Nigel Christmas
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Maps & Equipment Food Reflections & Planning
Food drops:
I followed John Chapman’s advice on food drops which are available from his website here. It contains a great deal of information about the walk. John is also very helpful in answering specific questions by email and I have a great deal of respect for him because of this.
Food drop 1: Located near the
intersection of
Food drop 2: Left with my Parents. This could be left at or near Mt St Bernard on the Alpine Way or at accommodation at Mt Hotham. The Big D is open every day.
Food drop 3: At track junction
near ‘Sunnyside’ on the
Food drop 4: At Dead Horse Gap approx 4km from Thredbo. I would leave this one at the YHA hostel next time and stay there.
Food drop 5: Up Pollocks Gully, Kiandra. There are garbage disposal facilities and a phone near the old public hall.
I used old Round-Up drums that had been rinsed over and over for the containers. I cut a big U shape with an angle grinder on one side of each container and put small drill holes in a few places next to the cuts. The drill holes were so I could lace cable ties through them to close off the flap again once the food was stuffed inside. I placed a garbage bag in the drum and fed all of the food and supplies into the drum before tying off the garbage bag. After lacing the drum shut I put silastic over the opening to prevent smells emanating (keep animals away). The drums were then put in a camouflaging green garbage bag and hidden in the scrub and/or half buried if possible. This worked well though I did have a native rat of some sort eat half of the silastic at the Dead Horse Gap food drop. A ranger I spoke to said it is a common occurrence there. The choice behind the drums was that I didn’t have to buy expensive drums and also I didn’t have to retrieve them unless necessary (most people will stop for you and dispose of the drums if asked). You have to have secure and well hidden food drops as if you loose one the walk is all over for you.
I split the days of food into: 9 days initial, 6 days (first), 5 days (second), 8 days (third), 7 days (fourth) and 5 days (fifth). This was a major error as I found I was carrying after a week or two 3-4 days food to much. I was not game to leave I behind as I didn’t know if it was going to be needed later on in the walk. If I was to do it again I would carry food more like this: 6 days initial, 5 days (first), 4 days (second), 7 days (third), 6 days (fourth) and 6 days (fifth). You can also catch up on the track if you find yourself low on food due to bad weather etc. It is not to hard to pull a 30-40km day and effectively knock over two days travel in one in quite a few areas.
Reflections etc:
The AAWT was one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done in my life. I am seriously considering going again in the next few years. It was many months of research and preparation that comes together in one long holiday. You could do the walk in a quicker time frame but you must consider how much do you want to rough it and how many enjoyable side trips do you want too miss? The aspect I enjoyed was the knowledge I had time up my sleeve; so when I found something I liked and stopped there.
If at all possible avoid places like Mt Kosciuszko and Blue Waterholes on the weekends as the multitudes of people are hard to handle.
Before heading off make sure you do a lot of steep hills or preferably steps to get the legs accustomed to the load. I would basically do step repeats with a 25kg load up/down the tallest building you can find. The biggest problem is the downhill stretches during the walk and the likelihood of minor injury (requiring time off to heal). Also do not be afraid to have plenty of rests on the way down and take it very easy. Once the knees are sore it takes them a long time to settle down. In contrast going uphill is easy; it only makes you buggered (and sleep well) and doesn’t actually hurt you.
If you have any queries about the walk I can be contacted at Nigel dot Christmas at Dubbo dot nsw dot gov dot au
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Maps & Equipment Food Reflections & Planning