Colinton - Michelago
It was raining all night and it was still raining when we got up. There was nothing we could do except wait for the rain to stop. It kept raining at a different pace, but it kept raining. From heavy pours to light rain to drizzle, it changed gears but it didn’t stop. We had our breakfast, organised the stuff in the van, cleaned up a bit and started writing blog. The rain continued as it was forecast to until midday. The sky started to open up and the clouds began disappearing. It was still drizzling a bit when we decided to make a start.
It wasn’t possible to have a shower early morning at the pub because it wasn’t open. After freshening up, we got ready for the day ahead and started driving on the Monaro Hwy (B23) towards Canberra. The weather was wild with high winds. Shekhar dropped me off to the spot where we had finished walking the day before. I touched my forehead to the ground and started the walk. Somehow, I lacked the energy. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t feel 100%. Nevertheless, I kept going. The first hour was the most difficult. As the body warmed up, it became a bit easier to walk. But it was something that I hadn’t experienced before. Despite the lack of energy, something kept me going. It was ironic that I didn’t have the energy, but the strength to keep going was there. I had the will power to keep walking towards my goal. Slow, medium pace or fast, it didn’t matter, what mattered was that with each step that I was taking, I was getting a step closer to my goal.
Before reaching Michelago, there was a turn off pointing to the right called Micalago. We thought it was the same town, we had been looking for perhaps spelt differently. We later found out that these were two different towns both off the highway and both on the same side, just a few kilometres apart. There was no caravan park or anything like that. However, there was a farmer who lets you camp and provides access to toilet but no shower. We decided to explore it. We took the plunge and started driving on that rocky narrow road. When we drove, we were hoping that nobody would come from the opposite direction because there was no way to pass. One of the two vehicles would have to reverse all the way and negotiate the windy rough road. We were fortunate to make it to the farm. We met with Wayne the owner and told him what we were doing. We told him our intention to stay the night but would need to have a shower. This was necessary because we still needed to walk a few more hours before calling it a day and because of excessive sweating, we would certainly need to take a shower. He agreed to let us have a shower inside the house.
We had lunch in the van outside his farmhouse. Then we drove back to the highway and continued 8-10 Kms past the Michelago Service station. We stopped near the Kelly Road turn off and drove back to the farmhouse. In accordance with the farmer’s instructions, we parked the van in the second paddock. The farmer had a few animals. A couple of young goats who were always inquisitive. They wanted to come into the van if the door was open. If the door was closed, they would stand up and try to look through the window to see what was happening inside. After taking some rest to let the body cool down, I rang the farmer to check if we could take a shower. He said, “No probs, come inside.” Shekhar and I went to his house. I went straight to shower while Shekhar had a chat with Wayne and Belinda. When I came out, Shekhar went to shower. Wayne made me a cup of tea while his wife started talking about Indian curries and Yoga.
Both Wayne and Belinda came with us to the van. They felt proud to take photos with the banners. They told us where to park the van to get a good sleep. On their entire farm, there was only one spot that was made level to park. The rest of the farm was on a slope. We parked the van at that spot. We gave Belinda and Wayne some Indian curries to enjoy for dinner. Belinda took a photo of the QR code and made a donation to the McGrath foundation. She also put the experience on her facebook page. Thank you so much Wayne and Belinda, you guys are incredible. A big thank you!
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