Tag Archives: dam

Lake Repulse Dam to Catagunya Dam – posting 9 of 13

The signs of a past bushfire were clear on one long hill. Possibly a year ago. A little green regrowth in evidence.

Nevertheless seeing the blackened trees was a timely alert and made me wonder how I would cope if a bush fire came my way. I have been informed the safest place is to find/create a hollow in the ground at the bottom of a hill, dig in and cover yourself as well as you can (remembering that most bushwalking gear and clothes is synthetic and will melt), hope the fire will flash over you quickly and that no trees or burning branches will fall on you, wait until the rush has passed, and then hope you can see somewhere to go. I don’t ever want to put that to the test.

On the evening of this walk, I dropped off to sleep around 7.30pm (early to bed early to rise!) in my trusty little synthetic tent on the only flat place I could find during almost the entire walk.

A little after 9 pm I woke to the smell of smoke. Hmmmm. I clambered out of the tent to have a look; 360 degrees of hills were softened with smoke haze. No wind. I couldn’t guess the direction from where the fire smoke might be coming. When I considered collapsing my tent, repacking my backpack and continuing onto the Catagunya complex, I realised it was possible the fire was flaring between me and that destination. I listened for the sound of helicopters doing water drops. Heard nothing.

A couple of hundred metres below me was the dam with its thick brown water (photo below taken when setting up before the smoke haze arrived) which I felt was the safest place I would find close by. Thought I was safest staying put.

So I climbed back into my hot sleeping bag (the evening temperature didn’t cool as forecast), and went to sleep.

In the morning, I took the following photos. They show the smoky cattle-crossed hills surrounding me – and indicate the smoky air I was breathing.

I packed up and walked passed another smaller dam, before travelling around, down and up hills once more. The smoky haze persisted. Didn’t seem worse. I continued.

When I saw Catagunya Dam in the distance with the haze behind, I knew the seat of the fire was elsewhere.

Later, I learnt the fire was over 70kms away in the south west of Tasmania. Strong winds were responsible for creating the haze and even Hobart way east was blanketed similarly by smoke from the same fire.

Lake Repulse Dam to Catagunya Dam – posting 8 of 13

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When I reached the top of one of many hills, the heat of the day was intense and weariness forced me to stop. I ate a little lunch. Sipped a little water. Thought about its reducing quantity. Lay down in the shade. And fell asleep.

Increasingly, I was acknowledging my water situation could become serious.

At the start of my walks I carry two one-litre bladders (Think 2kgs of weight). By the early afternoon I estimated this quantity might not be sufficient: I realised that the hot weather, the energy required to navigate my way around contours and up and down hills, the need to have water to cook with, clean the teeth, and continue on, were likely to deplete my supplies. If I didn’t find water to replenish my resources I could be in trouble.

As it turned out, the first creek with the brown running water was the only source of water that I might have drunk, if pushed. Later creeks trickled sluggishly and pools sat with green slime and algae. Obviously no rain had flushed these creeks in ages.

By late afternoon I decided to head inland to a man-made dam of water clearly marked on the map; I was walking away from the River but I needed water and this seemed the only sensible solution. I walked up and down more serious hills until the dam was in view (can you spot the dam in the first photo?).

After walking for around seven hours, this nameless dam was a huge disappointment. The water edges were pudgy with cattle trampings so that the mud oozed up around my walking boots and threatened to suck them off my feet. And the low level of water left in the dam was a thick brown mix. Unreachable and undrinkable.

That night, I didn’t cook because water would have been required. Instead I finished eating my lunch for dinner. Again at breakfast I ate food which did not require rehydration. At no time did I brush my teeth, although I would have loved to. Keeping water to sip was more important than niceties.

Next morning I walked for two hours to reach the Catagunya complex. No creeks ran with clean water on the way. Cliffs and rocky edges made the water of Lake Repulse inaccessible. I thought that the bridge over the Derwent River at Catagunya might allow me to drop down and brush my teeth, but again – no access. Impossible.

Thankfully when I arrived at the Catagunya Power Station, a couple of work cars pulled up. Inside I was able to refill my water containers and brush my teeth. Thanks Hydro Tasmania.

I have written before about the challenges of walking and worrying about water. The irony is that the Derwent River is a mighty liquid machine, the water of which can be seen – but mostly it cannot be touched. If a person wasn’t able to keep walking, and didn’t have a Personal Locator Beacon, it would be easy to die of thirst in this remote part of Tasmania in the summer.