See its funny/ironic in so many ways. Her last name is White (Helen White), I'm American which is associated with the Whitehouse, and my name is Hillary (haha - like Hillary Clinton (even spelled the same)).
Like any good traditional house party, we had beer pong. Which quickly turned into punch pong - because, unbeknown to me - Australians love making punch. And when I say punch I mean a mixture of a much alcohol as possible. There is this thing called Passion Pop which is a $6 champagne. Mix that with a half bottle of vodka (we had peach and plain) a splash of lemonade (think American Sprite) and some tropical juice. Which when drinking is delicious and you would never know that there is alcohol in it...
Until of course you have just played 5 straight games of punch pong (and won three I might add - with my spunky partner Hannah)...then it hits you. So you make some more and enjoy the rest of the night.
The next weekend was a strictly no drinking weekend. It was the 2nd Annual BRW Triathlon event (well 2nd annual for a few of us at KPMG - I think the event has actually been going on for like 25 years). Now before you give me too much praise - this was a corporate triathlon which means it is short, flat and do-able for us bean counters who sit in a chair for 10+ hours a day looking at our computers. Lucky for my one of my clients was just sold and my February was loaded with work. Why is this lucky?? Well I now had an excuse for being horrible as I didn't have time to train.
But the day came (sooner than I expected as my alarm failed to go off and I woke up at the time I was supposed to meet my team, raced over to West Lakes and only ran one red light) and we were kind of ready. I made it in time to get my bike in the transition area and it was off to warm up...by talking to everyone else from KPMG about how we were never going to make it through this.
Then it was time to start, so I went and stood in the lake. Next thing I know we were moving and shaking - I'm pretty sure I got kicked in the face at least once but I didn't let that stop me. Got out of the water (total length of 400 meters) and on to the bike. Some of the guys were passing me (which only means I passed them on the swim) and they had the nice road bikes. Then off the bike (9kms) and onto the run. This is where I was finally able to find my feet (hehehe) and off to catch all those cyclists - not sure I passed any of them but got back (after 4 kms) and traded the band off to my vibrant team member Sally. She was off and the next thing I knew she was back again. Then it was Emma's turn, she was the newcomer on the team and made us proud, running over the finish line with her arms raised high.
The weekend after that (we're now in the first weekend in March) my good friends Keith and Sally joined me on a camping trip to Flinders National Park. We took the Friday off and headed out. The Ford Fiesta was packed to the rim, but we had all the essentials (and a few luxury items). As the drive is quite a haul, we decided to stop at Mt Remarkable for a quick hike. What we found was no hiking but a sick bridge swing. I think it made Keith's day - and as he was driving that is about all that matters.
So back in the car and up to Wilpena Pound. Got a few maps and realised that our car would really only make it to two camp sites as the others were on long gravel/dirt/your going to get a flat tire roads. We made our way to the first one and set up camp. Cooked some dinner, played some cards and listened to Glee. We decided that Saturday would be full of a hike to St. Mary's Peak. The tallest peak in the National Park with views for miles - a good nights rest was in order.
Unfortunately, none of us got a goods night rest. The wind came howling up and shook our tents about. If you have ever seen "The Happening" by M Night Shyamalan, I'm sorry it was a horrible movie, but that is what I thought we were going to be living through as the sounds were almost identical. I did everything I could to try and fall asleep, as I knew tomorrow would be rough without just a little bit, counted sheep, hummed, thought about how tired I was, but there was nothing.
All of a sudden it was morning. We all got up looking a little beaten, cooked a good brekky, packed a lunch and headed out. The trail to St. Mary's Peak is considered "difficult." Its about 15 kms and they recommend allowing 6 hours round trip. Well, we figured that was a load of crap. We wouldn't need 6 hours (I mean we all did just do the triathlon the weekend before with smashing times (note Keiths was an incredible 37 minutes)). We headed out and the trail was what I think most would consider easy. At this pace we would be to the top in 2 hours.
On the hike there is what I would consider some huge a#$ spiders - and I'm really not making that up. They were everywhere. The webs interwoven from tree to tree - right above our heads ready to pounce. We took a hold of our fears and pushed on - luckily none of the spiders go to us.
Then we started to go up and then up some more, and more, when at some points we were scaling rock faces. Needless to say, this slowed us down a bit. From where we were there were two peaks you could see - a close one and a far one. I took a look at them and told the guys, "Aahhh we are close it doesn't look too far away now" (referring to the close one). Keith pointed out that he thought we might be headed to the far away one, but in any case we had to keep going.
About an hour later we realised that it was the one further away. We managed to loose the track right at the end and climbed up another rock face to the top. And there we stood at the highest point in the Flinders Ranges. Seeing miles upon miles of endless land on one side and Wilpena Pound on the other. Wilpena Pound is a valley surrounded by a ring of mountains which the aboriginals believe to be two snakes protecting the land. It was pretty spectacular.
At this point I was starving so we ate our lunch and relaxed for a bit before heading down. Made it all the way back down (which to me is sometimes more difficult then going up) and we start heading around a bend in the trail. I feel that something is a bit off - I hear some noises and stop. Slowly walking around the trail we see a heard of wild goats. Not sure what they were doing but they came out of the bush, walked/trotted on the trail, and then back into the bush. It was pretty awesome - so much in fact that I didn't even think to get my camera.
Well, we finished the hike in the 6 hours the map told us we would. It was kind of demoralising, but at the same time we did just hike 15 kms and a total vertical of about 1200m. We camped at Wilpena Pound (the second place our car could easily get to) and made some pasta.
At one point in the night we had a visitor - Mr. Roo. Mr. Roo was cute, he looked harmless and I'm sure he was used to people being around so expected some good food from us. But we know better than to feed animals. So we talked to him a bit and then tried to get him to leave. This is when he went for our trash bag - Sally swiftly grabbed it and threw it out of the way and stepped in saying, "If you want to get to the trash bag, you'll have to get through me first." Okay she didn't actually say that, but with the fighting stance she had no verbal words were necessary. Luckily Mr. Roo was smart and left us alone for the rest of the night (kind of).
Then it was star gazing time. I love how many stars you can see when you are out of the city lights. Even in the southern hemisphere you can see Orion. Its about the only constellation that I'm able to pick out, but even so, the stars to me are a wonderment.
The next morning we packed up, and headed towards home. We stopped and did one last, small hike to the aboriginal cave paintings. They definitely weren't as impressive as the pictures on the pamphlet made them out to be, but I guess that is photo shop for you.
We made it back safe and sound, with no traffic/police tickets (which with Keith and I in the car is kind of a miracle). A great way to start off the month of March....
Next weekend is finally our time to relax - as the lady's head to Daylesford for some spa time.
Go australian mountaineers and campers. They are really great. It's amazing and great.
ReplyDeleteI'm ready for the next challenge guys. lolz Here's my camping gears please check it.