So, a final wrap up story about the three capes adventure. It was an adventure indeed.
I have always spoken about the direct link between our physical selves and emotional selves and the relationship we have with ourselves will affect eVery other relationship around us.
As we challenge ourselves physically then we will also feel challenged emotionally.
When we are tired physically, then our emotional state is also affected.
And I discovered much of this on this trip.
I also talk about how if you want to climb a mountain, or do a 47 km trek with much of it being up hill, then you better be prepared or it will be tough. Like climbing the emotional challenges in life, be prepared and train for it or it may be tough. But, like many of the emotional challenges that life throws at us, I was not prepared as well physically, as I should have been…. didn’t do enough training, or breaking those hiking boots in, so I was challenged physically, emotionally and mentally! Sometimes you just have to grow through it while you are in it!
And the rewards will be there…
As it gets tougher Mother Nature takes hold of you and gently encourages you to keep on. Around every corner and up every next lot of steps a beautiful treat that would stir your soul and nurture your spirit. So, you got to know, you got to know that you should keep on, because you would be rewarded. And so it is with life… for every challenge you encounter… keep on because there will be a reward … both in you and in your view!
Sometimes the reward would be fields and fields of wild flowers, so beautiful and fragile yet so robust and strong as they braved the wild weather to give us the gift of their beauty… and then craggy, wild coastlines that beckoned you to come sit a little closer so that you could truly appreciate how it feels to be ‘on the edge’ in life. A little scared and tentative about the possible dangers, but excited and energised by the thrill of the view, a view that your eyes don’t feel big enough to take in and you can’t find big enough words to describe… no photos can capture it either… it is a view that you have to be there to truly take in and perhaps it is just that, that makes it so very special indeed. You have to go through the pain to receive the ultimate gain!
And then we have misty days and a rainforest with trees and rocks decorated in moss and ferns that have you believing that fairy’s exist and that you have just entered their kingdom… this area brought tears to my eyes and had me sitting in awe as I ate morning tea daring the fairy’s to show themselves and silently thanking mother nature for her incredible gifts… this area reminded me too that you can feel the magic in life, you don’t always have to see it to believe it… and suddenly my feet don’t hurt so much and I go on…
The skies went on forever just like the steps… and we saw The Cathedral, the famous Totem Pole and many other incredible rock formations…. mother nature reminds us how insignificant yet how amazing we are all at the same time.
This photo is at the end of the walk I was shuffling and this is where it is all a mind game for sure… but the lure of that beautiful white sandy beach with pristine waters beckoned you to keep on. One generous fellow hiker offered to take my pack… I thanked him and replied that I started it and I would finish as I chastised myself again for not breaking in these boots a little better but congratulated myself for going on… you walked in, you got to walk out.
When I took my boots on to put my feet in those icy crystal clear Tasmanian waters was pure heaven!
A mention to the people that were involved in creating this amazing track… it is done with such love and respect for the environment and as you walk up those steps you can’t help but think of the people and resources that created them so that we could get up close and personal, safely, with mother nature. One of the special feature too was the resting places/seats along the track… each one had a story relating to it and behind it… their were square blocks that represented wombat scat (yes they have square poo!), others that made you sit down and look up and others that invited you to listen… my favourite is a log that had a sign on it that said ‘Messy is Good’… that was all about reminding people that messy forests are healthy forests and you don’t have to ‘clean’ it up and have it look nice and in fact in doing so it is no longer as healthy… and for me that is a great analogy of life… life is messy too and in the messiness is where we get the healthiest emotionally as we grow through it…
Thanks to my sister in law Carolyn and my nieces Sarah and Jess (all much more experienced hikers than me!), for the invitation too join them and to Andrea and Nic too for their wonderful company along the way. It was a joy to be with ‘The Girls’ doing a trip like this.
Thanks Mother Nature for your abundance of gifts and the life lessons along the way.