The pathway East….again

A Heysen Trail story

It’s D day today. In around an hour the whole state will hear whether we are on track for the lockdown to lift. Whether life can become more normal. Whether the walk might go ahead. I have butterflies in my tummy. Fear and hope mix equally. What’s it going to be?

I’ve been in this strange world of denying hope to myself. It seems too risky. Too dangerous mentally. I’ve heard the facts and figures. They couldn’t be better really. But still, my brain refuses to process it into anything that might suggest things are going to work out. Because what if they don’t? What if the dream is going to remain a dream? I can’t process that yet.

I decided to head East again today. Although windy and grey, the rain is holding off. Time to go.

At the risk of being teased into infinity by my family (on account of a long running family joke….at my expense), it’s not long until I realise I’ve been noticed. When you are planning on hiking a long way, you don’t bring many clothes. What’s the point when you just have to carry them everywhere? So I haven’t been well set up for being stuck in the city for an extra 7 days.

I’ve been wearing the same clothes this whole time. My thermals with a “town skirt” over the top. And the “problem” is that my town skirt is really distinctive, with a somewhat indigenous design on the front. The first I realised that I had been noticed was overhearing a group of four talking amongst each other…”Hey, there’s that girl in the skirt again…”And then. “Hey! HEY!!! I like your skirt!! I really like your skirt!!!”. I gave them a wave and a thanks. And then the next group. And then the next. It really is a nice skirt.

The way east wasn’t as pleasant as the previous two directions have been. The greenery wasn’t as prevalent. Tall buildings proof that you are in the midst of a city.

At the 2.5km mark, a glorious reminder of home. A solitary Norfolk pine, reaching for the sky and looking graceful despite being out of context in the city.

The rest of the afternoon was spent refusing to think about the walk. It takes a lot of energy to try and not do something. The weather starts to clear leaving the city in an eerie yellow gloaming. My world is on tenterhooks.