To Blanket Bay

Setting off from Marengo

On the trail

Echidna

Blanket Bay. I'm feeling knackered. Feet sore - a major blister on my left foot, underneath, between the big toe and the next toe, plus a smaller one on the end of my right 4th toe. Ouch! Shoulders, back, everything aching. Walked 20.4 km today from Marengo. Almost as much again tomorrow - no idea how I'll manage it. I realised today whist walking that this is the longest walk I've ever attempted - will end up being over 90 km.

Tall forests between Elliot River and Blanket Bay

I got tea bags and lunch at the Princetown General Store. The bus arrived on time - near new with leather seats, just me onboard for the whole trip. The driver had a small video camera set up, recording the road in front of the bus. He told me some hairy stories about things he's seen along that stretch of road - P-plate drivers passing on blind corners etc. Marengo was warm - it felt close to 30°. I ate my lunch, put on sunscreen and set off at 12:20 pm. It took around 5 1/2 hours. A nice walk - a mix of beaches, beeches and eucalyptus. From Shelly Beach it went in a big loop up into the hills through tall blue gum forests. I saw an echidna along the way and a second here at the campsite. I've also seen the infamous, kleptomaniac wallaby since arriving and have tied my boots to my pack to avoid them going missing. I heard a number of koalas along the track - their grunting sounding like a bizarre cross between an outboard motor and a gorilla! No snakes.

Made it to Blanket Bay!

The campsite is filling up, the ground is generally rock-hard but I've chosen the one site that isn't (I got here first).

There is a little penguin down on the beach in the shallow water - it looked really weak and I didn't know how to help. Some people came from the nearby car-based camping area and had a look at it too - they were the usual, somewhat rough "bogans with boats" crowd but they were really sweet with the penguin. One of the guys, with his can of vodka and coke in hand, raced off to find some bait to feed the penguin. Then a somewhat snobbier mother and 2 daughters turned up and starting posing for photos with the poor wee creature - that was awful.

Poor little penguin :(

Regarding "decision points" - there are many of them along the walk and at each one, the walker must decide which option to take - usually meaning a beach walk or river crossing if the tide is low, or an inland track if the tide is too high. The decision point nearest here was a non-event - I was expecting to have to wade across a river, but there was so little water around that the river/creek didn't even cross the beach to the sea.

I only took a handful of photos along the way - the scenery is nice but similar to many other places along the Victorian coast. I also dealt sparingly with the water - only drank about 1 litre all up.

I'm really sore! I've just taken 2 panadols to try to relieve the aches and pains - poor old bloke! My back's really stiff too.

I've recorded today's trek using the My Tracks app for Android, having given up on all the other ones I've tried. It seems to work better, but chews through the battery more quickly.

Right now, I'm missing being at home with Nadia and our entertaining little fluffy cat Ruby. I'm already imagining how great it'll be to get back to my car!