Storing Camp Kitchen While Sleeping

Fab72 said "The only intruders I've ever captured were a couple of possums and a kookaburra."

I wonder if they were working together :)
Kylie

Possums, gotta luv 'em. When a mate and I were walking the Overland Track in Tassie many years back (before it got like Pitt Street) we met a famous possum nicknamed by bushwalkers "Black Pete".

We had read about its night raids on unsuspecting walkers' packs in the hut log so blocked a hole in the roof of the sleeping area so he wouldn't bother us. During the night we could hear thump, thump, thump on the shingles as he/she looked everywhere for an entry point. After about 30 minutes all fell silent until we heard a clatter of pans from the fireplace in the adjoining room.

We crept out with our torches and cameras to catch a glimpse of this famous rogue and were rewarded with the sight of the biggest possum I have ever seen sitting on the hearth licking our dishes clean (poor fella wouldn't have got much of a feed because we were living off reconstituted dried food, which was pretty average fare back in the 70's). He didn't take off so we were able to capture him on film for posterity.

Later, when we reached the end of the walk at Cradle Mtn we stayed at a NP hut which was seemingly impregnable to wildlife. Not so. During the night we found a possum rifling thru one of our packs and chomping down some dried fruit - the only food we had left after the trek. We just lay back and enjoyed the show from our top bunks - thought his/her ingenuity in getting into the cabin then somehow opening the pack deserved a reward!

Blimey, Bazooka, that takes me back: Black Pete at Ducane Hut!! When I stayed there, there were four of us blokes sleeping in shifts because we only had three usable sleeping bags (mine got soaked), so we took it in turns to watch black Pete (or perhaps a clone!) climb down the chimney to get to our bags. Memories!!

Yes, Ducane it was indeed, the best hut of them all (well, most picturesque and character-filled, even tho it was a bit run down in 1975).

Your sleeping bag comment reminds me. I was very inexperienced (in fact the Overland was my first overnight walk) and I had (ignorantly) purchased a 3 season bag from Norman Ross (Gerry's previous business) for the trek. Got to Waterfall Hut, 1 day from Cradle and struck a freezing night. Got about 1 hour's sleep and remember next day having a snooze out of the wind among the dolerite chimneys atop Cradle Mt. We had almost perfect weather for that walk, unlike you it seems.

Did the harder/longer south-west walk a few years later (1983), including the infamous, and perfectly named, Yo-Yo track at the start (bloke who put that in obviously knew nothing about countours and figured the most direct route was the best, so he graded straight up and down hills). Both of those walks were absolutely fantastic, with great company (thanks Terry). Got stuck at Macquarie Harbour for 3 days on the SW walk, but that's another story.

Cheers
Jon

Best thieves I've ever seen in action were a couple of Crows working in tandem at Mount Barnett campsite. Pure artists.

A couple of backpackers had locked, sealed, and tamped down all their gear very well to stop and intrusion... didn't stop this pair of thieves ...