#it's 4.30AM time for my end-of-the-night nap

[oldtvandcomics]

Happy Queer Media Monday!

Today: Deadly Illusions (2021)

I’ve recommended so many good queer stories. For balance’s sake, here is a bad one.

(Official poster, picturing Mary and Grace)

Deadly Illusions is a psychological thriller movie on Netflix. It is about an author, who has made a fortune with her best-selling novels, and is now retired and living happily with her family. She refuses to write, because the kind of stories she creates mess with her brain and “turn her into a different person”. When her publisher gives her an offer she cannot refuse, she reluctantly agrees to a new book, and hires a nanny to take care of her children. She quickly develops a deep, sexual obsession with the young and pretty woman, to the point that she starts to doubt her own sanity. 

I am not at all a thriller fan, so I have no context to judge this movie. What I can say is that, 1) it falls into some very harmful tropes about the “scary” disorders psychosis, DID and schizophrenia (it is never specified which one we are talking about, there are symptoms that can belong to all three. Also, fiction does have a tendency to mix these together). It is using symptoms for horror value, without actually committing to showing the real underlying disorder(s). Also, there is a murderous alter, leaning into the “people with DID are dangerous” stereotype. 

And 2) according to this subreddit, there are quite a few people who consider this movie badly written. I do not disagree with them. I have also found a review by @femalegayzepod , saying pretty much the same thing.

So I’m going to make the conclusion that this is not a good movie. However, it IS gay, with a lot of sexuality in it. And fans of every genre deserve bad movies from time to time.

You can watch the trailer here.

Queer Media Monday is an action I started to talk about some important and/or interesting parts of our queer heritage, that people, especially young people who are only just beginning to discover the wealth of stories out there, should be aware of. Please feel free to join in on the fun and make your own posts about things you personally find important!

[paharvey99]

No Waitrose October 4

Day 28

The weekend! Hooray! I woke up and the person I live with informed me that our daughter had slept through! Hooray! Unfortunately it turned out that the man who lives upstairs had decided to play records in the room directly above us all night. My daughter and I slept right through it, but the person I live with did not and was up half the night being furious, until eventually she went upstairs at 4.30am and asked him to turn it down, which he did. He doesn’t usually play records all night, so it was a bit odd.

Anyway, the person I live with had only had about three hours sleep, so I got up with our daughter and gave her some scrambled egg and got her dressed and started watching the animated film Anastasia on Netflix. They’ve just made it into a Broadway musical and my little sister is going to New York next year to see it. She was telling me about it this week. She once watched the film three times in a row, apparently. I remember my dad taking the two of us to see the film at the cinema, but I don’t think I’ve seen it in the 20 years since. It was better than I remembered. I’m not sure I’d go all the way to New York to see it live on stage, but I once went all the way to New York to see Cliff Richard live on stage, so who am I to judge.

The person I live with got up and was feeling slightly less furious with the man upstairs, so we went out to the park and played on the swings. Then we went out for lunch at the French place at the end of our street. We’re semi-regulars in there, as it’s a nice and informal but still slightly fancy place to go for lunch. The person I live with had the French breakfast, I had the onion soup and we got a croque monsieur for our daughter to have a crack at. Turns out she didn’t fancy it, so I got to eat her croque monsieur. Eating unwanted food is pretty much the top perk of taking a baby out for a meal. That’s why I ordered the soup, as I was anticipating bonus croque. I also got a fried egg and the balck pudding (boudin noir, really) from the person I live with’s meal, so it was a total result of a lunch.

We went home and the person I live with did some work and our daughter slept and I tried to remember what I do to entertain myself in those situations. Then I remembered I read cookbooks and do crosswords, so I did that. When our daughter woke, I took her out to town so that the person I live with could get some more work done.

I went to H&M first up, as I wanted to buy a sweatshirt. When I take my daughter out in the sling, if she falls asleep she rests her head on my chest, which means I can’t wear any of my hoodies anymore, as they have zips in the crucial place, and I don’t want her to try to go to sleep using a zip as a pillow. Same problem with anything with buttons. So I have slightly changed my wardrobe in recent months to incorporate more sweatshirts, for the sake of my daughter’s nap. That is something they don’t tell you in antenatal classes.

I got a sweatshirt for £9 in the sale, it’s as basic as anything but will do. I am yet to try it on, actually (trying stuff on with a baby in a sling is obviously a non-starter), but it ought to fit.

Then I went to O2 to try to cancel my phone contract, but they said I had to do it over the phone.

After that it was time to buy some food for tea and head home, so I went to Taj, the Asian supermarket on Western Road I was banging on about a few weeks ago, to buy some stuff. The person I live with had, in light of last night’s pizza, requested a meal with lots of veg in, so I bought lots of veg. I decided to make a Moroccan style thing with harissa and tomatoes and chickpeas and aubergine and other veg and cous cous and the last bit of chicken left in the fridge, as that seemed like a pretty simple way of hitting the “lots of veg” brief. Usually I would have put chorizo in as well, but Taj doesn’t sell chorizo, so I didn’t bother.

We walked back home and there were loads of people heading in the opposite direction, into Brighton, dressed up in Halloween costumes. I hate Halloween, I think it’s awful and hate everything about it. I keep hoping that one year people will decide it’s problematic and everyone will agree never to celebrate it again. Hasn’t happened yet, though.

We got home and I heated up a roast dinner from the freezer for our daughter and she ate it followed by a whole banana, which was pretty impressive. Then it was bathtime, but I had a special request for a calming bathtime rather than a disco bathtime, so the featured artist today was the Scottish band Camera Obscura. I completely, unequivocally love the band Camera Obscura, so it is a source of great joy that my daughter is willing to tolerate them.

Our daughter went to bed and then the person I live with and I ate the Moroccan style thing that I had made and then we were about to watch the new series of Stranger Things on Netflix but the person I live with fell asleep. I bet it’s no good anyway.

Didn’t go to Waitrose.

[belardtheworld]

Beauty isn’t hard to find. We live in a world where skies are constantly changing colours only to retire each night to reveal a galaxy so vastly beyond our recognition. You only need to open your eyes and mind to realize just how lucky we are. For the ones who understand true beauty are the ones who become it.

Nature works its magic

What do you do when you witness the rays of the sun seep through the sky from under the ocean, turning the otherwise non-existent clouds in the black sky from purple to pink, then white?

For me, I just stood there, flabbergasted. Earlier that morning (do you consider 4.30am morning, or the middle of the night?), I was awoken by our guide to get ready for a hike up Padar Island. The cabin room had been too stuffy with the confined space and lack of ventilation, so I opted for sleeping on the deck instead, together with the rest of us who were sprawled around the spacious deck. The natural wind breeze, coupled with the gentle rocking of the boat made for some light sleeping.

As we trudged up Padar Island’s elevated grounds with a torchlight in hand, I couldn’t help but look up in the sky every once in a while. How often in life do we get to be surrounded by nothing but the ocean and green hills, and have a whole canvas of stars cover your vision of the sky?

I hiked up some way up and found a prime spot to witness the sunrise. Andry, our official photographer of the trip, came shortly after. I was pleased to have someone to share my awe of the great outdoors with.

Faint pink clouds start becoming visible, as the first signs of the glowing sun starts to peek out from the horizon. At the end of our time lapse, the sky is replaced by a fearsome orange ball, casting its power on the whole of Earth. And then you wonder why the same sky from home never looked quite like this.

Notice how the clouds shifts and change colours!

We spent a few more moments watching the trail of orange melt in the water, with the silhouette of mountains as a backdrop. Witnessing the Earth come alive is one of the moments we’ve taken for granted in the midst of hustling about our daily lives. Being able to embrace this moment with the few that have hiked this far made this an even more treasured moment.

As with the rising of the sun, the air temperature shifts.The rays that hit my skin is one of warmth, and they slowly awaken my cells, as if telling me it’s the beginning of another day.

The secret life no one knows about

Kelor Island

The water here is the same as what I’ve witnessed in the Maldives, Greece and the Philippines – aquamarine and crystal clear. It’s the perfect recipe for snorkelling, which we immersed in in between lunches and our afternoon naps. From the boat, you can easily make out the corals and the weed through the shallow, pale, turquoise waters.

We’d gone snorkelling on a number of stops in our 3-day live-aboard tour – Manta Point, Batu Bolong and at the Pink Beach.

Manta Point is an area in the middle of nowhere. The boat parked out in the middle of the ocean, and we went manta ray-hunting. These manta rays are shy creatures. It took us many attempts to locate them. Once we did, we went into the waters to try and catch a closer glimpse. Lucky me caught them in their element for just that split second, before they dived deeper under.

Snorkelling at Batu Bolong awarded us with the sight of brightly-coloured corals, and little fishes that seek refuge in them. Watching them in their natural habitat as an onlooker is a true honour. If merely watching forests get cleared out in place of high-rise residential buildings in my hometown of Singapore tug at my heartstrings, I cannot stand the thought of how these harmless, peaceful marine creatures may be threatened by mankind in the near future.

Pink Beach was a point I had been so stoked to visit prior to the trip. While alighting from the boat to reach the shore of the Pink Beach, i was overcome with amazement at how the beach really is pink! Upon closer inspection, I found tiny red coral fragments being washed ashore each time the tide comes in, and that’s where the soft pink colour on the shoreline comes from. The pink actually comes from microscopic animals called Foraminifera that lives in the water producing the red pigment on these coral reefs.

The sun casts its perfect glow on me, turning my yellowish skin an olive-brown colour.

I put on my flippers, wear my snorkelling goggles and waddle into the cool, aquamarine waters to join the rest who are already engrossed with the underwater life. The deeper I went, the more variety of fishes I saw. Each time I go underwater, I am always filled with child-like wonder at how diverse the marine life can be, and how much we’ve been missing out by staying overland for the most part of our lives. Each area of the open water I swim to revealed different families of fishes. I particularly liked the bright-coloured ones, and my feeble attempt to chase them always fails.

Hello, Komodo dragons!

Credit: Floyd Cowan, Asian Journeys

What is visiting Flores without witnessing some of the deadliest creatures on Earth?

We made stops to Rinca island and Komodo National Park to pay a visit to the largest lizards in the world, the Komodo dragon. These carnivorous creatures can grow up to 3 metres and weigh up to 166kg, though most of them weigh on average 70kg – that is 1.4 times my weight!

Poor deer as prey for the Komodo dragons!

Komodo dragons eat almost anything they can find, including deer, snakes, water buffalo, pigs, boars, smaller Komodo dragons, and even humans! A recent news reported that a Singaporean tourist was bitten by a Komodo dragon in one of these parks, just shortly after my visit there. If that doesn’t deter you, you can see sightings of the bloodied affair from the bite in this article! For that reason, we were guided by the park’s guardians, because even humans are no match for these deadly creatures.

Don’t these Komodo dragons look harmless?

What struck me first was how fat, lazy and (seemingly) harmless they looked. I had expected more action after hearing how deadly they are. They even blocked our path on a bridge! Apart from seeing them dragging their feet along the ground, hissing and flicking their forked tongue in and out, we weren’t as lucky as to catch them killing their prey. The most we saw was a carcass made of bones down the middle of a path that we were walking. A few metres down, we saw a Komodo dragon with a bloated tummy, and concluded he was the culprit.

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Before the sun set, our boat took us to a Komodo village. It is here where humans and Komodo dragons live together on a piece of shared land.

Don’t they leave in fear of being eaten by Komodo dragons? I couldn’t help but ask.

Walking through the Komodo village taught me how humans can live harmoniously in the wild. They can spend a lifetime from chasing goats and cats around the village to fishing for a living, carving and creating trinkets to sell as souvenirs. Come night, they relish in the simple joys of watching television or people-watching from the balconies of their thatched houses. We are to them as they are to us specimens from another world, and they watch with intrigue how people of different shapes, sizes and colours can coexist, while we wonder with amazement how they can live with the carnivorous Komodo dragons without fear.

Despite our language barrier – we communicate with human’s universal language – through the warmth of a smile.

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Exploring the village, there are roads which were completely unlit. Once, we got a huge scare walking through a path in pitch blackness. A goat had bleated angrily in the quiet darkness, as if we might have trespassed his property. I grabbed Andry’s arm for an instinctive source of protection and hurriedly crossed the platform to the nearest light source. Phew!

A healing trip

On the last night, we watched the stars twinkle in the night from the boat’s deck, feeling extremely thankful for having the opportunity to experience such a rare tour that brings me to the corner of Indonesia to experience the best of nature’s wonder.

Coming to Labuan Bajo to visit Flores is by no means a luxurious trip, but for someone whose love for nature surpasses materialism. It’s a trip where you watch the sun make its way across the sky with each passing hour, and the waning and waxing of the moon through what man identifies as time.

It’s a trip for those who embrace being one with the land and the sea.

The Phinisi boat we stayed in for 3D2N around Labuan Bajo

If anything, it’s a healing trip for me. A trip to reconnect with myself, my roots, and my love for writing. Time stands still, because time doesn’t matter. There are no deadlines to pursue, no obligations to fulfil, no rush to head anywhere. Once again, my love for travels and explorations had been reignited.

On the way back to the mainland, while overcome with mixed feelings about returning home, we noticed a family of seagulls circle the ocean and swoop down to the surface of the sea for their prey.

I thought to myself, this could not be a better farewell sight.

Special thanks to Wonderful Indonesia for making this trip possible! All opinions remain my own.

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Secret Islands of Indonesia that will Stun You – Labuan Bajo, Flores Beauty isn't hard to find. We live in a world where skies are constantly changing colours only to retire each night to reveal a galaxy so vastly beyond our recognition. 

[beachesandbrows]

I have spent the last 5 days in Sicily with 15 fellow Erasmus students and my God, what can I say?

We landed in Palermo bright and early on Friday morning after a sleepless night. We got a shuttle bus into the city and made our way towards our apartment in the city centre. There were 9 of us staying together and the apartment was quite big but we did have some issues with plumbing and a broken bed! Regardless of this we just unpacked and got on with the day. We had some cocktails in a bar on Via Vittorio Emmanuele and then strolled towards the port for some lunch.

Naturally being by the sea the main dish was fish, and as we scanned the menu we saw them bringing in freshly caught fish and mussels by the bucket load. However I DO NOT LIKE FISH and so I was a little limited in potential dishes but I settled on a Spaghetti Carbonara and was not disappointed. After this we went in search of a beach. We walked for almost an hour through a fairly dodgy area of the city but to our dismay all we found was a stony and quite dirty beach. Unfortunately there are no beaches suited to swimming in the city of Palermo which we learned the hard way. We got a tram back into the city centre and went for a well needed nap. One thing I find on holidays is that even if I do nothing, I am always still so tired! When we woke, we went in search of some food and drink. We spent that night in our apartment just chatting and having a few drinks as we were all so tired after what felt like the longest day ever.

The next morning we woke up and got ready to go to the real beach. The beach was called Mondello beach and was about 40 mins outside the city by bus but it was relatively easy to get to. We took the 806 bus and it cost €1.40 each way. For the buses in Palermo we had to buy our tickets in a Tabbacheria before boarding. When we got to the beach it was like we were in a totally different place. It had quite a resort-like atmosphere if you don’t count the many men roaming the beach selling beer, blankets and sunglasses. The beach itself was so nice, quite clean and the water was amazing! It was so nice to swim and take a refreshing break from the heat. We headed back into the city for yet another nap before showering and getting ready for the night ahead (cue the plumbing issues). We had a few quick drinks in the apartment and headed out around 1 o clock to see what the city of Palermo had to offer. We came across a side street which was down some steps just off Via Roma and I can only describe it as pure madness.

It was easily one of the best nights out I have had in a long time. Each bar had drinks cheaper than your curry chip at the end of the night, €1 shots, €3 vodkas, you name it! There was also music blaring out of each bar and the street became a continuous dance floor. At the end of the street was a square which had a barbecue, a make shift bar and even a sweet shop and again music filled the whole square and it was black with people.

We stayed there dancing and drinking until 4.30am and two of the girls even ended up as bartenders for the night and handed us out a pile of free drink! We then gathered the troops and headed to bed. This was easier said than done and it was 5.30 before my head hit the pillow.

We woke relatively early the next morning to catch a bus to Trapani. We hadn’t the freshest heads on us as we made our way to the bus stop but we powered on. When we arrived in Trapani we met an old man as we were wandering the streets looking for food before we could check in (truth be told Google Maps told me there was a Burger King nearby when there absolutely was not). He brought us to a restaurant, which wasn’t great to be honest, but it was still very kind of him. We then headed to our apartments which were called Residence La Mattanza, about 5 minutes walk from the port. They were really nice, clean and perfect for a large group. We all went for a nap and then had some drinks and pizza on the balcony. It was an early night as we were all shattered from the previous night. Word to the wise there are no shops open on a Sunday in Trapani and very few restaurants so be prepared if you are arriving on a Sunday.

The next morning we made our way to the port to catch a boat to Favignana island. When we were out on Saturday night a couple told us we absolutely had to go to Favignana, that it was the Italian Maldives and boy they were not lying!

This place is seriously amazing. When we arrived we saw that there was bike rental and then noticed there was also a moped rental place. We rented 7 mopeds between us and I was absolutely terrified starting off. Neither of us had ever driven one before and my hands were numb from the grip I had on the passenger handles but once we got used to it I can easily say it is one of the best things I have ever done.

The island is not that big but it was definitely the best way to see it. We flew around the coastal roads, meeting very few cars along the way. We took a break at a beach called Lido Burro for a swim and a little tanning time. When we left the beach I decided to give a go at piloting the moped. After a slightly dodgy start and nearly ploughing into a wall, I quickly got the hang of it and was soon whizzing around the island like a pro (or at least I thought so anyway) . We got our ferry back at 6 that evening but I could easily have spent a week on that island.

If you have one thing on the top of your list of things to do in Sicily, make it a visit to Favignana and the other Egadi Islands. That evening we napped (again) and then went for dinner in an ok restaurant (the food in Sicily overall was a little disappointing for me but if you like fish I can assure you you will be impressed as everyone else in our group was blown away by the seafood). Unfortunately when we returned to the apartment I headed straight to bed as I was exhausted and a little burnt after the day and just wanted my bed. I was glad though when I woke up fresh the following morning.

Tuesday was our last day and after dropping our bags to another apartment belonging to our friends, we set out in search of food and a beach. We trekked at least a mile in the pursuit of some food which was a little bit of a disaster but eventually made it to the beach and had two hours of tanning time (during which I stupidly got scalded) before heading back to the apartment to make our way to the airport. Our flight wasn’t until 9.55pm so we had plenty of time to get there.

All in all it was quite an enjoyable holiday, but the burning question is will I return? The answer is yes when I am old enough to rent a car as I think Sicily is an amazing island with lots of beautiful beaches and towns but the public transport there is very limited. There is so much more I would have liked to have seen and will definitely return I the future to see. The highlight of my holiday was absolutely the mopeds, and the island of Favignana. I’m off now to check how much it is to buy one!

Much love,

Eimear x

  Travel Post: Sicily I have spent the last 5 days in Sicily with 15 fellow Erasmus students and my God, what can I say?

[meandmyarmedtramper-blog]

Waitangi Weekend 2017 - Cameron Hut

*Apologies in advance for the poor quality photos - I need to get a new phone!*

It’s Saturday morning and the alarm rudely awakens us at 4am.  I groan and roll over to say good morning to Richie – I can tell he’s excited about the weekend ahead.  We get up and make coffee’s and pack the truck up, ready to head to Cameron’s Creek, just out of Makarora heading towards the West Coast of the South Island. We leave Arrowtown just after 4.30am and arrive at Cameron’s Flat at 6.30am, ready to hike the 4-5 hour tramp in to Cameron Hut.  I shoulder my pack – holey shit its heavy.  It contains 2L of water in my Camelback, the lightest possible food I could find, my sleeping bag and warm clothes; thermals, pants, socks, beanie, gloves and other essentials.  I look over at Richie – his must be a heck of a lot heavier than mine with his rifle strapped to it, but he throws it on and we are off!  We follow a nice wide gravel track for about 10 minutes and come to a viewing platform looking back toward the road.  We stop for a few seconds and take one last look at civilisation before turning and heading up the track, which had turned into a narrow dirt path. The first 2 hours are relatively easy; a few steep bits but nothing too difficult.  It’s drizzling a little but we generally stay dry with the thick bush cover above us.  It’s warm too, I end up just wearing a singlet and tights and am still sweating.

The gorge we are walking through is amazing.  There are steep rock walls either side of us and a roaring glacier-blue river below us. We come to our first river crossing. It is fast flowing and looks very cold. I always get a bit nervous crossing rivers, I have a bad knee and ankles (thanks to years of playing netball) and find it hard to keep my balance.  Richie set out first and I followed not long after him.  The. Water. Was. Freezing.  My legs went numb after a few seconds and I tried to wade through as quick as possible but it felt like forever.  Finally through, we set off up the other side of the river, now with wet and squidgy boots.  

The next 3 hours are hard, both physically and mentally.  It’s not like it was super steep but just persistent uphill climbs that left us puffing for more air.  The track is 7km to the hut and 4 hours in we were only at the 5km mark.  I was knackered and we decided to stop and have a 10 minute rest and fuel up on some food.  10 minutes went by too quickly and we hoisted our heavy packs back on and trudged away the last 2km in silence.  5 hours after we started the walk we get to a bottom of a steep bit and Richie turns and smiles at me – “I can see the hut!” I have never heard such sweeter words in my life.

We walked along the short grassy flat and arrived at Cameron Hut.  It was a small 4 bunk hut, but super cute and cosy.  It had a little wood burner in it and plenty of hooks to hang our damp clothing on.  We went and collected some firewood and then enjoyed a lunch of instant noodles, using the jet boiler that Richie had purchased a few days ago.  We lit the fire (it was quite a cold and gloomy day) and enjoyed some well-deserved R & R. 

We hoped no one else would come along so that we could enjoy the hut to ourselves and at 5pm I announced to Richie that there was no way anyone else would attempt that walk after midday.  Not long after that Richie was outside chopping some firewood and yelled to me inside the hut – “looks like we have guests for tonight”.  I quickly scrambled around and moved our stuff out of the way of their bunks-to-be for tonight, and in trudged 2 worse for wear tamper’s, relief written all over their faces that they had finished that bloody walk (6 hours later for them!).  Richie and I had an early dinner and clambered up to our top bunks (I have this fear of rats crawling on me if we stayed in the bottom bunk) where we drifted off to sleep at about 9pm.  

6am came around far too quickly the next morning and once again we were woken up by that goddam alarm again.  I had a shitty night sleep with our housemate getting up 2 times in the night (seriously though, who pees that much in the night when the long drop is a good 100m walk away) and the general uncomfortableness of sleeping in an unfamiliar place.  We had already packed our bags the night before, so quickly got dressed and shouldered our packs once again and headed outside to climb up the mountain behind the hut. I had read the visitor’s book in the hut the night before, and a couple of good fullas that have hunted the area before noted that the easiest way up to the tops was the hill behind the dunny. I don’t know if they were playing some cruel joke on us, but I definitely would not describe it as being “easy”.  We climbed for about 2 hours, pushing our way through thick bushes and monkey scrub before reaching the alpine tops.  I HATE bush bashing, it is the least fun part of a hunting trip for me, and Richie knows it. He normally leads the way which is way easier for me, I just put my head down and follow his footsteps.  Once we got to the tops all that was on my mind was finding a stream to boil some water so I could have my porridge and a coffee that we bought up with us.  We found a comfy spot where we set up for the next couple of hours, refuelled and packed on some warm clothes because it was bloody freezing up there.  

I had read in the visitor’s book that a good number of Chamois were seen in the area but they seemed to be avoiding us that day.  Not only did we not see any Chamois, Thar or Red Deer, I noticed that there was a severe lack of wildlife in general in the area.  There was a minimal amount of bird life and odder still, I didn’t spot one rabbit or hare.  I heard a few Kea cawing as they flew over the tree tops but wasn’t lucky enough to see one.  We moved to a different spot and the sun came out and it was suddenly very hot!  It just shows how much an alpine climate can change.  The view up there was amazing.  

We stayed in the sunny spot (where I napped for a wee while) for a couple of hours before moving back to the stream to get some water to have noodles again for lunch.  We let the food settle and kept looking around for our target species but still no luck.  At about 2.30pm we decided to head back down the mountain, and to my delight it only took us an hour to get down and was marginally an easier route too.  Since it was quite a warm day and we were going in to our second day of no shower, needless to say we were both smelling a little worse for wear.  Earlier I had spotted some pools further down-stream of our hut and decided that we would go for a swim. I use the word swim quite loosely as that water was fucking cold.  We stripped off and screamed like little girls as we dipped for a few seconds in the water.  It felt good to get clean though and quickly got redressed and headed back to the hut to warm up.  We decided that we would explore further upstream later that afternoon so relaxed on the bunks until that time came.

At about 5.30pm we wandered upstream but couldn’t go very far without either a) crossing the river and getting our boots wet or b) bush bashing up the side of the river. Neither of those options appealed to us, so we just enjoyed the tranquility and Richie taught me to skim rocks.  

Back to the hut for another Backcountry meal (Honey Chicken for me and Cabonara for Richie).

At about 7pm this time I announced that we wouldn’t have house mates tonight, and indeed no one showed up.  I was looking forward to a good night’s sleep before getting up at 6am the next morning to walk out and back to the car park.  Sleep came easy enough but I felt like I tossed and turned all night; I need to get more used to sleeping in a sleeping bag.  

The morning of walking out came with mixed emotions.  This was the first time I had ever stayed in a hut like this, and I absolutely loved it but at the same time I was looking forward to a hot shower and a good night sleep in our bed.  We had breakfast and loaded our packs up for the last time.  We set off just before 7.30am, and the first 3 hours went by pretty quickly and easy.  We had a snack before having to cross the cold river again.  The water didn’t feel as cold this time, but was just as fast flowing and we were careful as we crossed.

We sidled around the rock slips and traversed down the steep path (which seems a lot harder going down than it did going up).

It was drizzling quite hard walking out, so our clothes were damp and our boots wet from the river crossing. The boulders we were walking past were huge and I was in constant awe of the amazing scenery and formations that were leaving behind us.

Finally we came to a clearing where we could see down the valley and out to the (still distant) road side.  We walked for another hour or so before coming back to the viewing platform that we had left behind 2 days previously.  10 minutes to go!  Finally we got back to the truck where we changed in to some dry clothes and went looking for a hot meal in nearby Lake Hawea, hoping that we didn’t stink too much.

I loved this trip and value this time I get to spend with Richie.  I so wish that we saw something, although I have to say that I have mixed feelings about him actually shooting an animal.  I knew he was so disappointed that we put in the hard yards to get nothing, and I was disappointed for him too.  

We are already planning our next trip to somewhere new so watch this space…