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Gippsland Cycle Tour, Part 2

31/12/2018

After three days on the East Gippsland Rail Trail, we said goodbye to both our friends and the dedicated bike track and struck off on our own.

Gravel path beside river with reflections

The moon (can you see it) over the Mitchell River in Bairnsdale.

Bairnsdale to Stratford

The second part of our tour saw us cycling for two days on an exploratory (read: somewhat winding) route along quiet roads and gravel tracks from Bairnsdale to Stratford, again through GunaiKurnai (Brabralung and Brayakaulung) country. With a few detours and one abandoned route, we ended up cycling about 85km over these two days.

Landscape with forested hills in the background and undulating pasture in the foreground

Looking north from the Wy Yung-Calulu Road.

DAY 4: BAIRNSDALE TO GLENALADALE, ~45KM

It had been another chilly night - though we were both generally warm enough in our sleeping bags and layers - when a magpie carolled right beside the tent at 5am. I got out my recorder to catch the song . . . so it didn’t make another peep until after 5:30. Cheeky bugger! With just the two of us, breakfast was a quick affair - instant noodles in the camp kitchen as magpies scavenged around the tables. After checking our route on the wifi, we set off at 7am. A personal best (or at least earliest) for this trip!

Person and tree silhouetted against morning sunshine

Dan in the morning light - an early start!

'Welcome' written in plants under a tree

The campsite at Bairnsdale.

We spun along beside the Mitchell River on an otherwise deserted path. It was beautiful, with the big moon hanging in the morning sky, the cool air biting our ears, the still water sporting hi-res reflections. We stopped to read a few of the information boards, then headed across the river and up the hill through Wy Yung. It was our first, but definitely not our last, hill of the day!

Heading out of Bairnsdale before crossing the river to Wy Yung.

Tall tree and blue sky reflected in water

Reflections on the Mitchell (aka Wy Yung in Brabralung language).

We followed our screencap maps without too much of a hitch along the Calulu Road, past pretty houses and farms with views to the south over the plains and to the north into the forested range that gradually lifts itself up to become the high country of the Victorian Alps.

Landscape with pasture and trees, a person on a bike under a sign warning for cyclists

Dan doing his best to make like a speedy cyclist from the sign.

The climbs were steeper than those we’d encountered on the rail trail, so we were glad we’d had a few days to build up some muscle and stamina. The downhills were also steeper, and I had a lot of fun daring myself to fly down them without using the brakes (don’t worry, there were hardly any cars that early on a Sunday morning).

Hollywood-style sign for a drive in cinema rested up against a sheep race

The Moondale Drive-In operated in Bairnsdale from the 1960s to 1984 (according to a quick Google). It was not on this site!

At the turn off down to the Mitchell River flats, we made a brief attempt to follow the dirt bike track through the bush beside the road, but the ruts were too deep for a pannier-laden bike, so we returned to the road and coasted south to re-cross the river. I’d never been here before, and I was surprised how much the geography reminded me of the Orbost flats. We followed the long, straight, flat roads then pedalled up the escarpment to Lindenow.

Looking along the Mitchell. The difference with the Snowy is stark - lots of willows and very little native vegetation.

Heeding Liz’s words from a couple of days earlier, we made our way directly to Long Paddock for a seat in the window, a view of the world passing by, a good coffee, a luxurious second breakfast, entertainment provided by a nest of swallows under the verandah . . . Nice!

Definitely a good place to stop on a cycle tour (thanks, Liz).

Breakfast plate with eggs, asparagus, etc

I was pleased with this pic - got Dan's face in the teapot!

We’d actually made much better time than expected. We were meeting some of my extended family for lunch down by the river at 1:30pm, but looking at our map we realised we were only 20 minutes or so away and had three hours to get there! So we did what any self-respecting bike tourist should do: we got massive slices of cake to take away, went and sat in a little park with a fantastic view out over the river valley and up to the distant mountains, pegged our tent fly out to dry in the stiff breeze, ate cake and soaked up the delicious weather.

Cake!!!

Looking up the Mitchell valley towards the high country.

And then, when we still had a couple of hours to go, we decamped to another park in Lindenow and lay under the trees to read our books. I realised I was happy. Content. Present. Couldn’t remember a time when I was sitting in an office instead of cycling from place to place, couldn’t remember what it was like in England in autumn instead of in Australia in spring. I really wanted to just keep going - or at least do a lot more cycle touring in future!

Someone needs to get out there and Instagram this place, stat.

We ended up down at the river with an hour or so to spare, so we poked around below Wuk Wuk Bridge to find a nice shady spot for a picnic. Over the river, at a place that is marked on Google Maps as a caravan park, but which seems like it is half abandoned, we waited under a shady little tree. We read our books, listened to birds and bees and passing tractors, motorbikes and utes, and I had a nap . . .

Our trusty steeds in Lindenow.

The Mitchell under Wuk Wuk bridge.

On the dot, up drove my aunt and uncle (the ones who spent a couple of nights with us on our Snowy River adventure last year) and my cousin with her two kids. We set up our picnic by the river, chatted, laughed, ate sandwiches and generally had a lovely time. It was nice and sunny, so I had a paddle in the river. (The water wasn’t cold by UK standards, and if I’d had a towel I might have had a swim, but my cousin’s eldest kid started shivering and saying she was cold - I guess if you come from Cairns, 23 degrees with a breeze probably is quite cool.)

Group of people sitting beside a river, bridge in background

A nice spot for a picnic and a paddle. We could have happily stayed here with family all afternoon!

And now it was 3pm. We planned to meet my parents with their car and trailer (to take us home for the night) at 5pm. Our meeting spot was a decent distance away, so we said our goodbyes and cycled off into the warm afternoon. The first section was delightful - flat, quick, open, with views of hills, farms and dead reptiles beside the road. Then came the hills. Oh, the hills. We pedalled up all of them, but I was mostly in the easiest gear. The downhills weren’t so bad, but as Dan complained, “They’re over so quickly!”

Person on bike under a wooden frame with a wooden sign saying The FINGERBOARDS

The FINGERBOARDS. I've got fingers? But I am not bored. (OK, I am currently a bit bored of captioning and doing image descriptions for all these photos.)

We passed The Fingerboards, an allegedly well known landmark that I had never heard of, which appeared to mostly be a crossroads with a handmade wooden sign that said “The Fingerboards”. From here, a sign pointed south to Stratford (38km) . . . but we took the road north towards Glenaladale, because we’d told mum and dad to meet us at Beverleys Road. And after all those hills, we were getting pressed for time. The road continued to undulate - nothing massively steep, but enough to slow us down and make Dan a bit queasy. The main thing I remember, though, is a magical moment when we were coasting downhill and a huge mob of sulphur crested cockies lifted off from the paddock to our left, and swirled up through the trees, across the road and all around us. What a rush!

A welcome gate for resting on after climbing a big hill!

Colonial Australiana - rusty corrugated iron, Hereford cattle, blue sky.

We made it to our meeting place at 5:01pm. (Of course, my parents were already there!) In the car, we took the road we’d planned to cycle the next day. There were a lot of hills. Too many hills. We decided another plan was in order. But first, a bath, a cuppa and a BBQ with the extended family - my sister had arrived, and our lunch companions re-joined us for the evening.

DAY 5: THE FINGERBOARDS TO STRATFORD, ~40KM

Unsurprisingly, having a comfy bed and a proper breakfast meant a later start. We jumped in the car with my dad and sister and they drove us back up to the Fingerboards. This time, we took the other way back towards Stratford - at least for a few kilometres, before turning off down a bumpy dirt road. We passed a couple of houses and paddocks, and enjoyed the ride beneath the trees.

The easy road home. We didn't take it very far!

Nobody wants this mine.

The final building was part of a Christmas tree farm (called Hobyahs!) - but instead of heading through their front gate, we veered off down the sandy track into the huge plantation area managed by HVP. (We only travelled on named tracks, but perhaps we were meant to get a permit/pass? There weren’t any signs where we entered the area, so we didn’t even think we might be on private roads!) Not too far in, we stopped to observe a flock of yellow tailed black cockatoos in the pine trees. They were gossiping and chatting to each other, but as we drew closer they raised their voices in a chorus of creaking alarm calls. Some flew off, but others stayed, chuckling quietly and tearing up pinecones to get at the nuts. A few, sitting right up the top of the trees, looked like Christmas ornaments.

Dan takes a break in the sun. I take a photo from the shade.

Gate with sign for Hobyah's Xmas Tree Farm

Do you remember the book? Scary!

We got a few really good views as we ground and slipped and puffed our way up the hills. One recently logged hilltop reminded me of being on the moors in the UK and offered a pretty speccy vista over the surrounding trees to the hills beyond.

The view from the top was great (but I only had the phone camera, so I don't have a good photo). This was a pine plantation. They've left a few eucalypts.

Some of the tracks were a bit rough, but our bikes handled everything well. It probably helped that I didn’t have panniers, and Dan only had a few snacks in his. We spent about a minute on a sealed road all the way through the plantation area, crossing a creek, before heading back off on other logging tracks. For the most part, the tracks and roads are all laid out in a grid system, which makes navigation fairly unstressful - we knew we’d just have to keep going west, south, west, and we’d hit the next main road. I enjoyed riding on the wide side grades, which were sandy and smooth - but also sliced through with deep water drainage cuts every now and then, which I had to avoid.

An example of the wide graded section beside the tracks proper.

Should you ever trust a short cut?

We spent some time cycling beside some dry paddocks - cows on one side, the stripped carcasses of pine cones on the other - but also enjoyed the wooded sections. Riding through one pretty little valley with birds calling all around reminded me that this might be mostly a plantation of non-native trees, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t habitat for wildlife. Probably our most spectacular sighting was an emu running down the track in front of us. At first I thought it was running towards us - a bit of a scary thought! - but the optical illusion soon righted itself and we watched it head off into the bush. We also saw quite a few wallabies - and a fox.

One of the prettier sections of the plantation (you can see logged/plantation sections in the background). This is where we saw the emu.

I think it was just before midday when we got out onto the Stockdale Road and decided to stop for a drink, a wee and a snack of chicken salt Pringles (thanks Stephanie and Danni!). Having made good time, we weren’t in any rush. And anyway, we knew the rest of the cycle wouldn’t be too difficult - sealed road, not too much elevation gain, a quiet time of day . . . We were accompanied along the way by what seemed like hundreds of pairs of eastern rosellas (with perhaps a dozen rainbow lorikeets thrown in). A few cars passed us, a couple of buses and a few motorbikes. In the distance, we saw another cyclist - a serious one, in lycra - but they headed off in another direction.

Our gift from Stephanie and Danni!

Mmm, looks... yellow... (bonus chain grease on my hand.)

And suddenly we were arriving in Stratford. We took the obligatory photos with the town signs - yes, it is on the Avon (but Avon is pronounced with a soft A as in ‘had’) - then cycled to my parents’ new place. A flock of corellas swirled over us, surrounding us with their squeaky door calls as we turned our second to last corner. And then we were home - just in time for lunch.

Finished! Here we are at the entrance to Stratford on the River Avon, Victoria, Australia.

Conclusion

What a brilliant holiday! I loved cycling and hanging out with Dan, Stephanie and Danni, watching the scenery and landscape change as we pedalled, hearing the birds in the bush, seeing wildlife scurry off, relaxing in small town campsites and generally being a tourist. I think we were very lucky with the weather (apart from the wind on the third day). There were a few things I learnt:

It’s pretty easy to carry stuff on a bike if you have panniers. Our panniers were not stuffed to the brim, and if I were to do this again I’d bring a few more luxuries. This is because (a) the weight isn’t so difficult to carry (no hoisting everything onto our shoulders every time we set off was such a treat!) and (b) it doesn’t matter so much if things are odd shapes or bulky or rattly (because they’re not sticking into your back or rattling in your ears)
Uphill is hard, but you get through it. I’m not used to noticing slight uphills when walking, but on a bike every percentage of gradient counts. On the flip side, coasting downhill is brilliant - I love the feeling of moving without any energy expenditure (if you don’t count the ascent!).
It can be easier to be a tourist as a cyclist than as a walker. It’s quicker to get around and therefore easier to make detours and spur of the moment decisions. A detour around a block is a quick minute or two, rather than a potential trudge.
Wind, what the heck? I really noticed how much the headwind affected me, especially on the third day coming into Bairnsdale, but also occasionally after that. It’s not such a slog to walk against a similar strength of wind, but on a bike I could really tell how much slower it was making me. Also, Australia is windier than I remember!
Things I don’t miss. While we had good chats to the people at Nowa Nowa and Bruthen campsites, I found that most of the people we met or passed were … very incurious. I wouldn’t necessarily say unfriendly, but we cycled about 180km (over 100mi) through several towns and nobody asked us what we were doing or where we were going. Nobody other than one group of other cyclists commented on our bikes, our gear, the terrain, the weather. People were happy to give us a good long stare, but they didn’t initiate a conversation. I don’t think you could cycle that far through that many small towns and villages in the UK without a passer by saying hello or a shopkeeper having a chat.
Bikes are surprisingly noisy. The grind of gravel under the wheels is constant, as is the rush of wind in your ears. It’s harder to hear the sounds of nature around you, harder to have a conversation. Paradoxically, you might be quieter to the rest of the world - the soft swish of tyres is different to the crunching of boots, and when you combine this with your speed you can find yourself sneaking up on more animals and seeing more wildlife than you might when on foot.
Cycle touring is super fun! At least, it is when you’ve got good company, good food, good bikes and good weather.

The rail bridge across the Avon. Next time: rail trail Stratford to Maffra?

Concrete with construction info stencilled and written on it

After all those old bridges on the rail trail, some new construction for you.

A few more thank yous for this section: my parents, for shuttling us and the bikes around, putting us up, feeding us; my aunt, uncle, cousin and niblings for the picnic lunch and BBQ dinner; my sister, for plotting a future adventure with me (can’t wait!); and of course Liz and Dave from Snowy River Cycling, who really went above and beyond, and even picked the bikes up from Stratford at the end, which saved us having to ferry them back to Bairnsdale or Orbost. I highly recommend looking up Snowy River Cycling if you are planning to cycle in the area (they run tours, too, which look amazing).

Sunrise in Stratford.

If you fancy some further reading on related topics, here are a few recommendations:

Here’s a lovely essay about cycle touring, which really spoke to me.
Why We Ride is a zine that Allysse has put together full of interviews with cycle tourists.
And if you want, here's another cyclist’s experience on the East Gippsland Rail Trail: Orbost-Nowa Nowa; Bruthen-Nowa Nowa; Bruthen-Bairnsdale.

Would you like more about our travels in Australia? As well as our Snowy River adventure, I really like these two posts (if I do say so myself) about our first visit back after over four years away: 1 - Country, 2 - City.

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Gippsland Cycle Tour, Part 1

2/12/2018

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Two weeks in the sunny, warm Australian spring? Five days cycling through Gippsland bush and farmland? Camping with friends and picnicking with family? Yes please!

The open road (well, rail trail) near Bruthen. GunaiKurnai country.

We spent a lovely half term holiday in Australia and the main event was a five day cycle tour from Orbost to Stratford. It was the first time we’d been cycle touring, and I loved (almost) every minute of it. Here’s the first part - Part 2 coming soon!

Preparation

I am not a frequent cyclist, and while Dan used to cycle all over the place when we lived in Melbourne, that was several years ago. But after hiring bikes for a day on our Snowy River adventure last year, the seed was sown. We got in touch with Snowy River Cycling to arrange bike hire, invited a couple of friends along for the ride, and booked some campsites along the way (with Australia-side help from my mum!). And then we started training.

Behold, our mighty steed! (Photo: Dan)

First, we went on a tandem bike ride from Hastings to Bexhill to get some ice creams. Fifty minutes each way and 20 minutes for ice cream. Well, you have to start somewhere, right?

Person and bikes by water with cloudy sky

Rest break beside Bewl Water -love the flowers and the ripples on the water and the clouds. (Photo: Dan)

Next, we went for a ride around Bewl Water, a reservoir not too far from us. The circuit is about 12mi/20km, and we completed it in just under three hours with some snack, photo and rest stops. This confirmed the need for padded shorts and gloves, so we went shopping. While we were at it, I thought I should get a pair of shoes (I don’t really have anything other than work shoes, walking boots and thongs/flip-flops, none of which are good for cycling), and when I found a bright pink pair, I knew they were the ones!

Person in pink shoes sitting on bench sipping tea

The best bit of any journey - the tea break! (Photo: Dan)

A misty morning at Bewl.

Bewl is on our way to That London, so a couple of weekends later on our way to the city we went for a morning cycle - just for two hours, toting thermos and bickies for morning tea - to try out all our new gear. It felt much better, and I wasn’t walking like a cowboy the next day.

Now, this weather is more appropriate if we're training for a ride in Australia.

With time running out, it was easiest to stick to what we knew, so the weekend before we left we went all the way around Bewl Water once again. We went the other way this time and I was able to cycle all the hills bar one. My crotch was prepared for what was to come. All that stood between us and East Gippsland was 3 hours to London in the car, an hour in a taxi to Heathrow, 24+ hours in two planes, a lift from Tullamarine with a friend, some Melbourne public transport, the VLine train to Stratford and a 3 hour drive with mum and dad to Orbost. Easy peasy.

First sight of Australian land - very different to where we're heading.

Morning light in Stratford.

East Gippsland Rail Trail

The first three days of our tour were along the East Gippsland Rail Trail, which stretches approximately 100km from Orbost to Bairnsdale, through GunaiKurnai (Krowathunkooloong and Brabawooloong) country. Our friends Danni and Stephanie joined us for this section.

Mural under bridge. I can see banksia, emu wren, fairy wren, wattle, goanna, scar tree, eucalyptus tree, pigface and the purple fruit I know as flax.

My parents helped get us and our gear to Orbost, where Dan and I picked up our hire bikes the night before we set off. After my folks left, we did a tiny tour of the main street, had a look at the new mural depicting local Indigenous foods and totems under the bridge, ate chips for dinner in Forest Park and shopped for some food supplies. A big moon bobbed in the dusky pastel sky as we ate tinned fruit, then bedded down for a cold (~5 degrees) night at Orbost Caravan Park.

DAY 1: ORBOST TO NOWA NOWA, ~40KM

I woke with the birds at 5am. This set the tone for every morning: waking up around 5am, snoozing until about 5:30, showering and packing after 6, having a leisurely breakfast with the crew around 7, taking the tent down, sorting out the day’s food and heading off around 8-8:30.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed - ready to ride! (Photo: Dan)

The trail started off nice and easy, heading over the Snowy and across the flats past cows and beside the old timber viaduct, which is in much need of conservation. The hired bikes were fantastic to ride. We skipped the cycle up to Grandview Lookout, preferring instead to save our lungs and legs for the day ahead. Still, we got some views through the trees over Bete Bolong and Jarrahmond farmland to distant hills as we slowly climbed the escarpment, then cycled around the back of the timber mill at Newmerella.

Setting off from Orbost. (Photo: Dan)

Person and two bikes leaning on an info sign

A break with a handy info board about birds.

Dan and I had cycled parts of this section last time, but it was different in the spring. In fact, we haven’t been in Australia in the spring since we left seven years ago, and I was surprised by just how many bush flowers are out at this time of year - callistemon, melaleuca, orchids, flowering gums. We stopped to make a cup of tea at a handily placed picnic bench. Shrike thrushes, wattle birds, whip birds, currawongs and kookaburras called from the depths of the dry, grey bush around us.

Bottlebrush, callistemon.

Tea tree, ti tree, leptospermum - I think!

The late morning heated up and the clouds burnt away, leaving bright blue skies. Wallabies scattered in front of our bikes as we crunched along, keeping a lookout for a water tank kept full for cyclists, walkers and horse riders by the lovely people at Snowy River Cycling.

People cycling along track through bushland

I like the clouds and bird overhead.

Bike propped against tree under sign for water

A welcome sign.

Shortly after that we stopped under a picnic shelter at Partellis Crossing for what became our usual lunch - avocado on some sort of carb (Vita-Weats today - one of the Australian foods I miss). We chatted and soaked in the scenery for almost an hour - tall trees, deep blue sky, a few little birds flitting around. Relaxing.

Three cyclists ride through bush and scrub

Danni, Dan and Stephanie. Note the trees in the background, which were burnt a few years ago.

On our hired mountain bikes (Giant Talon), Dan and I didn’t have any complaints about the trail, but Danni and Stephanie felt the loose gravel and bumpy surface more than we did. The first day was definitely the worst in this regard. On the up side, being a rail trail, the gradients were pretty mild. The main exceptions were when we reached the old wooden trestle bridges that span steep valleys. These bridges are blocked off and unsafe to cross, so the path sometimes heads straight down to cross a small creek, then straight back up the other side. We stopped at most of these to see the bridges or remnants of bridges - though at one point we could hardly hear each other over the wall of cicada noise!

A beautiful afternoon, somewhere around Waiwera.

Approaching one of these bridges towards the end of the day, the beautiful, secluded Waiwera valley opened up on the right. On the left, in an unshaded hillside paddock, a sheep was stuck on its back. Forgoing the scenery, I hopped through the fence, got the sheep sitting upright (I couldn’t get it to stand), and poured some water into its mouth. I hope it sorted itself out.

O'Grady's Bridge over Waiwera Road.

The final stretch took us up a long, gentle hill, then down a much steeper hill and over the bridge into Nowa Nowa. We stayed at Mingling Waters - under new management as of four days earlier! Unfortunately, we missed the famous vegan burgers, but I filled up on potato cakes.

We visited the Big Root (which I have memories of from when I was very young - maybe a toddler - when it was up on the hill at the timber mill), then lounged around and read in the lovely old mess hall (which I have memories of from when I was a teenager, when we’d come here for music nights) before Danni cooked us up some dhal and rice for tea.

DAY 2: NOWA NOWA TO BRUTHEN, ~30KM

After another cold night, I was the first up. I wandered down to the jetty, spotting an eastern whipbird on the way (I used to hear them daily, but I’m not sure I’d ever seen one before) and watched mist rising off the peaceful water. A small bird friend joined me for a while, and silvery fish made ripples as they surfaced and jumped.

Back up at camp, I headed back to the others for breakfast and, when Dan and I were ready to go, we went to the general store for some lunch supplies. There wasn’t much on offer, but we scrounged together enough for a decent lunch (avocado, tomato, tortillas and - much to everyone’s amusement - chicken salt as there was no plain salt to be found). We were leaving Nowa Nowa when Danni noticed a tear in the wall of her rear tyre. We decided to press on, knowing that if it came to the worst, we would be able to walk back to Nowa Nowa or on to Bruthen, no more than 15 or so kilometres from the very middle of the day.

White mile marker with wooden bridge in background

There seemed to be a lot of uphill (albeit very gentle uphill) in the morning, punctuated mainly by the stunning span of the old trestle bridge at Stony Creek (sometimes written Stoney Creek). I visited the bridge a few times when I lived in the area, and it was just as impressive as I remembered. It’s amazing to see the evidence of such tall trees and to think of the engineering involved in construction. The facilities have improved since I was there last - a sealed path does a switchback up the side of the valley, with toilets (feat. nesting swallows!) and picnic benches on offer. We passed a group of cyclists as we left the bridge, and I wondered if this was the tour that Liz from Snowy River Cycling was guiding . . .

Large wooden trestle bridge with three cyclists on path beside it

They couldn't really build bridges like this now, even if they wanted to, because all the tallest trees have been logged.

A few kilometres later, we heard, “I recognise those panniers!” . . . yep, it was Liz. We had a good chat and thanked her for maintaining the water tanks. When Dan and I said we would be going through Lindenow in a few days, Liz told us we had to go to The Long Paddock. In fact, “If you go to Lindenow and don’t visit Long Paddock, you might as well not have come to Australia!” Noted. Danni mentioned the issue with her tyre and Liz offered to bring a replacement to Bruthen that evening - so helpful. Then she mentioned that she had a second hand one in the support van that would be back at the bridge with the rest of the touring group. Danni decided to ride back and change the tyre. Dan, Stephanie and I pulled off to the side of the trail and made tea, ate biscuits and made stick art.

If you're in the bush, you have to have at least one cup of tea with a gumleaf.

Person bending over and arranging sticks

Time to make some art. I love my orange bum bag. (Photo: Stephanie)

After Danni returned and had her own cup of tea, we continued on through the bushland of Colquhoun (pronounced ka-hoon. This seems to be dedicated a ‘regional park’ these days, rather than a State Forest, my cynicism says that’s probably so it’s easier to destroy through logging) [Edit: maybe not?!]. I’d always wanted to have a poke around this area and it was special to finally be there, noticing the change in vegetation and soil and the evidence of previous bushfires.

Sprig of whitish blossoms and dark green leaves

Not sure what this is - some kind of Zieria?

We leapfrogged with a Belgian man and his son, who had cycled Bairnsdale to Nowa Nowa a couple of days prior and were now heading to Lakes Entrance via the Discovery Trail - an old tramway built for transporting rocks to the lakes’ entrance. We waved them off at the turnoff, where we stopped for lunch.

Graded gravel track through in a cutting through bush

Cycling through a cutting. They put a lot of work into making this bike track.

Emerging into the open - solitude.

As the afternoon rolled on, so did we: on some long, gentle descents, up some gradual ascents on gritty surfaces, out of the bush into steep paddocks, scrappy ridgelines, then down the hill into the Tambo valley and Bruthen (if you need a mnemonic it's "cruithin' for a Bruthen"). This fantastic entry into Bruthen highlights the stark difference between the forest we'd been cycling through (this is the least 'developed' day on the trail) and the farmland surrounding the Tambo. I was really enjoying myself - and I even appreciated the half-arsed swooping of the sentinel magpie at the highway crossing!

The view across the flats at Bruthen before the final descent to the highway and into town.

We peeled off the road into the campsite beside the oval just before the river and set our tents up in front of the bird feeder to be entertained by red browed finches (my family's always called them firetail finches), galahs and king parrots. After a short rest, we popped into town to check out Amegilla Gallery (some great art there!) and, forgoing a meal at the brewery (it didn’t look that great for vegans), we went shopping for dinner.

Two people sit in front of an open wood fire

Stephanie and Danni enjoy the wood fire. We didn't burn our names into the walls, but we did read everyone else's names.

Back at the campsite, I had a shower, then lounged in the sun - Dan found a copy of Uncle Bruce Pascoe's Dark Emu on the bookshelf, which I read over the next few days. We chatted to a couple who had been travelling in their motorhome from a wedding in Queensland all the way down the east coast. Stephanie made a delicious pasta meal out of minimal ingredients and a large dash of inventiveness. We had a nice fire (gold coin donation for the wood) and sat around for a while.

DAY 3: BRUTHEN TO BAIRNSDALE, ~30KM

Our final day on the rail trail dawned slightly muted and overcast, but was brightened by a visit from a friendly male king parrot. He landed in a tree near our tent and, when we said hello, he jumped onto the ridgeline of our tent and started sidling towards us. On a hunch, I grabbed a handful of seed from the bird feeder and held out my arm - and yes! He hopped onto my wrist and nibbled away until all the seed was gone, then jumped on S&D's tent to say good morning to them. A highlight of the trip!

Bright scarlet and green bird on green tent

Well, hello there, cheeky chappy!

Can you tell I am delighted with this turn of events? (Photo: Dan)

I think this important occasion deserves more pics. (Photo: Stephanie)

Good morning, friends, do you have any food? (Photo: Danni)

I made the quick cycle into town over the still, quiet Tambo River. I felt that same kind of peaceful excitement being outside by myself so early. I headed to the bakery and the general store. Pasty and vanilla slice - breakfast of champions! - sticky scrolls for morning tea and avocado and tomato and chips for lunch. We ate, packed up, and pedalled off.

Crossing the Tambo on the bike/pedestrian bridge (which had a very pleasing thunking sound). The rail trail knocks along the bottom of those hills.

The trail surface improved again in this section, possibly because it’s closer to Bairnsdale and gets more traffic and maintenance. We followed the road through farms, skirting the side of the river flats and stopping to check out all the old constructions - the bridges, but also maize cribs and hops kilns (reminding Dan and me of the oast houses in Sussex and Kent). We stopped in some liminal bushland between a quiet road and rolling paddocks and sat on the side of the track for an extended morning tea, smelling the scent of hot eucaluptus and dogwood, serenaded by bell birds and the sound of wind in the treetops.

We saw remnants several times - I finally remembered to photograph them.

Just a lovely old tree,

A few things stick in my mind about the trail from here to Nicholson: making train hoot harmonies as we passed through the short tunnels, the nature reserve by an old station (where we saw a hare munching on the protected grasses), the change in track surface and vegetation to a more coastal feel, the falcon Dan spotted flying off, the hereford cows and calves in the paddocks beside the trail, the benches with beautiful views over said paddocks and down towards the lakes, the very strong wind that kept us from stopping at said benches, the wedgetail eagle soaring higher and higher on said wind, the magpie divebombing said eagle, an echidna shuffling in its slow-speedy way over a paddock and out of sight behind a dam wall . . .

Like a painting of colonial Australia.

Before we knew it, we were cycling across what Danni described as a “vertigo-inducing” former rail bridge over the wide Tambo and speeding down the steep side path into Nicholson. We stopped beside the river for lunch (avocado rolls this time) at a picnic bench below the caravan park, pleased to find water, some rather charming caravan-style toilets and - at the jumble sale outside the pub - coffee for Danni and Stephanie.

Wide river and small town view from bridge

The Tambo again, looking downstream towards the small town of Nicholson.

After a good break, it was back up the steep path to the trail. We needed another breather at the top, and were entertained by another echidna, waddling around a small paddock, poking its snout into piles of sticks looking for ants. So cute!

Cyclists crossing metal bridge above river

Crossing the bridge over the Tambo.

There is an almost-invisible echidna in this photo.

The trail from Nicholson to Bairnsdale is sealed and flat. Stephanie and Danni were in their element, and Dan was also able to speed off ahead. I struggled, though, especially with the very strong winds that alternated between pushing me sideways and making me pedal twice as hard to move forwards. I tried to enjoy the windbreaks provided by stands of blooming wattle, but I was not in the best mood when we made it to the signposted end of the trail in Bairnsdale. I was particularly sad that nobody wanted to go on the flying fox or the long slide at Howitt Park with me!

Again - saw so much wattle, only snapped a couple of pics!

Woohoo! Arriving in Bairnsdale. (Photo: Danni)

We made our way around the back streets of Bairnsdale to the train station, which we considered to be the true conclusion of the trail. Stephanie and Danni sorted out their tickets home - VLine is kind of notorious for being unfriendly and unhelpful towards cyclists, but everything worked out for this trip. With a bit of time to spare, we pedalled into town, ate chips and drank coffee from an actual cafe and, with no general store in sight, picked up a few things from the supermarket (including a gift of chicken salt Pringles for us from Danni and Stephanie!) before saying goodbye.

Selfie - four smiling people with Bairnsdale Station sign

Made it!

Dan and I coasted down to our campsite beside the Mitchell River and set ourselves up (me sneezing all over the place due to the high winds and plane trees) before heading out for a tasty Thai dinner. Now that's civilised!

Thank you

A big thank you to the people who made this first leg of our cycle so fun: to Stephanie and Danni for providing great chats, helping out when our UK provider screwed us over with phone/data, cooking dinners for us, sharing snacks, being patient with two newbie cycle tourists and generally being fab companions; to my parents for helping book accommodation, putting the four of us up overnight, driving us and S&D’s bikes to Orbost, taking Dan and me for a drive around Jarrahmond and generally being very helpful; to Liz and Dave at Snowy River Cycling for hiring us excellent bikes, providing maps and info, maintaining the water caches and helping out with Danni’s tyre; to the friendly people at our campsites - especially at Bruthen - for the chats and for keeping us comfortable; and a special shoutout to the folks at the bakery in Bruthen who were well on the ball about what was and wasn’t vegan!

Two people on bikes looking at phone and map

Dan and Stephanie consult the map (and the phone) to check for info about local landmarks. (Photo: Danni)

Let me know if you have any questions about this part the trail, the photos, the logistics, etc. And look out for Part 2, coming soon . . .

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"Knuckerhole Shaw" in Terra: Dark Mountain Issue 14

17/11/2018

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I’ve been published - and not just on the good old interwebs, but in a book!

Red leatherish cover with silver abstract art

The beautiful cover, from an artwork by Jenny Arran - ink on paper (drawn with an axe).

My short story “Knuckerhole Shaw” appears in Terra: Dark Mountain Issue 14.

Several months ago, the Dark Mountain Project put out a call for submissions for their fourteenth issue:

In a restless, globalised culture which dictates that all places be the same and none of us loyal to a heartland, it is sometimes hard to make ourselves at home on Earth. As Martin Shaw writes, to become ‘of a place’ is to trade ‘endless possibility for something specific’. Some of us commit to deepening our investigations of one place, digging in and giving voice to the inhabitants (human and non-human) of the neighbourhoods in which we live. . . For the fourteenth issue we seek work which challenges borders and celebrates transgressions. . .

I’ve enjoyed reading Dark Mountain on and off over the years. With this call out, I thought I had something to offer.

The book comes with a fold out map and artwork

Fame and fortune! It's me!

“Knuckerhole Shaw” is a short piece that draws on the landscape, language and lore of East Sussex. It’s also about eels, because eels are bizarre and amazing. I can’t really remember how or why the two threads converged, but such is the joy of creative writing.

I first drafted the story in late 2014 and submitted it to another publication in 2015 - it was rejected, but with a couple of lines of helpful feedback. Some friends also read through it and gave me pointers (thanks Emily and Dan). Over the next few years, I revisited the piece occasionally, filling out the story and directing it towards a more satisfying conclusion while striving to keep the potential for ambiguity. The Dark Mountain submission deadline prompted me to give it a good polish and call it finished a second time.

Where it starts, where it ends . . .

It was exciting to be accepted for publication. I found it interesting to go through the editing process from a contributor/artist perspective for this piece (content, proofread, layout), guided by Nick Hunt as editor (I'm a fan of his work!) - while travelling a similar path from an editor’s perspective for Queer Out Here.

And the final product is just gorgeous - a beautiful book that I’m really proud to be part of. The written pieces (mainly non-fiction) are interspersed with visual art (mainly photography) and the sympathetic collation guides the reader deftly across continents, oceans and themes. I'm about half way through, and at almost 300 pages I think it will keep me going for a while as I dip in and out.

I’ll end with a short excerpt from my story, to tempt you into purchasing your own copy!

The archivist’s voice weaves a loose net. I try to slip through, thinking instead of what I will do tonight: of a bath in the big tub with the dragon feet; or food: two months to go, and boiled eggs and pies are grit between my teeth, but I must feed. ‘There was always a legend about marsh babies,’ she says, ‘of children found on the Levels wailing for food and shelter until a local family took them in.’ Her sentences tighten around me and I flinch, push the chair back and stand to rub the aching muscles of my back. He barely notices. ‘Of course, it’s more likely the children were born out of wedlock, perhaps even a product of sexual assault,’ she continues, and I start to walk the room, staring at the shelves. ‘The mothers or the girls’ families wanted to get rid of the babies without killing them outright. They might stand a chance, this way.’

He doesn’t believe the story. I feel his eyes on me, his annoyance at my slow, shuffling pace. But he is not quite dangerous, not yet. I smell his wet soil breath as he sighs. ‘Go and look around,’ he tells me. He smells good. I obey.

Two steps down through a broad arch, the museum is a long room, well lit and white-walled. Glass boxes hold single items: rusted, flaking metal tools and spalt, split timbers – isolated, their decay safely contained. Ash-grey lettering on the walls spells out their long-forgotten uses, but one I know on sight, stabbed through. Eelshear, it says. An iron instrument with three or four points, fastened to the end of a long pole, by means of which it is thrust into muddy ponds and ditches for the purpose of catching eels. Under that, an etching of the fork in use, along with a conservation note. European eel (Anguilla anguilla). IUCN Red List classification: Critically endangered.

It is never safe to live with a hunter.

You can buy Terra: Dark Mountain Issue 14 here.

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From London to Norfolk in seven years

7/10/2018

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Now, that's slow travel! We have finally completed one of our long-term walking projects: from Dan's parents' old house in Finchley to their holiday let in Old Hunstanton.

Person standing beside a sign saying NORFOLK Nelson's Country - and By Road

We did not go by road.

After finishing my River Rother walk, I had a few days at home before we headed up to Norfolk for a week. We planned to walk four or five days to complete our "every now and then" walking project between London and the north Norfollk coast. The weather was hot at first - too hot to walk on a couple of days, so I ended up going to the beach and swimming in the sea for hours instead! And then, of course, the day we finished was grey and rainy.

Eels!

We saw a lamb sneak under this gate.

I'll pop a few more photos down the bottom of this post, but I thought this would be a good moment to look back over the whole walk - which we started back in 2011, when we'd just moved to London from Australia. We didn't get back to it for a few years after that, but we've been fairly consistent in doing a section since 2015.

2011

Possibly early November 2011. Finchley to High Barnet.

Under the Dollis Brook Viaduct.

Boundary tree - Middlesex and Hertfordshire.

November 2011. High Barnet to Cuffley.

The prettiest toadstool near the M25.

Pretty autumnal path through the woods.

December 2011. Cuffley to Hertford; Hertford to Green Tye; Green Tye to Bishop's Stortford.

Pollarded trees in Daneswood, I believe.

Moore of this, please.

I was so young!

Sunset in Hertfordshire.

This was still quite a novelty - my first full winter in the UK.

2015

October 2015. Bishop's Stortford to Great Chesterford over two days (wild camping overnight). Read a snippet about this leg under "Other adventures" in this post.

Autumn colours

Now every time we go under this road we say, "We've walked here!"

2016

October 2016. Great Chesterford to Cambridge; Cambridge to Ely. Read more in a previous blog post, Rivers and Roman roads: An autumn walk in Cambridgeshire.

Autumn in Cambridgeshire

A friend near the river

2017

August 2017. Ely to Littleport.

Definitely in the flat lands now

2018

August 2018. Littleport to Downham Market; Downham Market to King's Lynn; King's Lynn to Little Massingham; Little Massingham to Old Hunstanton.

Still water reflects trees, clouds, tractors

Not pictured: just how hot it was!

Yesterday @thebooklender and I walked from Downham Market to King’s Lynn along the river. It was not as hot as the day before, the walking was easier and there was more to see. pic.twitter.com/NpYZ2WKZtB
— Jonathan (@jonathanworking) August 5, 2018

We measured our progress for a while against the many Wiggenhall St [X] church spires and stopped for a snack at a riverside pub. pic.twitter.com/p8rz1Dpd5i
— Jonathan (@jonathanworking) August 5, 2018

Along the aptly named Sandy Lane by Roydon Common, along the old rail line. There was a lot more to see today, and there were even some things that count as hills in Norfolk. pic.twitter.com/CpHqGOo05C
— Jonathan (@jonathanworking) August 6, 2018

We passed the hot hour challenging each other to write poems about this field, that view, each section between shade.

Buzzard over wheat,
sugar beet. We crane our necks,
hunting for the sea pic.twitter.com/x9RyKZI02b
— Jonathan (@jonathanworking) August 6, 2018

Person with umbrella in front of fancy building

Home, sweet home. (Just kidding, this is not the folks' holiday house!)

Some of our other long-term walking projects and incomplete paths include the Grand Union Canal, the Thames Path and the Ridgeway (which we also completed this summer - more to come). A friend recently asked us if this was a common thing to do . . . so, is it? Do you have any walking projects on the go?

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River Rother: Source to Sea

3/8/2018

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You know I love following rivers, so it probably won’t surprise you to learn I’ve been meaning to follow my local River Rother from source to sea for a long time.

I've decided to do a multi-day walk every week these summer holidays, and I realised it would be a good chance to finally go exploring along the Rother. I recorded the river as I went along, from the first time I encountered it as a small trickle across a bridleway to the windy harbour arm where it meets the English Channel. Have a listen as you read on (notes at the end of the post).

The East Sussex/Kent Rother (there’s another one in West Sussex) rises near the village of Rotherfield and flows east and south about 55km (35mi) to the sea near Rye. There are long sections of the river that don’t have public rights of way alongside them, so the best you can do as a moderately law-abiding walker is follow the valley, sometimes by the water, sometimes in the fields or on the hills and ridges above. The route I planned out was about 70km (44mi).

I’ve never been quite sure how to go about this walk. Should I do it all in one go, wild camping on the way? Should I use public transport as much as possible to come home each night? How many days would I be walking - three or four, maybe?

As it happens, Dan didn’t feel like coming on the walk, so he kindly ferried me back and forth when needed. I had some pretty extreme weather, too, which meant I was glad to not be camping out. Due to the heat on the first day and the wild wind and rain on the third day, I ended up walking for four days rather than the three I initially planned.

I tweeted about the walk, and you can find the threads and lots more photos here:

Overall, I had a great time. I enjoyed getting a sense of progression as the scenery changed from the steepish hills and small streams at the beginning to the widening floodplain and braided watercourses in the middle to the levels and tidal stretches of river at the end. There are sections I would definitely walk again. I had fun exploring somewhere quite local to me and getting a bit of an insight into land use along the valley, smelling the hay bales and hearing the hoots of the steam train around Bodiam and Newenden. For the most part, the weather was pretty good.

I saw loads of birds: buzzards and kestrels, magpies and jays, LBJs (little brown jobbies), goldfinches, herons and egrets, crows and jackdaws, wagtails, swallows, swans and ducks and geese, a few varieties of gull, oystercatchers and something that I thought was a mudlark/magpie lark, except that they’re Australian. I spotted some interesting beetles, lots of butterflies (gatekeepers, peacocks, common blues and red admirals among others), and dragon- and damselflies in bright colours. And of course, many sheep and cows, along with several horses, a few donkeys, some chooks, domestic ducks and a goat.

That’s not to say there weren’t challenges. I had to go doorknocking for water on the first and last days, and the heat and humidity made me a bit ill. The blasting wind and rain on the third day made for an unpleasant last hour or so, as my boots filled with water (running off the long grass onto my legs and down through my socks). I had to cross a few fields with nervous cows, but it was actually the frisky horses in the rain that made me most wary. Probably most annoyingly, though, I encountered a lot of difficult or impassable paths - mainly due to undergrowth of long grasses and nettles, but also a few poorly waymarked paths, locked gates and broken stiles. I got a few scratches from barbed wire and brambles and some small holes in my new shorts from an overgrown stile which could have been avoided with proper maintenance from the landholders.

Still, every day I felt so grateful to be able to do this - that I have the time off for walking, the access to the countryside, the physical capacity to do it and a wonderful partner who is happy to act as a taxi service! First walk of summer: done.

The recordings in the piece above, in order, with about 10 seconds of each:

The first crossing of the Rother, down an unwaymarked bridleway near Rotherfield
The river running through a culvert under a road after passing through someone's garden
An almost silent Rother in the heat of the day under St Dunstan's Bridge
Water under a concrete farm bridge, almost tempting me to jump in, near Moat Mill Farm
On the second day, at Wreckery Bridge down through the wheat fields from the railway line
Very faint sounds of water and midday insects just outside Etchingham
Upstream of Robertsbridge, one thread of the Rother collects in an old mill pond before continuing
Under my umbrella in the rain of the third day on the river bank near Robertsbridge Abbey
Watery white noise at the small weir at Udiam, as rain still falls
The hum of traffic and wind around the boats near Newenden Bridge
Geese fly overhead and swallows dart above the Rother while I eat lunch near Blackwall Bridge
Hunkering down behind the harbour arm, trying to collect some non-wind-distorted audio

For more river-length adventures: Snowy River, Cuckmere and River Otter. For more Rother walks: Royal Military Canal, Bodiam Castle and Northiam.

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A month of sunny days: June 2018

18/7/2018

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I could post about lots of things, but I've been far too busy doing stuff to actually get around to blogging. Instead, let's have another photo update - this time for June.

2 June 2018 - We went for a walk with one of Dan's colleagues up on the South Downs near Alfriston. It was nice to meet her and her partner and hopefully we'll go for another walk with them soon. I really enjoyed taking a new-to-us bridleway cutting down the hills - a slightly sunken green path that sees only a fraction of the traffic that passes above on the ridge, stuffed with wildflowers and interesting insects.

5 June 2018 - We saw lots of little fledgeling birds in late spring and early summer. This cutie was sitting here when we opened the front door and it took a little while for it to move. A pair of grey wagtails nested in a hanging flowerpot in the other courtyard and we watched them for days from the window.

9 June 2018 - A dear friend came to stay with us for a night. He was in the UK for a month before heading off to his next assignment with the Red Cross. We went for a lovely and, in places, overgrown walk around the Brightling Follies. In the afternoon I had a stand up paddle boarding lesson - I was extremely anxious about it beforehand, but I enjoyed the activity itself once I was out on the water (we went on a river as the wind was blowing the wrong way for sea paddling).

11 June 2018 - We continued to enjoy our after-work strolls around Stanmer Park, watching spring fold quickly into summer. The weather was amazing in June. Do you know what this tree is?

13 June 2018 - Back to Stanmer Park. I didn't take photos every time we visited. It was beautiful this month.

15 June 2018 - This is the way to start the weekend: sitting on top of the Downs in the sun with a cider, strawberries and a few other snacks from Middle Farm.

17 June 2018 - Time for the monthly walk with HRRA, our local LGBT/queer group. Our leader for the month took us in a loop from Crowhurst, down over the new bypass and across Combe Valley, with a spontaneous alteration to walk a section of dismantled rail line.

19 June 2018 - We hadn't been to Arlington Reservoir for a while. Last time we were there it was so muddy that we couldn't make it around! But it was coming up to cherry season, so we went to see if any of the wild cherry trees had fruit. They did, but it wasn't ripe. Still, it was a nice stroll!

21 June 2018 - Solstice last light. I have felt like summer days are even longer than usual this year - I think it's mainly because we get so much more evening light through the windows here than in our old place.

22 June 2018 - I set off walking down the wrong track, without a map or phone. I figured I'd gone astray soon enough and decided I'd try to cut through back to the path I was meant to be on. It turned out to be quite a fun little adventure, with a bit of backtracking and a lot of rehearsing my best, "I'm so sorry, I think I'm lost!" in case I bumped into landowners or estate managers.

23 and 24 June 2018 - I cancelled my next SUP session due to anxiety. Instead, we went for a walk on a local footpath that we've never been on before (there aren't many of them left!) then went camping overnight about 25 minutes north of here. We have tried to spend solstice evenings outside for the last few years - usually we go for a summer solstice wild camp, but this time we decided it would be more fun to have a lazy time reading books in a campsite where we could take all our nice bedding and lots of food and nobody was going to come and tell us off.

28 June 2018 - Finally, after years of thinking about it, I went swimming at Barcombe Mills, in the Ouse. I love river swimming and it was so luxurious to slip into the cool water after a stifling day (my work, like many UK buildings, doesn't have aircon and is not built to be good in the heat). The ducklings were a nice touch!

29 June 2018 - Barcombe Mills is kind of on our way home from work, which is very convenient. And it had been so nice the day before. And it was so hot again . . . So I jumped in the next day, too! Since then, I've been in several times. It's so refreshing. I love it!

Special shout-out to Skarlett's - a small local cafe that does diner-style food with lots of vegan options. I pretty much started and ended June with a freakshake: success!

Milkshake topped with icecream, biscuit and cupcake

Milkshake topped with doughnut and cherry

So, that was my June - no 30 Days Wild for me this year, but I still managed to get out and about! Now I'm looking forward to a month of summer holidays with plenty of walking adventures . . .

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As I Am Walking (I Am Becoming)

2/6/2018

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This poem/sound piece was my contribution to Queer Out Here Issue 01.

I thought I'd share it separately, mostly as a record for myself, but also for those who might be interested but who haven't yet listened to Queer Out Here Issue 01 for whatever reason. The text is below (it's not a precise transcript - it's the text from which the sound piece grew) and there's more info in the show notes.

As I am walking
I am becoming myself
In this world
In this way    I am becoming
A mind      full of the present
I am a movement
I am a moment
I am presented to myself
As a footfall on grass
As a breath in the breathing of leaves
As a body
Enveloped by sky and earth
By rock by water by trees
Defined    on a path
On a past   dissolving
On the wind
As I am walking
I am becoming aware
Of place and pace
And time measured in heartbeat
And cloudheight
As an ever unfurling
Now          breath
Now          step
As I am walking breath
I am becoming step
I am a movement   breath
I am a moment   step
I am presented to myself as a footfall
I am falling
I am filling
I am full

If you're queer and want to make an outdoors-related audio piece for Queer Out Here, submissions for Issue 02 are open until 1 September 2018. We'd love to hear from you!

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Two Days on the Beacons Way

21/5/2018

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Long weekend. Welsh hills. Gorgeous weather. Great company. Lots of hard walking. In short: fantastic!

We left work a little early on Friday of the long weekend and drove straight to Abergavenny/Y Fenni, meeting our friend Paulina at our hotel (she was over from Poland). It was great to catch up during dinner, but we were all pretty tired, so it was an early night.

Day 1 - Abergavenny to Llanthony

Saturday dawned clear and bright - a far cry from the constant cloud cover forecast on the BBC weather app! - and we set off after a hearty breakfast. We remembered just in time for a short detour to a cash machine that the campsite that night was cash only, before we crossed the Gavenny River and headed up a shady lane, over a golf course and into farmland.

Ysgyryd Fawr (known to many as “the Skirrid”) loomed ever closer. And then we were climbing - up from the carpark, steeply through the woods, steeper and steeper, then finally up onto the clear ridge. We stopped often to admire the view and to catch our breath. Dan and I have been here a couple of times, but this was the first time with big packs. Yeah, it was a bit harder!

Having done the climb before, we two were prepared for the many false summits on the way - I felt for Paulina when she reached yet another ‘top’ only to see there was more climbing to do.

But we got there!

We rested at the summit and had a good snack while trying to trace the route we’d be taking over the ridges of the Black Mountains. It was a gorgeous day and we felt lucky to be out in it.

Soon it was time to go down the hill. And I mean down. See, the thing about Ysgyryd Fawr is that one approach is quite gradual (believe it or not, that was the way we’d come up), while the other drops off almost vertically.

The descent took all our concentration. Paulina actually took off her pack and rolled it down the hill at one point so it wouldn’t pull her off balance (minor casualties: the block of cheese and a few oatcakes). My toes were threatening blisters by the end of it, from gripping and sliding and sometimes knocking on the ends of my boots.

In the valley, we passed an old farm with peacocks, grabbed a pint (of lime and soda!) in the Skirrid Inn, spoke to many lambs, sheep and cows. Dan and I tried to translate things into Welsh (or English, if it was already in Welsh) and possibly impressed Paulina with our limited knowledge.

We’d planned a late lunch at the top of Hatterrall Hill, but the heat dictated an earlier rest stop in the leafy shade beside a quiet lane. We ate delicious camembert with slices of apple and some sorrel I foraged from the verge. Nice!

This was the first time we’d done an overnight walking-camping trip like this with a friend, and it was really fun. I have lots of memories of laughing about things - many that now puzzle me (why was the cheese so funny?) - and it was lovely to be able to introduce Paulina to a place we really like.

On Hatterall Ridge, we found ponies and foals, an interesting looking bird (we later discovered it was a wheatear), an old fort and a QR code that gave us a history lesson about King Offa and the Offa’s Dyke Path, which converges with the Beacons Way for a few miles here.

Oh, and lambs, too. (Paulina probably has a whole coffee-table book full of lamb photos from this trip!)

It was pleasant to have a little bit of flatter walking along the ridge among the heather and whimberry (wild blueberry) bushes. We had great views over England on one side and Wales on the other, with the late afternoon light filtering through a thin haze into the green valleys.

And then we started dropping down the hillside, towards the distant ruins of Priordy Llanddewi Nant Hodni/Llanthony Priory and the campsite that we hoped would be home for the night. Paulina kept us distracted with important topics such as, “What is the best kind of pasta shape?” and “What are your favourite pizza topping combinations?”

At Llanthony, the campsite was pretty busy, but there was still plenty of room for us. We set up the tent (for Paulina and Dan) and tarp (for me), then went off to the little pub beside the priory ruins for dinner. We all agreed it had been a pretty excellent day. By the time we got back to our site, a layer of dampness had settled over everything - including the sleeping bag I hadn’t yet tucked into the bivvy. Oops! Still, we made pretty short work of cleaning ourselves up and hopping into bed before 9pm. I slept much better than expected, warm and relatively comfy. I only really woke up once in the early morning, with the moon shining directly into my tarp like a big lunar spotlight.

Day 2 - Llanthony to Llanbedr

On Sunday morning, I think I was the first person up in the whole campsite. I walked to the toilets accompanied by the songs of robins, blackbirds, tits, jackdaws and a cuckoo - amongst others. The tent and tarp were both saturated with dew/condensation, but our gear was mostly fine. After a quick breakfast we packed everything away and made tracks to the first big climb of the day.

The sun was blazing and it was already pretty warm and humid. The path up towards Bâl Bach was beautiful, with views behind us to the priory, a stream tumbling down the hillside, bright spring leaves and a clear blue sky. But boy howdy, was it steep! (At least it was to us. We were passed by someone running up the path!)

person walking up hill with view of priory

We stopped frequently and played tag with a Duke of Edinburgh group ahead of us.

person on a path through heather and grass

At the top we spoke with the D of E group properly - they were on a practice run for their gold award, having come from Abergavenny over the Sugarloaf/Y Fâl the day before and being due in Hay-on-Wye on the Monday afternoon.

large round stone cairn and photographer

We parted ways with them there, as they continued right up the ridge and we turned left towards a large cairn (where we saw some more wheatears and even a few lizards - a rare sight in the UK) and down into the next valley.

small bird of black, grey, white and buff throat

As we descended, Paulina’s new boots completely fell apart (the glue bonding the sole to the boot had been disintegrating since the previous afternoon). Luckily, she had a pair of running shoes to change into, and we loaned her our walking poles to help her ankles on the descents. Dan and I had brought the poles mainly for my tarp set-up but they did make a difference while walking. I’m thinking I might get myself my own set of poles, as I find my joints and feet hurt less and I can travel more quickly when I use them.

In the valley, we stopped by a little stream and bathed our feet in the icy water. Well, Paulina and I did. Dan doesn’t often take his boots off during a day of walking. I love him very much, but he is definitely a fool in this regard!

person sitting on stone wall to dry feet

And then? Straight back up the next hill! We’d promised ourselves lunch at the top, and we were sticking to it this time. There wasn’t much scope for talking, as we all put our heads down and slogged it out in our own time.

lane in dappled light with stone wall and sheep

A couple of escapee sheep ran up a lane ahead of us, bleating at their compadres in the neighbouring field, only turning back and high-tailing it past us when they reached a closed gate at the end.

The ascent to Crug Mawr was again full of false horizons. Dan would stop ahead of me, I’d call out, “Does it get flatter?” and he’d call back, “A bit! Sort of!” and I’d relay that to Paulina behind me. But eventually we could see the trig point at the top.

Dan and I put on a bit of speed so we could set up the tarp for shade before Paulina arrived. We also staked out the tent and fly to dry out, which they did in about five seconds in the sun and wind.

We had a long and well-deserved lunch break, eating our broken block of cheese with oatcakes and wild garlic. It tasted amazing. We also made the call to take the road around to Crickhowell rather than climb yet another hill in the heat, as we were all feeling a bit woozy and were getting low on water.

Knowing we’d climbed the last hill perked us up (or maybe that was the energy-nougat-that-tasted-like-camping-shop?) and we started down the long descent, watching and watched by sheep and ponies. We discussed capitalism, neoliberalism, depression, anxiety, notions of community and other such interesting things. We met a couple of people heading up over the hill to visit their neighbours - it reminded me a bit of growing up a couple of kilometres and one large valley away from our the-people-next-door.

We left the Beacons Way (which, incidentally, was well signposted throughout) and navigated our way down, down, down to a shady little stream. Which, of course, meant Paulina and I had to go paddling again. As we splashed, we decided to change plans a second time, head for the village pub in Llanbedr and call a taxi instead of walking to Crickhowell. After all, we were here to enjoy ourselves.

So that’s what we did. The Red Lion is a lovely pub, there was lovely weather, we drank some lovely soft drinks and shandies and beers while waiting for the taxi. Our taxi driver was lovely (he breeds miniature pigs! and models beards!) and we had lovely chats while we sped through the lovely Usk valley back to Abergavenny/Y Fenni. From there, it was a short drive to our lovely Airbnb - and an extremely lovely bath!

We were all exhausted, but our host had lit a fire in the fire bowl and invited us to drink a beer and watch bats. She even had a bat detector. So we sat out for a while chatting, spotting bats and enjoying the sunset, before I had to admit defeat and go to bed.

On Monday, we had a fresh breakfast of fruit salad while sitting in the dappled morning sun. It was quite delightful. We took a slightly slower route to drop Paulina off at Reading Station - driving down the Wye valley, stopping at Tintern for a sandwich, crossing the Severn, heading to Avebury (the carparks were too full to stop there), spotting the white horse carvings and stopping for an uninspiring pub lunch. We agreed it had been a great weekend!

(After saying goodbye to Paulina, Dan and I took the back roads to Battle, stopping for a short leg-stretch at Winkworth Arboretum, owned by the National Trust. It was full of bluebells! I’d love to visit again when we have a bit more time.)

If you're interested, here's more about the Beacons Way, or check out some of our other Welsh adventures!

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April, come she will . . .

3/5/2018

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I can't tell you how relieved I am that spring is here. Actual light! Actual warmth! Actual greenery! The world is waking up and I am cheering up.

shady path with sun piercing through leaves

A path beside the fresh leaves of spring hawthorn, Malling Down near Lewes.

And so, for no reason other than I'm happy, let's have some April photos. These aren't masterpieces, just a selection of pics from the iPhone (some mine, some Dan's), but does anyone really care about that when there are blossoms and blue skies and sunshine to be enjoyed?

(Just a little tune to look at photos by!)

Good morning! View from our bedroom window at the start of April.

We went on a short National Trust break in West Sussex.

And also visited Scotney Castle one afternoon - can you spot the frog?

We've taken to dropping in to Stanmer Park on the edge of Brighton on fine evenings before we drive home. The road loop is an easy 1km stroll.

A fine green mist on the trees in Stanmer Park.

A close up of the budding spring foliage.

One weekend we went out to check a few footpaths. It was a gorgeous day and I loved seeing all these cuckoo flowers (a.k.a. ladies' smock or milkmaids).

We also happened upon a coffee morning. Score!

Big clouds of blackthorn (sloe) blossoms burst like spring fireworks in hedgerows.

Another shot from our bedroom window. I've enjoyed watching the sunrise move from right to left over the season.

person in blue shorts jumping into blue sky

I got some new shorts. They're pretty awesome.

Another after work walk - this time up Mount Caburn, near Glynde.

Stuck in traffic around the back of Lewes, we decided to stop and explore Malling Down Nature Reserve. A brilliant idea, it turned out!

More of that wonderful blossom! I love spring!

A practice tarp set up - and a cute fellow reading in the shade.

We went for a long walk with some of our HRRA compadres - from Hastings Pier to Eastbourne Pier, about 15 miles. Glorious day for it!

Water drainage patterns in the sand, just below the shingle line.

line of alcoves with different coloured walls

Mmm, blue sky, colours and shadow patterns. Fave.

The ruins of a Martello tower near Sovereign Harbour, as we approached Eastbourne.

Can't get enough of white blossoms, it seems!

Stanmer Park again - more leaves on the trees, now...

I walked home from work on the last weekend in April. It took until Sunday lunch time. More on that in another post!

Beautiful bluebell woods. It's so hard to capture them on camera.

Hey - some pink blossoms, for a change.

landscape with crepuscular rays and water in foreground

Looking back over the Levels towards the South Downs, sun bursting through the clouds. Goodbye, April, you've been great!

And so, we head into May. I want to gobble up as much lovely springtime I can, and I'm looking forward to some nice walks and trips to Wales, Oxfordshire, maybe Bristol . . . What are your plans?

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Queer Out Here Q&A

10/4/2018

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Queer Out Here Issue 01 was released in February. Woohoo! It’s been a really exciting project - starting from deciding to put it together, to creating the structure to support it, asking people to contribute, then working on the episode. My co-editor Allysse and I have each answered a few questions about the process so far - you can read mine below and Allysse's at Beste Glatisant.

Did you have any expectations for Queer Out Here - and how did they match with the reality?

I tried not to have too many expectations, but I did have hopes!

I had no idea what kind of response we’d get to our call for submissions, so I was really happy with the number and range of pieces we received. We ended up with enough content to make a nice, fat Issue 01 - longer than I’d expected - with creative writing, sound art, conversations, field recordings and monologues/musings all represented. Overall, I probably expected more stories about specific events or activities, and possibly a few more essays/academic approaches to the theme, but it was a pretty good balance.

The process of putting the issue together was more time-consuming than I’d thought - but it was fun! Allysse and I spent a lot of time building the infrastructure and doing background work, chasing up submissions, choosing the running order, recording the links and transcribing. We’ve also learnt a bit about the technical side of things - especially the distribution of podcasts (or things-that-are-kind-of-like-podcasts).

two smiling people with green landscape behind

Me and Allysse at Cheddar Gorge. I'm not really that short. (I am quite short.)

Are there any podcasts (or other media) that inspired you more than others for the creation of the zine?

The initial spark came from listening to the Tough Girl podcast by Sarah Williams and wondering if there was anything similar for queer/LGBTQIA+ adventurers (there isn’t, as far as we know!). Allysse and I didn’t have the time or energy to do weekly, long-form interviews like that, so we knew we'd have to take a different approach. We’re also both really interested in the more creative side of audio as a format, and from that perspective I took inspiration from the creative journals I remember from uni and the collaborative zines I’ve enjoyed or been part of since then.

When it comes down to it, we had a hankering for stories of queer folks doing stuff outdoors - we wanted something like this to exist, and sometimes if you want something to exist you have to create it (or facilitate its creation) yourself. And that is quite a zine-y attitude.

Queer Out Here Issue 01 - cover art by Emma Charleston.

How did you go about organising the pieces into a coherent whole for the issue?

Ooh, this was interesting! Obviously, until we passed the submissions deadline, we couldn’t really decide on a running order. Once we had all the pieces, Allysse and I both went away and created our own track lists (I made some colourful spreadsheets, of course), then reconvened the following weekend to talk through our ideas. We’d independently come up with some of the same notions - like a preference for Adele’s piece coming first and Wendy’s coming last, and about the links between some of the pieces. A few pieces were harder to place than others - for example, Belinda’s poems are so powerful that we felt the piece following them needed give the listener a bit of space to come down.

Doing this was a bit like curating and planning an exhibition, with questions about theme, tone, format, creator and length all playing a part. We tried to mix things up - for example, not putting all the poetry, or all the American accents, or all the long pieces together - but we also wanted the zine to have a momentum, and to flow from one piece to the next rather than chopping and changing. In the end, we kind of created chapters within the zine, like rooms within a gallery - sections of about four pieces each, which we felt spoke to each other in some way.

person wearing headphones looking to the side

Recording links for Issue 01. (Actually, just posing in my PJs!)

person pulling face looking like they're going to eat the microphone

Now this is really what I look like when recording.

What has been the most interesting thing about making Issue 01?

Is it a cop-out to say “the whole process”? Like I said above, we started Queer Out Here because we wanted to listen to something and we couldn’t find it - and it was exciting to learn that other people obviously wanted to share and listen to these stories, too. I loved hearing all the pieces that were submitted - the range of topics, the different styles, the personalities of contributors, all of it! Overall, though, project is something of an experiment, so I’ve tried to approach without too many preconceptions and it’s been wonderful to watch it take shape so far.

What has been the most difficult thing about creating Queer Out Here for you?

Luckily, we didn’t encounter too many snags and hitches. Sure, there were a couple of technical concerns, but overall I feel like the two of us - and various helpful friends - managed to sort them out.

The hardest thing for me, personally, was the process of approaching people and asking for submissions. I’ve never enjoyed cold calling, fundraising, and the kinds of things that mean asking people to do something for you. Although I am obviously invested in the idea of Queer Out Here, I still find the approaching-and-asking process rather anxiety inducing. Issue 01 features several friends and acquaintances, but outside of my usual circles I took quite a scattergun approach, which didn’t work so well. This is something I want to focus on for Issue 02 - finding new people and groups to approach, and doing that in a more personal way.

What are your hopes for future issues?

My main hopes are that people keep creating and submitting interesting pieces and that Allysse and I continue to enjoy working together.

As well as more of the kinds of audio we feature in Issue 01, I would like to hear from people of colour, from Indigenous people, from people in countries outside of the UK, Australia and the USA, from older folks, from queer families and youth. I’d like to hear music, essays and documentaries, pieces about sport (team, solo, extreme, everyday), epic journeys, cultural geography, homelessness, relationships, ecology and conservation.

One thing I loved about Issue 01 was getting submissions from people who hadn’t created much (or any) audio before, as well as from people who do this professionally. I hope that mix continues. It would be amazing to hear from previous contributors as they continue to explore the possibilities of the medium, too.

You can listen to Issue 01 here, and on iTunes, PlayerFM, Stitcher and a few other places. Let us know what you think! Submissions for Issue 02 will open in May 2018.

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Gippsland Cycle Tour, Part 2

Bairnsdale to Stratford

Conclusion

Gippsland Cycle Tour, Part 1

Preparation

East Gippsland Rail Trail

Thank you

"Knuckerhole Shaw" in Terra: Dark Mountain Issue 14

From London to Norfolk in seven years

2011

2015

2016

2017

2018

River Rother: Source to Sea

A month of sunny days: June 2018

As I Am Walking (I Am Becoming)

Two Days on the Beacons Way

Day 1 - Abergavenny to Llanthony

Day 2 - Llanthony to Llanbedr

April, come she will . . .

Queer Out Here Q&A

In which I

In which I tag

In which I archive