ALL OUT ADVENTURE

The long walk to freedom

2011-10-01T13:46:00.000+02:00

25 September 2011 was a day to remember. Jumping out of an perfectly serviceable airplane might not be every one's idea of fun.

1. Some canopy training

2. Some PLF's

3.Some folding lessons

4.....more folding lessons

5.Pre takeoff inspections

6 .......more gear checks

7. All set!! Can we go now!

8. All a board, butterflies and all

9. A view from atop

10. All smiles for now

11. Coming in for a perfect landing set up

So, another hobby that I'm keen on continuing doing. Dont know how I'm going to keep on funding all of this? Guess I'll need to get a sponsor for financing all my adrenaline fueled ambissions :)

Getting ready..........Check in!!! GOOOOO!!!!

Where there's a will there's a way

2011-03-02T12:27:00.000+02:00

It is always so inspiring to me when someone just decides to go for gold and does what he really wants. All of us have some or other list of things we need to tick off the list before we become 30, 40, 50 or before we die. This is a story of a South African that decided to partake in the Rally Dos Sertos, the second longest rally to the Dakar. Here is the story. So sit back and enjoy the read!!

2011-02-14T16:13:00.003+02:00

KLR clanners

All in harmony

His the "ONE"

"LUKE, I'm your father"

Having some well deserved lunch

KLR's through Waterberg

2011-02-14T16:07:00.002+02:00

Bushveld on a KLR

Its not just a bike, it's a KLR

DS heaven

Everyone taking a quick breather

Have to keep the dust out

KLR's and Naboomspruit

2011-02-14T15:11:00.005+02:00

Assen road, Leopard country

Rankins Pass, Thabazimbi

Enjoying the scenery, keeping a look out obviously

Rhino enjoying the shade

Magoeba's Kloof

2010-12-22T09:20:00.001+02:00

So I'm counting down the days until 30 December to set off again on a spectacular hiking adventure with my brother in law in the Magoeba's valley close to Tzaneen. This is going to take a different approach to a normal hike as he has no previous experience in multi day hiking and is quite unfit and not exactly "build" for something like this. The route is rated moderate to difficult and is 4 days covering about 45km of some technical hiking, with at least no rope work (relief). This week I'll start preparing the kit and setting out our menu so that we do not have to much weight that needs to be carried as my brother in law has already 120kg to drag over the Waterberg. - The Waterberg Biosphere is a massif of approximately 15,000 square kilometers in north Limpopo Province, South Africa. Waterberg is the first region in the northern part of South Africa to be named as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. The extensive rock formation was shaped by hundreds of millions of years of riverine erosion to yield diverse bluff and butte landform^[1]. The ecosystem can be characterised as a dry deciduous forest or Bushveld. Within the Waterberg there are archaeological finds dating to the Stone Age, and nearby are early evolutionary finds related to the origin of humans - This is surely on of the very few visited areas in our country but to no means the least beautiful. The exitement is progressing as with any adventure and no longer can I contain my enthusiasm. So with this last week before us to swoop by I'm sitting here in my office day dreaming again about being one with nature and my soul cast into the African continent.

T minus 1 day

2010-03-19T09:33:00.000+02:00

As one of my buddies said "240km mountain range, 3 idiots, what can go wrong?" is a statement to concider. One day to go and all is set for us to attempt the Grand traverse route of 240km over 12 days from Sentinel peak to Bushmans nek. A combinations of navigational skills, rock climbing, rope work, ice climbing, bush craft and survivor skills will hopefully gaurd us to some extent but this endevour should not be taken lightly as mountains tend to be very unforgiven when arrogance and ignorance is practiced. Emergency plans have been put in place and a satelite phone for good measure. All that is left is one day and excitement is building and in my own situation a mixture of fear is weaved in between. Bags are packed and ready to go, 23kg I must add and without water. Weather conditions does not look to favour us but as any hiker will tell you that's what it is all about!

Menu and Gear

2010-03-09T21:15:00.000+02:00

So the time draws near. Time have been spent on calculating weight and kilojules per meal. Weight saving is the key when doing long distance hiking especially at altiude. Getting the right balane i.t.o energy is also key as you need to put fuel into the body as you'll be consuming in excess of 4000kj a day. I have put together a menu for 12 days with an average weight of 680g/day with an average of 7800kj/day for 3 meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) incl drinks. I must point out that there are many different ways at setting up hiking menus, but this is what works for me and what I want to spend at the end of the day financially towards food (light as possible with max energy)

Example1

                                         Weight                  KJ
Breakfast - Pronutro          150g                     1936
                  Cappucino       18g                       315
                  Rusks              18g                       500

Lunch      - Tuna                85g                       554
                  Rice cake        18g                       233
                  Energy bar       45g                      767

Dinner     - Mince              150g                     1375
                 Noodles           50g                       722
                 Cappucino       18g                        315

Drinks     - Game              60g                        600
                 Tang                30g                        464
                 Total                642                        7781

Example 2

Breakfast - OatsOeasy    35g                       564
                   Cappucino    18g                        315
                   Biscuits         18g                        285

Lunch      - Cabbanossi    50g                        625
                  Nuts              50g                        1396
                  Energy bar     45g                        767

Dinner     - Panneer curry   300g                     2619
                 Melba toast      50g                        814
                 Cappucino       18g                        315

Drinks     - Game               60g                       600
                 Tang                 30g                       464
                  Total                674                       8764

My total weight for the 12 day Grand traverse on food measures 7.7kg and 12kg on hiking gear totalling 19.7kg excluding the 3 to 4lt water that will be carried every day witch equates to 4.3kg (bottles incl.)
Total pack weight equals 24kg

The gear in the photo includes the following:
1. Hiking boots
2. Amphibian shoes
3. All weather jacket
4. Down jacket
5. Thermal pants
6. Poncho
7. Rain pants
8. 4 season tent
9. 2 x water bottles
10. Thermalite sleeping mat
11. Ultra light sleeping bag (-5)
12. Coocking set
13. 2 x 470 Gas canisters
14. Gaitors
14. Gloves
15. Buff
16. 4 pairs of socks
17. Trekking pole
18. Splash cover
19. Bathroom stuff
20. 2l Hydration bladder
21. Hat
22. Waterproof bag (food)
23. Hiking pants
24. 4 x Shirts

Anybody that can give some weight saving inputs are more than welcome to give comments and will be much appreciated.

Proposed route for Grand Traverse

2010-03-04T12:07:00.000+02:00

I have spent some time plotting a proposed route on Google earth to assertain where would be suitable camping sites on route. I have taken some concideration towards where the possibilities of water and streams might be found to make the best overnight camping possible if weather conditions such as vicious thunderstorms, snowfall etc permits us to do so. Our ideal plan is to achieve an average distance of 25km per day to reach our planned 12 day 260km destination at Bushmans Nek. It must be said that certain days we will probably only do 15 to 18km through certian sections of the trek as terrian plays a major role on how much distance can be done in one day (06h00 - 17h00) It will be expected of us to, at some days have to melt ice, if available, for cooking as some sections does not always provide with water and therefore this unknown factor puts much emphasis on proper route and recourse planning. In this area most of the water in the streams are drinkable and quite fresh, I must say that on previous outtings to the Drakensberg the water was the best I've ever tatsted. So the challenge for us "3 musketeers" is to maintain a constant pace and distance as much as possible with the managing of the weight on our backs for the durations of 12 days in an enviroment 3000m above sea level with all the different weather situations that the "Draak" is notorius for dishing out.Alas this is not a race but an oppertunity, in retrospeck to do some introspection of oneself and enjoy the experience that very few has accomplished in one of the most spectacular landscapes South Africa has to offer.

Day 1 will start us off at Sentinel car park and take us up to the escarpment to the top of Tugela gourge, past Tugela Falls up to Mount Amery for our first nights camp

Day 2 will take us from Mount Amery past Ifidi and Icidi butress all along the contours of the escarpmet up to Fangs pass where we will be overnighting for day 2

Day 3 will lead us from Fangs pass past Shepards cave, Hwaqa cave and past mount Neefie towards Pins cave and eventually close to the Mnweni cutback

Day 4 will guide us on the edge of escarpment to a view of the "Apsotles" , Mnweni Butress, Hanging Valley, where from Mponjwane we will have a spectacular view of Puddings, Cathedral Peak,Bell, and the outer and innder horns where we will end at north peak for the night

Day 5 will start by dropping down some butresses and the climbing up some valleys again and getting onto the ridge of the butress past twins cave with the Mlambonja valley beneath us and presenting us with a view of "The tooth" where we will camp for the night

Day 6 and we will drop down significantly down to the valley and passing "windy gap" and around Cleft peak and climbing up again to a view of "Organ Pipes" and sleeping presumably at "Windsor castle"

Day 7 will take us through plent of up and downs, left and rights with views of "Sugaloaf kop", "the Sphinx", "Monks Cowel" and on towards Giants castle for our over night's rest

Day 8 will lead us from giants castle and keeps hugging the edge and looking down the Njesuthi valley

Day 9 will keep us on the back of the butresses with the Giants castle nature reserve on our left and Lesotho on our right. As we head onto our over night spot we will be hugging the high cliffs packed with some snow hopefully and a spectacular view of the Lotheni vallye 3000+ m down below. Its here where we'll probably be presented with the nororius thunder storms of the Malutis. Once we pass the Lotheni rim we will sleep at Redi peak

Day 10 will guide us on the Kwantuba ridge with the Cobham nature reserve below us and the Thabana Ntlenyana plains on our right towards Sani top and the 12 Apostles

Day 11 will take us away from Sani pass and pass the Mshweshwe's finger all along the edge pass Hodges Peak and towards the butress where the view of Rhino peak and Masai fangs will be presented. Down below will be a spectacular sight of Umzimkulu river valley

Day 12 will then lead us off the mountain through some extreme sections and finally towards Bushmans nek border post

Kgatswane - North West

2010-02-23T15:48:00.000+02:00

Well it is exactly one month before we kick off the Drakensberg Grand Traverse and Iwano, Kobus and Myself together with other company decided to get together again for a little hike to talk and share some ideas on food, gear, tips and what have you on doing an unsupported hike through the Maluti mountains in March this year. We all got together in one of the Magaliesberg range reserves, Kgaswane bordering the city of Rustenburg in the north west province, a little more that a hour's drive from Joburg. We started our hike from Naga camp (natural enviroment in Tswana) in the south westerly corner of the reserve. It was a scourching day as usual in these parts of the world and the sweat was pouring at this stage. We proceeded through some natural bush and through various valleys that is the home to some wildlife such as Zebra, Eland, Blesbok, Ribbok and the very elusive Sable antelope. After 4 hours hike we reached the waterholes to our delight. It was time for a definate cool off and then some lunch next to a spectacular view of the Magalies in the distance stretching all they way to Harties. It was time to push on to Witkruis base camp in the North western side of the route. We were somewhat challenged by the not so flat sections on the route and was quite a surprise for me as I did not reallize that this flat part of the world had such asscents. Good training at least for the Drakensberg I would imagine. After all the up and down we reached a natural forest section about 2km from Witkruis camp wich is quite dense but very beuatiful. Surrounded by the Magalies berg we descended into the final stretch towards camp. Happy campers were we as we got to a well looked after campsite with everything you need to relax in this tranquil enviroment. Bedbunks, wood, kettle, water and toilet-first class I would say. During our dinner preparations the talk was all about our route planning, what is the best gear i.t.o 4 seasons ontop of a mountain, food ideas, map studying etc. I guess that one can never be to prepared and your worrying feel inside will just not subside. Up the next morning at 6:00 and starting breakfast. Its already hot and the sun is not even out yet, going to be long day today. On our way back to Naga camp we had to get out of the valley and climb our way up the 200m ascent throught the bush and all the way along the contours of hills onto the grasslands hosting the Zebras and Rooibok. No trees here at least not big enough to hide from the sun a little. 50+ Factor sunscreen is probably a good idea if your're worried about a bit of sunburn. We made our way to what is known as the "highest point" on the far western side of the reserve. Here you have a nice view that stretches far into the distance and you wonder what the "boere" was thinking when they were roaming these parts hundered of years ago on foot and horseback. We dropped off the mountain and hiked along the western contours of the mountain past some loudmouth shacma baboons and some large "botter spinnekop" This is quite unbelievable to think that there are still some places one can go and hike for around R120 not to far away from home and still feel and experience nature to its fullest. Cant wait to be standing ontop of the Thabana Ntlenyana peak soon

Hiker per excellance

Teamwork getting up some rock faces

No teamwork geting up the rockface

Group fotie before the swim

The waterfall pools, awesome

Nice view just before Witkruis

Witkruis camp

View from "higest point"

What a beaut!!!

1 Month to go

2010-02-15T09:00:00.000+02:00

As I sit at my desk I start to wonder off in my mind to a far off mystery of the tuly unknown. Most of us has in some or other time embarked on someting you knew very little off. As the days tick by I'm getting more and more nervous but also very excited. Images flash through my mind of scenery in the mountain as I can remember slightly from the past and I truly hopes my expectations will be satisfied coming end of March. Well I would just like to share my feelings with everybody out there and will surely keep this blog updated with events as they fold out in time. - Nick

2010-02-05T10:13:00.001+02:00

Encounters of the Dragon

2010-02-04T08:47:00.000+02:00

I dont really know my motivation behind this attempt, but all I do know is the fact that it's going to be a mixture of beauty, awe and PAIN. To do the traverse takes some doing. Only a handful of people have completed this feat and only a select few have done it totally unsupported as this will be the challenge for us 3 guys in March 2010. 12 Days of nonstop hiking, climbing, eating and sleeping awaits us in probably the most spectacular scenerey in southern Africa mountain ranges. A distance of 261km by foot with 24kg on your back with no cicilization seems just insane. Well, this tylpe of adventure is what pushes not only your physical but your mental capabilities to the outmost as you have to deal with harsh weather conditions up on the mountain with just your mind keeping you company.

In short, the Drakensberg Grand Traverse is a back-packing hike from Witsieshoek through to Bushmans Nek.
From the starting point, the Sentinel Car Park, the trail leads up the zig-zags to the well known chain ladders that take you to the top of the escarpment near Mont Aux Sources and the Tugela Falls. (948m)
From there, the trail hugs the escarpment and meanders over hills and down valleys offering magnificent views of the major features of the Drakensberg.(In Zulu - uKhahlamba ("barrier of spears"), Apart from the well known passes and features, the trail includes the highest points in South and Southern Africa, Mafadi and Thabana Ntanyana respectively, at elevations of just short of 3500 metres.

The traverse is completed when reaching Bushmans Nek, a border control point between South Africa and Lesotho some 230 km walking distance from the start
The hike typically takes 12 to 13 days, and is at an average altitude of just over 3000 metres above sea level. Total ascent during the hike is in excess of 8000 metres and there are about 28 "climbs" in excess of 200 metres. No technical skill is required, the "climbs" are essentially steep ascents.

Although the hike can be done as a fully unsupported activity, it is common for hikers to be supported by friends who carry up additional supplies at the 6 day halfway mark, top of Bannermans Pass or Langalibalele Pass, and perhaps at the 9 day mark at the top of Sani Pass. This option however will not be our choice!
There are no facilities on the mountain and hikers must ensure self- sufficiency with respect to all weather gear, food, medical supplies etc.

Wolkberg photos - day 4

2009-11-11T13:02:00.000+02:00

Packing very slowly

Water - plenty

I quess it is a bit hotter that usual

Probably looking out for snakes

Catching a breather

Aahh, some shade next to water

Almost there

That is a face of relief

Enjoying the view, or should I say the shade

Beautiful!

Wolkberg - day 4

2009-11-10T16:28:00.000+02:00

Slowly wakening to the sun actually tepting to microwave my tent it was time to render all my abilities to stand up and get out of the tent. It was a glorious morning with Thys dossing next to the camp fire we made (it was a case of emergency) the previous night. He was motionless and I actually thought he was outdone by lethal scorpions or some sort of spider, never the less he was persuaded to life by much apreciated coffee from Elize, who I might add is the lady who gritted through this malicious hiking trip and still had today to cope with- well done girl!. As far as everybody was concern, nobody was in too much of hurry today as breakfast time was dragged out to the outmost by means of prolonged preperations, discussions and packing routines. It was going to be a scourching day and some peoples bags just din't seemed to get any lighter and was still in the excess of 25kg. So we set of to the second last day of our trip and the idea of going back into the direction we set off 3 days ago hit me in the gut like a angry giraffe kicking you because you burned his gonads with a cigaret whilst he was drinking water. It was uphill, and i mean all the way!! It was hot and i mean the type of hot that only a Salma Hayek in a skimpy bikini can pull off hot, if you know what i mean? Water bottles was filled as we anticipated that we were going to get thirsty and very thirsty we did. After a couple of hours our party of 5 was quite spread out across the field as each one got into their own zone and stopping to chit chat was not on top of our minds, at least not on mine any case. I reached the river crossing at the last bit of "flat"section before we pushed on to the paces we left our cars, and took a power "nap"and refilled my system with all the energy stuff i had to my consumption. 30min later the rest joined me into wich we sommer made a lunch break for the day. Out of the valley with all our protection from the sun now gone, so it was only the god of sun - Ra and us all they way back. About 3km from the "fisnish", as this has become a race for me in my mind i sort of dozed in and out of dizzyness and i thought by myself that damn it is hot out here and glanzed at my temp meter and was amazed to see 40C. I could not see any red flags hoisted so i thought the meter was busted. LOL Am i there yet brought a new meaning to it as it seemed never ending. Well, evetually i got back to where the cars were parked and i was relieved to say the least. I slipped off my bag, got some fresh water, remebered that there were still a bottle of litchi flavoured water in my car with 2 packet of doritos, mmm heaven is upon me. After getting rid of my boots and socks I took some pictures, laid in the back of my boot and took some more pictures. Aprox an hour later my "team mates"arived with might I say some "expressions"on their faces. Ice cold black label makes any thing beter. I even believe that black label will cure aids

Wolkberg photos - day 3

2009-11-09T15:46:00.000+02:00

Thys boiling some water for coffee

Misty morning

Thats how you carry a 26kg pack

Essential strapping

It's a warm day

Group photie

Wolkberg - Day 3

2009-11-09T15:22:00.000+02:00

Waking up ontop of the platoue in what seems to be a very cold, wet and misty day was not surprising to say the least. Thys was the first one up and was already boiling some welcome water for the first of many cups of coffee and cappucino. Our bodies were certainly very unhappy with us at this stage and noticeable moans were heard as the others turned in their tents, from sore muscles we hoped. We predictably continued with the normal routine of coffee,biscuits and breakfast and sticking to my planned rationing of food was out the door, as i could not remeber exactly what day it was as you quickly start to forget these things, although I have marked all the zip lock bags as mon,tues,wed etc.Mental note: next time I will mark them day 1,2,3 etc. Day 3, and we need to make our way around Serela and off the mountain onward to our next camping sight. We proceeded through the marsh field down a steep declined single track. Sun decided to stick its neck out. We all halted and instinclively took all things wet and tied it to our packs in the hope to get some shirts and socks dry. Ater about 2 hours hike it was time to do some strapping to ankles and change into somewhat dryer socks. We came across a split that would take us down to the MCSA hut or continue onward into the river valley, where we needed to be to pick up a single track to link us back onto the route we came in from. Easy. We took a direction fix and plotted our self on the map. We decided to push through to the river where we will have lunch. The next 2 hours to the river was all slightly downhill. We came across a nice section where we decided to take a dip and cool off as the tempratures were somewhere between 30 - 38C. The water was ice cold but refreshing, up to the point were Kobus realized he was swamped with minature leeches. So that was the last of the cooling off idea. We had lunch at the river. All set and up we went with a jeep track for approx 2km when we realized that we were on the wrong track. It was clear that we were in for a hell of a day. We backtracked untill we found a "suitable"section to drop down to the river. We continued to follow the contours on the right side of the bank on what we could say "looked'" like a track, weather it was for cattle, antelope was debatable. Soon afterwards we were faced with some serious obstacles in our way in the form of what seemed to be a mix between bushveld, river, grasslands, swampland, reetland and anything in between. For an extended period of time I was cursing the dude who decided to plant thousands of "brandblaar", "wag n bietjie", "haak en steek" in this "hiking trial"we were on. Did I mention that I was in knee pants, big mistake! After zig zagging across this "war torn country" a couple of times it was inevetable that the machete's and hiking poles were utilized to "open up" some form of gap we can walk, or should I rather say bundu bash through. I can confidently say that after about 3 hours of this "pleasant" escursion the sense of humor levels were at about 3/10. That actually plumitted to -5 when we had a close encouter with MR Puffadder half way through the valley. That, funily sped up efforts to get out of this valley. We were very fortunate to at least see a white crossed eagle gliding in between the cliffs above us. At some point Thys spotted the actual sinlge track that we needed to be on, up to our right hand side. We followed the track battered and bruised until we reached the area where the 3 rivers join. At that stage the daddy of baboons also did not like our presence and were very agitated with us.The sun was now speedily leaving us and dusk was upon us. We still needed to do about 4-5km to get to a suitable camping site. Very determined that we were very close we proceeded on, crossing steams and rivers witch at that time I stopped counting how many of them. A voice, I believed was Iwano's, murmered something about 40m to go. I heard Thys silently cussing us at about 1km passed the "40m" mark. At around 19:30 somewhere we eventually reached camp with feet that was no more and surely tears pressing in some eyes. Distance done today was in the region of 25km of unpleasant terrain.

2009-11-07T08:36:00.000+02:00

Day 1 now was something of the past and with the body starting to "talk"to us it was evident that this was not going to be your normal multi day hiking excursion. The morning of the second day loomed outside my tent with the constant drizziling of rain outside. It is 05:00 and time to prepare some coffee, and to mentally start preparing to tackle the day with wet boots. I thought that waterproof boots meant it was waterproof but to our surprize it seems it was not meant to be submerged, but anyhow we were determined and we were not going to let such a minute issue fase us. So the stove was hard at work, boiling water, wich there were plenty of, and the rest of the guys and girl started to arise from the "dead" to start preparing breakfast. Steaming coffee with biscuits and rusks were the order of the day with a mix of muesli, pro-nutro and oatso easy. I could not believe that one of the guys actually packed a 2lt carton long life milk, I suppose that some luxuries just can not be left behind as so wiith the bottle of chilli's that was carried around for 5 days. After breakfast it was time to pack up wet tents and gear. Getting dressed in wet weather gear was unquestionable, and off we went. It was a tough hike through thick wet bush with another 10 or so stream crossings without the option of staying dry. 2 hours later we entered a forest and I had to pinch myself now and again to realize that we were not in the Brazalian rain forest. So we proceded up through the forest, up and up and up and up and up and up and later on we were still making our way up. It seemed that we would never reach the topline as the trees growing in this forest seemed to be kilometers tall. 6 hours later we reached what we believed to be the top and end of the forest, but to our horror it was not to be. Ahead or should I say above us lay the actual climb to the top of the plain to Serala peak. Did anyone brought ropes? In our faces we were presented with a skyward cliff that needed to be scaled to reach the plato. After carefully and prayerfully climbing and heel hooking, and with the occasional passing on of backpacks here and there because it was simply just impossible to climb with them we eventually made it to the top with tears in some eyes. I was thinking by myself at that stage that we were quite blessed due to the thick mist and clouds that witheld the view initially from us whilst climbing the cliff because when we were standing on top of this plato it cleared up and a feeling of "holy crap" this is high started to sink in! We all stood in awe while taking in and enjoying this spectacular scenery. We truly have a majestic Creator and all honor to Him! Lunch was next on our agenda and we tucked into some biltong, cabanossie, droewors, biscuits, cheese wedges, jelly babies and tuna. What a view from here while enjoying south african biltong and good friendship. Hard to beat I thought! We arrived at our camp site for the night next to a river that dropped over the cliff some hundred meters down, hard to say how far as the thick mist did not allow us to see right to the bottom. Dinner was prepared around the tents with the temp dropping to a mere 11'C, quite nippy for summer time I thought. As a avid Blue Bulls supporter and made sure that I listen to the curry cup final between the Bulls and the Cheetahs on my cell phone and plug in speaker. Victory for the Bulls, good company, awesome scenery and drinking "watang"... can get use to this!!

Wolkberg photos - day 1

2009-11-07T07:42:00.000+02:00

Wolkberg hiking

2009-11-06T15:46:00.000+02:00

Myself and 4 (3 males & 1 Female) others embarked on a hiking trip deep in the Wolkberg nature reserve just outside Tzaneen in the Limpopo province for 5 days. We arrived at our starting point after 6 hours drive from Johannesburg. I must mention that going there in a normal sedan is probably not the best decision i've ever made, but non the less we got there in one piece. Upon arrival we found 2 gents sitting in an office were we had to fill in the registers and pay the fees ( R100.00pp) After the formalities was dealt with we took our gear from the vehicles and done our final checks on the kit and gear. We then took some photos and off we went. After about 10 min's hiking I realized that the half eaten meat pie we bought at the last stop was still inside the car and I had to go back and get rid of it as I imagined how the car would have smelled after lying in the sun (30-35C) over a 5 day period. That out of the way we hoped that that was to be the last of any bad luck we would have on this trip, as we soon found out not to be the case! Weather predictions for the next few days was to be wet, wet and very wet. Did I mention that we were going to get wet? So off we went and we immediately start to drop down into the valley approx 800m down. I thought, ah nice, downhill, but totally forgot that 4 days later and quite more tiring that now we had to come out the same way, but that for later. having a 25kg pack on your back and dropping this steep into a valley takes its toll on the knees as any hiker will tell you that going up is better that going down. Halfway down the valley we had our first stop at a perfect spot next to a 15m waterfall. Bags off, snacks out, and resting the feet a little bit, nice! We took some photos, packed up and off we went. 4 Hours later, and after crossing about 20 river crossings of various depths with "regular" water stops in between we reached our choice of an overnight spot, "democratically" decided in a state of wetness. Did i mentioned that it was going to be wet? We proceeded to pitch the tents, get the food going and get the gear as dry as what the conditions allowed us. All of us at that stage probably thought weather they had packed enough socks for this trip.