Saturday 20 July 2024

Walking Day 41 (Sat 20 July 2024CE - from 60 km to …km from Charters Towers)



Early this morning, it was cold. I wrote up a song I was singing the other day - to remind me that this is my modus operandi in life (Well, it is what I want to do.) So help me God!  - Join in with what creative love is doing…

Might end up sleeping through the frost, and let the tent dry out before I pack it away today?


Yup. Then Glenn visits my campsite on the way back from dumping his first load of dirt at the roadworks I passed before Balyando Crossing (I think it was).

We have a chat, getting to know each other a bit more, & make a plan for the doing a praxis experience of the Movember thing.. human connection & mateship in practice: asking meaningful questions & actively listening; with a chance for people to participate as a model for a three minute sketch, take home the results of their gift to help a budding artist, and connect with another local person (& a visitor) at the Rodeo tonight. I'll be the budding artist. Glenn will be the conversationalist. Glenn’s wife will buy some paper and we’ll get some pens somehow, write a sign, take a card table, print the QR code for the Movember &/or Bible Society (Melbourne2Mapoon) sponsorship. I’ll take my little back-pack. We’ll have a bit of fun. See how things go. Glenn asks Clem if I can walk to his place 20km down the track, and camp there. Let’s see how things go! Talk about creative fun & friendship! I’ve seen this before!


I’m listening to an audio book Thinking fast & slow. Very interesting…



After a few km I find this memorial to an old bloke who was presumably a local. He was born the year before me, yet he died 4 yrs ago, presumably on this road. 




Cause to pause. Evokes some thoughts from “system 2” as that book (Thinking fast and slow) talks about, not the immediate easy conversation kind of thought. That other book I just read Kohelet, talks about keeping your own mortality in mind too. Interesting.



Warren Mann stopped to say G’day. We talked for a bit. He had to go off the road, to let cars & trucks past. About 20 min. Great time.



Warren gave me a $20 note “for the church or whatever, or you can just use it”. I try not to receive cash, but we're doing this thing tonight at the Rodeo, so I’ll make this the first donation for Movember today, then send him the receipt. Thanks heaps Warren, for your time, your open-ness, and the cash for Movember (Prostate cancer research & support, & men’s mental health). Amazing people around this land. Lovely to share it with people like you, and bloody creative, determined, embodied friendship (abcdef) - what we in Australia used to call Mateship, or as John Williamson sang “true blue”.


Another couple of blokes stop to check if I’m right, and have enough water. 



..Thanks blokes. Very thoughtful! Glad to be living in a world where people like you exist! Thanks to fair-dinkum friendship for sharing this world with us, for free! Over the top!


A quick catch-up with Glenn again. 




Family issues might mean it won’t work at their place. And, it might not work at the Rodeo tonight, unless I can get there (40km) myself, cause he’s got another family bbq before it too. No problems. Over to you determined creative friendship. I want to join in where I best can. I’m here for the learning too. Let me learn by following your thread…


But Clem Archer, of Elston Hills (in about 9 km) , a mate of Glenn's, will let me pitch my tent at his place (& maybe use his toilet/ shower too). Thanks Clem. Look forward to meeting you. 
Oops, here we are.. at 5:24pm! In we go!
..................................................................................
And what a lovely evening with Clem. It turns out that all the tickets and places at the Rodeo are taken, sold, no more allowed in, so, we had to have a cold beer and stay at Clem's place. His wife was busy sewing a special birthday quilt, but still managed to cook us a lovely pizza, and we got to talk for about 2& 1/2 hours about almost anything & everything. What a gracious man, and lady. A lovely patch of lawn for the tent, a look, a hot shower, a cuppa tea & a slowly burning fire of good hard wood.


Clem uses the hollow logs as his chimney. Very effective. Thank you Archer family, for your lovely hospitality. 



I talked things through with Clem somewhat, & currently the plan is to have a day off walking tomorrow, do my washing early, join in with Clem, where I can with his work on the farm, stay tomorrow night too, then head off Monday morning, probably taking two days to get the 42km to Charters Towers. Find something useful to do on Wednesday, or start walking towards Townsville (?) and get a lift with Glenn to Townsville on Thursday morning.



This arvo, as I walked, I found a cheapish flight from Townsville via Brisbane to Sydney leaving ~1pm Thursday, & hitting Sydney @5:10pm, probably too late to catch the Bullet (train) to Bathurst, but we'll have to sort that out then.


Shower, then to bed!… Good night...


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