Jatbula Trail

Travel Log

Wednesday 5^th – Sunday 9^th September

Last week, with members of the Darwin Bushwalking Club, I finally walked the Jatbula Trail in Nitmiluk National Park.

This hike was something I've wanted to do for years but I've not really had the time or the head space to attempt it.

Back in May I attempted a solo hike on the Great Ocean Walk which ended abruptly when I left the walk after just three days. A combination of ill fitting shoes, excessive pack weight, wet tent and flooded camp sites caused me to make a judgement call on whether to continue the hike or not. Pulling out was a disappointment but I know it was the right decision.

A little hard to get perspective, there is a camp site down there somewhere

Although the weather was out of my control I realise that my lack of hiking experience had me poorly prepared for this relatively easy hike. I decided I'd be better off if I spent some time with others more experienced. In July I decided to join the Darwin Bushwalking Club.

After attending a couple of club events I saw that there was a Jatbula hike scheduled for September.

I contacted the hike leader and was able to get my name added to the list of 12 people who would walk the Jatbula Trail with the club at the beginning of September.

This bush looked similar to Turkey bush but with much more fragrant flowers (full of nectar)

I've not been with them long but so far my experience of the local bushwalking club has been first rate! Experienced members offer to lead walks then do all the research and calculations of times, distances, and cost allowing the average punter (even inexperienced plebs like me) to simply follow a few instructions, prepare as recommended and turn up on the day. Rides are shared and the cost of fuel and wear and tear on the vehicle is calculated according to distance and divided by number of passengers. (Very reasonable indeed!)

Prior to the hike we were sent emails reminding us of what to bring and sharing information about the hike. I found the emails helpful and practical until I received the one related to pack load weights which I must say left me feeling quite intimidated. The hike leader announced that she would be carrying a pack weight of 10kg (before water) "WTF!" (Thunk I) I don't know how I can get 5 days worth of stuff down to 10kg! (Actually I think her ploy worked because I quickly got busy dumping unneeded stuff, I was still overweight but was a lot closer than I would have been.

Another email contained links to useful information, Park Notes a must if you plan to do the walk. Please see link HERE if you're interested. 

On day one I was picked up at my door by our hike leader just before 6:00am. By 9:00am we were at Leliyn (Edith Falls). We parked the cars and got our packs out just in time to meet the coach that had been booked to transport us south to Nitmiluk Gorge where the hike would begin. We would return to the cars on foot in 5 days.

After checking in at the ranger station we caught the ferry across the river adjusted our packs and commenced the walk by about 11:00 am.

The sun was already high it was a hot but dry day, just fine for walking. As we set off single file up hill from the river bank a cloud of grey dust rose above our shins. Yes! It's really happening. I was feeling particularly buoyant, I actually didn't think I'd be making this trip until next year. Yet. Here I was with a pack on my back and my boots grinding the loose gravel of a 60km track!

Boots...

After about an hour and a half of walking I noticed my right boot seemed to be slipping, I looked down and found the sole had become unstuck all the way from the toe to about a third of the way to the heel! I couldn't fricking believe it! First day of a 5 day hike and I felt sure I'd have to pull out due to a the pathetic state of shoe manufacturing in the 21^st century! 

Another member of our group was really struggling to keep up, hills just completely knocked her and we were all wondering if it was safe for her to go on. As my shoes were probably not going to make it I reluctantly offered to walk back with her to the river and to leave the hike. I couldn't believe, I'd actually be dropping out of another trip! 

Having progressed to a position quite far ahead of the slower walkers I took my boot off, pulled out some cable ties and begun a haphazard attempt at repairing my boot. After borrowing some electrical tape and a spare shoelace from another hiker I could only hope that the sole would remain attached. Another hiker, with far more experience, inspected my handiwork and made a few suggestions then reassured me that it happens every trip and if I could prevent the sole from pealing back it might be possible to complete the walk.

Trail Marker. There were many of these

As for going back... the other hiker was quite determined to proceed, so we moved on and all arrived at camp in tact.

Crystal falls camp was beautiful, I arrived with a cracking headache (Caffeine withdrawal) but after a couple of panadol a cup of coffee, a swim in the most inviting waterhole I soon felt quite relaxed.

At about 2am on our first night at camp I heard a deep and heavy breathing followed by heavy grinding sound, at first it was faint but grew heavier and louder as whatever it was got closer to my tent. I lay silently in my bed and listed intently, I had heard that sound before, it was the deep slow bovine chomping of a large grass eating mammal... A BUFFALO! I shone my torch and could just see the eye shine of an animal about 20 meters from my flimsy mosquito dome. I had no idea what I should do so I just lay there. After five minutes it had passed.

Over the next four days and three nights we passed through high stony country and low sandy soils, we wandered through a variety of habitats with quite differing vegetation types, some land had been burned while other parts still had a lovely covering of delicate tinder dry grass that folded over onto the track like a narrow carpet of straw. We camped by water holes of flowing water crystal clear and sweet to drink.

Sandy Camp - Tent, pack and Hammock. (I really like my hammock!)

Once again my pack was overweight but at not so much that I struggled to walk. I ate porridge for breakfast, a couple of musely bars for lunch and noodles at night. With just two coffees per day my withdrawal symptoms were gone and I didn't crave coffee at all. I could feel my fitness return with each day and all worry of work or life in the city evaporated. In the evenings a few of us would find a flat rock in the open so we could lay back and stare into the moonless night sky, full of stars planets and constellations. Venus was so bright we could see it's reflection clearly in the sandstone rock holes of clear spring water and hit the sack when it had sunk below the horizon.

At various stages along the walk I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude, a kind of bliss at the joy of just being. My life felt quite alright and I didn't need anything! Those are the moments I will try to remember. Nothing spectacular just purely content.

Along the way I had to make ongoing repairs to both my boots. Toward the end of the last day the complex network of cable ties, tent guy ropes, shoelace and tape failed to hold my right boot together, the sole peeled completely off. The boots had lasted far longer than I had expected with only 4 km to go I had nothing to worry about. A member of our group lent me his sandal and I continued to the end feeling as though I had been blessed.

We arrived back at the Leliyn carpark just before 2pm on Sunday afternoon. After a cool drink, a shower and a change of clothes we all headed back to Darwin satisfied and relaxed.

Thank you Darwin Bushwalking Club for providing this wonderful opportunity and great company. We all made it back safe, no evacuations, no major injuries.

Can't wait for the next one!

Extra thanks to the Jawoyn People (traditional owners), NT Parks and the Darwin Bushwalking club.

Walking in silent contempt-ation (part 2)

On the 21st September 2014 Here's what a few people from Darwin decided to do to mark International Day of Peace

We walked from Darwin to Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre, (40km).
8 walked and we were joined by several others at the vigil

Walkers and friends outside the Wickham / Bladin Point Immigration Detention Centre

Trevor (The Rubbish Warrior) Jenkins walked the whole way with holes in his shoes

 It was a long walk

Me absolutely exhausted!

Some of us who walked and Ben. Eldest walker Liz... age 72!

We all made it to our destination. Not much to say having walked such a long way except. It was good.
Read more HERE on FarceBook.

Took 11 hours.

Walking in silent contempt-ation

 I'm Walking to Wickham Point!

After visiting people in Immigration Detention Centres here in Darwin over the past couple of years, and trying to advocate for people where I could, I have found that the situation for asylum seekers is now even worse than when we started!

I am frustrated, and fed up with constantly grovelling with pathetic bureaucrats and gaolers on behalf of people whose voices have been silenced!
I am tired of seeing people loose their sanity and dignity as they fall into despair, after months and even years of incarceration by this country; it's leaders indifferent to the suffering they have caused and the hearts they have poisoned!

JUSTICE!
What about justice?! 
Will the guardian of detained children (Scott Morrison) be brought to justice? I doubt it.

I have asked myself, what more can I do? What action will be effective in stopping this madness? Maybe none...?

Unable to articulate my outrage, and the sense of loss and disgrace that has been welling in me I have decided to take action through prayer and meditation.

I do this in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi when he said:
"Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action."

I will walk in silent prayer for 40km (More like 37km actually).  From Darwin to Wickham point on Sunday 21st September - International Day of Peace.
• In solidarity with all those who have suffered while in the care of the Australian Immigration Department. (Those I have visited but could offer no practical support!)
• In defiance of the policy makers whose choices have brought misery to the innocent (and the brutality of the tools they engage to do enforce their control!)
• To Bear Witness and to remember

If you want to walk too, it's a long road and there's plenty of room. Bring messages of hope, cards letters etc... See you on the road or at the Vigil outside Bladin Point at 4:30pm!






1st Leg: Darwin to Palmerston



2nd Leg: Palmerston - Wickham Point






Walking

Bikeless in Melbourne

Tomorrow I will attempt to leave Melbourne... (I've been told it may be difficult without medical clearance to fly... but I'm hoping I won't be asked.)

Although my mobility has been fairly restricted I have actually enjoyed walking. Today I visited some Darwin Friends who live down here half the time. They live in Montmorency, not far from the Plenty river... I was offered a ride home but passed it up preferring to walk back along the river.

Here's a few snap shots from my walk... Along the way I passed two footy matches which might have made my photo journal more interesting... but I don't care much about football so all I've got to show is green trees and brown river shots.

These days Plenty River is often dry... but when it flows the old charm returns

This section of the river, once the public swimming pool is not so attractive as it was

Swing bridge to Partington Flat. Football game in progress

Bless this River... She has been abused and neglected but she still carries life.

On The Road...hit it hard!

I came back to Melbourne again last week to see mum before she started Chemo.
Walked most of the way from Airport to Greensborough... lost the path too many times did too many extra miles and was saved the embarrassment of quitting when my sister called and offered me a lift just before the trail ran out... ;)

Crossing Western Ring Rd

Creek reserve near Broadmeadows

A rare signposted section of track

I wish they'd painted these at intersections.... This was a fair way down the path

Locals turn roadside reserve land into orchards and veggie gardens

The path was blocked from Edgars Rd, there was nowhere to walk after this section...

Walking the Western Ring Path took me several hours I had to jump a few fences and double back a lot but the bicycle trail has some very nice sections for walking and cycling. A lot of disused land, old horse paddocks and creekside paths to explore. My legs weren't up to such a long walk after having no sleep the night before and a 2am flight but next time I'll be do better (or I'll ride. ;)

THE CRASH!

I would have posted more about this trip and earlier but while down here I had a mishap on my bike and have been unable to do much at all for the past week.

What happened? Well; determined to make the most of my time in Melbourne I decided to cycle to Ceres down on the Merry Creek. It started as a lovely ride through Greswel Forest, Bundoora, I noticed the axle nuts on my front wheel had come loose, I had no spanner so tightened as best I could by hand... (Stupid!)
Of course hand tightening is not enough for axle nuts... They loosened and as I was riding down the hill on Plenty Rd, just past the cemetery, I came over a bump and something went wrong... Cognitively I knew what went wrong but it all happened so fast I don't remember much more than thinking... "Oh shit somethings wrong..." ..........***DUSH***THUD***

I got up... spitting blood and bits of tooth from my mouth... with a heavy feeling all over. My bicycle helmet was hanging in pieces from the strap around my neck... sunglasses smashed all over the road... my bike somewhere between the curb and the middle of the road... fronth wheel somewhere else... I hit the road hard.

Thought I'd got a ticket to the Bear Mountain Picnic!




People appeared from somewhere or other and helped me to the side of the road. Somebody called an ambulance, I remember hearing them reporting that there was "blood... lots of blood..." "...err no it doesn't appear to be squirting out but it's hard to tell..."
"OK" I thought, "Stay calm. There doesn't appear to be anything sticking out of where it shouldn't... Blood is not squirting out of anywhere at a rate that can't be handled with the sleeve of a shirt... I managed to stand and walk... I think I'll be OK."

Ambulence came and took me to the Hospital where I was x-rayed and spent the next 2 days flat on my back with no food, an IV drip in my arm and a catheter carefully inserted where I'd rather it wasn't. That was a week ago today. They finally sent me home, to my parents place on Saturday where I am expected to convalesce until they deem me fit to fly home!

How do I feel? Sometimes OK. Mostly not so good. Although there was no internal bleeding in my head I am still foggy and get muddled. My back is aching, I get tired quickly and I still can't shit properly. (apparently a combination of trauma to spine and use of certain pain killers can mess up bowel function) But, it could have been much worse! If I hadn't been wearing that helmet there would have been no need for that ambulance! My injuries were minor compared to what they could have been!

"...They unsnapped his skull cap and between his ears they saw a gap..."

GRATITUDE
I have no idea who the people were that helped me on the side of the road but I am very grateful that they did! The Paramedics in the Ambulance were first rate! Im grateful also to all the hospital staff who patched me up and provided pain relief... Thanks to Pete the orderly who took me for my x-rays and provided me with some real human interaction! A big thanks to the Nurses who rolled me onto my side, gave me a back rub and a flannel bath... that was strangely pleasant.

Thanks also to the great spirit who fucks with me from time to time and stops me in my tracks, when I think I'm calling the shots! I'm sure I must have missed your subtler messages... ;)
I guess I must be needed here for a while. I can spend some time with my folks while mum commences her chemotherapy. 

Distant rumblings... calling through a dimly lit tunnel

A month or so passes without a word.

Too many things going on, I had nothing to say about it but I wanted to save this video somewhere I can find it again so I'll post a bit to fill you in on the month past... what I can recall...

 Just a quick explanation about the video... A year or so ago I listened to the three audio books by Jed McKenna. In the Book Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment, McKenna presents a pretty wild hypothesis about the book Moby Dick. The book had been sitting on my bookshelf for a couple of years, discarded barely touched from the University library, and had procrastinated about reading it.  Anyway about a month or so ago I started reading it and, with my experience of the story already heavily influenced by the mythical teacher McKenna I decided to accompany the book by listening to Spiritually Incorrect... again. Again it has blown me away!

Moby Dick is considered one of the greatest American books ever written and according to McKenna nobody really gets it. There are a plethora of descriptions of the book and explanations of the story but bugger all that gives any acknowledgement of McKenna's description of the story, which I reckon nails it! Why? Maybe it's just too bloody scary for most folks to consider. 

Coincidentally I recently turned the calendar on my wall over to April, two weeks after the fact, and discover the cryptic text 'callmeIshmae...'. The calendar is an artistic combination of sketches and words or some pages just a jumble of letters which come together to make an image. This one is of a guy (the Artist Kris) swimming in the sea and a giant octopus (with six tentacles, my kids have pointed out) the swimmer is sketched but the sea and the creature (the Muse) are made of a thread of letters...  I glanced at the image and the opening lines of the book Moby-Dick. "Call me Ishmael" leapt out at me.

MELVILL'S  Transformation

And what of the month that's passed?

Well back in March there was a major meeting at my work with all the big players. My old boss came back to town a little dismayed by the state of the organization... particularly that part he left in my hands. It's a part of the world that focuses on the metaphysical but requires considerable effort to prevent the ethereal aspirations of it's members from plunging the practical devices of money, property and various other required resources into a horrendous deficit. The fulfillment of the collective mission and dreams can occasionally be confused by personal ambitions. Anyway the whole arena is bizarre to me; convoluted and prone to all kinds of misinterpretation and mischief. We had a chat, it got a bit heated and I may have upset him by laughing at the absurdity of his expectations. Felt pretty good to be free of any sense of responsibility for materializing the ridiculous expectations of deluded power addicts.

The chain broke on my long bike as I was riding home from work. Bike's been sitting out the back for at least three weeks, I finally fixed it this morning and adjusted the gears and once again I'm happy with my bike. 

About three weeks ago I booked two tickets to Bali and back for me and one of the kids. Booked them on a whim with no regard for carbon emissions or environmental impact...  Just booked them because they were extremely cheep and I've gotta go! I'll reconcile my conscience later. Maybe my Greenie friends can help me rationalize when they get back from climate change talks in Europe or Melbourne or wherever they happen to be this week. ;)

A couple of weeks ago I made an urgent trip to Melbourne to visit my mum. She had some stomach problems and it sounded serious. I booked a flight and flew down there on the same day I heard of her illness. Got off the plane at 6:30 am at Tullamarine and walked 12 km through farmland and across small creeks and the Maribynong River valley.
It was magic to just walk. I had a single carry on bag with an improvised strap, a pair of shorts, t-shirt and thongs and a print out of directions from Google maps to guide me. The air was cool and I felt so free just wandering along roads that nobody ever walks. I passed a taxi depot with 100s of cabs, dilapidated farms on land set aside for the next freeway or factory outlet, stands remnant woodland, barely a blur of green to drivers but amazing pockets of nature to me on foot. I passed a mist covered dam with ducks, it was probably full of yabbies, if I had time I could have scored a feed. I saw a yellow rubber duck in the middle of a cow paddock, fog emitted from my nostrils and mouth as I walked, the sky was becoming light, the air was cool I walked comfortably without a bead of sweat. magpies swooped and watched me from their positions on a single power line in otherwise empty fields.

As I crossed the Maribyrnong I discovered a couple of large carp which had been caught and left to dry, getting closer to suburban Keillor I passed a strawberry farm, further on there were tomato crops full of ripe fruit ready to pick... I was tempted. By the time I arrived at my sister's I felt calm and content. My ankles were sore, I'm out of shape, but I seriously considered walking the next 25 km to my parents place on the other side of town.

Walking to my sister's place I listened to the audio CD of Spiritual Warfare. It is a kind of selfish, self indulgent trip listening to Jed McKenna. I suppose it's Nihilism but I don't really know anything about that so I can't say for sure. At times like these people will usually turn to their faith. Faith Works, no doubt about it. But somehow I am comfortable contemplating absolute nothingness! Somehow contemplation of absolute annihilation of the Ego and all it's jingle jangle attachments sets me at ease in times of stress. It's bleak but it's OK. As I walked I focused on my breathing. I walked and breathed and appreciated the novelty of being on the road/path alone, no one to tell me go this way or that way, no one to tell me No, you can't.

I felt right about going down there. Before I arrived mum had been admitted into hospital, while I was there she had a couple of days of tests, two days after I left she spent 10 hours on the operating table! Bowel Cancer! One week ago we had no idea! There's not much more that can be said about it really.

When I got back to Darwin I was exhausted and had a cold. I lay down on the tiles in the bedroom and rested for two whole days. Thinking of mum's illness I remembered the Chi'Kung I used to do. I thought to myself  it would do her and Dad wonders... I started that deep diaphragm breathing and continued for two whole days, off and on. I got up occasionally to eat or stretch my legs but that was about it. Two days passed, I woke up on Monday morning and went to work. I could have stayed there on the floor breathing for the rest of the week. I felt centered, unhurried, not perturbed by anything. Mum's operation took place while I was lying on the floor (meditating?) my mind blank.

  

A whole bunch of weird stuff has happened lately, mostly too weird to tell. Including having a couple of bikes stolen from the back yard by punk kids... All it amounts to though is that life is changing. I'm not sure what into so I guess I'll just try to breath on it.