Backpacks soon packed for all of us I think the boys were about 9 kg and mine a sorry 20 or so kilo to allow for food and water and wet weather gear which we probably wouldn't need but we would have to take along with the tent first aid kit and blow up mats .
We started out from the visitor centre around eleven after we signed in our intentions of walk then eagerly headed down toward the walk head a short distance down the park.
The going to start was well defined but eventually became very root bound and could easily trip you up if you didn't lift your feet as Ej found a quite a few Kms later .
Up and up the track kept going and even though it was fairly sheltered from the elements it was still quite warm on the apple isle.
Lunch was taken midway up mount rufus in a sheltered shady green opening and walkers past us by always saying hello and where are headed?
Love the bushwalkers code of old .
Ej was getting out of his comfort zone and wa starting to winge a little which was getting a noting but I helped him along with a few frequent rests and food/drinks stops along the way and showed them where we were on the map and GPS but this didn't always help.
Dashiell on the other hand at this stage was quite in his element despite having smaller feet and legs lol.
This would change in the latter part of the day however as the day drew on .
Lunch revived all of our spirits and a cold rink in my pack helped too.
Onwards ever upwards it was quite a climb even I was feeling it but once we could see Mt Rufus I was relieved and soon we reached the turnoff to shadow lake and our nights camp.
After the turn off both boys excelled in attitude and and speed as it was downhill and quite green and picturesque with sassafras myrtle and pandanus plants aplenty.
The next track junction ahead had us only a few hundred metres from shadow lake so just to find a decent swimming area and suitable campsite which wasn't really that easy as the area is quite rugged.
We setup in a nice clearing and the boys stripped off for a swim , but dash and I dropped packs and walked 10 more minutes around the lake to a even better site with a little beach but just as we left the site a massive copperhead crossed our path so we decided to use the other amp where we already were.
The water was icy cold but was a great refresher .
Drying off was a easy affair in the sunlight.
Then a little reading /map marking time away from the bloody March flies in the safety of our tent with the fly off .
Time to start thinking about tea and luckily we had a dehydrated meal or two to choose from.
Well we started off boiling some water for our curried beef and a Thai green curry and while we waited had a cuppa myself a milk coffee the boys a milk coffee with drinking choc wow what a sweet syrupy drank that was but it went down well.
if you don't like jot foods stay away from the outback gourmet company Thai green curry damn it was hot but we got accustomed to it,the classic beef curry from the outback pantry was fairly ordinary tasty but the meet was like dried jerky we didn't eat the whole lot as we had eaten too much already so we packaged it up and put it in two ziplocks to take home so we minimise our impact on this fragile area.
Dinner done dishes were a breeze to clean we headed off down the track a short bit to top up some water for tomorrow which we boiled and let cool .
We settled into some more books and a blog,as yes I took the iPad for comms as there is a fair amount of coverage surprisingly here and the maps I have on here have my trails loaded.
Light is dimming now so I will put the fly on the tent and say good night to all
Sweet dreams Shahla and bub we will see you both tomorrow arvo hope you enjoyed your girls night .
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