Saturday was a day of rest, and how necessary it was! Overall my energy levels were good, but my calves and hamstrings needed a good rest and stretch. Consequently I spent most of Saturday sitting in various awkward positions, rubbing heat cream on my legs periodically while catching up on some life administration from the Wilderness School camp at Crawford, along the Coorong.
In the afternoon I was able to participate in a fish dissection that the attending Year 9s were conducting, which gave me a good chance to hang out with them before we all ate together at dinner. Afterwards I talked about my walk, the motivations behind it, and how important is was that we take care of our wildlife in this country. This was followed by reading a story to them before they went to bed, which I thoroughly enjoyed! I'd like to sincerely thank the teachers and students from Wilderness School who were kind enough to invite me to stay with them while I recuperated. It was a great time!
Sunday I was driven to Meningie to begin walking again, and lo and behold came across my old school friend Georgia on the way back! She had driven out from Adelaide, parked along the Princes Highway and was walking back to Meningie so that we could walk together in the morning. I had not been able to spend much time with Georgia for a few years at least, so it was without doubt the best morning of the walk so far, being able to catch up with her and just enjoy each other's company. She even brought me a gourmet loaf of bread and home-dried herbs to add flavour to my nightly cous-cous dinner. What a star! We arrived at her car after 15 km and ate some of the bread with the homemade jam and chutney that Colleen had gifted me two days prior. We bid each other farewell and I continued on my merry way. Thanks so much for coming out Georgia, I miss you already! Also, shout out to who stopped Daryl stopped and donated to the cause. Thanks Daryl!
The rest of the day seemed to pass quite quickly, despite being very windy and with passing showers. A family stopped to say hello and show their admiration for the cause, which was very appreciated. I really enjoy it when people stop to say hello - it really makes it worthwhile to hear that people are rooting for you. They even shouted me a Corona or two! Thank you Jess, Harrison and Tanner!
One interesting development was that Georgia and I discovered that the activity watch I'd been using to gauge my distance covered seemed to be underestimating my travel, significantly! Judging by the road signs, I was at least 10% over what the watch was saying. That also put a smile on my face! So I'm currently sitting in my tent on the side of a blustery Coorong. But my oh my, what an incredible day.
I couldn't be more thankful.
