11 December 2019

The Original Plan: Christmas Village, side trip up Mt Anglem/Hananui
The New Plan: Bungaree to Christmas Village
Steps: 36,746
Floors Climbed: 20
Distance: 27.3km
Tantrums: 2

After cooking up my eggs and brewing the tea for the day, off I went again. The exciting news today was I was now able to pack my annoying day pack on top of the hiking pack, so it wasn't hanging in front anymore. It created a little more swing but did improve my visibility and posture.

Today was the most challenging so far, the worst part being that most of the day I didn’t know exactly where I was! There are no obvious landmarks apart from Murray Beach and the Hunter’s Hut where I had dined fancily upon tuna, crackers with a sprinkling of sand flies. I'm learning to just live with the little bastards.

Bungaree to Murray Beach was the most physically enduring part, Murray Beach to Christmas Village takes the longest and is mighty repetitive! There’s a Bridge across Christmas Stream but don’t get excited when you hear a stream, it’s probably not it.

After bushwhacking and squelching my way through the flora, I was looking forward to Murray Beach and the promised long stretch of sand. Having a tea break at the top of a hill I bumped into a person, these are quite rare specimens and always exciting to see. This one's girlfriend has injured her ankle so she was waiting for a water taxi home and he was walking back, I made friendly conversation then watched in disbelief as he pranced down the hill like a gazelle...I was walking more like a tethered circus elephant myself but we're all different!

Breaking at the top of the final pre-Murray hill, I found my foot tangled in a vine! After wiggling free, my other foot also got tangled...finally free I slid off the fallen log I'd been sitting on and was yanked back by another vine. I'm glad this graceful incident wasn't filmed but after some contortionist moves and R-rated language I broke free and carried on.

Feeling wind and smelling the sea I was finally scaling down the hill to Murray Beach, the mud got sandier and I slid 50% of it but made it to the bottom. I enjoyed the change of terrain for a few minutes before realising that sand, as hiking terrain goes, can be a bit of a bitch. But hey, at least I can see where I'm going and where I've been and the freedom of walking alone along a beach is pretty cool. The wind had ensured all evidence of my new gazelle-like friend and those ahead of me was wiped away. Aside from a container ship off-shore I was the only evidence of humanity, a detail also noted by many new sand fly and mosquito friends. I felt so loved...

Made it to my first Hunter's Hut at the end of the beach, complete with a deer skull hanging on the wall. It was a welcome lunch spot and very tidy inside too, people really clean up after themselves on this island! I didn't allow myself much time to enjoy the rest stop, sallying forth once I'd finished lunch.

Today's lesson: Don’t bother counting streams! There are plenty that aren’t on the map since evidently blue ink is expensive, and you won’t see a single sign until “Christmas Village Hut - 5 Minutes” (the clowns couldn’t even get the timing right on that short walk)!

I arrived at Christmas Village just when it was getting dark, cooked my dinner as quietly as possible and fumbled around in the spare bed. Ever notice someone trying to be quiet makes rather a lot of noise? Well I tried not to!

It's actually a nice spot, this one. Like the first two huts it's right on the foreshore looking out to sea, so another pleasant sleep hearing the waves lapping outside.