I had a great Nero (“near zero”) in Tanunda yesterday doing mostly nothing. I did laundry, had a big soak in the spa tub and spent the afternoon reading a book on my iPhone! Ah, the glamping life for me! I soaked off the bandages on my outer two toes of both feet and was really pleased to see they have mostly healed up and did not need rebandaging. The change to a better fit of shoe has done wonders! I met an old friend and former colleague, Marie-louise, for dinner at an upscale Asian place called Fermentasia. I was a bit embarrassed to be wearing “hiker chic” to the place but they were nice and nobody commented. It was great to catch up over a good meal. I get going at 7am before it’s fully light as I have a longish walk today. It’s a cool breezy, foggy and showery / misty day where the horizon fades to white grey. I stop by my favourite cafe and grab a takeaway coffee, croissant and a yummy cinnamon and cardamom bun for my mid-morning break. Then I’m off. Lots of dirt road walking today to protect the vineyards I’m walking through from introduced problems. So I leave my poles folded up in my side pack pocket for now and decide to get them out when I depart the roads. My pack is super light as I’m carrying almost no food today, just the snacks to fuel my walk today to Kapunda. I soon meet a man walking two cute Jack Russell terriers on the outskirts of town. I remember the old saying that “you don’t own a terrier, you own an attitude!” The doggos jump all over me as we walk together big and chat about thru-hiking. Then we part ways and I’m on my own. The showers start and the rest of the day is wet and sometimes really wet! I leave the back roads and travel along very muddy forested road reserves. Sometimes my feet get so heavy with clumped mud, I have to stop and knock it off. I finally pass under the Sturt Highway and walk into the tiny town of Greenock. There used to be a fab cafe there but they are moving and temporarily closed. I find the gas station has a coffee machine so I go in as it’s a good excuse to get out of the rain. The owner is nice; he makes me a good coffee and we have a long chat. He lived in America got some years so recognises my accent straight off. We have a chat about how crazy the States seems now from the outside. I reluctantly leave and head back out in the showers. Soon I am almost leaving the vineyard country and it starts bucketing rain. Fat heavy drops and high winds. I’m instantly soaked. Picture this, and it’s not pretty: sideways heavy rain, the wind plastering my soaked clothing against my body, water streaming down my face and beard and I have both arms thrust out, middle fingers extended. “F@ck You, Rain” I scream at the top of my voice. Nothing happens. But I feel better. I pick up my poles, shrug my shoulders and continue on my wet way. Now that I’ve left the vineyards, it feels as if I’ve stepped over where the mid-north begins. Rather than rows of grapevines, I pass by ploughed and planted fields of some sort of green grains (no idea what the various crops are here). The trail cuts straight across a field for over a kilometre. Not only do I feel like I’m trampling the crops, Mt shoes grow heavy with mud. Around 1 pm, I start to get some blue sky and sun breaks between the frequent showers. It’s amazing how the wind picks up when a shower hits. I finish the walk into Kapunda on wet and muddy dirt roads. The trail has been rerouted to go straight through Kapunda instead of hugging the outskirts like it used to do. I know the route as I was one of the ones who put up the new signs when on a Friends of the Heysen maintenance trip last September. Unfortunately, Guthook still maps the route wrong; not the old route but not the correct new route either. I’ll report it and see if it can get fixed. I like Kapunda as I do any old historic mining town. The historic wealth always leaves behind amazing buildings and public works. I stop in town for a coffee and the walk to the caravan park where I get a cabin. I’m going to stay two nights and take a rest day tomorrow. My son Drew is driving over and we’re going to have a pub meal tonight and explore the mine sites tomorrow before he heads home. Ah, the glamping life for me! Carl / Pilgrim ——— Weather: too much cold rain, wind, showers and mud! Calories burnt: 3438

Hiking/Backpacking

South Australia. Heysen Trail

Tanunda, South Australia, Australia

time : Jul 3, 2020 7:14 AM

duration : 8h 11m 54s

distance : 32.4 km

total_ascent : 483 m

highest_point : 358 m

avg_speed : 4.4 km/h

user_id : gstreet

user_firstname : Carl

user_lastname : Greenstreet

I had a great Nero (“near zero”) in Tanunda yesterday doing mostly nothing. I did laundry, had a big soak in the spa tub and spent the afternoon reading a book on my iPhone! Ah, the glamping life for me! I soaked off the bandages on my outer two toes of both feet and was really pleased to see they have mostly healed up and did not need rebandaging. The change to a better fit of shoe has done wonders! I met an old friend and former colleague, Marie-louise, for dinner at an upscale Asian place called Fermentasia. I was a bit embarrassed to be wearing “hiker chic” to the place but they were nice and nobody commented. It was great to catch up over a good meal. I get going at 7am before it’s fully light as I have a longish walk today. It’s a cool breezy, foggy and showery / misty day where the horizon fades to white grey. I stop by my favourite cafe and grab a takeaway coffee, croissant and a yummy cinnamon and cardamom bun for my mid-morning break. Then I’m off. Lots of dirt road walking today to protect the vineyards I’m walking through from introduced problems. So I leave my poles folded up in my side pack pocket for now and decide to get them out when I depart the roads. My pack is super light as I’m carrying almost no food today, just the snacks to fuel my walk today to Kapunda. I soon meet a man walking two cute Jack Russell terriers on the outskirts of town. I remember the old saying that “you don’t own a terrier, you own an attitude!” The doggos jump all over me as we walk together big and chat about thru-hiking. Then we part ways and I’m on my own. The showers start and the rest of the day is wet and sometimes really wet! I leave the back roads and travel along very muddy forested road reserves. Sometimes my feet get so heavy with clumped mud, I have to stop and knock it off. I finally pass under the Sturt Highway and walk into the tiny town of Greenock. There used to be a fab cafe there but they are moving and temporarily closed. I find the gas station has a coffee machine so I go in as it’s a good excuse to get out of the rain. The owner is nice; he makes me a good coffee and we have a long chat. He lived in America got some years so recognises my accent straight off. We have a chat about how crazy the States seems now from the outside. I reluctantly leave and head back out in the showers. Soon I am almost leaving the vineyard country and it starts bucketing rain. Fat heavy drops and high winds. I’m instantly soaked. Picture this, and it’s not pretty: sideways heavy rain, the wind plastering my soaked clothing against my body, water streaming down my face and beard and I have both arms thrust out, middle fingers extended. “F@ck You, Rain” I scream at the top of my voice. Nothing happens. But I feel better. I pick up my poles, shrug my shoulders and continue on my wet way. Now that I’ve left the vineyards, it feels as if I’ve stepped over where the mid-north begins. Rather than rows of grapevines, I pass by ploughed and planted fields of some sort of green grains (no idea what the various crops are here). The trail cuts straight across a field for over a kilometre. Not only do I feel like I’m trampling the crops, Mt shoes grow heavy with mud. Around 1 pm, I start to get some blue sky and sun breaks between the frequent showers. It’s amazing how the wind picks up when a shower hits. I finish the walk into Kapunda on wet and muddy dirt roads. The trail has been rerouted to go straight through Kapunda instead of hugging the outskirts like it used to do. I know the route as I was one of the ones who put up the new signs when on a Friends of the Heysen maintenance trip last September. Unfortunately, Guthook still maps the route wrong; not the old route but not the correct new route either. I’ll report it and see if it can get fixed. I like Kapunda as I do any old historic mining town. The historic wealth always leaves behind amazing buildings and public works. I stop in town for a coffee and the walk to the caravan park where I get a cabin. I’m going to stay two nights and take a rest day tomorrow. My son Drew is driving over and we’re going to have a pub meal tonight and explore the mine sites tomorrow before he heads home. Ah, the glamping life for me! Carl / Pilgrim ——— Weather: too much cold rain, wind, showers and mud! Calories burnt: 3438