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The CrossingPicton To Liverpool

One Hundred Days To Liverpool

A wet start beyond Picton grew into roadside company with Kate, Nicole and Kath, and ended in Liverpool, about 30 kilometres from Sydney. That felt slightly wrong as a Man Utd supporter, but it also meant the Perth-to-Sydney part was almost done.

Date23 August 2015
Journey dayDay 100
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Gary with Running Mums Australia supporters and McDonald's staff on Day 100.
Maccas with the RMA crew after walking, talking and laughing our way through part of Day 100.

Day 100 started a bit slowly, which was fair enough after the late finish the night before.

The funny thing was that “slow” had changed. Back in weeks 1 and 2, I probably would have called this a perfectly decent start. After 99 days, I had got used to big kilometre days, so a slower morning could make it feel as though we were already behind.

It was wet in the morning too, but once the rain stopped I could appreciate the useful little weather combination in front of me: not cold, and no direct sun. After everything the previous three months had thrown at us, that counted as a win.

I had just cleared Picton, a very pretty town, and climbed yet another hill to get out of it when the day laid itself out on a road sign:

Camden - lunchtime

Liverpool - more or less our end point tonight

Sydney - lunchtime tomorrow :)

That was a lot to take in.

Sydney had been a distant future place for so long. Then it had become 100 parkruns away, then thirty, and now the sign was effectively saying tomorrow. There was still a long day to finish before I could do anything with that information, but it was sitting there in black and white.

The day also came with company.

Kate joined me after my first break. Then, a little later, the group grew when Nicole Bunyon and Kath White joined in too. Nicole was the founder of Running Mums Australia, and Kath was, as I described her later, a human dynamo / energiser bunny.

That gave me exactly what company on foot had given me all the way across the country: new voices, new energy, and a break from living inside my own head. There were lots of laughs, and we did an RMA interview as we walked and talked. That was a very HAA kind of interview setup. No studio, no desk. Just walking beside the road, moving east, and answering questions while another day’s kilometres ticked away.

There was also Maccas.

At that point in HAA, Maccas meant hot coffee, familiar food, somewhere to sit, and a place where a few people could briefly gather around the madness of what we were doing. The mood was part of why it stuck. We were in good spirits, laughing and joking, and Kath told the staff what I was doing.

The afternoon turned wetter and busier as I pushed toward Liverpool. The quiet country and little towns gave way to more traffic, more lights, and the feeling that we were being absorbed by the edge of Sydney.

Then came Liverpool.

That felt a bit wrong for me, being a Man Utd supporter, but there we were: Liverpool, NSW, approximately 30 kilometres from Sydney.

One hundred days done.

I was on the verge of completing the Perth-to-Sydney part of HAA on foot, which was an absurd thing to write and an even more absurd thing to be living. Brisbane was still ahead of us, of course. In standard HAA maths, there were still about 200 parkruns to go.

We slept where we parked that night, on the south-west fringes of the greater Sydney area.

Sydney, according to that morning’s sign, was lunch tomorrow.

Images From The Day

Wet morning road near Picton on Day 100 of Hearts Across Australia.
The day started wet, though by the time the rain stopped I was happy enough with no cold and no direct sun.
Welcome to Picton sign beside the road on Day 100.
Picton was a pretty town, which made the Sydney approach feel less like empty highway.
Road sign showing Camden, Liverpool and Sydney distances on Day 100.
Camden for lunchtime, Liverpool for the night, Sydney for lunch the next day. That was the plan in one road sign.
Gary smiling with two Running Mums Australia supporters on Day 100.
The morning grew into a small walking group when the RMA crew joined in.
Support crew and Running Mums Australia supporters inside the HAA campervan on Day 100.
The campervan briefly became the meeting room, interview room, support stop and general HAA office.
River and trees near the route on Day 100.
Sydney was getting close, but there was still plenty of green country before the city swallowed the day.
Wet road and police car lights during the late afternoon of Day 100.
Late afternoon was wet again, with lights and traffic replacing the quieter country roads.
Liverpool road sign at night on Day 100.
Liverpool, NSW. About 30 kilometres from Sydney, and slightly awkward for a Man Utd supporter.

View the full day gallery