What a glorious morning! There was some pretty heavy rain that came through overnight but so far all of my gear has held up excellently, from the one-man tent donated by Greg and Brigid Kramer to the 30 L Tuff Duffel bag donated by One Planet Gear (Melbourne). Seeing as it was a bit wet, I had a slower start to the day to let the tent dry out a little in the wind and the sun. Still, I was on the road by 8.30 am and the kilometres were melting under my feet.
I knew I'd have no motivational issues as I set out as I already had the day's destination in mind. All things going well I'd be arriving at Salt Creek about 20 km away and treating myself to some hot chips and a ginger beer. But not long after I started walking I was stopped by two 4WDs with caravans who had seen me as they were coming the previous way yesterday. I told them all about the project, about the nesting colony of regionally threatened Fairy Terns they were passing (a beautiful little shorebird - look them up!), about BioR and about the journey. They were delighted to hear all about it and I was delighted to tell them! They were very generous in their donations. Next, 5 minivans full of Adelaide University students passed me just a few kilometres from Salt Creek, honking their horns and putting a smile on my dial. I've organised to stay with this Ecology II class lead by Jose Facelli, one of my previous lecturers. I didn't' know they'd be here until just a few days ago, the timing couldn't have been better!
At Salt Creek I got my chips (the serving could have been bigger having walked all day), ginger beer and contact details from a family in Tasmania who were on their way to Kangaroo Island. They offered a bed to sleep in if I'm passing their way later in the trip, and I certainly hope that I am! Not long after leaving Salt Creek I was stopped by another gentleman, David, who briefly heard about the cause and pulled out his change for me. We then fumbled about taking a photo and uploading it to Facebook - I left as he was still doing this - and I never saw him pass me again the rest of the day. I hope he's still not figuring it out on the side of the road!
The rest of the day flew by and I think my total kms, as yesterday were up around 36-37 km. And the body is feeling good, which makes me feel GREAT.
At this rate I'll be in Kingston in two days!
