by Joris » Mon 02 Oct, 2023 8:35 am
For anyone thinking of a child friendly bushwalking effort - read on, this is definitely an option.
Walked along the section from Starlings Gap to Ada No 2. Mill campground (and back) this past Thursday-Friday with my two girls - 11 and 8. First time out and about as a trio (and the first time at all for the younger one). Perfect weather for it along an easy 8km trail with the odd trunk to climb over (or under if you are 8 and still 'little'). Plenty of water from all the streams running into the Ada River as well as the latter itself. Few folks setting up at Starlings in anticipation of the next day's public holiday, but other than that we did not meet anyone on the trail. A group of 4 walkers were already camped on the platforms at Ada No 2. Mill, meaning camping in the dirt for us, but as the general area is currently merely damp underfoot as opposed to the customary early spring wetness in these hills it was no issue at all. Due to these conditions we also hardly spotted any leeches on the entire walk or at camp. Eleven year old spotted big snake (tiger or brown, we only got a fleeting look) sunning in the scrub next to the trail on the way in - clearly warm enough for them to get out and about at nearly 800m asl. Cool parental demeanor in the face of snake sightings over the years seems to have rubbed off on both my girls - keep a safe distance, admire it and move on - parenting win!
Lot of lyrebird activity at camp - some very confiding individuals about. Other little gems were Pilotbird, Rose Robin, Southern Boobook and Olive Whistler. Fan-tailed Cuckoo and Shining Bronze-Cuckoo the only summer migrants heard, though most other migrant species would still be a while. Pot noodles and chocolate pudding (latter from Strive in TAS) for dinner, couple of games of Uno before bed time and into the down bags (still cool enough at night).
The way back was a bit trickier in the morale department for the 8 year old - 8km two days in a row with a (small) backpack is quite a bit. I ended up carrying her pack for about 5 minutes before she decided she was going to do it. Counted the myriad of gullies and streams along the way, kept an eye out for special ferns, adventured along the various boardwalk and stepping stone bits, had a few small arguments and made it back in about 2.5 hours. There has already been talk about the next time!