Day: 06
Date: Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Start: Bushy Patk
Finish: Jones River
Daily Kilometres: 30.1
Total TT Kilometres: 154.4
Weather: Mostly sunny and warm
Accommodation: Tent
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Cereal and toast & jam
Lunch: Chicken salad sandwich
Dinner: Soup and rehydrated meal
Aches: Both feet still sore with plantar fasciitis playing up in the right.
Highlight: Walking along a treeless grassy, sheep-mown ridge in the early morning sunshine which gave helicopter-like views over the valley below.
Lowlight: I could have done without the steep cross-country bush bash up to the Mt Bethune ridge at the end of a long day, but the views were great from the top.
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
I enjoyed a relaxed farmhouse continental breakfast at the B&B before hitting the road, literally, soon after 8am. After 10 minutes walk, I reached the "quaint" Bushy Park Roadhouse/Post Office, and stopped to collect some mailed food to see me through to the next town. While there, I bought a 1.25 litre Coke (for my day's hydration ….. inadequate, as it turned out) as well as a sandwich for lunch and a few chocolate bars. It was 8:30am by the time I got going again, and the day was already warming up.
For today, the official TT crosses through a number of private properties, one of which required prior permission to cross (I called last night and they were happy to have me pass through), whilst the others require you to stick to the marked trails. I was also going to camp for the night at a private family-owned campsite by the Jones River, and had called ahead to confirm that was OK as well. There are alternate road routes for those who do not want to cross the private land, and I'm guessing most mountain-bikers use the roads.
Anyway, not long after leaving the roadhouse, I climbed a gate, the first of many (and getting less agile as I age), and followed the first farm track through private land. After a solid climb, fantastic views were revealed (see above), and it was almost intoxicating to cruise along the broad grassy ridge with the world spread out below and to have it all to myself, apart from a few sheep.
Later there were some more backroads sections, but the highlight of the day was certainly the trail, often not marked, through private farmland and woods, made better by a picture-perfect day with a light cooling breeze. Here and there I saw wallabies and also a couple of echidnas. In parts, particularly where it was rocky and/or cross-country, the going was slow, and there were a couple of solid climbs that had me sweating buckets and wishing I had bought more Coke at the roadhouse.
The last highpoint of the day was the traverse of Mt Bethune around 5pm, with more fantastic views, and then a long descent through farmland to the Jones River. Just before reaching the campsite, I passed a farmhouse with a water tap outside and I filled both 2 litre water bottles, anticipating a thirsty night. The campsite has a shelter, tables and chairs, a water tank and a long-drop toilet, so everything I need. Tables and chairs are always particularly welcome.
It is supposed to be hot tomorrow, so I will carry extra water, and there is a river to ford, that is sometimes impassable, so maybe some excitement ahead.
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