Liverpool - Canterbury - (Glenmore Park)
Shekhar and I had good but short sleep at Suresh bhai’s place because we kept talking until late into the night. Both of us got ready but Suresh bhai was still asleep. We didn’t want to leave without saying good bye to him and thanking him for their kind and generous hospitality over the last three days. When Suresh bhai came downstairs, we had a cuppa and raisin toast. We hugged him and thanked him for extending so much love and respect and taking our friendship to new heights. A big Thank you for Suresh bhai!
Shekhar and I drove back to Liverpool and turned right into the Macquarie Street (A34) towards Milperra. It was early Saturday morning with a clear sky. After touching my forehead to the ground, I started the walk. Our target for the day was to reach Canterbury. I had put a couple of muesli bars in my pocket to boost the energy when needed. I also took a couple of bottles of water to keep up the fluid level. We knew that as we got closer to the city (Sydney), it would become more and more difficult for Shekhar to stop and wait for me as frequently as he had been doing until now. I kept walking and walking. Now and then I would see Shekhar and/or the van.
Punchbowl Road was roughly halfway between Liverpool and Canterbury. We pulled over, had our breakfast and I went for a quick powernap. After I got up, we continued our walk to Canterbury. I was somewhat disappointed to note that while there was a footpath to walk on the Camden Valley Hwy from Willowdale to Liverpool except short gaps, several large sections on A34 had no footpath. I would have thought that the closer you got to the city, the better the infrastructure would be. The uneven surface beneath the grass made it difficult and time consuming to walk. I had to be more careful after twisting and spraining my foot on the grass a few days back. I didn’t want to take any chances. Shekhar had driven to Canterbury and parked on Wonga Road. He had started walking towards me to assure that the day’s destination wasn’t far away. I finally reached Canterbury and we called it a day.
No more walking this year. Today was the last day of 2022. After some rest and a quick bite, we drove to Glenmore Park, a suburb more than 50 Kms from Canterbury and it took over an hour to reach. Raman and Kuldip are a young couple from Punjab with a three year old daughter. Gurmehar is a cute little angel. This family had gone into so much trouble to prepare a special lunch for us and it was delicious. It was worth the effort. It was so yummy. Thanks very much Raman and Kuldip. A big Thank you!
Shekhar and I went to have a nap as we were very tired. When I got up, I started working on the blogs. Later we had afternoon tea with sweets and pakoras (a savory snack popular in North India). To remember the occasion of our visit during this walk, we took photos with the family and the decorated van. The little girl was exhausted after jumping all day and had fallen asleep. All of a sudden, it was all too quiet. We had dinner close to midnight because of the new year celebrations and fire works on TV. We also called Raman’s auntie in India. She was very happy to know that Shekhar and I were visiting her niece during this great walk which she had been following. We had a lovely evening and we enjoyed the chit-chat. However, it was late in the night. So, we all went to sleep.
You did it ! Congratulations betta.