The CrossingInto Sydney
Australia Crossed
I walked into Sydney in the rain, saw the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, stopped for lunch in The Rocks, then crossed the bridge with Ben and Ols and pushed on through north Sydney because Brisbane was still waiting.
I knew from marathons that big efforts are one part physical, one part mental and one part emotional.
So I probably should not have been surprised by the mess of emotions that had been building over the previous few days. We had late nights, hard hills, route stress getting in and out of Sydney, amazing people around us, and the high from the night before of knowing Sydney was only about 30 kilometres away.
The low was simpler. I had finished soaking wet, tired and sore.
Then I woke early anyway.
Just after 4:30am I was back moving from Liverpool, with every step taking me just under a metre closer to a massive milestone.
This was not the end of HAA. Brisbane was still a long way away. But Sydney meant the completion of walking across Australia from west to east, the arrival at our penultimate capital-city stop, and less than 1000 kilometres remaining.
That was a lot for a tired brain to carry before breakfast.
By 5:56am, the usual HAA unit of measure had taken over:
3.6 parkruns to Sydney.
The morning moved through suburbs, signs and wet roads. Sydney started appearing in the distance, then in little jokes. There was an “I spy” moment because I caught a glimpse of Sydney, and an orange footbridge shaped like the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This prompted the joke that I had expected it to be bigger, less orange, and closer to the water.
Then came the first real glimpse.
By the time I reached the CBD I was jogging through the rain. Adrenaline was pumping, emotions were swirling, and then there it was: the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, Sydney Harbour itself.
For once, the short version said enough:
Guess where no more mr fat guy is today :)
Achievement unlocked. Australia crossed. West to east. Sydney.
It was not coast to coast, and it was not Brisbane, but psychologically it was huge. I had walked from Perth to Sydney. I still find that sentence a bit surreal to write.
That morning’s emotional post still gets me now, especially Mum’s comment underneath it. She was my number one supporter/fan/cheerleader, and she is not here now. Reading it now makes my eyes leak.
We stopped for lunch at Playfair Cafe in The Rocks, and for a little while we could just sit there and enjoy what had happened.
There was even a Sydney Harbour rainbow.
Then it was time to get back to work.
Sydney was done for now. We would be back for parkrun at the weekend, but that afternoon the job was to get as far away from the city as we could and make life easier for the final 18 days.
The three of us walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge together, then kept pushing through north Sydney. The weather was horrid, and it would have been easy to stop early. I was very happy we got the extra 10 kilometres or so done.
The plan was to be near Newcastle on Thursday, though probably close by rather than going through places like Newcastle itself. For now, getting north of the city was enough.
By evening I was around Lindfield, wet again, tired again, and north of Sydney.
There was still a job to be done.
Images From The Day
