Trail: Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail - 4 Nights, 65 km

I walked the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail last week. The five day / four night trail was fantastic. Lots of different environments to walk through, from bushland, forests, grasslands and stunning coasts.

The facilities provided for on the trail are first class, with clean, modern camp sites, plenty of rain water and a communal shelter / cooking area for walkers each night. The map and documentation provided for by Flinders Chase Visitor's Centre was excellent, and provided a detailed map, elevation and vegetation, and information regarding history, flora and fauna. Very well done.

The trail is well-marked, and can be completed without much training. I completed each day roughly within the time indicated, with a slow pace and plenty of breaks for photos. The opportunity to walk through such landscapes is amazing, and the KIWT is expertly organised / structured / maintained.

I had a magical time, and would highly recommend this trail.

Trail: Baroota Ruins - 1 Night, 12 km

I spent the night at Baroota Ruins last Friday. The walk from Mambray Creek to the Baroota Campground is short, but very beautiful. There was plenty of rainwater at Baroota Campground. 

Trail: Hidden Gorge - 1 Night, 18 km

I walked the Hidden Gorge Hike over two days last weekend, to celebrate the start of spring. A truly beautiful walk, I would highly recommend as it is relatively close to Adelaide, can be reached by public transport, and offers spectacular views of Hidden Gorge and surrounds.

The walk is 18 KM long and was completed in two days, including three hour travel time (one way) from Adelaide. Hidden Gorge camp was spacious and sheltered. Although it rained all night, the weather was fantastic during the day.

New Me-ism: June 2017 Wrap Up

Cross posted: http://newmeism.blogspot.com.au/2017/06/monthly-wrap-up-june-2017.html

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By integrating new skills and habits, maybe its possible to carve out a different path. Through personal empowerment comes agency, freedom and responsibility.

I don't feel the need to purchase what I used to need to purchase. I have the choice now, to buy or not, across multiple domains. Food, cleaning, hygiene, entertainment. This list is growing, and it's only starting to click how empowering this can be.

Systems are falling into place, and are working.

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It's been a good month in many respects. I've swapped drinking beer from glass bottles (for the most part) to growlers that are filled by my local brewery.

I've swapped a plastic disposable shaver for a safety shaver.

I love making things, and the more things I am able to make, the better. I've been continuing to experiment with homemade recipes for dishwashing liquid, mouthwash, shampoo, conditioner and moisturiser - all quite successfully.

Also: the apple tree in my garden gave a nice harvest!

I've started dehydrating food. Rice, pasta, beans, lentils, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage, onion, banana, mandarins, kiwi, grapefruit. Combining various ingredients has made for some excellent reconstituted meals. 

I've also put these meals to the test in the real world, by packing food for hiking. One day's worth of snacks and meals weigh around 500 - 550 g which, although not super light, is not too bad for efficiency. The ability to pre-pack dehydrated, homemade meals is powerful in terms of waste reduction when camping / hiking / busy times, and in terms of control over what goes into the body. 

I managed to find time to go hiking twice - once on Waitpinga Road and also two nights walking the Nukan Kungan trail. Beautiful scenery and short days during winter.

Electricity use for the last quarter is down by 10% compared to the same time last year. 

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In terms of garbage for this month, here's what was collected:

As always, the top row, from left to right, is glass, tins, paper. The bottom row, from left to right, is hard plastic, soft plastic, and miscellaneous.

A bit of a reduction from last month - and a massive reduction since February. This doesn't include a snack pack container and coke bottle that I had in Melbourne earlier in June.

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I have to stop ordering things from the internet. Less things, yes.

Otherwise, a great month overall!

Trail: Nukan Kungun Hike - 2 Nights, 45 km

I walked the Nukan Kungun Hike last weekend, just after the winter solstice. Although the days were short, I managed to do the majority of the walk on the second day. The Coorong has been special to me for a long time, and I've been planning to do this walk for at least two months.

This walk meanders around the small salt lakes, through scrubland and out across the Coorong at 42 Mile Crossing - all being very typically South Australian.

I caught the 6PM bus on the Friday night to Salt Creek, and walked 4 KM to Oystercatcher Campground. On the Saturday I walked to 42 Mile Crossing Campground and back - about 45 KM - and then back the 4KM to Salt Creek on the Sunday.

Note that the water was not drinkable at 42 Mile Crossing, even after boiling. Also, the middle third of the trail is not sign posted well, and its easy to lose the track - however, the general direction always remains either south east or north west.

The MLD Monk Tarp worked great with the Spark 2 sleeping bag. Even in the heart of the South Australian winter, I was warm and dry.

Trail: Waitpinga Road - 1 Night, 16 km

I spent one night on the Heysen Trail, camping at the corner of Waitpinga and Range Road. This spot was about an hour's walk from the Encounter Bay public bus stop, two hours from the Victor Harbour stop.

A cold, but peaceful night. Walking back in the early morning was worth the view of fog in the valley, and looking down across the bay.