Sunday, Nov 19, 2017 at 11:00
Hi Michelle & Stephen
To put some context on the walk…
During my 42-years in the corporate world of Investment Banking I often considered how would I “transition” myself from that environment when I decided to give it away…
I arrived on doing a long walk and had said to Janet (Mrs Landy) that I would walk from
Sydney to
Brisbane to “detox” from the mindset of the corporate world. You can walk to
Brisbane in parts along tracks and I have walked
Sydney to
Newcastle (240klm) on a couple of occasions, but in reality the walk would have limitations.
Fast forward to 2017 and I “graduated from work” (I don’t like the word retired), deciding to leave on a timing of my own choosing to pursue “adventure” on a full-time basis whilst health and “youth” is on my side.
Many said, just hangout and wait for a retrenchment, but that isn’t my thing and is too mediocre for my liking – I want control over my life and not abdicate outcomes to someone else…
So back to the walk, I decided that the
Heysen Trail fits the bill perfectly for me.
A long walk that I can do at my own pace through some of the most spectacular countryside Australia has to offer. And I quite like just having a backpack on and hiking through the bush.
My plan is to walk the whole track, but if there is one thing I have learnt from my “corporate upbringing” and travels into remote areas, is that one needs to be flexible – so it is with that mindset I am planning the trip.
You might be familiar with a book written by Cyril Ayris “Gulf to Gulf” about a walk he did from Spencer Gulf to the Gulf of Carpentaria – Cyril’s account of the walk he undertook in the early 2000s has always inspired me that ultra-long walks are within everyone’s grasp, just an open mind, preparation and planning is all that is required…
TomO, the Crown Prince, is undertaking his final year of school in 2018, so this may influence the timing of the trek as “mum and dad” provide him with support in this important year for him – but he is telling me to just get out there and do it; something we have always encouraged in any of our pursuits!
I am comfortable with “extreme” adventures and some of these have been hatched over a “couple of beers” before being enacted with little more than – let’s just get going.
And there is an element of that involved here, just get going (with some planning!). The planning may
well be as simple as working out were Mrs Landy can deliver those fabulous scones of hers.
I am guided by the 50-days plus that is suggested, but here is one of the best things about being “retired from work” – it won’t matter if it takes me longer…
And I’ll have some time for planning coming up, having some minor surgery for a hernia, so about 6-weeks with the feet up will have me climbing the walls, planning, and chomping at-the-bit to get out there…
I’ll keep you posted…!
Cheers, Baz
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