Day 27 – Bundaleer Weir to Spalding – 19.97km

Total Distance – 488.2km

A Heysen Trail story

Well, the overwhelming word of the day is cold. Freezing in fact. Really, really, very, very cold.

I actually had a really good sleep. Wearing all of my clothes, but that’s ok. I woke this morning to a dripping wet tent. Inside. One of the problems when it gets SO cold. And when it’s really grassy. And when there’s no wind, is that condensation in the tent is a big issue.

Little drips. Drip after drip after drip. Dropping down on your sleeping bag and everything else. Making everything inside feel horrible, clammy, and, damp. The tent fly also gets saturated. So, all in all, it’s a wet mess. And cold to boot. Nothing you can really do about it.

I lie in a little bit with a vague notion that the sun might come out all guns blazing and with ferocious force dry everything in an instant and I’d be on my way. Not to be. I opened the tent to reveal a swirling fog awash over the whole landscape. Hills I could see yesterday, no longer. There would be no sun for quite a while.

Pack up isn’t fun. The absolute worst thing is trying to get the tape off my sutured tent pole. With these freezing fingers, it’s no fun at all. “This is the last time. This is the last time”, I think to myself. I am due to pick up the parts to fix it once and for all this afternoon.

The walk passes quickly. Easy walking beside the aquaduct. Mark leaves in his vehicle having given me all his leftover food and an offer of help when I reach further south. Trail kindness.

The sun tries to make it’s presence known. I stop to take a break and attempt to dry out some of my gear. The attempt is successful, which I’m really pleased about. Job done.

I get into town about 1pm, so I have an hour to mooch around. I go to the post office and pick up my fix the tent package. Go to the store and pick up a sterling sausage roll and sauce. Outstanding!

The pub opens at 2pm sharp and I am promptly shown into my room, which I am very grateful about. The temperature has plummeted in the last hour.

I have a double bed, the female toilet is just across the way, and the showers right next door. Perfect! It’s all topped off with a lovely hot shower and a steaming cup of tea.

I have a really pleasant afternoon fixing my tent and catching up with the head of my support crew. Big things on the horizon for him, which is super exciting. I regret not being there to share that excitement and trepidation with him. It’s the ultimate downside of doing something like this. The “selfishness” of it. He deals with it like an absolute champ though.

I’m in the pub now. Even though they don’t have pub dinners tonight, the co-owner, Julie, is making me a spaghetti bolognaise. I cannot describe how excited I am by this. Well, I can. I am ridiculously excited. Just the thing on a cold, cold evening.

I’ve got to say I’m not really looking forward to tomorrow. Climb, climb climb right up to “Whistling Trig”. Known breaker of tent poles and spirits. That’d be just my luck. It’s only just fixed! And -1 degrees again tomorrow night. Yeah. It might not be so much fun….