Hi
I took 4 VNPA hikers around the Northern Prom circuit during the Easter break. Generally the weather was perfect for trekking. Not too hot , partly overcast and just a few showers.
Day one was Good Friday . We walked from 5 Mile Car park to 5 Mile Beach. We took lunch at Barry Creek which is flowing.
We camped in the tea trees. The water at the 5 mile spring was just flowing as a trickle. I pumped it up and filtered it and it went straight into my water bladders and it was fine. We all carried water from 5 Mile Car park just in case the spring was dry.
We set off at about 8.30 am on Sat . for Johnny Souey cove. The track was a bit hard to find and quite overgrown in places but not too bad really.
The water was again a trickle at Johnny Souey cove. Pumping it and filtering it was the only way we could get it to fill any container. We carried extra water because the trek ahead to Tin Mine Cove camp is as tough as it gets and fresh drinking water is not available en route after Johnny Souey cove.
The worst section was just as bad as last year.
From JS cove to 3 Mile beach via 3 Mile point there is NO TRACK, NO MARKERS , NOTHING BUT IMPENETRABLE THICKET and virgin bush. We gave up and headed for the rocks . The tide was out and we did battle with the evil rocks of 3 mile Point. We covered 3 kms in 3 hours and used up 3 days worth of energy!!
There are no positives attached to that .It was murder.
There was a sea kayak team taking a break when we finally reached the sand after a taxing session on the rocks. Fatigue leads to errors and I slipped and managed to grab a hand hold and thus avoiding a nasty fall on the granite boulders, I survived unharmed.
We took lunch at the Beach just before 3 Mile Beach . We were shattered and still had 12 kms to go.
We made it up Lighthouse point , hauling ourselves up on the rope that is there , attached to a tree. We made it to that point before the tide came all the way in and swallowed up the sand on 3 Mile beach .
We slogged it over the tin mine track and reached the Tin Mine Camp at 6.30 pm . Thankfully the track from Chinaman's long beach to Tin Mine Camp has been cleared and tagged.We were all beyond shattered, just rogered beyond words.
The stream at Tin Mine cove is flowing well.
The next day we packed up and headed along Chinaman's long Beach . With the tide all the way out Corner Inlet was just a mud flat and the walking was easy.
The track from there to Lower Barry creek was hard to find and we got lost in different places as compared with last year. I still think we did better this year . I was using a topographical map & compass and another member of our group had the route loaded onto his GPS device.
Without the GPS we would still be out there.
We were pushing through the dense almost impenetrable scrub looking for markers ,posts, tape, tags, anything !! esp. after we crossed China Man's creek. The Creek and the swamp were dry. I only saw one snake that day which was on Sunday.
We finally located the track, we were only 150 -200 metres off course and made good time to Lower Barry Camp. We were the only ones there whereas Tin Mine camp was at capacity on Sat. night. The water is flowing well at Lower Barry Camp.
Monday , day 4 we packed up early and headed for the 5 Mile road. The track on this section has been cleared and tagged and we had no trouble getting back to the road in good time.
In short I don't have to do that again. It was physically and mentally very taxing . I have now done it twice, two years in a row. If somebody cleared and tagged the section at 3 Mile point then I might think about doing it again one Easter. Otherwise forget it . It is insane and we were scratched up and our gear copped a hammering too, bush bashing and pushing through the overgrown bush.I swear Bear Gryllis would have wept and wanted his mum at certain points along the hike!