Our plan was to get up early
and set off by 6am to give ourselves plenty of time to make it to
Melaleuca before the plane arrived at 10am.
After breaking camp Owen was keen
to scrub bash to try to reconnect with the track further south, but I thought
it safer to backtrack to the point where the tracks diverged the day before and
then continue on the eastern track. It was a lot easier finding our way out the
way we came in and it only took us 10 minutes or so to get back on to the main
track. It had seemed a lot further coming in.
I was still finding the descents slow because of my knee, and
didn’t want to risk jarring it as I had done before and deciding slow and
cautious was the better option. We had already discussed the “every man for
himself” strategy to make sure we didn’t miss the plane, as at that point, we
didn’t know how often flights came in and we didn’t think continuing on to
Cockle Creek was still a realistic option.
Owen powered ahead, getting further and further out in
front. At one point he called back to me, to make sure I was still following. I
called back but couldn’t make out what he was saying. The track looks quite
flat on the map, but there are still a lot of ups and downs. As I climbed every
rise I hoped I’d be able to see the airstrip from the top, but was always
disappointed and there’d be another
descent and another rise ahead.
We’d been advise by the skipper of the launch at Joan Point
that it was a 3 hour walk to Melaleuca and we’d already done nearly a couple of
kilometres the day before, so 4 hours should be plenty but I began to realise
there was no way that I was going to reach the airstrip by 10am.
When I heard the plane right on time at 10am, I hoped Owen
had made it to the airstrip. Then there was a second plane, doubling our
chances so when I heard the first plane leave I wasn’t too concerned but if I
heard the second one take off I think I’d have been quite downhearted, so I
picked up the pace, not stopping to drink or collect water at creek crossings
and I was quite hot and thirsty when I finally arrived at the airstrip. I
couldn’t see Owen although I could see the plane. I was in need of water and
wasn’t sure whether to head for the plane or the creek at the other end of the
airstrip, but the Parks and Wildlife volunteer waved me to head toward the plane and then I sighted
Owen.
That last mad dash had taken its toll on Owen’s feet and
they were in pretty bad shape, but it turned out that we could have had a
leisurely stroll and taken as much time as we wanted for the last 12km. There
were plenty of planes coming and going, but unfortunately they were all going
out fully loaded so we’d have to wait a day or two anyway.
We headed up to the huts to rest and for Owen to attend to
his feet. We were advised to check back at the airstrip around 4pm to see if
there were any seats available and on doing so we were able to book seats on a
flight out 2 days later at 2pm.
The walker huts and facilities at Melaleuca are well set up
and we had the luxury of a hut all to ourselves. The volunteer staff there do a
fantastic job looking after the facilities as well as the visitors and they checked
on us a few times to make sure we had everything we needed and provide
information.
Kudos to them.