She craves solitude, to be a lone girl,
wandering the trails, unstuck from time.
So, she sets out to hike,
four days and three starry nights.
Walking on her own, she carries all she needs,
squashed in an Osprey pack.
A grey turtle shell strapped to her back,
full of hefty feathers, imagination at the ready.
Her footprints follow her,
along coastal sandy paths,
down to a muddy riverbank, and
into a rainforest where her mind settles,
leaves to the forest floor.
With distance needing grace, and vertical gain testing her pace,
she can see forever out to the sprawling sea and
down to the tiniest sundew, smiling sweetly.
Trail lit by flames of banksia flowers,
she weaves in and out of swaying heath.
The tides of her breath ebb and flow; she pauses
and studies a stand of scribbly gums,
her fingers trace the cryptic tale of life lived unseen.
Serenaded by a chorus of red-browed finches,
she follows dingo footprints up and over wind-swept hills
to find the campsite and nestle in for the night.
Anxiety builds, a trapped butterfly in her chest;
decisions to make, have her on a knife-edge.
Where to safely pitch her small green tent,
out in the open next to the path or
tucked away behind long grass?
A tangled cobweb of thoughts threatens to choke,
and with her face fierce with dewdrops of tears,
her stubborn belief in herself, gets her back to her feet.
‘X’ marks her spot as she roams
the great Cooloola biome.
She meets other hikers, a friendly hello, trail notes swapped,
no time to stop for a lazy lunch as the rain sweeps in.
Cold drizzle down her back, mist blurs her glasses,
raindrops sprinkle silver glitter.
Everything salted with sand,
she becomes part of this wonderland.
She reaches the finish at an isolated sandy shore,
where the sun’s warmth soaks into her skin.
Shoulders groaning with accomplished hurt,
her crusty bush-blinged pack slips to the dirt.
Her eyes lift to the bluebird sky and
with a voice dusty as the sand underfoot,
she whispers over the thunder of her heart
“I did it, I can go solo”.
This category is sponsored by Freely Travel Insurance.
Freely is a brand of Cover-More Insurance Services Pty Limited ABN 95 003 114 145 (AFSL 241713) (Cover- More). The information provided is only on the availability of Freely products. We do not give advice and the information provided is not intended to give an opinion or recommendation regarding the product. For information on what’s covered and how to contact Freely, refer to the PDS, FSG & TMD which can be found here: freely.me/au.