The CrossingTo Kiki
Halfway To Bordertown
The Dukes Highway carried me past the Tailem Bend ferry and on towards Kiki. Trish arrived with sunscreen, while Merrick and Megan appeared about 3,000 kilometres after seeing me leave Canning River parkrun.
Because I had finished at Westbrook Park, I could step out of the van and start walking. I recorded a morning vlog and joked that I should probably script these things. I still didn’t.
The Murray was close. Around the Tailem Bend ferry there were river views, pelicans on roofs and birds lifting into the morning light. I kept stopping for photos before the kilometres had properly begun to stack up.
At one junction, the Dukes Highway pointed straight towards Coonalpyn and Bordertown while the Mallee Highway pointed left towards Lameroo and Sydney. Better not turn left. It might have upset a few people.
I asked people online to share the view from their office, training track or home. Mine was bitumen, white lines, sky, scrub and whatever walking space I could borrow. Pipeline and railway line company gave me a slight case of “deja deja vu”.
Trish Slater had sent a generous supply of sunscreen to Adelaide for us. It wasn’t glamorous, but I was outside all day, every day, and trying not to cook myself while fundraising for health seemed sensible.
Late in the morning, two people got out of a car and walked towards me. They were Merrick and Megan, Canning River parkrunners driving across the country. They’d watched me leave Perth and had been following online. About 3,000 kilometres from Canning River, there they were beside the Dukes Highway.
Viterra kept appearing. A pipeline, railway and path combination looked as though I’d been transported back west. Then came Sherlock, which made me wish this was America so it could have an Elementary School.
In the afternoon, Adelaide was 136 kilometres behind us by car and Bordertown 135 ahead. Halfway to Bordertown. Melbourne appeared on another sign at 589 kilometres, or 116.4 parkruns.
I reached Kiki after 56.7 kilometres, with the accumulated total at 3,009.5. River views, sunscreen, parkrunners from home and bad sign jokes had carried another long day east.
Videos From The Day
Shoes And Feet On The Way Out Of Tailem Bend
Morning vlog from Day 68, with shoes and feet still doing the practical work of keeping the crossing moving.
Open on YouTubeImages From The Day
