Posted by Today was only a half day in theory having pulled up stumps by lunch time but distance wise still a respectable days work.
On the same road all day with unchanging scenery it felt tedious and boring with not a lot to report. I had to distract myself with an audio book for much of the morning to make the time go by. It was more of a trail work day than anything else, covering miles to keep moving forward.
The smell of horse shit will for evermore bring me back to Cowombat Track. There was just so much of it everywhere, a constant reminder to the presence of Brumbies. So much crap. Huge piles. Mostly old, some fresh, and some still steaming in the morning air, blow flies buzzing around. Its fair to say that there was a pike for every 100m of track. And with something like 23km walked today, that is 230 piles of shit just along the road. Imagine whats out in the bush.
Brumbies have well and truely taken over and destroyed this ‘wilderness area’. I’ve never really liked the term Wilderness but its what we use to describe areas set aside with little active management to be left in what we think is a natural state but it takes away so much from the indigenous folk who lived in the area; and the lack of modern management has done little to assist in maintaining any natural order. Instead the ferals have taken over.
In all the open grassy areas I should be seeing mobs of kangaroos and wallabies. Instead what I’m seeing is a thriving community of horses, deer and rabbits. In once instance this morning I came across a mob of both brumbies and fallow deer feeding together.
The mark of the brumby is everywhere through these parts, especially near any water bodies or boggy soaks. What should be thriving wetland communities with frogs croaking are turned over mud pits. I don’t care what anything thinks about the brumbies and their heritage, its all shit. They need to be removed from this place be that through catch and release or shooting them on the spot. They have no place here. I came across signs stating that an aerial cull was underway but saw no signs of it. Rant over.
Along the way I did pass by the Tin Mine Huts and stopped for a break.
It was fast but tedious through the morning. A slog to say the least.
About 2km before Cascade Hut I ran into Eloise heading southbound on the AAWT, early into her trip having planned to walk NOBO but ditching that plan and heading south after the snowy conditions I’d experienced early on in my trip changed her thinking. A week into her trip she described the remainder of mine to be straight forward and fun through stunning country.
I arrive at Cascade Hut in the full sun around 1pm. It feels so early to stop for the day but I force myself to, allowing time to just chill out for the rest of the day.
Mick Beckers 