Overland Track 2024

We made it, and even though we were the last people to set off today (as the keen readers may recall), we were not the last to finish, Speed Demon title remains. Phewff.

After uncomfortably shedding our soggy outer layers and leaving them hanging on the sole remaining hook in the mudroom, I started my aggressive and ferret-like hunt for some good beds.

All the huts follow a similar format: one enters into a mudroom type setup, with many hooks and racks for leaving gear. From here, there'll usually be 3 or so doors. One will lead into the communal area, filled with tables, a bench, and, more often than not, a group being way too loud. Usually there is also another door leading from this space into a bunk room. This room (off the communal area) typically gains advantage points for being slightly warmer, however loses points for being slightly noisier.

But back to the mudroom. 3 doors remember. One door is now accounted for, leaving the other two, which each lead straight into a bunk room. For those of us who are the fun personality cocktail of Overthinking, Competitive, and Majorly Introverted, this becomes a real strategy puzzle. The race is on. Full rooms and top bunks are lower on my preference list than throwing myself under a bus, so they're out of the question. We also discovered, around night two, that corner bunks are far superior to wall bunks. Another major thing to consider is the careful weighing of our personal hatred towards particular companions. Solo lady with the loudest sleeping mat in the world, or group of idiots from Canberra who will NOT stop giggling, WHAT IS SO FUNNY - who would be worse to be trapped in a room with for 8 hours... Lots to think about.

On this first night I was yet to gain familiarity with all of these crucial personality factors, and so was forced to dive in blind. I don't know if all my prayers to Lady MC were heard, or it was simply a classic case of Lucky Girl Syndrome, but we ended up in a mostly empty room, sharing with Jess and Hannah, two friends our age, both also from Tassie. These two quickly earned the creative and groundbreaking nickname of 'The Girls' and we became fast friends. We later learned that we, our meek and humble selves, had also earned a nickname, one that The Girls had coined and passed on to spread rapidly through the troops. This nickname shall now feature on all resumes, bios, and general introductions going forward, and I extend my gracious thanks to The Girls for honouring Dylan and I with the title of 'Elite Athletes'. I wish I was making this up.

We set up our sleeping quarters, found a spot to settle, and hooked into some cuppas and packet pasta. The night took a bit of a turn when I had to get up FOUR TIMES to pee in the night. This is bad enough at home, but the misery of crawling out of a sleeping bag, putting my warm layers on, finding the toilet paper bag in the dark, trying desperately not to make any noise, and walking outside through the cold FOUR TIMES was enough to absolutely send me. I did see a spotted quoll on one of these trips though, so not all was lost.Read more