iking and our packs kept us warm. Some of the tracks were "closed", however, we question why? Only one tree had fallen over the track, and it was a challenge to get around it. We managed fine without even taking off the pack. On Monday we hiked 15.7kms, which included the looongest 3km ever........
Day 2 commenced at Hepburn Springs - still quite cold, but dry. This day we were rewarded by a bonus stop at the Chocolate Mill for a coffee - very welcome. No-one, though, wanted any chocolate, we were very controlled. Some of the walk took us through some undulating hills with lovely views and a picnic lunch in 4 degrees. A picnic always tastes good when on a walk, it doesn't matter how cold it is. At the end of the day, we were very happy to see our car at Porcupine Ridge Road - we walked 14.9kms.
On day day 3 we started at Porcupine Ridge Road and headed to Vaughan Springs. This was a lovely ramble through rubbly countryside - a lot of evidence of the gold mining days. You would not want to walk through there at night or sleep walk - you may fall in a hole. We bumped into a gold prospector who gave us a demonstration of his gold detector - all he found was shrapnel. During a previous search he found a small piece of gold, which he showed us. We finished day 3 in good time to enjoy a lovely picnic at Vaughan Springs before heading home.
The three days of hiking were fantastic. We were in good company, walked well and had lots of laughs. We enjoyed dinner and a fabulous, local wine at Hotel Frangos on Tuesday evening to celebrate our successful training walks.
Participants: Ken Moulton, Graham Talmage, John and Patsy Scales and Rob Reid Smith. Unfortunately, Gavin Baumaris could not attend, due to a family emergency - we hope all is well.
Thank you Ken for organising this fantastic hike!
