Today was a tough day.
To start with we woke up to frost! The tents and everything were covered in white frost. Water was frozen in our bottles and bladders. My fingers were numb, and so were my toes. Hard to get dressed and get going. Don’t remember ever feeling so cold! But we soldiered on.
Brekky was ready at 7.30 and we left soon after. Today saw us high up on the Heavitree Range, slowly heading towards Counts Point. The walk itself wasn’t super long – only about 15km – but there were plenty of ascents and descents and rocky rough terrain to negotiate, as usual.
The highlight of the day for me was definitely Counts Point – stunning views and an incredible sense of space. We heard that Qantas helicopted a children’s choir to sing there some years ago! It must’ve been very moving. We had our lunch there before descending.
By the end of the walk I was quite tired. My ankles were not happy with all the bashing, nor my toes. I was doing well regarding blisters until now, but today noticed the beginning of a small blister on the little toe of my right foot.
I soaked my feet in cold water after returning to camp and treated the blister. Hopefully it’ll be ok by tomorrow morning.
By the way, tomorrow will be a tough day too! Even tougher probably, as it’ll be our longest walk on the trail – 30km or more! Section 9. Apparently it was not possible to split this section in two due to the lack of vehicle access to camp. We’ll have to do it all in one go 😦
We were briefed that brekky will be at 3.30am tomorrow, and we’ll leave camp at 4am!
Alison and Bev will give tomorrow a miss but kindly offered to unpack our tents and set them up again for us at the new location, where we’ll spend the last 5 nights.
We’re camping at Serpentine Chalet tonight.
It’s 8.15pm now as I finish writing this. I’m already in my swag ready to sleep. Hopefully I’ll be warm and get enough sleep before having to get up again. Last night I felt a bit cold during the night – it was -5!!
Good night… before I freeze!
My Pilgrimages in Europe (and Australia) 
Minus 5! Seriously cold, like some of the temperatures in the Himalayas! The early start must have been a killer too. Well done on all your efforts.