I’ve always been taken with it, ever since my family and I used to explore old Barossa ruins, or I’d partake in tomboy explorations of Cobblers Creek, and of course there was Girl Guides. I’ve been ramping up the outdoorsy odyssey in the past six years, such as the multi-day hikes further from home. It has strengthened that feeling of freedom in wild places. It also has motivated me to support NGOs who campaign and work to protect them.
Ramping up the outdoorsiness further from home: Morimoto Base Camp, upper Langtang Valley, Nepal. With Jenny, Raju and Pasang, April 2011.
It is freedom to have the wilderness around you with few
other people and to be fit and skilled enough to enjoy it fully. I’m still very me in that I get upset
sometimes when the weather turns to crap or there are knocks, but all things
considered, it’s beautiful for the senses.
You know, watching the light change to give woodlands more depth and a colourful
glow in the late afternoon; the clean and fresh air that is really noticeable
in say the Flinders Ranges, and feeling the veil of night descend while relishing
camp.
I’m de-stressing from urban life, information overload and
an office job. It’s such a contrast from
all that. Sometimes that sense of
remoteness is there, which you feel in your gut along with the expanse of
wildness before you. It’s one of the rewards from walking all this way. Space to reflect on where one is at in life,
well, loads of space in general. It is delicious
quiet and solitude in nature.
Then there are those ‘wow’ moments - it’s not all about them
on such nature trips, but they sure stay with you. In the rugged Vulkathunha Gammon Ranges in the
Northern Flinders, it was after sunset when my friend Lorien and I could hear
distant deep rumblings. There was no
wind, and we were camped by the creek between Loch Ness Well and Bunyip Chasm, a
long way from anywhere. Was it distant
thunder, seismic activity, or the stomach rumblings of Arkaroo the sleeping Rainbow
Serpent? Then it went away. Wow factor.
Savouring the point of turnaround moment – a creek beyond
Rover Rockhole, Vulkathunha Gammon Ranges, September 2009.
This year I had an unexpected moment seconding my friend
Wendy up a wide crack climb called ‘Megalomaniac’ at Arapiles. I clambered past the tricky shelf move and
was into the massive crack feature. A
bit buried in it and starting to position myself on the outer parts of the
crack, when bumps appeared to bridge my feet on. It was hot and humid with much chalk needed
for my sweaty paws. Then I was like, ‘what’s that sound?’ My heartbeat - ah. My torso neatly in the middle of this rocky
crack system amplified my heartbeat.
Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub, breathe, visualise the next move, go. It was one of those wow wonder moments.
Sarah, me and Wendy just chillin’ at Declaration Crag, Mount
Arapiles, February 2014.
The next day the weather wasn’t humid, and Wendy, Sarah and
I had a pleasant outing at Declaration Crag.
Very cruisey with good company, conversation and short climbing routes
allowing for chilling out at the base of the cliff. We perched among a eucalypt bushland setting
just as pretty as anywhere in Australia - yes life is sweet on a typical
outdoorsy weekend away. Sarah,
originally from the UK, had me memorising the names of Scafell Pike, Great
Gable and the Wasdale Head Inn of the Lakes District, to set off the daydream
and planning for this imminent super trip to the UK. Let’s just say the delight
of the next trip is perennial.
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