On My Doorstep

How far does someone have to travel for a walk in the Australian wilderness you might ask?

I’m given to understand that for some people it can be quite a drive on a special day out, just to experience the Aussie native bush and all of it’s delights.

Well for my trusted companion Billy and I the answer is literally on our back doorstep!

Living on the edge of a state park is something that has always featured widely in my personal life whenever I’m describing my home. But until recently, I had no idea what lay beyond the bank of trees in my backyard.

As most of you will know, the recent global pandemic has resulted in most of us being forced into long term isolation. During the first few weeks of my isolation I fell into the trap of becoming sedentary and soon afterwards, gaining weight.

Realising that the scales were increasing at an alarming rate whenever I stepped onto them, I decided to take advantage of the government’s advice and commenced my daily exercise in an attempt to to take back control of my health.

Unfortunately the act of going for a walk had become a difficult task. I found myself avoiding areas where people congregated, whilst having more available time to exercise before work. (Working from home without a two hour travel window to and from work.)

So I decided to try the walking trail outside of my home... It’s about now that you’re asking why I’ve never tried the bush trail in my backyard before? Well I should probably tell you that although I live bordering onto the State park, my home is also five minutes away from the beach.

For so many years my favourite place to walk was the nearby beach foreshore, which admittedly is an easy walk under the hanging trees. But I was feeling determined, so one day I ventured out with my dog and set my timer for ten minutes, planning a twenty minute round trip.

The first time I hiked up the trail along the side of the mountain, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Don’t get me wrong, the scenery was amazing and I felt on top of the world, but that day when I left my house I was definitely struggling to endure the walk.

For the first week I seriously considered turning around and giving up. If I missed one day, I found that my mind would play a funny tricks on me and I’d be seriously reluctant to go again the following day! The walk would go from an achievement to a chore... but admittedly I persevered.

After that each day I slowly began to build up my stamina. Each time I went out I wondered if I would be able to walk further than my first trip. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. I would set off thinking “today is the day I’ll be able to walk a little further,” but half way on my walk I’d be panting and sweating so much that I was desperate to turn around and come straight back.

In fact the point at which I was finally able to contemplate extending my walk, didn’t come until the second week of June.

On Monday last week I went for a walk and realised that I wasn’t even breaking a sweat! So like a glutton for punishment, I decided to double my walking distance. On the day of my new walk I was so excited that the difficulty didn’t hit me until I was gasping and pushing myself in an absolute panic. The next day that I went, I found a slightly easier path, but I still Had to complete half of my walk directly up hill.

Now my walks take me well into the rainforest and half way up the side of the mountain.

I’m sure it’s no surprise to you when I say that my favourite part of the day is the early morning before I begin my work. It’s the time that my dog Billy and I trek up the side of the mountain, enjoying the beautiful Australian wilderness that is happily situated on our back doorstep.