Hat head bushwalk in wildflower and whale watching season

 

We went for a great shortish (7km) walk in Hat Head National Park.

It was a perfect day!

The sun was shining but it wasn't hot and there was a nice breeze blowing.

It's a great time of year as the wild flowers are out and the whales are moving back south to Antarctica.

The walk starts at The Gap which is on the ocean side of Hat Head rather than the bay.
There is a car park but no facilities. If you need the loo before you start you have to go to the caravan park.
There are two tracks here.
One goes around Korogoro Headland and the other goes south to Connors beach and beyond.

The path to Connors beach is a well-formed track up and over a little rise but then it gets a bit tricky.
Walk along Connors Beach and at the south end you will see a sign on the rocks.
Scramble up there and follow the well-worn foot pad as it winds in and out of a couple of gullies and past Third Beach.

Unfortunately the gullies and the track are getting a bit choked with nasty invasive bitou bush which makes it a little less pleasant.
National Parks and Wildlife Service are getting a round to spraying this but there is a lot to be done.

Fortunately there are lots of wildflowers in between - flannel flowers love this part of the coast!
There were yellow isopogons, assorted pea flowers, native violets, little tiny blossoms, and eventually we found some orchids! With the help of an orchid hunter.

Along this stretch we were entertained by a pod of whales! They hung around for ages. About five big ones and a baby,  they were quite close in.

After about three and a half kms you get to the grassy headland of Kemps Corner.
It was a strikingly clear day!
We could see Crescent Head, Big Hill, North Brother mountain and Tacking Point at Port Macquarie.
It's a great spot for morning tea or lunch.

You can also walk here from the road that goes past the Hungry Head camping area.

Then walk back the way you came.

As an added bonus you can swim at Connors beach on the way back.

 

The Accursed Mountains or "here be wolves"

The Accursed Mountains are a hidden gem in mostly undiscovered Albania.
The classic 3 day trip deep in the heart of the mountains involves a boat ride, several minibus journeys and a full day hike.
Having said that Albania is relatively undiscovered, it does have facilities for travellers although maybe not at the, er, standard of other more developed areas.
But is very refreshing to be in a place that is still a little rough around the edges.
Mind you, we were not there in peak season, just sneaking in at the end of the open season for the walk.
The path closes in November as it gets a little snowy up there!

The journey starts in Shkoder in the north-west of Albania.
We found it a little difficult to get information about this journey. the sweet receptionist in out hotel didn't know much about it.
And we had a very entertaining time at the visitors information office with a very enthusiastic girl who couldn't read a map!
It seems that the hostels may be a better place to get information, but in reality it's not hard to just do it yourself.
Our hotel booked a minibus pickup for 6am and the ticket included the 2 hour drive to the ferry up Lake Koman, the 3 hour boat trip and the 1 hour minibus to Valbone.

We hadn't booked any accommodation, thinking it would be easy to find somewhere.
When we got to the end of the lake one of our fellow travellers was met by a guest house owner and he said the place was highly recommended by his hostel in Shkodar so we tagged along.

We ended up here with a delightful family in their half finished house and almost completely finished guest house.

Valbone itself is a long stretched out community along the valley. We  stayed about 7 kms from the end of the road/start of the walk. We were grateful that our host gave us a lift the next morning to the start of the walking track. This is also 4WD track which goes for another couple of kms.

There is a sign at the start and then the track goes along a wide dry river bed. It was rather cool at first as we were in shadow.
But the colours were stunning! Blue sky white rocks russet and golden trees and greenery.
The peaks are magnificent.

Then the trail leave the valley floor and goes up. And up. And up.
In places quite steeply up.

Until we got to a cafe.
Where our Swiss buddies were drinking coffee and we had some musical entertainment from GC and Adrian.

The cafe uses the natural spring water to cool the drinks.

Then it's up again through beautiful forest, snowing autumn leaves when the wind blew.
Until we are clear of the trees and we can see what we think is the pass, up, up, up.

At the very narrow pass there is a magnificent view on both sides - back down the Valbone valley and into the Theth valley - our destination.

Then it is all downhill from there!

More beautiful autumn forest, a lovely grassy meadow and another timely cafe.

After nearly 8 hours we reach the village of Theth, where we stay in a guest house organised by our hosts from Valbone.
Thankfully the hosts son picks us up before the village which saves us about an hour of walking.

The next day minibuses leave Theth for Shkoder at 1pm, and it takes about 3 hours to get there.
On the way pout of the valley we looked across to the range we had crossed the day before and we can see the pass - the lowest point in the photo below.

Iceland trek

We went on a trek!
A guided trek.
This is something a bit unusual for us as we are generally independent travellers, but this time I opted for the easy, more expensive option of letting someone else do all the organising.

It was a 4 day/3 night trek along the most popular route in Iceland.

The Laugavegur Trek.
We went with Arctic Adventures
I let take all the worry out of organising huts, food, transport and what to do if the weather turned foul.
Plus they were a really great mob.
We had 2 excellent guides Francois and Elly.

There were 20 trekkers, which seemed like a lot, especially when we are used to just being a duo, but they were a fab mob, young and old, and from all over the world. There was always someone different to talk to so you never got bored. And everyone (almost everyone) pitched in and helped prepare meals, clean up etc.

On the map below we started at B and finished at A, staying at 3 huts in between.

This way we started higher and finished lower.

Looking back to Landmannalauger

20 walkers and 2 guides

Hut 1 at Hrafntinnusker

Geothermal area on day 2

Towards the lake and hut 2 at Alftavatn

Hut 2 next to a lake Alftavatn

Hut 2 at dinner time

Small hut and an old farm

Day 3

Hut 3 and the camping area at Emstrur

Hut 3. Very cosy

Towards Porsmork

The final destination - the hut at Porsmork