Glenora to New Norfolk 19.2km (11.1Mi)

We managed to pack up camp before the drizzling rain set in for the day and Paul drove me to my starting point on Black Hills Road for the day. We pulled over to the side of the road I put on my pack, gaiters and poncho.

Once dressed in my regalia Paul took a photo of me and started laughing and said check this out. I looked at the photo he had taken and I started into a fit of laughter, I looked like the hunchback of Notre Dame in a big green blob sort of way.

I felt tired and drained of energy this morning as I start walking and I could feel one of my sweaty shaking fits starting. I begin to sweat profusely and experienced giddiness to the point where I felt like I was going to veer off the road. I pause to pull out my dried fruit to eat and after about ten minutes the sweating and shaking start to ease.

I do not know what causes these fits, I have experienced them for many years and they seem to afflict me quite randomly. My suspicion is that they are caused by blood sugar drop because eating something usually helps.

The farming land around me smells of manure and wet hay which is not particularly pleasant but better than the smell of roadkill that I experienced along the walk. Even in the rain, the paddocks of golden grass look starkly beautiful and the farm sheds have an allure of their own. This beauty and the sight of a hawk flying overhead lifts my spirits for a time after my shaky start to the day.

The rain continued to be a constant heavy drizzle as I walked over the Black Hills range and I began to feel the damp seeping through my poncho. Despite the rain, the temperature is warm and the exertion of walking uphill makes me sweat. With the rain seeping in and my sweat seeping out I become damper by the hour as I walk.

The Black Hills seem to go on forever and I remember at one point looking up as I rounded a bend in the road hoping to see the crest of the hill. My hopes were deflated as I saw the road continue upward before me and I knew in my heart I probably still had an hour of walking uphill to go.

I finally made it to the top and started to descend down towards Magra where I knew Paul was waiting for me. The rain does not let up and I begin to worry that the water may have started to seep into my backpack. My main concern was for my sleeping bag and I dreaded the thought of having to sleep in it wet for the night. I finally make it to Magra, which was only 5km (3mi) from my destination of New Norfolk, and met Paul looking forward to a warm cup of coffee and a sit down somewhere nice.

I was wet to the skin and once I got in the car I found I lacked the motivation to walk the last 5km (3mi) in the rain to New Norfolk. I agonised for about 5 minutes about making this decision as I felt like I was cheating, but who was I cheating? No one really, I just needed to get my head around the idea of not walking 5km (3mi) of the 480km (300mi) I covered. 🙂