Sunday 22 December 2024: Bungonia to Tallong
Shekhar and I woke up to the sounds of hundreds of birds singing the glory of the creator. It was such a soothing mix of sounds. It was like a beautiful rhythmic music being played at an opera house. I did some live streaming on YouTube to share with our audience this amazing experience! Once we got ready, we stopped at the Ranger’s office to sign ourselves out and drove to Bungonia. I touched my forehead to the ground to pay my respect to Mother Earth and started the walk towards Tallong. This was an unknown road to us. However, after a couple of breaks for a quick bite and a powernap, I boarded the van to get through the M31 Hume Hwy part of the walk.
When we reached Tallong, we parked at The Midge Café. We had a cuppa and lunch. The chips were nice and crunchy. We looked around town. There was no place to stay. We drove to Marulan and parked behind the pub in the middle of the town. After ordering some soft drinks, I told the girl at the counter who we were and what we were doing. I asked her if we could use their facilities to have a shower. She checked with the boss, and said, no worries as long as I used my own towel. I was so relieved. I felt so fresh after washing down all the sweat. Thank you so much Hotel Terminus at Marulan! Subsequently, we had dinner in the van and went to sleep.
Monday 23 December 2024: Tallong to Wingello, and Bundanoon
Shekhar and I got ready as much as we could and drove from Marulan to Tallong to begin the walk for the day. We went to use the public toilets in the park with the big apple. After The Midge opened its doors, we went in and ordered some coffee. When we came out, we saw our friend Clive Harwood standing next to the van. Clive had driven all the way from Bowral to Tallong to support us on the walk. There is no doubt about you Clive. You are a real gem!
After finishing our coffee, I touched my forehead to the ground to seek blessings and permission from Mother Earth. As I started the walk, Clive drove off with a promise to meet us again at Wingello a town 9 kms away. Before we reached Wingello, a car stopped near me and gave me a cash donation. The couple didn’t want a receipt. Anyway we took photos with them and I put their donation through as anonymous. We went past a farm where an old timer red Ute was parked at the front.
At 10:00 AM, we met Clive and his friend Allen outside the only general store cum café in Wingello. We also met two other ladies who had been waiting to meet and support us. These ladies made a generous donation. We took some photos with them and shared these with them. Clive made a generous donation. A couple of other people also made donations to the McGrath Foundation. I issued temporary receipts for each donation. Later I put all donations through the system to the McGrath Foundation.
We continued the walk to Penrose, the next town before Bundanoon, our final destination for the day. While this road is not very busy with traffic, at times I had to board the van because of safety concerns as a consequence of no shoulder and tight curves or bridges. We pulled over outside Penrose and had lunch. After reaching Bundanoon, we drove to Moss Vale hoping to stay at the Showgrounds. However, John the caretaker wasn’t there. A sign near the entrance gate and the answering machine on his mobile told us that there was no vacancy at all. We booked at Gambells Rest, a camping area near Bundanoon and drove back to where we came from in the first place. When we arrived, Shekhar checked out the amenities. I was desperate to have a shower and I felt so fresh afterwards. While we had dinner in the van, a French couple, who were trying to pump up their mattresses came over. We were glad to help.
Tuesday 24 December 2024: Bundanoon to Moss Vale to Bowral
After Shekhar and I got ready, we drove to the starting point at Bundanoon. After the daily routine, we started the walk. We walked past the office of Country Women's Association (CWA). At the front of the building, there was a book stand with glass doors and lots of books inside. People or members are encouraged to borrow from the stand or leave your books. What a great idea to make good use of old books by allowing others to read them!
But we also knew that this road had many spots with no or very narrow shoulder. To get across a significant portion of this road, I had to board the van. Whatever portion of the road was walkable, I walked until we reached the A48 Illawarra Hwy at Sutton Forrest. From here on, there was no problem. The A48 has continuous shoulder to walk on. When we reached Moss Vale, we parked the van on the Argyle Street near the railway station and we went to the Post Office Café that is located where the old post office used to be. We had breakfast and coffee at this café. We went to the bank, did some shopping, and visited the Council Offices.
Subsequently, we did some advance walking to Bowral. We found a parking place for two hours in the centre of Bowral. We opted for a bakery to have lunch. In the meantime, John from the Moss Vale Showgrounds had responded positively. So we drove to the showgrounds to stay the night. I had a shower to wash down all the sweat. We made some sandwiches for dinner and went to sleep.
Wednesday 25 December 2024: Christmas Day – Rest Day at Moss Vale Showgrounds
I got up while Shekhar was still asleep because it was a complete rest day with absolutely no walk penciled in for the day. I worked on my blogs for about 2 hours and got them close to up-to-date. Shekhar prepared breakfast and a cuppa. After that Shekhar went to have a shower while I continued working on the blogs. Around 11:30, we both got ready and drove to Jennifer Maclaren’s place here in Moss Vale. We had met her outside the local IGA supermarket a couple of days ago. She had spotted our van and went looking for us. She had offered us to have a shower at her place. Since we were able to camp at the Showgrounds, we didn’t need to shower at her place. However, we wanted to meet her and give her a Christmas present as a token of thanks for the genuine offer to help us. We extended Christmas and new year’s greetings to them and took some photos with Jennifer’s daughter and granddaughters. You are such a kind soul Jennifer. You are simply amazing. A big thank you!
We drove to Bundanoon to join Pam and Brian for Christmas lunch. Without having met us ever before, they had invited us last year as well. On our second walk in 2023, we came through Boorowa (NSW) where we met Dean Franklin who has been a friend of Pam and Brian for many years. Thanks very much Dean for introducing us to such a lovely couple with a heart of gold. We arrived at 1:00PM and as expected, Brian was waiting at the front for us to arrive. We walked into the house to a warm welcome. Erich and Maya with their son Daniel who was now a year older than last year. He is so cute and goes to everyone, no hesitation at all. Sonia and Russell were also there. We met Margaret and Peter for the first time. We also met Paula and her mother. What a beautiful way to celebrate Christmas!
Shekhar enjoyed the meat dishes with roast vegetables. I had plenty of roast vegetables, cabbage and other dishes. It was a beautiful atmosphere. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. Heavy lunch was followed by a variety of desserts. Every item on the lunch was prepared with lots of love, care and affection. However, we could only eat so much. All twelve of us sitting around the table crossed our arms and formed a chain to pull Christmas crackers. Everyone read those funny riddles. It was good fun. Then we all wore those wrinkly paper hats and took some photos. We are so grateful to Pam and Brian for their support and generosity. It is always a great pleasure meeting you and the rest of your family. We would like to express our gratitude for the warmth and love you guys have extended to make our walk worthwhile. A big thank you!
We drove back to the showgrounds in Moss Vale. Once again, we tried to meet John, the caretaker but he wasn’t there. We just wanted to meet and wish him well for the new year. I sent him a text message and a couple of hours later, John came over to see us. We gave him a small Christmas present as a token of thanks. We had dinner in the van and went to bed.
Thursday 26 December 2024: Boxing Day – (Moss Vale) Bowral to Yerrinbool
Shekhar and I got ready early morning and drove to Mittagong. I touched my forehead to the ground and started the walk at 6:20AM. We walked past Bunnings turned right into the street after the hardware giant. We walked over the rail bridge and came to a T-intersection. We turned left into the Old South Road. We didn’t take any breaks but walked non-stop. Unfortunately, as soon as it gets hot, many types of snakes come out. More often if you leave them alone, they leave you alone. But if you happen to step on one intentionally or unintentionally, God help you.
We reached Yerrinbool around 9:40 AM, turned around and drove back to the Bradman Museum in Bowral. Our friends Clive, who lives in Bowral, and Samba who drove from Canberra, met us at the museum. We purchased some books on the Indian Test Cricket that would be given out as a token of thanks to the support crews and others who helped us with this walk. We walked through the museum and looked at the history of cricket captured in the photos and wondered how the game of cricket has changed over the years. Clive took leave and went home.
Samba, Shekhar and I went to a café and had something to eat. After lunch, Samba joined me on the walk from Bowral to Mittagong. When we walked to Yerrinbool this morning, I had deliberately left out this section as this walk is on the footpath along the old Hume Hwy. I touched my forehead to the ground and sought blessings and permission from Mother Earth to start the walk. The weather was hot but it didn’t really matter so much because this was just an hour’s walk. On reaching Mittagong, we completed our day’s walk from Bowral to Yerrinbool. We drove back to Bowral and visited Bradman’s first home and his second home. We then dropped Samba off near the Bradman Museum where his car was parked.
Shekhar and I drove over to Clive and Narelle’s home. While they were expecting us, I sent Clive a text message before we left the museum but he never received it. I told Clive of how in the 1980s, I sent my sister in Delhi a telegram advising that I would be arriving there two days later. No one came to the airport to pick me up because she hadn’t received the telegram. After I arrived at her house, the doorbell rang. I opened the door and received the telegram that I had sent two days earlier. Today the same technology lag was repeated. The SMS on Clive’s phone came through five minutes after we arrived at their place.
We had some tea and cold drinks with home made biscuits. We gave Narelle our laundry while the Sun was still hot. We watched the Boxing Day test between Australia and India. We enjoyed watching the new kid in the Australian team bat. At the young age of just 19, Sam Konstas was fearless and smashing Bumrah, considered the world’s best bowler, to the boundary or over the fence. Bumrah was at present the most feared bowler and every batsman’s nightmare to face. And this new face in the team was showing his seniors how to handle it and keep the score ticking. This was perhaps the toughest moment in Bumrah’s test career.
After the cricket, we had dinner that Narelle had prepared with lots of love and affection. With a plethora of vegetables and salads to choose from, Shekhar and I both enjoyed dining with them. This was followed by ice cream for dessert. Subsequently, Narelle brought back our laundry, washed, dried AND ironed. This kind of hospitality is very rare and becoming rarer by the day. Clive and Narelle really spoiled us. They know how to push the boundaries and take friendship to the next level. We don’t have appropriate words to express our gratitude for everything they did to take care of us and support our walk for this noble cause. A big thank you to both of you!
Friday 27 December 2024: Yerrinbool to Picton
Clive and Narelle had left the front door of their home unlocked so that Shekhar and I could use the facilities through the night. Clive and Narelle were already up by the time we got ready. We had a cuppa with lots of fruit, cookies and snacks. We thanked our friends for everything they did. We took the back road (Old South Road) and drove to Yerrinbool. After the Old South Road finishes at a T-Intersection, you are back on the Remembrance Drive, the Old Hume Hwy. We arrived at the Yerrinbool Railway Station and started the walk.
I paid my respect to Mother Earth, tested the two-way radios and commenced the walk. The weather was fine and it was getting hotter by the day. I was going through lots of water and still feeling thirsty. We met a Dutch cyclist woman fundraiser when we arrived at Bargo. It was great listening to her experiences. Following the breakfast, I had a powernap. We walked through Tahmoor and saw emergency workers attending an incident on the footpath before entering the outskirts of Picton. We walked through Picton until we reached the Council Offices. We met a middle aged couple at a café. They gave us a small donation but didn’t want a receipt. We put through as anonymous donations.
We wanted to continue to walk from Picton to Razorback but the weather was against us. It was simply too hot to walk in the afternoon. We called it a day and started driving to Gregory Hills to stay overnight. We were welcomed by our young nephew Hitesh Bahri and his family. As a bonus, his parents were also there who were visiting from India. We had some tea with Indian sweets and savoury mix. I was waiting for the body to cool down before having a shower. I felt so fresh afterwards. When Ettika (Hitesh's wife) cooked, their parrot often sat on Ettika's shoulder. We had a good chitchat followed by a session of chanting of bhajans and kirtans. The typical Punjabi vegetarian dinner was delicious and finger-licking. The professionally made sweets were yummy. They offered hot milk or tea, but Shekhar and I were exhausted from the heat. So, we all went to bed.
Saturday 28 December 2024: Picton to Narellan to Emerald Hills Shopping Centre
Ettika had placed tea and snacks on the table by the time Shekhar and I got ready in the morning. Hitesh and Ettika asked us what time we would like to have lunch. I told them that we expected to reach Narellan around 12:30/1:00 PM and that is when we would have a break and something to eat.
Shekhar and I drove to our starting point in Picton. I got off the van and touched my forehead to the ground to seek blessings and permission from Mother Earth. After testing the two-way radio system, we resumed the walk. Picton is a town famous for its quarries. We reached the turn off to Razorback in less than two hours. We left the old Hume Hwy, turned left and started walking towards Razorback. We met a cyclist woman who asked us what the walk was all about? Lorraine turned out to be a breast cancer survivor. We took a photo with her and a man we met at the same time. Lorraine made a donation to the McGrath Foundation later in the day. A big thank you Lorraine!
When we finished the winding section of the road and reached the flat area, we pulled up in a level spot and had breakfast and a quick nap. We walked through Camden without stopping because we wanted to do some advance walking for tomorrow. The temperature was heating up but it didn’t deter our determination to do the extra bit. When we reached Narellan, we got a call from Hitesh asking where about we were. He had spotted our van parked in the service lane of the Camden Valley Hwy. After walking in the heat, I needed a place to cool down. I was sitting opposite the Target store inside the shopping centre. Shekhar was on his way in to meet me. Hitesh and Ettika brought home-made lunch. Shekhar and I had coffee and cake in the shopping centre.
After Hitesh and Ettika left, we proceeded to the van. We had a typical Indian vegetarian lunch of Kidney beans and rice. It was so delicious that we both overate. I fell asleep straightaway. When I got up, the afternoon temperature was still more than 30 degrees. However, from Narellan onwards, there is a footpath on the left-hand side of the Camden Valley Hwy for most part of the highway. We pushed on non-stop and in less than two hours after leaving Narellan, we reached the Emerald Hills Shopping Centre.
After touching my forehead to the ground to thank Mother Earth, Shekhar and I drove back to Gregory Hills to stay another night with Hitesh Bahri and his family. Together, we had the afternoon tea with snacks. However, I was soaked in sweat, and I was thirsty. So, I went through a few glasses of water and went off to have a shower. I felt so fresh afterwards. We had another session of bhajans and kirtan while Hitesh provided the rhythmic beats on the dholak. I enjoyed the company of Hitesh’s parents especially his mother sharing her first-hand divine experience at the temple of Shri Baanke Bihaari and listening to his papa’s discourses on the holy name. He described the importance of names of various shapes and forms of the Supreme. At the conclusion of the chanting session, we had dinner, again prepared with lots of love and affection. Subsequently, Shekhar and I brushed our teeth and went to sleep as we had another day of long walk ahead of us. The weather forecast for the next day was hot and we wanted to have an early start to maximise the advantage of coolish temperature in the morning before it got too hot.
댓글