Hinchinbrook: Day 4

I was woken at 4am by the sound of rain pounding down on my tent and the consequent realisation that the clothes I'd left out to dry would be anything but. I had been warned that the tent I'd been lent was not waterproof on the bottom and I was swimming in the evidence of that being true (the big piece of thick plastic that I brought to lay under the tent proved thoroughly ineffective). I've no doubt that the sight of me attempting to squeeze myself and all my belongs onto my tiny sleeping mat would have appeared comical to anyone watching, but it didn't seem so funny to me.

Three hours later, I got dressed into soaking clothes, put on my drenched boats and packed away the sopping wet tent and damp through sleeping bag. Thank goodness it was the final day!

I then had a strangely comical showdown with a shoal of fish. As I was filling up my water bottle my bare foot was dangling in the water.  I looked down and saw about twenty trout in a perfect semicircle around my foot, all staring intently at my toe, in a way that seemed, at least to me at that moment, like they were poised for attack or at the very least seriously contemplating the deliciousness of my digits.  Having already had my toe munched on by fish once this holiday, I wasn't keen for a repeat experience and wasted no time removing my foot from the equation.

From the campsite, it was only two hours walk to the point where we were to be picked up ferry, the last hour or so of that along the beach.  It was grey, bleak and drizzly:

We still had an hour after we'd reached the end point until the ferry was due.  I changed into my only remaining dry(ish) clothes, which was of course the cue the clouds were waiting for to unleash their fury.

In conclusion, the walk was absolutely fantastic.  I know I've written more about the mishaps, but that's only because it makes for more entertaining reading.  Most of the time I was just happily ambling along.  For the first couple of days the weather was perfect, and it was only in the last few hours that the rain became a drag. Whatever the case, the scenery was never less than stunning and I relished every moment of being in this totally unspoiled environment.  One of the main reasons I'd come half way round the world to Australia was to really get into the rainforest and this was an excellent way to do it.  The introduction video we'd watched at the Cardwell information centre before setting out promised that we'd feel 'close to nature'.  It's cheesy but true.

Whilst requiring neither the physical nor mental stamina nor the covering the altitude range of the Annapurna Circuit, the Thorsborne Trail provided a whole other set of challenges and it was wrong of me to be so blase beforehand about how easily I thought I'd cope with it.  For a start, carrying a pack makes a big difference, as does camping and everything that goes in with that. Whilst not long, the trail was extremely technical in places, in ways that the Annapurna Circuit was not.  It wasn't easy walking by any means.  But, like any successfully completed challenge, the Thorsborne Trail was all the more rewarding for its toughness.  I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  It was a definite gap year highlight.