Day 6.
Spent the morning wading up New River Lagoon. Quite enjoyable to just plod along through the tannin stained water and not have to worry about scrub for once. Most of it was mid calf deep. Almost fell into the water at one creek as it suddenly became deeper, but we found a taped track inland which crossed over a few logs. Joined up with the South Coast Track and followed this for another few hours to reach Suprise Bay. The best campsite along the SCT I reckon. Nude swims were had all round, then we spent the evening cooking and chatting to another group of 3 who had spent the past 2 days chilling out at Suprise.
- Prion Beach
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- Rugged coastline
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- Suprise Bay
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Day 7.
Our first cloudy day! Not to matter, it suited the dark mood of granite beach very well, and the cool misty climb upto the South Coast range was appreciated.
So here is where the drama began; I was walking alone over the top of the South Cape Range as our group had spread out - going at our own pace up the hill. I had met up with the group of three walkers from Suprise bay just half an hour earlier as we stopped for a break, but shortly after pushing ahead I heard voices calling out, and returned to find Rose and the remaining 2 members of the other group searching for the missing group member. Apparently He was only walking 50m ahead of their group, but they realised that they hadn't seen him for the past 15 min and began calling out.
After retracing steps for an hour and lots of calling out, we considered that maybe he had skipped ahead of me without my realisation. Although the likelihood that the missing man had overtaken me was slim, we just couldn't work out how else he could have disappeared. Although considering the misty conditions and multitude of sidetracks due to the deep mud, we knew that losing the track was certainly possible, but surely the track is so obvious! We decided to consider the possibility that he had passed me and so we continued the few hours down to South Cape Rivulet.
All this time I was mulling over the possible scenarios which could explain what happened. Had he answered the call of nature and then become lost? But where was his pack? And then more serious possibilities like a snake bite, heart attack, or a fracture began to take hold. My spirits rose when I saw boot marks in the mud over the top of group member Pete's own distinctive Vibram five finger shape. Surely this was proof that the missing man was ahead of us!
But an hour later we then came across an English couple who had left from Granite beach that morning. After a brief discussion I asked to see her boot sole and was dismayed to see the familiar shape which I had been seeing in the mud.
On arrival at South Cape Rivulet with still no missing man to be seen, we discussed with the remaining members of the group of the need to activate the EPIRB. Although it was the other group breaking the seal and extending the antenna, I could see it was still a difficult decision to make. The Westpac helicopter arrived in 2 hours and the search party was arranged to start in the morning.
A quick hike back to Cockle Creek on the last day, followed by a 25km bike ride by Pete to pick up the car from Lune River and return for Rose and I. While waiting for Pete we enjoyed a swim in the bay and talked to one of the friendly parks volunteers, which happended to be peak bagger Dave Harris.
As we drove home we were informed of the good news that the walker had been found. Turns out the man had very much lost the track and was found back up in the south coast range, 500m away from the track, certainly a EPIRB activation that was well justified. Still I'd like to know what the man was thinking.. Guess it can happen to the best of us though..
Anyway, yet another incredible trip in our own backyard.
- Activated EPIRB
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