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| It's only fair......... |
I'm thinking this post will probably see the light of day just before our multi million dollar, non binding, same sex opinion poll closes. Anyone who knows me and reads my blog would know which way I voted so I'm not gonna jump up on my soap box today. I have noticed something that needs to be discussed though and that is a mutating strain of that little known, but from what I can tell extremely common affliction called DHS. For those that have never heard of DHS it stands for Delusional Hotness Syndrome, it's an affliction that mostly strikes middle aged and older blokes. When these old blokes come down with this syndrome they firmly believe, against all supporting evidence, that they are getting more and more irresistible to the opposite sex as they age.
So what's all that got to do with the same sex opinion poll, we'll I'm glad I asked! You see, obviously the syndrome has mutated and now, not only do these blokes think that they are irresistible to the opposite sex but now they think that other blokes will be unable to contain themselves around them too. How else can you explain Mr Abbott, Bernadi, Abetz, Andrews and Joyce being so concerned about people of the same sex tying the knot, they are obviously concerned that once the flood gates open then they will be inundated by offers from their gay constituents. Since I'd probably slot all these blokes into the 'libertarians' side of politics generally, then DHS must be the cause of them suddenly deciding to abandon their libertarian instincts......maybe.
So anyway onto this Saturday's stroll. I decided to head down the Surf Coast and do another walk written up in one of the books published by the House of Chapman, imaginatively called the Angelsea Heath Circuit. This walk heads bush near the old Alcoa power station that once supplied power to an aluminium smelter at Point Henry in Geelong, it's not the most scenic start to a walk that I've ever experienced but it is different I suppose. Parking the ute at the roundabout near the power station my usual pre walk routine of organising my gear and pulling on my boots and gaiters was interrupted a couple of times as I had to dive back into the drivers seat to avoid some heavy showers that were scudding through, it's one thing to finish a walk wet but I'm never overly excited about starting a walk already soaked. Eventually the weather cleared enough and I set off climbing up Alcoa Boundary Track.
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| I had a fairly easy climb up Alcoa Boundary Track to start the day. |
A few hundred metres up Alcoa Boundary Track I met up with Alcoa Powerline Track and started to climb a little more. It was while I was shedding a few layers on my gentle climb up Alcoa Powerline Track that I decided to have a bit of a squiz at my notes, hmmm, it seems that I'd already managed to find myself off the described walk. A quick look at the map confirmed that I had indeed already missed a turn but also that I could basically continue on and just do the walk backwards, not ideal but not the end of the world either. With the hulking decommissioned power station lurking behind me I climbed a bit further before a quick dog leg to the left along Ridge View Track and then onto Shiney Eye Track. Shiney Eye Track probably provided the best heath type of environment on the walk in hindsight.
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Heading up Alcoa Powerline Track and I was already misplaced, oh well at least the scenery was good, oh hang on.....
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I had a short section along Ridge View Track...
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| Before I headed north along Shiney Eye Track. I could see that I'd soon be getting wet. |
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The open heath also allowed me a bit of a view and what I saw didn't exactly fill me with joy, heading my way in a hurry pushed on by a strong south westerly wind were some dirty big black clouds. Sure enough as I dropped down to cross a swampy gully the rain arrived, now normally I'll hold out as long as possible putting the waterproofs on but this was proper rain. Dropping the pack I dug out my jacket and of course then sweated up a storm climbing out of the gully, it's the story of my walking life really - get wet in the rain or get soaked in sweat wearing my waterproofs. Meeting up with Firetail Track (no I didn't forget the r) I started a longish loop up to a Barwon Water Facility near Forest Road. The climb up here had a couple of steepish spots and with the surface being wet red clay it made for interesting walking, at least I was going up and not sliding down like an out of control Fat, Feral Tobogganist.
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Shiney Eye Track.
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By the time I turned onto Firetail Track I was walking under blue sky again, it was that kind of morning really.
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Shiney Eye Track.
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Climbing up the red clay on Shiney Eye Track, I was pretty happy to have my walking poles.
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There is no shortage of grass trees on this walk.
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| It was that kind of walk really.... |
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Reaching the water facility I had to skirt around the boundary on another old fire track. Now while the tracks so far had been slippery and a bit damp this short stretch ramped the dampness equation up a few notches, I'd would of been free styling if I stayed on the track the puddles were that deep. After some creative scrub bashing I eventually made my way around the deepest puddles and after a bit of zigging and zagging picked up Honeypots Track. The next 4 kilometres is probably the best walking of the day, the bush was a mixture of open heath, box iron bark and stringy bark as well as a forest of grass trees-always a Feral Favourite. Apart from the flora the other good thing about Honeypots Track and then Dusty Miller Track was that they were more or less level, which was a good thing not only because it didn't push up my heart rate too much but it made the wet red clay track walkable.
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Skirting around the Barwon Water Facility was a little damp.
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Heading along Honeypots Track I started to get a few distant views over the Otway Ranges.
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The track was officially rated as heavy today.
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I was getting taller the further I walked....shame I wasn't getting thinner or better looking!
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If for some reason you do this walk in the same direction that I ended up doing it then you need to veer right here, I think that this is probably the only real navigational issue on the walk.
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Angelsea, with Point Roadknight in the sun, from Dusty Miller Track.
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| Dusty Miller Track. |
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Reaching Powerline Track the good walking turned pretty shitty as I followed the eroded and rutted track a short distance to a lookout. The lookout allowed me some sweeping views down towards Angelsea, Point Roadknight and Bass Straight in one direction and the rubbish tip, power station and open cut mine in the other, hmm choices.... The lookout itself was an interesting spot, it looks like a lot of the local bogans use the red dirt as a perfect spot for a bit of circle work, it comes complete with ruts, mud and it's own dumped car all framed by power lines, we're not talking pristine wilderness here. Suitably overwhelmed by the lookout I set off and once again and immediately headed the wrong way, picking up a severely rutted track. I was ambling along thinking this couldn't be right, after a few hundred metres with nothing much making much sense on my map I decided it was time for extreme measures, I actually had a look at the GPS and my map, bugger me all was clear again! I knew there was a reason I lug that thing around in my pocket on all these walks.
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My short stretch on Powerline Track to the lookout was a little under whelming.
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The view from the lookout was pretty sweet in one direction.....
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....but not so sweet in the other!
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| Powerline Track Lookout. |
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Picking my way back over the ruts and water I immediately picked up Ridge View Track and what do you know, everything made sense on my map again. Ridge View Track dropped down a bit before I turned hard left onto Pipeline Track. My gently descending route along here passed through more dry open forest, the power station now once again starting to dominate the view. My mornings walk was as good as over now though and after a short stretch on Raven Track I once again turned down Boundary Track and retraced my route back to the waiting ute. Pulling off my muddy boots I headed home contemplating what had been a slightly unusual walk with a little more variety then I'd anticipated, although not all of it was great.
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Ridge View Track.
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There were a few wild flowers out on the heathlands.
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| Dropping back down Alcoa Boundary Track to the ute, at least the sun was out now. |
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The Dirt.
It looks like my GPS behaved itself fairly well today, according to it I walked 14.1 kilometres at an average speed of 3.7 kp/h, with 300 metres of climbing I'd rate this as an easy stroll. Keep in mind that I had a few off route navigation issues, they were all my own doing though as the route is fairly clear really. As I mentioned this walk is published by the House of Chapman in a book written by the Geelong Bushwalking Club called Walking the Otways. The walk follows 4wd tracks for it's whole length, most are open to the public and I did bump into a few trail bike riders as well as a couple of 4wd's, if you're keen to do this walk but not share the track with my bogan brothers then maybe consider doing it on a weekday, if that's possible. Also I think spring is the optimum time for wildflowers on the heathlands for which the walks named, mid winter could be very muddy and slippery and mid summer could be very hot and dusty on this walk. I probably wouldn't make the trip down to Angelsea just to do this walk again, but if you're already in the area and are looking for something to do for half a day it might be worth considering.
Relevant Posts.
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| This was up on Dusty Miller Track. |
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