Girraween

I feel like I haven't had much time to write in my blog! Also, considering that the internet is absolutely terrible here, I didn't even have the chance to come on here. My internet decided to not work for almost a week, and let me tell you, without internet there is not much to do in good ol' Lismore.

I just got back from my last camping trip for my class Outdoor Education. We headed to Girraween National Park which is about three hours away from Lismore. I really was not looking forward to this camping trip because it is so much different from the first trip. We had to carry around our tents and everything that we would need for a four day, three night trip. Also, if we had to go to the bathroom, you basically would pick any tree you saw. When we first got picked up, we were all crammed into a tiny bus and drove three hours away. When arriving to Girraween we were all anxious to just get the trip started with and see where it took us. The first day for my group was actually pretty easy. Our campsite was only 600 meters away from a toilet and a campground area so that was reassuring. We set up our tents and ate some lunch then we started our day of exploring. We walked up a huge rock to Mt. Norman, did some caving, and watched the sunset from there. Here are some pictures from our first day...
















Our second day out in the bush was a little more difficult. We woke up pretty early and started to hike towards our next campsite. Along the way, we stopped at a little water hole and some people jumped in, but the water was absolutely freezing. It wasn't the most exciting thing in the world. Then we started hiking again and had to do our own navigation through the bush instead of walking on the fire trail paths. We were literally walking through trees and thick grass and sticks to get to the trail. Our group was going so fast that we finished our bearings in 35 minutes. Our professor told us this usually takes 1-2 hours to complete. Yeah... the people in our group were insanely quick. It was hard to keep up with them especially with such a huge pack on my back weighing me down. We were even hiking up huge rocks with our packs on in the bush. It was not fun. But when we got to our second campsite it was definitely a feeling of accomplishment. I never thought I would make it there seriously. The good thing about that day was the dinner! We made awesome pizzas on our little stove. Here are some pictures from day two...









Our third day was the most difficult day we had. We woke up before the sun even rose, at five in the morning, packed up all our stuff, and started our hiking for the day. We had to hike a total of 14 km in that single day. Hiking in the morning with that pack is not a fun task to do and it was even worse with no food in our systems. The boys in our group were speed demons and were really anxious to get to where we were headed. Why? I have no idea. It was really rough and there were parts where I didn't think I could make it. We hiked a total of 7 km (Which was half of our journey) in an hour and a half. With no breaks. It was probably the hardest thing I have had to do in a while. I have bruises on my hips and my shoulders from my pack being so heavy and carrying it for 14 km. We made it to our last campsite at around 2 in the afternoon and our professor said that was the fastest any group has ever gotten there. We had so much down time that people could take a nap. It was just unreal. After that, we set up camp then went and explored the HUGE rocks, and also went caving. Of course, it was more uphill, but the sunset was definetly worth it in the end. Here are some pictures from day three...









The last day of the camping trip was just exhausting. I was so tired from the day before and all of the constant hiking. I was so happy that I was going home that day so it kept me going. We started out by just hiking, then we had to do another section of bearings, or walking through the thick bush. This was pretty simple, until one of our group members got hurt. We had to get her out of the bush after that and we just stopped with the bearings and went back on the tracks and hiked towards the bus. For some reason, the hiking went by really fast the last day. We didn't see any wild kangaroos really or any wild pigs at all throughout the entire trip so that was a bummer for me. The bus ride home was interesting and felt like it was never going to end. We had the tiny bus that picked us up and brought us there again and we were sad about that. We were squished on this tiny bus, after four days of not showering, and it was just so uncomfortable. But eventually we made it back to Lismore and everything was heaven from then on!

Overall, the camping trip was honestly not one of my favorite things i've done here. It really made me aware of how much of a city girl I am, and how much I love fake camping with my family. I don't enjoy the fact of hiking with a huge pack on my back, and after doing it, I don't think I could again. But the camping aspect and the sunsets were great so there were a couple positive things about the trip.