Thanks AznPmP. What cadets were you in?
The foil is a good idea if there is no water to wash in, but seeing as I was only doing a little bit of the great south west walk (south western Vic) water wasn't much of an issue (water supply at each camp site) but the foil would have been as it's "carry in, carry out" for rubbish.
I had some of those packet mixes with me, and salt was a problem with them. not too bad seeing as I only ate them at night, but still enough of a problem when you have to boil all the drinking water. one thing I did find with those packet mixes is that the foil packaging was about 1/3 of the entire weight of the packet! used glad lock bags to reduce the weight and make it easier to carry.
any way, on with the run down.
Started off where the trail crosses T & W road. got dropped off way later than I wanted (1:15 pm) so I used a different drop off point to the origanal plan. hiked the 5 or so km from there to cut out camp and set up there (easy start, seeing as I had never hiked before and my pack was 23 kg!).
First thing I wish I had, a rag or a tea strainer. The rainwater tank had wrigglers (mosquito larvae) in it.
set up camp, no worries. had tea and went to bed just after dark. woke up during the night to a sort of ripping noise, and my feet seemed to be sitting on something. turned out that the internal binding on my sleeping mat had let go (the ripping noise) and that end of the mat had blown up like a balloon. once again I fall victim to my "I'll just get something good enough to do the job, and if I keep doing it I'll buy something better" mentality. I would have been better off buying better gear and then selling it if I hadn't planned to keep hiking.
the following morning I got up and started packing up while cooking breakfast. separated the tent from the fly to try to dry them both out as rain was forcast for mid morning. 1/2 way through it rained, but no big drama as cut out camp had a sheltered area I could finish packing in.
it rained most of that day, on and off. the cover I had for my pack was OK for a few light showers, but at a few points I had rain soaking through my hat - more than just a light shower. Got to cubby's camp at about 12:00, cooked lunch (originally was going to have a cold one) while I tried to decide if I would continue or not. wound up deciding to go on because 6 hrs of sitting around while waiting for dark didn't appeal. looking back I'd say it was a bit of a silly decision as portland (the next stop - and planned pick up point) was about 18 1/2 km away and i could have spent the time drying my pack out. wound up organizing to be picked up from the Frank Lodge lookout just north of portland - cutting off about 6 or 8 km that I'll have to try to do later. (prob a day trip when I visit my brother).
here's a list of things I think I should have packed (in brackets is what they would have replaced - if anything)
poncho (raincoat and pack cover - would have been lighter and kept my pack dry, don't know how it would have handled wind)
imodium - diarrhea medication- didn't need, but that could easily cause a medical emergency.
decent sleeping mat (better night's sleep than my crap one)
a different stove arrangement/ another billy (found I was a bit limited in boiling water as I only had a 1.5 l billy).
tea strainer (see story - only an issue where rain water is used)
water purification tablets - (saves boiling - would have reduced the amount of stove fuel needed - less weight)
cut down and laminated maps as the one i was using got wet in the rain. (as things in the rain often have happen!)
lighter sleeping bag (I think some of my weight issues came from too heavy a sleeping bag)
I don't have a complete list of my gear here anywhere, but I've got holidays in a mounth's time so I might post up a list of the gear i take out for that (hoping to spend around 5 days out at a time)
oh and a final thought, pack your sleeping bag near the top, although it's usually the last thing you want, and the first thing to pack away, it weighs less. so by having it near the top you improve the center of gravity of your pack, there by making it easier to carry.