TA Day 4: Sunday 22 December 2024

Riverton - Colac Bay (Colac Bay Tavern & Camping Ground)

Sleeping inside tonight was so worth it.

And in the morning there was some fresh milk in the fridge that we had for breakfast.

The rain had stopped when we started hiking, and after a hill, we went through a really nice rainforest-like environment. Then through some high wet grass that completely soaked our shorts.

We continued through some sheep pastures and then down onto another beach. But this beach was much harder to walk on than yesterday. Instead of regular sand, this beach's "sand" consisted of small, small stones and pieces of shells that didn't support our weight at all, and we mostly slid around in it.

During the beach walk, we debated what to do today. The upcoming section - Longwood forest, is infamous for being muddy, which makes camping difficult. So you pretty much HAVE to walk between the huts, so we either had to walk another really long day (30k) or a short day (12k). In the end we decided to go for a short day and rest up after all these longer ones. Also, the muddy section is very slow, so time-wise we likely wouldn't have made it anyway.

By today's accommodation in Colac Bay we met another TA hiker, who seemed really nice! A guy from the Netherlands, whom we will likely follow around the upcoming couple of days, since our plans look very similar. But we'll see!

Today's:

Distance: 12.55 km

Ascent: 253 m

Descent: 270 m

Tent nights: 0/4

Weather: Cloudy but warm, with a light breeze and drizzle on one occasion.