I enjoyed the walk from my camping spot to Catagunya in the early morning.  Except, as usual, I didn’t enjoy negotiating fences.  Getting from one side to the other took time. Most were rather challenging. Frequently, I needed to unhitch my backpack, lift its 14kg weight in a clean and jerk manoeuvre and tumble it over a fence.  Then I would walk up and down the fence line until I found the easiest (never easy) place for me to crawl under the fence, climb over or squeeze through the fence.  Back to the pack, heave it onto my back, and adjust the straps.  Thankfully the paddocks were huge and I could never see all sides at the same time which means I didn’t have as many fences as one might imagine for this distance. The fences followed the curves of hills and disappeared over crests.  I only ever saw two gates.

From the smaller second dam I followed a creeklet down down down to an almost hill-less flatter space that bordered a section of Lake Repulse.

I turned north-west and meandered up a smaller hill slope until Catagunya Dam came into view.

Ahead of me were extensive paddocks with sheep.

Beside me, to my left through a thick edge of trees Lake Repulse/Derwent River streamed away in a south-easterly direction.

Solid thick trunked trees stood sentry near the water beside rocky outcrops which defined the River edges and stopped the expansion of vegetation.

I looked back from where I had come; way behind all the hills you can see.

I looked forward to my destination.

I looked around about me.

How beautiful the country looked with its softened edges.