- Start date: 22 June 2019
- Age When Completed: 19
- Direction Walked: North to South
- Others in Group:
Ethan Robartson
General Comments
I had no idea so many grass trees existed in one place let alone on my door step.
Food/Supplies Comments
The trail diet is a simpler diet yes, but it doesn’t have to be a boring one; peanut butter and Oreo sandwiches on Sunblest White bread will stay with me for the rest of my existence.
Favourite Section
There is wonder in every footstep in every patch of dirt, sand, stone, grass or puddle and I hate to have to pick a favourite, but moving between forest and the coastline between Walpole and Denmark made its mark on my heart and would have to take the cake.
Highlights
The obvious highlights would involve being joined by extra company between Pemberton and Northcliffe, but in saying that, one of the greatest highlights thinking back over it now (though not at the time) was on our third day being woken in the dark to start our next big double hut. Ethan had sworn it was getting lighter and neither of us were carrying any sort of watch or anything, so we marched on into the silence of the midwinter’s night. We arrived at our designated lunch hut 15 or so kms into our day without any sign of dawn, so we rolled out our mats and went back to bed until we knew for sure the sun truly had risen. We will never know if we started off at 10 at night or 3 in the morning but that to me, is the beauty of it. (I also stubbed my bare, blistered toe in camp that night and lost my first toe nail.)
Personal Reactions
In the beginning of this mighty expedition I found myself looking so far forward all the time, constantly trying to plan every aspect of what was to come, even planning what I was going to eat and do the day I got back a whole 7 weeks away. It became an opportunity to enjoy life as I lived it, occupying my mind with the experiences as they came. If i’m to take anything away from this trip it would be this sense of content, finding the beauty in where you are not just where you are going.
Wildlife
The middle of winter is a quiet time for the critters but none the less, there was a kangaroo or an emu waiting at every corner, feral pigs, mystical black cats and always a bird song in the air, a bird song and a quacking frog, just about every step of the way!
Your Best Equipment
$3 plastic poncho: tried and tested, irreplaceable piece of wet weather gear!
Your Worst Equipment
Goretex is a lie.
Advice for Others
It may be hard to be away from those you love but that disconnection is half the challenge, half the Freedom. Try not to be so infatuated with documenting your journey for yourself and for others, that you lose the essence of what it is to be out here, living and breathing, creating memories to keep in your mental storage; take a step back from your screens and see the world around you. Happy trails xx