

Wet Notes

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Science offers us treats at every corner or, if not treats, then convenience.

One of my inland Derwent River chauffeurs, Andrew, alerted me to Wet Notes.  When I bemoaned the difficulty of making written notes on paper notebooks in rain, I discovered Wet Notes was the answer.

Wet Notes

These pocket sized spiral bound waterproof notebooks, containing both lined and unlined pages are produced by The Royal Yachting Association in the United Kingdom; refer to their catalogue on their website . The lightweight books are small enough for notes, but not large enough if you wish to write a novel while walking in the wilderness.

In Hobart Tasmania, the notebooks can be purchased at The Tasmanian Map Centre in Elizabeth St.

I believe other varieties are published by other organisations.

Walking between Gretna and Lake Repulse Dam – 3 of 3

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Tracks

Meandering at the edges of paddocks and sometimes across them, the deeply engrained cow and sheep trails were my usual pathways.  When I was not following these, I opted to walk on vehicular tracks. At all times, I deliberately set out to leave no trace of my passing.

Even when I climb fences, I make an extra effort to restore any reshaping to the original configuration. The last thing I want is for anyone to see that a fence has been climbed and believe this is a regular ‘pathway’.  When fences become distorted, they start the journey to break down and, with valuable livestock to be managed, no farmer wants to be worrying about maintaining fences when the deterioration is not time-related.

The Derwent River

The speed of the river flowing downstream always surprises me.  The power of that water, the changing colours of that deep mass, the scale of the River, and the variations in the unique landscapes on the edge impress me strongly. Time and again.

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Where the Derwent passes through Cluny Lagoon and Meadowbank Lake, the wider expanses of water gleam.

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Walking between Gretna and Lake Repulse Dam – 2 of 3

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Fences and gates

Avid readers of this blog know that locked and impassable gates, and barbed wire and electric fences have stymied my progress in recent walks. As I expected, these exist not only on the perimeters of properties but also throughout.

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Therefore, my recent walks involved a great deal of walking away from the River in search of a way to continue; looking for a way to access the next paddock. I always hope for uninterrupted access to the river edge, but experience shows that hill climbing must be part of the process.  This means a simple 5 km section of the River might take 8 km of walking.  Being forever positive, I am glad for the expansive views of the River when I am up high.  But I am not in love with clambering up hills. Despite the deviations, I negotiated dozens of fences/gates.

The land

Farmers tell me that normally the land dries out in around six weeks’ time. However this year, the non-irrigated paddocks are parched.  The ‘soil’ of some land is sand and rock making me wonder whether it has been so for millennia or is only now tending towards a desert.  In other places, large fissures have cracked open the ground.

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Elsewhere, I saw evidence of large bushfires that probably rushed through the bush three or so years ago. New growth surrounded blackened trunks.

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Negotiating paddocks with livestock

Sheep and cattle wander through large paddocks on either side of the River in much of this area.

I do my best not to enter a paddock with livestock and always try to find alternative routes.  The result is grand deviations from the ‘straight line’ of walking the Derwent.

Cattle are curious or expect food and with their big bodies swaying they tend to walk towards you. Then at a point when I begin to feel most uncomfortable, skittishly they run off.  On the other hand, sheep stand and stare until alarmed. Then they run off, bleating madly.

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I don’t believe it is useful to raise either their or my stress levels.  At this time of the year when lots of mothers and their calves or lambs abound, the last thing I want to do is stress these creatures.

Occasionally, I have shared a paddock with either cattle or sheep. When in a paddock with the animals, I have done my best to walk in such a way that they move slowly away rather than charging off manically.  However, when I saw rams staring at me from under their sharp curly horns, I saw no point in confrontation, and took an alternative route – which in this particular circumstance required me to descend a very very steep hill, knowing I would have to climb back up further along. And I don’t like hills.

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Crops

Commercial and feed crops cover some of the land. I am not a farmer but I think the following photo shows wheat. Can anyone advise me?

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I feel sure this is barley below but am I correct?

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And I know the photo below shows oats.  I once had bales of oat straw brought to mulch my garden. Ever since, wild oats have sprouted and I have come to love their lacy heads.

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I have no idea what I was looking at when I came across this irrigated crop – can anyone identify the vegetation below?

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Walking between Gretna and Lake Repulse Dam – 1 of 3

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I no longer believe that walking the Derwent River from the mouth to the source is possible as a normal public option. The reasons why others should not follow in my footsteps and expect to walk the length of the River include:

  1. Private landowners will not grant access permission to cross their land for a range of very sound reasons.
  2. There are no public pathways, roads or tracks near most of the River.
  3. Fences and gates make forward progress difficult or impossible.

Let me explain by focusing on the situation in one inland section.

The Derwent River winds around mostly cleared hills between Gretna and Lake Repulse Dam, and on two occasions its travel is impeded:  by the Meadowbank and Cluny Dams. The Derwent between these two locations measures approximately 52 kms.

As a result of privileged access and after a series of recent walks, I have covered the majority of these kilometres, sometimes walking on one side of the River and sometimes on the other.  I expect to finish this section by filling in the few small ‘gaps’ in the near future.  Once the 52 kms are completed then I will add the details into my blog under USEFUL ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. Weather (not snowing, raining, excessively windy or hot – I’m not fussy!) and the availability of chauffeurs will influence when and where I walk in the future.

Some of the many landowners along the way have granted me permission to walk on their land with the proviso that specific details which allow identification of them and their properties will not be provided.  I understand the reasons for their positions and will not share the information. Unfortunately, so many of my glorious panoramic photos of the Derwent River feature rapids or other indicators such as hills, dramatic cliffs and distant properties which show the side of the River on which I walked. As such, these would help locate the properties on which I walked.  Therefore, for the first time, I am disappointed to include only a couple of River shots in my blog posts.

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Many blog followers have enjoyed the details of what I see and experience in each walk.  Without providing identifying information, I will do my best to present some of the ‘flavour’ of the River between Gretna and Lake Repulse Dam in the next couple of blog posts.

Thanks to blog follower Jeanette, I was chauffeured to some starting points and collected from destinations in the section between Gretna and Lake Repulse Dam.  In addition, she walked with me on one occasion. At the time we tried out hand-me-down walking poles (my doctor says they will support my knees) but since they were no longer collapsible, we soon discarded them.  For blog followers wondering how my knees are holding up – very well, thank you.  Now that I wrap and support them, walking has become so much easier.

Tackling the Derwent in the Meadowbank Lake region

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Meadowbank Lake, which backs up behind Meadowbank Dam and its Power Station, is approximately 15 kms long. Downstream, the Derwent River snakes its way through the landscape for about 23 kms until it passes Gretna and heads on towards the sea.  Upstream, after approximately 9 to 10 kms, the Derwent River finishes at Cluny Dam.  The Cluny Lagoon which extends to Lake Repulse Dam extends a further 4 kms.

To walk the Derwent between Lake Repulse Dam and Gretna is not straightforward because some private property owners cannot afford to let strangers on their property for insurance reasons, or their granted permission is a one off special case for me.  As a result, I have walked and will walk sometimes on the western and sometimes on the eastern side of the River and Lake, but I will not be providing a map and location details in my blog.  In this way I will protect the privacy of landowners, and respect the privilege their permission to access their property has given me.

I expect to tackle parts of the area on a total of 6 or 7 separate days. On each of these walks there will be a considerable amount of retracing of steps and walking away from the river/lake in order to reach roads where friends can collect me. For most of this area, public transport will either be absent or a great distance away.  Only the walk between Cluny and Lake Repulse Dams offers a reasonable amount of public access.

To date, I have walked a few sections, but I am not sure how to write up this Meadowbank area considering the confidentiality and privacy agreements I have made.  Once I have started moving west of Lake Repulse Dam and all the walks in the Meadowbank area are complete, then I will create one or more blogs that introduce at least some of the wonders of that environment.