After the last pair of expensive hiking boots tore up my feet, I wasn’t wearing them again…ever! I had found a pair of joggers at Big W at the last minute that ‘should do the job’. They looked so clean compared to my dusty gaiters. At Prevelly, the clouds were deciding if they should throw water at us or not. I was deciding if I should bring my jacket or leave it in the car. Opening the door, icy air slapped my face. The jacket went on. A lunchtime selfie sent us on our way to finish the lower portion of the Cape to Cape Track over the next three and a half days.
It was July and we had been blessed with a break in the seasonal weather. Our first stop was for a cup of tea beside a bridge and gentle creek. Light filtered through the surrounding peppermint trees and lit up Arum lilies where we sat. Crossing the bridge, we headed for the beach, chasing the setting sun. The late afternoon and winter pockets of clouds made the sand golden and the contrast in rocks picturesque. It did not make the sand any easier to walk in though.
Sand faltered, giving way to a track smattered in limestone ankle wrenching knobs. My thin-soled joggers felt every undulation, but I had zero hot spots. Moving carefully into a veld of coastal shrubs, the track turned and humped downward over large limestone boulders. Beside the track was a string of chain to act as a handle, plus a low tree limb. It took a huge effort to manoeuvre myself and 16kg of pack under, around and down the slope.
How lucky was I? I didn’t even slip and smash my face up! Thoughts were interrupted as I looked up to see a python slink inside a crack in the limestone cliff wall. I tried in vain to get a picture, but the day had hit twilight and I had to push on. Rounding the wall, the cliffs echoed the wind and sounds of the ocean. It was if they were alive! They sounded like whispers and howls of the past, hiding in the crags. I find my friend at the top of a slippery slope beside a limestone cave. The fading light forces us to find headlamps inside packs and walk the final two kilometres to Contos in the dark.
We find a spot for the tents and set about finding firewood. I had packed fire lighters and my friend packed marshmallows. It was a rewarding end of the day to sit beside dancing flames. I crawled into my tent; the new sleeping pad felt like a cloud. What a brilliant day!
Inbetween Coffees 