No snow overnight but we had a light fall as we packed up at Lake St Clair campground this morning. Driving back along the Lyell Highway we took an old logging road north to get higher and closer to the Traveller Range. We didn't get far. The older snow from recent heavy falls made for slippery conditions and we had to pull the bus up and start walking. Uh-oh, another change of plans. Luckily the team were keen and we were quickly set for the extra hike up the road. It was a chance to feel the heavy packs on the shoulders. I didn't hear any complaining but I could see it wasn't easy for everyone.
** Scroll through pages by clicking on arrows above **
We made it up the bush track turnoff and Jarra had the job of marking our route with pink flagging tape. We'll remove it when the team leave on Friday. At Traveller's Rest Lagoon the camp is pitched right next to where the water flows out to become the river. This river drops down the hill we just walked up to join the River Derwent. That makes it a tributary of the Derwent and part of its catchment area.
Dr Alastair brought his net out late in the day to catch water bugs. There were surprisingly few, probably because there's just so much water in the ground and flowing in little creeks and across the soggy ground that they're all over the place. We'll go for an explore tomorrow and see what else we find.
There have been some great questions today including regular ones about food and communications. I send out these reports once a day on my mobile phone because we are still in range. From next week there will be times I'll need to use a satellite device which will do the same job but much slower and more expensively. My camera connects to the phone using WiFi so I can share better photos too. Keeping power to these devices all relies on 2 storage batteries and a solar panel to top them up. Have to keep the answers short sometimes! On food, keep an eye out shortly for a video we made just before the expedition started where I talk about some of the food we're eating. It's very simple.
Expert Spotlight: Dr Sam White Head
Dr Sam is a scientist who specialises in understanding the health of the Derwent estuary and the plants and animals who live here. You can ask Dr Sam a question by clicking on 'CONNECT' in the top tool bar and then SELECTING Dr Sam from our other experts or by clicking HERE.
Well done to today's prize winners for their great contributions to the discussion.
T-shirt winner: Maiya J from 3/4Holmstrom
Royal Life Saving Society prize winner: Waterwarrior16
Cirque 2 Sea is a partnership project between the Bookend Trust, the Derwent Estuary Program and our supporters.
