Hello Again!
Sorry its been a while since I've sent out an update. I was in an internet free zone. The bus ride to Bega was easy. Thankfully it was air conditioned (air con in Aussi) because it was 37 degrees Celsius outside. I went directly from the bus to take a dip in the river and cool off. We spent the evening getting our gear and food ready for the hike, and the following morning we set off to the Nadgee Wilderness Area.

Below is an article I wrote for the Outdoor Recreation Student Society's magazine called the Quintze Quarterly. I still haven't found the best way to upload pictures...

This last week, I went on a 5-day costal hike through the Nadgee Wilderness Area with some friends that I met this summer working for Project Canoe. Sven is an Australian who came to Lakehead on exchange a few years back from Charles Sturt University (Where I’ll be studying). Lisa was a Lakehead student who went overseas to study at Charles Sturt University. They are now married and living in Australia through Canadian winters, and working tripping jobs in Canada in the summer. Sven’s sister Sigrid, and a Frenchman named Arthur (who was WOOFing in the area) also came on the hike. Here’s my trip journal.

Day 1:

Trip started off a little rocky. We couldn’t find the backcountry dirt road to take us to the beginning of the hike and ended up walking an additional 10km just to get to the start. However, not even 5 minutes into the walk we saw 2 wallabies and a huge goanna (Australian Water Lizard). These were the first two wild wallabies I saw in Australia.  As we walked towards the start of the hike, the weather changed and it began to rain. First, it was a light drizzle but it soon became a full downpour. Before we knew it, all of us were soaked. It continued to rain off and on throughout the day. Unbothered by the rain, we continued walking along an ATV track, which finally lead us to a private beach. The group stood on top of a hill and took in the first of many beautiful sites. We walked along the beach in the sand about 6 kilometers to Lake Barracuda where we were to camp for the night. Lake Barracuda is the largest freshwater lake in Queensland. The campsite is separated from the lake by about a kilometer of massive sand dunes. We set up camp and had a delicious stir-fry for dinner before collapsing in our tents after a huge first day.

Day 2:

We woke up in the morning with the sun. Even in the early morning, we knew it was going to be a really hot and sunny day. We ate breakfast, and then went off to explore the sand dunes. There were dingo tracks everywhere. Sven and I climbed one of the largest dunes and raced down. We almost took each other out on the way down. The day was spent hand-railing the ocean walking along the beach. We all walked barefoot in the sand. Along the beach we found pieces of what we believed to be a humpback whale. We found the jaw-bone, pelvis bone, rib cage, and heaps of fat scattered on the beach. We ran into a group of older women who were coming the opposite way, and they told us that water was very hard to find on the trail. Luckily we were carrying about a two-day supply with us already. In the late afternoon, the terrain changed abruptly as if someone had drawn a line in the sand. The sandy dunes became thick bush. We bushwacked through and found the trail on the other side. We arrived at our 2^nd camp in the early evening. We found a freshwater stream flowing and refilled our water dromedaries. The water is pretty silty though and smells strongly of bog. It will have to do until the next waterhole. We ate homemade Pizza Pockets for dinner. Everyone got sun burnt today, especially on the backs of our legs and the tops of our feet. At night around the campfire we were visited by a water dragon and a few bats.

Day 3:

Today was a short day, and provided a much needed rest. We woke up early to avoid the hot sun and hiked 6km to the next campsite on Nadgee Beach. The hike took us through moorland and the trail was marked by cairns. We found a cleaner water source and dumped the old stuff. We also saw some very rare emerald green ground parrots. The group arrived at our campsite before lunchtime. We had another private beach all to ourselves. We built a fire pit on the beach while Arthur and Sven collected muscles and crabs from the ocean. The afternoon was spent around the campfire eating fresh seafood. The sunset in the evening was breathtaking. One of the coolest parts of the night was when Sigrid exclaimed, “That stick is moving!” and sure enough, there was a 30cm stick bug making its way towards the fire. We rescued the little guy and put him back in the trees. When we went to bed that night, we took some warm rocks from the fire and put them in our sleeping bags. Best decision ever. 

Day 4:

We had another early wake up this morning. Lisa made apple crisp for breakfast. Apple Crisp is probably my favourite trip breakfast. If we were playing, “would you eat that in the city?” the answer would be most definitely yes. The day was spent bushwacking in the rain through an almost rainforest type of terrain. Its kind of funny how it was scorching hot in the sand dunes, and rainy in the rainforest type area. When we arrived at camp it started to pour, so I set up a tarp and we tried our best to stay dry. And because it was raining, out came the back-pocket games. Sometimes it really does pay to be a tripperJ The bunch of us played “never can tell” games and enjoyed each other’s company all afternoon. I also taught Arthur many different knots that he could use. When the rain let up a little, we decided to make a fire. While gathering wood, I saw just about the scariest spider I’ve ever seen. It was about the size of my hand, with its abdomen about the size of two toonies. The spider was hairy and purple, with dark yellow fangs. Apparently the description matches that of a mouse spider, but I didn’t want to risk getting too close to take a picture to be sure. We had the most amazing soup for dinner.

Day 5:
Hot and sunny again, a perfect way to end trip. The pick up point where a van was meeting us at 2pm was roughly 11 kilometers from our campsite. We first hiked along the beach again in the sand, then through bush, and finally up over Table Top Mountain. We arrived at the ranger station just before two. The trip was an amazing experience, and I was so glad to share the opportunity with such amazing people. I learned tons about the Flora and Fauna of this region in Australia, and am excited to learn even more. To top it all off, we went to a Bush Dance in the evening, which was tons of fun.
Cheers!
-Matt