Up and down (a lot of sandy hills) and on and off (the rain gear). And a lovely surprise

14 April. 36km


It rained on and off for most of the night. The tent keeps me nice and dry, but of course it was dripping wet when I packed up in pouring rain just before dawn. So it weighed significantly more than when it’s dry. 
Add to that my supplies for the next 6 days, incl 1/2l of wine, and I had a very heavy pack this morning. 
According to the forecast, it wasn’t raining (it was) and once again the sun was going to come out by 7. Given the current downpour, I started off in full rain gear with jacket and hood up and rain pants. 


But sure enough, by 7:30am the sun came out and all the rain drops on the bushes looked like sparkling crystals. It was so pretty and nice to take off all the extra layers. 
An hour later, the sky opened again and it started raining again. So backpack down, rain jacket on, continue. After 20 min, the sun came out and it got so warm that I decided to not only take my rain jacket off, but to also hang my towel, tshirt and socks that I had washed last night on the outside of my pack to dry in the sun. Carrying wet clothing only adds to the weight... but then it started raining again, so everything in reverse. 

When I got to Gardner hut, my halfway point for today, I had done the on/off/on/off thing 5 times. 


The trail has really changed, it is very sandy with lots of little ups and downs. I think the heavy pack made it more difficult and the constant change and weather and starting and stopping made it difficult to get into a rhythm. 


But on the upside, there are different plants and wildflowers and a lot of banksia are in full bloom. 









There were quite a few people coming the other way today - I think I may have met maybe 5 or 6 other ?end-to-enders? in the last 3 weeks (yes, it’s 3 weeks on the trail today!) and I met another 5 today, 
all going south to north. And then a lovely surprise: along the path come two ladies... Debbie and Sally, my trail angels, on the way from Mt. Change to Northcliffe! So nice to see them again and to be able to personally thank them. 


It was a looooong day today, partially because I didn?t take many proper breaks as I was constantly stopping to change my outfit anyway. Partially because I walked 36km which IS long. And partially because my backpack was really heavy. Well, I’ll eat as much as I can tonight and given I have the shelter to myself, have used every hook and rail to dry and air out all my gear, so that should help. 

I?m staying at Lake Maringup tonight under gorgeous huge trees - I am so close to the ocean now that I can hear the waves crashing- I’m sure I’ll sleep well! 


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