Day 9 – Calabrinda Creek to Buckaringa North Campsite – 18km

Total Distance – 170km

A Heysen Trail story

One of the most common questions I get is “Aren’t you scared?” And most of the time, if it’s a woman asking me, the underlying question is “Aren’t you scared of getting raped and murdered? Or of something bad happening?”

It’s an interesting question. And I often wonder to myself, “Do men actually have to think about this question? Would they, or do they feel afraid of running into somebody nasty on the track?”

The reason I bring this up, is because I let my imagination get away from me last night. Usually, I’m really good at keeping it in check, but sometimes it’s hard to keep a lid on it. Even when you know it makes no sense at all.

After dinner I decided to stay out of the tent a little longer by dancing. When you have the campsite to yourself, dancing and singing is a fantastic way of keeping warm, stretching, and “wasting time”. And it’s a shitload of fun.

So, that’s what I’m doing. Headlight on. Earpieces in. Just going for it. When suddenly I see a light up on a nearby hill, roving. Now what has me jittery, even before this, is that the campsite is adjacent to a road. And that’s a trigger for me to imagine that somebody can easily just drive straight up to me. So that, combined with this mysterious light, which keeps moving periodically over the mountain range gets me thinking “Did somebody see my torch light? Is somebody headed this way?” It’s pretty crazy I know. And I felt a right fool this morning when I reached a locked gate at the end of the road. But that’s also the way it is, for me anyway, as a solo female hiker. You can try and be as rational as you like. But once a little fear gets hold, it can pretty easily run away. At the time, I stopped my tunes, got into my tent, thought about it properly, and felt a lot safer.

Now I’ve reached the next campsite, which is even closer to the road! And, there is a mysterious road bike here chained up with a helmet, gloves, water bottle all attached. Nothing in the log book. The bike is making me nervous. It’s almost 4.30, and so I’m hoping the owner might turn up soon. It’s just….not right.

But halelujah! This camp site has a little table!! No toilet. But the table is excellent!

I was in much more buoyant spirits today. It was a warmer night, so I slept a lot better. Still in all my gear, but at least I felt warm. And knowing that it was going to be a relatively short day helped as well.

The first 10km or so consisted of a straightforward road walk that was really pleasant. Galahs kept me company, along with the ever present mountains. My wish for a bit of sun didn’t pan out, with thick grey clouds still blanketing the sky.

It was in the final 8km that the magic happened. After turning off the road, I stopped to have a break on a grassy patch on the bank of a riverbed. Little did I know, that if I’d just walked to the next riverbed along, I would have found not just seats, but perhaps also the most amazing view of the walk so far.

An ochre pit, in a dazzling array of hues. Purples, reds, yellows, and whites. The colours extended from a mountain in the distance, all the way down the creekline to where I now was. And setting off all the colours was a beautiful, deep, green pool of water, where masked wood-swallows and budgerigars flitted about in glee.

It felt incredibly special. I’m presuming that the pools are normally dry. And so the experience of seeing this place so brimming with colour and life was positively surreal.

The walk then followed a fence before ascending up what would be the only hills of the day. Looking back to see the white of the ochre pits added to the sense of accomplishment.

Having not seen anybody since Hawker, I took the opportunity availed at the high point to ring the head of my support crew and his family. How great to be able to sit in the middle of the desert and show them the magnificent view I had from the top of that hill.

From there, it was a short but rocky wander down the hill and into camp. It was a magic day. And tonight the goal is to keep calm Melly. Keep calm.