Day 20 - Anne Hut to Boyle Village to Hanmer Springs. 'That hitchhike'

35km, 9.5 hours.

As I woke up naturally this morning (no alarms, no sounds of gas cookers blazing) I was really dreading standing up thinking I'd not be able to walk after yesterday. Especially as every night in my sleeping bag my legs tingle, feet hurt and just before I drift off the sleep my legs involuntarily jolt but i stood up and the legs worked! I certainly felt like I had done a hike but nowhere near as sore as what i thought I'd feel like after mountaineering and hiking 44kms over a 15 hour day.

The sleep was the best sleep I'd had on trail and a sleep in till 7am at that. There was a small window at my head on the bunk so I laid there looking out across the field to the mountains and it was all misty, it was crisp but it was so nice to just have the 3 of us there cooking and eating breakfast together. Since I ate my porridge for dinner last night when we traipsed in at 10pm, I cooked mi goreng noodles for breakfast and stirred through peanut butter which was quite a good breakfast and the coffee, of man tasted so so delicious for some reason this morning.

Chris, Conny and I discussed where we'd head to today. We had three options. The first was just a 21km hike to Boyle Flat Hut and stay there overnight, second was we walk 34km and get to Boyle Village campground and camp there and then hitch hike to Hanmer first thing in the morn. The third, we hike to Boyle Village and hitchhike to Hanmer in the one day. We set off leaving the options open because our bodies were definitely moving slower than normal.

Chris left first and then after it seemed like the hardest task packing up my things today, i got going. The mist gone and it revealing another beautiful sunny blue sky day. The hike today was to be 'relatively' flat. Nothing at all like the fourteen days prior. It followed the Boyle River downstream, the track very over grown in sections walking through waist high grass, our shoes just wet from the grass. I'm not sure whether I prefer the open mountain plains versus being in the mountains because when you're walking alongside a river you can see the valley for miles ahead and it just never seems to end. It's almost ignorance is bliss in the bush when you can't see the track ahead.

I'm not sure what it is with the last day of a section and me coming across the most strangest men but today was no different. Im walking through a field and in my own world with music on (Fleetwood Mac - greatest hits album) i get startled by a guy in full khaki green, rifle over his shoulder, knife in his belt holster, walking alongside a black horse which is loaded up. I keep walking towards him and meet him. Again all friendly i say 'lovely day for a walk! Are you out hunting?'. With such a dead pan expression on his face and slow drawn out speach he goes 'no, I'm on an adventure'. What the hell adventure are you on with a gun and ammo if you're not hunting?! I continue on but this time slightly more unnerved than the other weirdo coming down the Richmond Ranges but this time I just continued walking casually and didn't dare look back. Conny was a fair bit behind me so I made it up over a hill and stood behind a tree to look back down the valley and make sure she passed him without any issues. She did.

The next surprise was appearing over a hill to a family stopped, the daughter's hiking in dresses, the mother in a dress with an umbrella and the dad moving logs to make a bridge for them so they didn't have to step in the mud. I did not even question but as i walked passed i thought they may have been from Gloriavale, the exclusive cult on the west coast. If you haven't heard about it, it's worth a look into or watch the documentaries.

I made it up on Anne Saddle at 1100m elevation and almost just threw my body down with my pack. It was so hot, my feet were sore but it's such a weird feeling knowing you're tired but your body just keeps on going. It was at this stop that i discovered the best hiking hack thus far.

Leave an OSM bar at top of your pack in the sun. When you eat it it's like a brownie straight out of the oven. Delicious!

I passed an elderly English couple in their 70's who had done the TA a few years a go. They told us not to let someone else project their fears on you on the trail. Take everyday as it comes because ultimately you have to do it anyways so it's better not getting psyched out and anxious from someone's recount as what is scary for them is not always whats scary for you.

I had music in today to get me through the first 21km to Boyle Flat Hut at 2pm. Over a swing bridge and then up to the hut it was impossible not to notice the explosion of goose feathers on the ground. I thought it odd being a goose but put it down to a stoat or ferrit having killed it.

We caught up with Chris at the hut, all had our clothes out in the sun to dry while we cooked a big lunch inside the hut. It's always good on the last day because you normally have a day or two extra food supply for emergencies so at this point the chances of anything happening are slim so it means more food!!

Here we unanimously decided we'd push on the last 12km to Boyle then hitch to Hanmer so we could have a good feed.

The walk was pleasant back in the bush and the track which was part of the St James Walkway was pretty well worn so you could go at quite a decent pace. Us 3 were on a mission! It almost had a sense of an adventure race where you were down to your final hours and needed to get back to base in time.

Finally after what seemed like eternity we made it to the State Highway at 730pm.

Now to hail down a car for the 45 minute ride to Hanmer but not that easy when there's 3. Chris said he'd hide because it's probably better chances of a car stopping for 2 girls. It took us over an hour before this learner driver stopped, in a rather beat up family van, filled with so much stuff and junk. The two young guys got out to rearrange everything and make room for us 3 in the back. We'd find out that we were now travelling with Patrick and Caleb who were loving life and up for a chat. We said in passing how hungry we were and then they immediately tossed a bread bag filler with homemade Anzac biscuits to us and gave us a pack of digestives. I don't want to critique a guy driving who has graciously given me a lift but we approaches 55km corners at such great speed i m have grabbed Connys thigh to hold on because i wasn't certain we'd make the bend. In fact the turnoff to Hanmer was so sharp we actually didn't make the turn but hey we got there into town. We said a big thank you to the boys for their generosity and cookies and for going out of their way to bring us to Hanmer and right as we leave Patrick hands us $100 cash for us to buy dinner. Who does that?!? We reluctantly take it because he refused to take it back and are now standing roadside with cash in our hands wondering what just went on?!

We ran into David and Brent and Brent's sister in the street who have been a day ahead of us so with a quick shower we met them at the Irish pub for a drink. We may have showered too long that the kitchen closed and we couldn't even get a feed anyways. Our nights accomodation was paid for instead!

We had so much fun at the pub that we stayed after closing and the bar tenders even joined us for a beer and gave us about 8 packets of potatoes chips to help us out with the no food situation.

Ren x