On top form today, I left Kia Ora at 8.10 am, in sunny but muggy weather. The majority of today was through rain forest and my first stop was at a clearing where Du Cane Hut sat, before re-entering the forest.
This section has a number of side trips, to waterfalls, but I wasn’t too interested. I was on my own, and I wasn’t keen to come unstuck on a side trip, especially in the knowledge that there weren’t many others in my vicinity. I pushed on.
Soon I was ascending the 200 m over 2 km to Du Cane Gap, which I managed far better than I did Pelion Gap. I had hoped on a glorious view at the top, like Pelion, but the bush put paid to that, and I was soon descending through woodland, across gnarly tree roots, to the hut.
Bert Nichols is a new hut, replacing Windy Ridge, and it does suffer from a lack of character. Once again, with just me in it, I had the luxury of spreading out.
By about 4 pm, a ranger arrived! Someone to talk to! He loaned me some books on Tasmanian Flora and Fauna to while away the dark hours ahead.
Then the Cradle Hut guys dropped by. They told me they had been looking for me the previous night, to give me some leftover pizza, but in the end the Currawongs nicked it. Pizza! How the other half live! If there is ever a next time, I’ll be doing it the posh way! Like me, they were walking out tomorrow, which was a relief because it meant the ferry would be running. All that was required was to be at Narcissus Jetty by 1 pm.
Had another quiet evening, reading and boiling water.