We participate in one of the most amazing breakfasts on the trail at Mt Harbour. Our hostess Mary puts on a breakfast buffet for 23 hikers and 4 B&B guests@ $9 per head. It is a spectacle. Twelve different dishes spread out on the large dining table, hikers queuing up to pile up their plates and still plenty left for seconds. She has learned and lets the B&B guests go first, before the hikers descend like locusts.
We stagger out from the hostel and start a slow climb. There are lots of the hikers, including Kindling, doing a ‘slack-pack’ today – covering 24 miles to Kincora Hostel. Their packs will be waiting for them when they arrive. They move fast and pass us early in the day. We walk through quite ‘civilised’ surroundings – houses, cemeteries, cleared paddocks.
There is a waterfall 1 mile off the trail – it means a round trip of 2 miles. How much do we want to see it? Neither of us is that enthusiastic about adding another 2 miles to our day. It leads to the discussion – how far are you prepared to detour for a waterfall? As compared to a pizza? We decide that we would walk 2 miles for a pizza but not a waterfall.
We stop for a rest at Mountaineer Falls Shelter for a break. This is a new shelter which has been built by 150 trail volunteers, who carried in the timber. A mezzanine floor and balcony. Very trendy.
At 5.00pm we find a flat camp site next to a small flowing creek so we decide to stop. It is an opportunity to wash our socks – what a treat! Turtle and Wallflower come through around 6.00pm looking for the hostel – it is another 2 miles further on.We enjoy the solitude of the forest.
Hello. Thanks for the post. I am currently looking for pictures of Kincora Hostel for my app: Virtual Walk. You have some great photos here and I was wondering if I could have permission to use them in my app.
ReplyDeleteThanks!