Day 1 – Canberra to Clinton Rocks

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I need a hike. I need a decent hike like a junkie needs a fix. It’s been over two months since Tasmania, and in that time I’ve done one easy overnight hike purely to give a fellow hiker a taste of the hammock life. Luckily I already had a spot secured on Monika’s Croajingalong walk; six days of coastal wilderness in Victoria’s eastern extremity.

The first day is entirely consumed by transit. At the eleventh hour, while dropping my cats at their doting mother’s house, I discover my car has a failing wheel bearing, but Melinda graciously takes over driving duties and we make our way south in two chatter-and-gossip-filled cars, through incessant rain, through Cooma and a coffee break at Nimmitabel, down to Mallacoota, where we have an excellent lunch and meet Dale.

We leave the cars there and pile into Dale’s mini bus, and are whisked through the thickly forested hills, then along a sandy track, to within spit of the beach. The rain has petered out.

A few hundred metres walk has us at our camp for the night. The others set up their tents in the dunes, scoured by the wind. Melinda finds a spot in the shelter of the trees for her tent. I had planned to practice using a pole to support one end of my hammock, but I’m tired, and the sandy ground would be a pain to try and anchor in, so I lazily set up in the trees as well.

There’s time for a short windswept walk down to a rocky headland, but the light is already fading. I’m not hungry. I have a protein bar for dinner and turn in. Pretty soon the rain starts up again, and I fall asleep listening to it pattering heavily on the tarp.