Mt Buffalo September 22-23 2006

I cruised down the mountain, stopping to enjoy the view and appreciate what I’d just done a couple of times and headed into Bright for a coke. As I drove into the Buckland Valley, it was beginning to get dark. There were two parks marked on my maps as having toilets and Barbecues, but as I drove up to each, I spotted very clear ‘no camping’ signs. My last resort was a place marked as a picnic ground, just near where the road fords the river – otherwise, it was going to be tent next to the car on the roadside. I needn’t have worried. As I rounded the corner, the picnic site turned out to be several acres divided into six campsites, with lots of beautiful green grass, a fireplace in the centre of each, and a toilet block. Fresh water from the river at the ford, and plenty of firewood. I set up the tent, gathered some wood and lit a huge fire. I sat up for a while, reading and listening to music, before grabbing a very relaxed night’s sleep.
I woke up feeling very fresh, and realising that it would be far easier to stay the night in the same place, I planned a loop walk, along the river, up over a firebreak, and looping back onto a four wheel drive trail. I packed everything either into the pack (A nice dummy pack – lunch and water, a few odds and ends, at about 15kg) or back into the car, leaving just my firewood pile, the tent, and my sleeping gear. I began walking but soon realised that the firebreak was far too overgrown to be able to walk safely, so instead decided to take a lazy walk through the valley, with the road following the riverbed most of the way. There was a nice dam where I stopped and reloaded my water bottles and took a small break, and then crossed the bridge and headed along the road.
It just became a flat haul, all day. It was nice, just following the road through forest and farmland. There was fairly frequent traffic, most of whom I saw twice in the day for a friendly was, and some chit-chat with local farmers. It was sunny, in he low 20’s scale of things, and the sun spattered through the leafy cover of the trees that lined the road. I somehow still had power in the iPod, so spent the morning listening to stand up comedy and U2 live. My occasional glimpses of the river tempted me to climb down and take a swim, but although I was never more than 100 metres from it, it was just a touch too hard to get down there – or back. By 2 oclock, I had reached the 20 k mark from where I began, and so I had lunch, and then turned and walked back. I made good time, up until I reached the Dam. I stopped to get a drink, and suddenly my nose was bleeding. I sat there for about ½ an hour while it bled out, and by the time I resumed my walk, with 5 kilometres to go, I was decided. I reached the campsite, took a toilet stop and freshened up, then loaded my sleeping gear, and tent, into the car whole, and got driving. I was in radio reception just in time for the kick off in the rugby league semi final, and spent the drive home listening to the Storm win in style. I returned home, tired, but satisfied – a mountain climbed 80 kilometres hiked, and a new sense of my relationship with God. Anything I dream, I can do. I just have to face the challenges that will come bravely. I need to find my rhythm and keep walking, with trust that my God will walk with me to the end.