The alone time was much needed as was a quick call to the states. But on Saturday the clouds lifted, the sun came out, and well I packed my backpack up with a change of socks , a pair of clear drawers, and some boardies and went for a hike with my house mates - Mike, Andrew, and Adam.
What ensued was one of the best 36 hour periods that I have experienced in Australia. We hiked the Coastal Track of The Royal National Park which is a 26km trail just south of the city. The adventure started with 2 trains, a bus, and a ferry finally delivering the anxious walkers to the shores of the national park at 2:30pm on Saturday afternoon.
The 1st part of the hike was truly amazing. Here we were stomping across the southern bluffs of Sydney with the CBD
(central business district) at our backs, the Pacific Ocean to our left, and the sun shining above. I had a couple of thoughts run through my head during the exquisite beginning of our hike, but the most important thought that just kept running through my head was, 'out of all of this there was still time for me?!?!' Humbling and loving at the same time. LifeAfter the cliffs we descended along the track to the Marley beaches. I am not an experienced hiker by any means, (a couple of camping/hiking excursions with the middle school backpacking club and some 'heady' festival camping in the later part of my life are about all the experience I got)but this was the 1st time I have been hiking on the beach ... a surreal experience, because you don't normally see many people hiking across OC or Fenwick Island for that matter. We stopped for afternoon tea (an apple, a pb&j, granola bar, and some water)on the far side of little Marley beach on a nice overhang of rocks looking east towards ... the US :)
The next section of the hike had us going inland a bit more (the Pacific was never out of sight or sound for that matter)and trampling through some serious brush that was taller than me for the most part. It was a side of OZ that I hadn't been exposed to before and I loved it. The rainfall this past summer has revitalized everything from the parched browns and grays to the vibrant life spewing greens and golds that I saw this weekend.
It started to get dark. We were completely knacker and had to cross a massive stretch of beach at Garrie. It's all good fun at the beginning but when you have already crushed 15km and have another 3km to go before you are going to put up your tent in the dark you tend to kick the sand rather than trend delicately across it. So right when I was feeling like punching someone
(Mike seemed like the most likely of targets being that he was super fit, smiling, and was the one who put me in this situation)as I was climbing up what the locals refer to as 'THE HILL' with the palms of my hands held open for any extra strength I could get I looked to the left and was treated with a moon rise over the beach that was the definition of beauty. My how easily I look upon my situation - whether good or bad - with so much focus that I loose sight of the beauty thats all around me. Take the blinders off.After setting up camp and having dinner (a banana, ham sammie, and another pb&j)there was a great time of laughing and general buffoonery it was off to bed. The next morning I was awoken at 6ish by the international flights coming into Sydney International Airport. Was really fun watching them come in one after another directly over the camp sight. I know the excitement and the anxiety those travelers feel coming to Australia. I also know their fears of what lies ahead as well as their pain of leaving family and loved ones behind. I am one of those passengers - only I was basking in the love and taking comfort in the beauty that was surrounding me in that Park. Take comfort.
Around 9am after breakfast (a bowl of cereal) we were onto the last 8km of the track. This lead us through open fields and up hills and around coves. Following the Ocean once again.
The Pacific became our companion through out the whole track and when we turned inland to enter the rain forest it was like saying goodbye to a friend. But we only had to say goodbye for a couple of km, because when we got through the never ending uphill battle that was the rain forest we came out on top of a ridge with and unbelievable look out with a fantastic view of the ocean that helped signal an end to a perfect Easter. Now where can a guy get a burger in Otford?
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