Can we hack-it...???

Yes we can!

Got up early enough to do about 90 minutes of yoga which was a great start to the day. Breakfasted then decided that today's walk would be up the Aniseed Valley, possibly to the Hacket Hut. The DOC signs told us that it was a 2 hour walk there with a 30 minute detour to Whispering Falls.........

We made the Falls in about 45 minutes and spent some time exploring around them, including a little photographic work with slow shutter speeds and flowing water. Nice :) Then we got back to the track and headed off to find the Hacket Hut.......an hour further on according to the signs.

What we 'discovered' is that talking renders you blind and incapable of reading!

Somehow - and I doubt we shall ever really know how - the two of us managed to 'see' the metre-wide sign that directed us to the Hacket Hut, but not 'see' the bit that directed us just 20m to our left and said "across the river"!! We walked on, and on.........and on some more. After 2 river cossings, and about to have to make a decision about a third, a young man with the agility of a mountain goat and his wee dog came in to view, so we did what any self-doubting day-tramper would do and asked him how far to the hut? The look on his face was priceless.

"Um - about four and a half hours up to Starveall Hut......"

"Ah no - we mean the Hacket Hut"

"Um - you passed it - about 15 minutes back"

"We did?? How did we miss it??" (sounding somewhat incredulous!)

"I guess you must have been talking a lot"

Cheeky young whippersnapper!

So we turned around and followed the mountain goat's trail back down the track to the sign...........and there, not more than a stone's throw from us, was the hut standing proudly and very obviously, on the other side of the river.

Duh!!!

Anyway, we had movie tickets booked for the 6.00pm showing of "The King's Speech" and it was now 4.11pm........

According to the signs it would take us 2 hours to walk back to the carpark then we'd also need another 20 or so minutes to drive home.........and then another 15 minutes to get to town. We figured if we could make the carpark by 5.15 we could make the movies on time...........so we too made like mountain goats and strode out, never relenting on the rather brisk pace until we hit the carpark at 5.07! (and where we found the mountain goat sitting smugly on a rock with a rather cheeky grin on his face!)

Whew!!

By 6.07 - precisely 1 hour and 56 minutes after leaving the Hacket Hut, and having gone home and got changed - we were sitting infront of the big screen in town ready to tuck in to rather well deserved icecream and chocolate snack!!

........and the movie was well worth the effort too :)

Another great day :)