23/7/16

An account written by Zac.

6:30 wake up and we’re off, it’s a 40 minute drive to Wisemans Ferry and we meet everyone at the carpark. Travel across the river by the ferry. Head right along the road to the start of the Old Convict Trail also known as the Great North Road.

Start the of the long climb at an average 8% grade for 1.7 km. Renee leads where we walk and walk and slowly our legs start to feel the burn. At the top of the hill we take a brief rest and fuel up. The weather is great, cool and sunny, great for a long day out hiking in the bush.

We start to walk the rest of the track to the Ten Mile Hollow campground. The track was mostly undulating, but well marked. Our group splits up into 3 subgroups all surviving and walking. We reach lunch time at 12:30pm, everyone is tired and our feet are sore. At the junction of the Great North Road and Western Commission track we rest again and ready ourselves for the last stretch towards the campground when it goes downhill for the last 4 kms.

Everyone’s spirits are lifted and we start to pick up the pace. We see a clearing and start to run to it, but to our surprise it was the Buddhist monastery. We all moan and groan but we keep on walking and only 400 metres down the track we reach the campsite finally! We set up camp and take our shoes off to let our feet breath and release the pressure….ahhh.

It was cold that night but most of us were warm. Someone was snoring that night hmm….mum…but we managed to get a good rest. The next morning dad started up the fire and we all crowded around it.

At about 8am we broke camp and started the long journey home. Most people were complaining about their legs or how tired they were, but happy to be going home. We stopped a few times, but wanted get back as quickly as possible. The return trip was set at a scorching pace, completing the 16km hike in 4 ½ hours. Nic and Sara raced to see who would reach the end first….Sara just reaching the gate first!

We were all rewarded with a nice “healthy” lunch at McDonald's (Pathfinder tradition).  We all enjoyed the camp especially the scenery and chatting around the campfire.  Thanks dad for organising another great camp!

The module pathway that was chosen for this camp was “Perseverance”. The Pathfinders definitely persevered through what was a long tough hike. I am so very proud of each of them completing this hike. There were very few complaints and they all just got on with the job at hand. Well done!  Uncle Ben