Overland Track - Day 1: Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley

We're all up bright and early and before our alarms, anxious to begin the Overland Track. We head back to the visitor centre to meet the Overland company driver, who'll be taking our bag with non-hike gear, for us to pick up on the other side. We then head into the centre for our safety briefing, which is some info about the track, sleeping huts, unpredictable weather and how not to get hypothermia. We hop back on the shuttle to take us to the start of the track. We get off at Ronny Creek and we're on our own and into the wild.

The weather is a stark contrast from yesterday. No sun to be seen and the cloud is low with plenty of fog around. It's already started drizzling and the track is wet. Courts needs an early toilet stop, so Cam and Hayden crack on. Courts is a bit more of a cautious walker (aka slow and with a 16kg pack), and Jeff's got a bung ankle (with a 20kg pack). We walk through some stunning rain-forest and waterfall scenery and then things get serious. It's only up from here and it's tough. We're talking pulling ourselves up a chain link rope on the side of a mountain.

We make it to Marian's lookout and we can't see anything. The cloud is low, it's foggy as hell and windy and cold. We can't see very far ahead of us, we're amazed and wondering what the hell we've signed up for. We're also very glad we came out yesterday and got to see some of the views of and surrounding Cradle Mountain. We make it to an old hut called Kitchener's hut. It's not a sleeping hut (unless it's an emergency). We quickly shove down some snacks of jerky and museli bars. We don't want to cool down too much. You need to carry all of your own food for the whole 7 days. We hope we've packed enough!

We head back out to the track and are hoping the hardest is behind us. We've done all the climbing for the day. The track becomes a bit gentler, but the rocky terrain continues and the rainy drizzle doesn't stop. It's cold and we've got our wet weather gear on, which should be waterproof, but we're sweating up a storm underneath and getting it wet from the inside. So basically, don't stop until you get to the hut!

We come out into a completely open part of the track with no tree coverage and the wind really picks up. It's blowing hard enough that we're stumbling around on the track. It's quite the experience. We walk past an emergency hut, recently erected due to people having problems along this stretch recently. We can see why.

We're finally descending into a valley and can finally start to see into the distance a little bit. We arrive at the hut and we're very impressed. Very new, very sleek, very well designed. We shed our wet clothes quickly and are welcomed with some boiling water courtesy of Hayden.

We have the option of pitching a tent (which you also have to carry yourself) or staying in the hut (effectively a plank which you put your sleeping mat and bag on). We chose the hut for tonight. Let's warm into this whole camping thing.

They say that Day 1 is the toughest, and we survived. A real mix of emotions though. Lots of nervous excitement for what's to come.

We discuss the day's highlights over an early dinner and head to bed for a very early night.