The Gog LakesAuthor: jawapro
Date: Thu 21/10/2010 09:51 PM
Why is it that when I’m on early shift for a week and have plenty of daylight I spend it on the computer, and when I’m on the late shifts for a week, I end up doing stuff outside? I’m an idiot I guess...
Anyway - I’ve been ripping some of the electrics out of Oscar this week. He’s had some shoddy owners in the past that make my electrical skills look professional. So I ripped out some gear that wasn’t needed, and tidied up what was staying.
Today I took him down to Norco and got some nice new battery clamps installed. Finally the terminals wont just lift off when you touch them! Norco’s awesome too - they installed them for free.
Now I should mention that I had today off. Work wanted to send me to Melbourne for Friday which meant I wouldn’t have Friday (or Thursday) night to get Oscar ready for the weekend - so I’d booked in Thursday as a Time in Lieu day. Then all my dishmops... sorry... friends pulled out of Saturday anyway. So I had Thursday to myself.
Having installed the new clamps, I wanted to do a shake-down run. I headed down a track I’d heard about to the Great Bend in the Mersy River. Not very challenging - but a nice little jaunt.
Would be a brilliant place for a picnic, or even camping.
Seeing as I had the time, and my friends had bailed on Saturday, I decided to head back up the Gog to check out that extra track.
This track’s getting familiar. The only tripod up here this time was the trig point (actually mine was here too, but still in the car).
So the point of this trip was to check out the track that lead to the lakes, or tarns, on top of the range. I didn’t think I’d get very far without a chainsaw and some other blokes, but I wanted to give it a look-see. Someone had been through here since we were up here last, as some of the trees had been cleared away to let me through.
Until I got here...
Those big orange mounds are the roots of massive trees that have fallen over. Not only do you need a chainsaw, you need to spend a while filling the massive holes back in.
So there was only one thing for it - turn around and go home.
Lol - of course not!
If you can’t drive, it’s time to engage wombat mode and walk.
Before any of you die of shock - I can actually walk. I’ve even hiked a couple of times (ages ago though). So with the promise of scrambling over heaps of fallen trees, I started off. According to my GPS I reached the lakes within minutes - but I knew that was wrong. I rang Dad who got the correct co-ords from Google Earth, and I was off again. 2.2k - how hard can it be?
Even for an unfit slob like me, it wasnt too bad - actually a lot of fun.
Personally I’d rather walk somewhere where there are challenges like working your way through the mess above. It’s far more fun than walking along an open track.
I didn’t make it easy on myself either - I decided to dig my old rucksack out and fill it with stuff. Of course I wanted my tripod and cameras and some food - and some water - and more water - and a coat - and a jumper. Not that I thought I’d need them - but I was going walking on my own and you never know when you’ll do something stupid like get lost or break a leg and end up stuck somewhere. Well - except the tripod and camera - I knew I’d need them.
After 2 kays of mostly uphill work, I finally arrived at the tarns. My boss has since informed me that it’s officially called Granta Pools - and he wants to walk up here too. I’ve a feeling he wants to walk all the way from the bottom though - cause he likes his bushwalking.
Here’s me with a dishmop in place of my missing friends.
The tarns are pretty. Are they worth the effort? You might say no, but considering the adventure was so much fun - hell yeah!
Did this plant decide to grown in the lake, or did the lake decide to swallow the plant? Not sure - but it’s a cool effect. There’s heaps of these bushes being undercut by the water.
All was going well - but all was going slow. Walking 2km takes longer than I’d realised, so I had to double-time it on the way back. Thankfully most of the way home is downhill except for the very last bit.
Why was I in a rush - I had to catch the boat for Melbourne tonight!
Ok - walking is ok - but I’m not fit enough to run. By the time I was ducking under the last of the fallen trees, I was stuggling to get back up again. Maybe the rucksack wasn’t such a good idea after all - means you have to duck a long way to get under a low tree.
Man it felt good to see Oscar through the trees (yes, he's in the photo if you look).
By this stage I was running quite late. I turned Oscar around (gotta love these shorties) and burled up the hill to get signal again. I rang Jason and organized him to feed Neptune because I knew I wouldn’t have time. I was so close to asking Jason to grab my gear and meet me at the ship - but I had enough time to pick it up myself... barely.
Flew into Devonport and raced around the house grabbing my gear. Had planned to get changed and even have a shower - but no time for that now.
Rushed out to the Subaru and threw my bags in, jumped in and turned the key. Whir whir whir whir. Umm what?
Why wouldn’t the Subaru start? I haven’t touched it’s electrics and it’s too smart to leave the lights on etc (it turns them off for you - take that all you dumb beeping Fords and Holdens. Don't beep - turn the stupid things off yourself).
I flew back to Oscar and grabbed the jumper pack to give the Subaru a kick. Jason did the honours - but still nothing. Dammit!
Ok - plan B time. I grabbed my bags and sprinted back to Oscar and loaded him up. Good old Oscar had no issues. Arrived at the ship with minutes to spare. Literally.
I got on board - but I must have looked pretty odd. Covered in mud and sweat from a day up the bush - attractive....
Anyway - I made it, and am feeling much cleaner now. I get back on Saturday morning - and then I suppose I have to figure out what’s up with the Subaru.
But at least I’ve finally managed to make it up to the Gog lakes. I’d still go again if my friends organize themselves sometime though. They’re more fun to talk to than a dishmop - and without Jason’s help today I’d have missed the ship. Thanks mate!
P.S. if anyone is wondering why my friends are refered to as Dishmops (you havent read my blog lately) - it’s because in an earlier post I said they were "as useful as a dishmop when it comes to organizing things" because they’d all said they’d come and then bailed on the idea. Simple really.
P.P.S. This is a map curtesy of Google Earth showing some of the GPS readings I took along the way to detail the trip. The 'Fire Tower' doesnt exist anymore, but it used to be where the Trig point is now.
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