Day 6 (Derwent Bridge to Hamilton)

Day: 110km
Total: 410km
Weather: 30degrees

I am feeling good at the moment. I did feel really tired earlier today, especially on the leg from Tarralea to Ouse. There were no shops, stops or fuel houses in the section and it went for about 70km. It was better then yesterday, which was 90 or so km without any food stops. The great thing about Tassie is that you can access fresh water anywhere, so on a number of occasions I'd fill up the bottles on the side of the road at a freshwater inlet. I also come across a lot of fruit trees in the town if Ouse. This was great, I loaded up on apricots. Every house seemed to have at least 4 different fruit trees, with some also having a veggie patch from what I could see.

After stopping to finish off the last of my muesli that I brought over from Melb, I kept going for 70odd km straight. I finally got to the little town Ouse around 17:30 where I drank a litre of milk with some raspberries mixed through to make a type of milkshake. I have been off the milk for a while, but needed some quick protein and something to fill me up, so hoping it sits well tonight.

I'm now at a campsite in Hamilton, it's about 30 odd minute drive from where some of the wild fires have been. A lot of the fireys are staying in this town as emergency backup, and also to collect goods etc. Its a very small town, just one pub and a hall. Seeing the way these fireys work and also the people volunteering their time has shown me another side to our country and its people. In respect to this I know these guys are working all the time and that it was a lot more severe with the black Saturday fires a few years ago. This particular moment though shows me how we work and genuinely commit our full support in times of need.

I had a bit of a shock the other day when I was in Strahan. In my stay there a group of bogan Aussie guys came through on there motorbikes. The Japanese guy I made mates with had been copping a bit of slack off them cause his English wasn't so good. Fortunately I wasn't there when it happened, but it made me feel embarrassed and also annoyed for this guy. It was his first time overseas, and his first real experience with foreigners. He asked me if Australian people don't like Asians..

When I was in Japan a stranger escorted me to the three different trains I needed to catch, as I was staying an hour and a half out of the city. This was without even asking.

Now I'm about to get some sleep and hopefully feel good for the next 75odd km to Hobart tomorrow!