Return to the Solukhumbu in Nepal, 2025

We set out in sunny weather and were soon taking off layers.  Our guide Tendi Sherpa pointed out the snowy mountain Cho Oyu at the top of the valley, 8188 metres high and so white.  Tibet is just on the other side of the mountain – wow!

I was nervous and excited about returning to the Solukhumbu Everest region in Nepal.  I was keen for more trekking and it was exactly ten years on from our previous visit.  Why do I keep going on these adventures?  I’m curious, I like hiking somewhere different in the beautiful natural world, and the people make us feel welcome.  My parents helped to instil this thing, a fondness for travelling, from my childhood.  My dear nephew Steve and I couldn’t get to the Gokyo Valley and Gokyo Ri in April 2015 because of heavy snow at Cho La so we came back to experience it.

We flew into Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Lukla, at lunchtime on my birthday.  We were lucky to get clear skies after a few days of rain and cancelled flights.  Tendi travelled with us from Kathmandu via Ramechhap and my porter Arun met us in Lukla (Steve had decided to carry his overnight pack).  We trekked to Phakding in the afternoon rain, which began through the lovely Solukhumbu archway with statues of local women.  We also stopped at the visitor checkpoint.  Soon after I was among pink flowering rhododendrons as we followed the mighty Dudh Koshi River up the steep-sided mountainous valley.

That evening at the lodge we celebrated my birthday with Nutella B-ready bars, Kit Kats and pilsner beer.  There I go, another lap around the sun.

The trek from Phakding to Namche Bazaar the next day was an elevation gain of 1000 metres, quite a slog up from Monjo.  Some track was washed away in last year’s flood so there was a temporary steep up and down section.  Helicopters roared up and down the valley throughout the day.  Being the route to the famous Everest Base Camp, people were everywhere and we shared some nice conversations at chautaara / rock seats.  I felt like a true global citizen coming here, with folks from all over the world who love trekking.

Powered by momos for lunch, up we went. The river was gushing along, milky with glacial melt, to the confluence of the Bhote Koshi and Dudh Koshi.  There it was: the Hillary Suspension Bridge, so clear from my memory.  We waited for a donkey train to pass then set out across the bridge. It was exhilarating with amazing views and a jaw-dropping space below of over 100 metres.  I did that head-shake of wow, disbelief.  I do that sometimes these days.  I’d made sure my waterproof layers were securely strapped to my day pack in the wind.

Hillary Suspension Bridge, just before Namche Bazaar, Sagarmatha National Park, Solukhumbu 

In the last hour of a long day Arun found us on the trail, greeting us with a big smile.  He’d already dropped off my overnight pack at the lodge.  He and Tendi kindly helped to carry our packs for the last stint.  When I arrived at the entrance to Namche Bazaar (elevation 3420 m) I was overcome with emotion.  Yes, we had returned.  It looked beautiful being abuzz with tourists and locals, young people playing volleyball, the Buddhist stupa with its lights, the big prayer wheels to our right.  It was quite a moment.  The next day was an acclimatisation ‘rest day’.  Nevertheless, it included an uphill workout to Everest View Hotel for coffee, toast and majestic views of the Solukhumbu including Lhotse and Everest / Sagarmatha / Chomolungma just peeking through.

 

Steve and I on the Everest View Hotel hike, above Namche Bazaar (photo by Tendi Sherpa) 

We were pampered by the lodge staff with all meals and accommodation.  The dining rooms were warm and cosy and, as always, the Nepalis were friendly and welcoming.  In some places I enjoyed hot showers, in other places I just had to go without.  Tendi and Arun were excellent and so supportive, caring and concerned for us when we struggled.

We woke to the sight of Oreo-dusted mountains.  Yes, we had Oreo vibes and that sounds goofy but Steve and I had a lot of laughs, bouncing off each other with our humour, so hooray to that.  It was time to continue up to Dole and the air was thin as we huffed and puffed.  After the turn off to Gokyo we trudged up a speccy and dramatic mountainside path to Mong La (3975 m) which was hard going.  Pretty tired, we didn’t make a lot of conversation over lunch at the lodge.  Then followed a descent to Phortse Tenga, the highlight being an encounter with a Himalayan monal pheasant.  Past more bright pink rhododendron flowers, then donning waterproofs for snow (what is this white stuff?), onwards we went.  There were pretty waterfalls and clumps of snow at side streams, but the harsh cold really set in towards the end of a 9 hour day (including breaks).

We arrived at the Alpine Cottage Lodge in Dole (4100 m) to be greeted by a central fireplace, a cosy dining area and a group of cheerful trekkers from Denmark.  Glad to stop and rest, I was exhausted, cold and didn’t have my usual appetite that evening.  Actually I was quite unwell and Steve also had a health issue that day.  So we made the call: a rest day in Dole then we head back down to Namche.  It wasn’t a hard decision but anyway I won’t go into details about my health problems here.  I was very grateful for Marianne and Karsten’s help and kindness.

A highlight of the rest day was that it snowed!  I watched some fellow trekkers dancing in it, waving their arms around, filming with their phones and catching snowflakes on their tongues.  It was adorable – they said, ‘we’re from the tropics!’.  Steve wrote his name in the snow in huge letters.  Before the snowfall I managed a short walk around the village for some fresh air.  Sitting outside in the sun with my book and electrolyte drink, albeit briefly before it was too cold, was nice too.

 

Rest day in Dole. Just relax (photo by Tendi Sherpa) 

The trek back down was do-able and I had good medication.  We said farewell to the Alpine Cottage Lodge and thanked the owners for their hospitality.  The blue sky morning just outside of Dole was beautiful with mosses on the trees lit by the sun.  Butterflies came and went.  Tendi pointed out Cho Oyu, the ‘Turquoise Goddess’, which was awesome.  Heading south, we took in views of the mountains Kantega, with its two hanging glaciers, and Thamserku.  Simply glorious in the clear morning weather.  With dustings of snow in front of us, the whole view seemed to sparkle.  To the left was the hillside village of Phortse.  We saw the Himalayan monal again in the exact same spot.  Was it the same bird?  Maybe.  It shone against the dull vegetation, feathers in blue, green, crimson and orange.  

Views of the mountains Kantega and Thamserku in the morning sun 

Cho Oyu, the 'Turquoise Goddess' 

Himalayan monal pheasant (photo by Tendi Sherpa) 

After we settled in at Namche Bazaar and the temperature was milder I felt glad about the decision not to go further up the valley to Gokyo village and Lakes.  Steve felt the same way.  Just let it go. 

On the rest day in Namche, Tendi, Steve and I went for a short walk just uphill to a wonderful viewpoint. In sunny weather, we saw Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam from the grounds next to the Tenzing Norgay Sherpa statue and memorial.  So good!  Then we walked to the other side of Namche to appreciate the Buddhist paintings on rockfaces surrounded by pine trees.  Later on Tendi and I visited Namche Bazaar’s Gompa.  We met the monk and he let us enter the monastery with its colours, deities, candles, holy water and scrolls.  We each lit a candle and prayed – it was a serene moment.

 

Buddhist stupa at Mong La 

Amazing views of Everest / Sagarmatha / Chomolungma and Lhotse from the Tenzing Norgay Sherpa monument

Prayer wheels at the Gompa, Namche Bazaar 

Over the following two days we trekked down to Lukla, overnighting in Ghat.  The first day was quite long so what a treat to be invited into Arun’s auntie’s home in Phakding for afternoon tea.  It was an unexpected highlight of the trip, sharing the tastiest momos and hot drinks with Arun’s family.  We made up for the language barrier with smiles and laughter.  Tendi brought out delicious mandarins from his rucksack.  I admired the set-up of auntie’s kitchen, so different to ours but very functional, especially the huge flask of coffee.  There was a little boy on his device, a teenage girl, the husband in his traditional Dhaka hat.  I think they appreciated how delighted we were to visit.

I love rhododendrons (photo by Tendi Sherpa)

In Lukla, Tendi gave us official Sagarmatha National Park certificates of achievement and surprised us by ordering Aussie style chicken schnitzels for dinner.  We farewelled Arun that day as well.  It was fine to change the dates of our flight out of Lukla and van transfer back to Kathmandu three days early.  More days in the big city for sightseeing and relaxing before we journeyed home. 

Dinner in Thamel, Kathmandu with our guide Tendi Sherpa 

Thanks to our trekking agent Kalshang for his kindness and thoroughness with all the arrangements, and to Arun for being so cheerful and happy to carry my big rucksack.  Thanks also go to Tendi.  I was very grateful for his caring nature, for taking beautiful photos of us and sending them via Messenger, for holding my hand sometimes when I descended steps seemingly built for giants.  Plus many more things he kindly did to help us.  And big thanks to my nephew Steve for being such a treasure of a travelling companion.

Goodbye and go well Nepal.  Namaste. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) 

Tasmania in 2024

This trip to lutruwita / Tasmania marks the 10th anniversary of my blog.  I can’t believe the year is 2024!  What comes to mind as I type this?  It’s all there.  On a random Tuesday I usually sit or stand in an air-conditioned office in Bedford Park and at the same time Langshisha Kharka in the upper Langtang Valley is still there, the sun shining on it.  Or Rees Saddle in Mount Aspiring National Park, or Counts Point in Tjoritja West MacDonnell National Park.  I could go on – it’s such a wonderful reflection.

Dan and I went to Tassie in March to visit his cousins and two amazing national parks.  It was lovely seeing Nick again and getting to know Rob and Sophie, who live surrounded by tall stringybark and swamp gum forests outside of Geeveston in the Huon Valley.  Before dark, the pademelons came to graze near the house, and currawongs had a completely different birdsong to our Adelaide ones.  On the first day we drove to MONA in our hire car and a friendly, helpful staff member explained to us the tickets and the museum gallery app.  We knew that Rob’s partner Sophie worked at MONA but didn’t know for sure if it was her until she came home in the evening.  It was Sophie, so that was a neat coincidence.  Over the weekend we went for walks with doggo Marley, a pinot noir tasting at Heriots Point, and into the evening, enjoyed hearty chats over apple cider made by Rob.

Mount Field National Park

I was excited to visit Mount Field and the Tarn Shelf circuit on the Monday which gave us the best weather out of the days ahead, although that meant a longer morning drive from Geeveston compared to leaving from Hobart.  Therefore it was a late start, but hooray, the weather was partly cloudy, warm and settled.  Nothing like what we faced in 2016 when the wind, rain and white-out caused us to return to the car park after only a short time.

The land of Mount Field National Park is on the Big River Nation of Tasmanian Aboriginal people. This was the 12 km circuit via Lake Newdegate, Twilight Tarn and Lake Webster.  After asking people and poring over notes and maps, I decided on this route and to do it clockwise, so that I could appreciate the beauty of the Tarn Shelf while feeling fresh in the first half.  That went well.  I reckon the alternative route via Rodway Range and K Col would have spanked me.  Dan was happy for me to organise things.

We began hiking past the pandani and berry shrubs at Lake Dobson, then up the vehicular track and past a ski hut, and then we joined a trail amongst pretty boulders and windblown gum trees with streaky colourful trunks.  The gums gave way to alpine moorland as we went beyond our 2016 turnaround place, Lake Seal lookout (1240 m). 

‘It’s on!’ I thought to myself.

We followed the duckboard and noticed the turn-off track to Rodway Range.  The highest elevation of the hike is 1265 m.  Upon reaching Rodway Hut and the rope tow for skiers, the view of the Tarn Shelf was big – we descended into it and one tarn is a brighter emerald green than the other.  I think the brightest one was MacKenzie Tarn, with magnificent views of the mountains beyond.  Yes, we put our hands in the tarn and it was cold.

 Finally made it to the Tarn Shelf! In 2016 we had to turn back in bad weather

 Shades of green

We stopped to take it all in.  Pencil pines, some gnarled from the elements; cushion plants by the water, rockery gardens, with the tall Rodway Range as backdrop.  This area is known for the deciduous beech / fagus trees, but it was mid-March and too early to notice their colours change to gold.  We hiked on an ancient glacial landscape, part of the UNESCO Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.  I was in the moment.  Just appreciating the details, colours and light up high along the chain of tarns and then Lake Newdegate.  At this point the track turned a corner among silvery dead trunks of pines from a bushfire that took place decades ago.

Sometimes I saw skinks on the duckboard, plus a black snake to one side, well away from the track, then it disappeared behind shrubs.  It was likely a tiger snake.  Twisted Tarn looked like fairyland with more gnarly pines, and the gums returned. 

We ate lunch at Twilight Tarn with its characterful 1927 skiers hut, containing artefacts from its time.  4:15pm, geez that was a late lunch but we did eat snacks earlier.  Stopping for snacks is important.  After Twilight Tarn there was a steep rocky descent and the trail markers seemed to disappear.  We retraced our steps, checked the map and realised this was the trail, which was a relief, but it was unsettling for a moment.  The route continued along the Lake Webster Track, skirting the lake but only getting glimpses through the forest.  The banksias were lovely through here and I photographed them in the golden hour.  The maps showed this section to be lengthy, so we just had to pick up the pace – this is easy for Dan to do, but I am usually slower.  

 This is me after our lunchbreak at Twilight Tarn

 Lots of banksias in the forest after Twilight Tarn

Finally we reached one of the vehicular tracks and another ski club building, phew!  Lake Dobson appeared on our right and we reached the car park at 7:15pm, just a few minutes before sunset.  I felt bad because I subjected Dan to one of my hikes getting close to dark in an area unfamiliar to us, along with driving back in twilight, watching for wildlife on the road.  But we took our time and scanned the road carefully – it was doable.  I wanted to learn from the experience (simply start the hike earlier?)  I am grateful for Dan’s company on such a remote alpine day hike, knowing that he would rather go mountain biking.  And I can now report first-hand it is absolutely beautiful up there.

Freycinet National Park

After spending a couple of days in Hobart, Dan and I road tripped northeast to Coles Bay and stayed in a newly renovated caravan park cabin while exploring Freycinet National Park.  This land is part of the Oyster Bay nation, the traditional owners are the toorerno-maire-mener clan.  At the golden hour on Thursday, we drove out to Cape Tourville Lighthouse and saw the spectacular craggy headlands and wild bushland all around, really quite something.  The same evening at Coles Bay we viewed the rocky massif known as The Hazards.  When you first see them, it’s just wow! 

 View of the Hazards, Freycinet National Park, from Coles Bay

The next morning we set out to the trailhead car park for the Wineglass Bay and Hazards Beach circuit (11 km).  I had been meaning to do this hike for years and the day finally arrived.  It wasn’t too busy yet, and we walked up the well-built trail to the Wineglass Bay lookout through a saddle in the Hazards.  The iconic, internationally renowned Wineglass Bay view, as seen in pictures enough times, is magical and idyllic in real life.  

 Dan and I on our way to Wineglass Bay Lookout

 Iconic Wineglass Bay

The sky was blue with delicate cloud streaks and the colours of the sand, sea and bushland were bright.  I reclined on a seat near the lookout and watched a robin flit across some boulders.  Dan admired the bouldering potential, life was good.

We took the descent path of many steps to the beach, threw off our footwear and paddled in the water – super clear in light shades of peppermint blue green.  It was definitely cold and refreshing, people swam there that day and I was happy to go in up to my knees.  What a beautiful place to relax for a while, eating our snacks in the sun and just looking around.  Orange lichen on granite rocks and pristine forest framed the beach.

Wattle birds called out as we traversed the isthmus and admired the lagoon and hills to the south of the peninsula.  Then we hiked along Hazards Beach, seeing more glorious scenery, swimmers in clear water and…

‘Whoops, don’t do that!’

Actually, I’m not sure if I said exactly that.  We were wandering around the sandy cove with interesting boulders and I fell over.  I was on a little boulder, the water washing around it, and the dismount onto wet sand was deeper than I expected, and I mildly rolled my ankle, along with a rash on my hands from the sand.  I’m happy to report I could hike okay, and 15 minutes along the track I paused to shake sand out of my boots.

I was very glad that I landed in sand and not on the harsh granite.  

 The northern end of Hazards Beach where I fell into the sand

Dan and I followed this track through she-oak woodland with regular views of Great Oyster Bay and a few boats.  This part included a mighty fine lunch stop, set back from the trail.  Tea trees were flowering around us.

As for Mount Amos Saturday, 3.6 km return, I hadn’t invested my headspace anticipating this steep scramble fest to one of the Hazards peaks, and advised Dan if it was too precipitous I would turn back.  You know, treacherous vertical drop potential, no climbing ropes and all that.  I admit that I was feeling a bit irritable and was keen for some relaxing.

 Enjoy... argh the Mount Amos climb was epic

Well, the steepness wasn’t too bad.  I didn’t expect this route to be so busy, almost crowded in a few places, which I found challenging.  But such is life.  We went up and down Mount Amos and Dan enjoyed the scrambly terrain.  He helped people – even carrying water bottles past a tricky section for a couple of hikers, suggesting where they could put their hands and feet.  It was approximately 400 metres of height gain from the car park to the top. 

 Appreciating the details on the way up Mount Amos

My hands were raw from the granite hand holds along with the sand rash.  However, there were wonderful, lofty views of the bays as we climbed, the weather was perfect, and the summit panoramic views were generous.  This included a view of Mount Mayson, also part of the Hazards.  I loved the scenic rock seat that I found, mid-slope, to take a break on the way up as well as down.

The scrambles involved high steps, jamming my boots in wide cracks on the slopes and avoiding sections polished by water action, and it was quite grippy rock otherwise.  All things considered, when we were back down, showered and sipping cups of tea followed by beer and cheese, it felt like I enjoyed Mount Amos and sensed we did a good thing as part of the Freycinet experience.

 

Amazing views from the top of Mount Amos

Hot tip: information on official websites, guidebooks and from people about walk times, terrain and more is very useful.  But I am mindful to add time for snack and lunch breaks, taking photos and stopping to appreciate nature.

When Dan and I took off from Hobart Airport to return home, it was windy, sunny and cloudy with intermittent drizzle.  So a rainbow followed us as I looked out the plane window – that was a sweet moment.  A big thank you to the staff of Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service and my friends for their advice about the trails. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0)