Day 37 Mingela

Sunarise bring in the morning.... fluttering her skirts all around
Sunday 23rd May, 2021  28.6km

807.4 / 4291.5km

Another day of walking the Dotswood Road with a goal of getting to Mingela this evening. 

Not much has changed, with the walk continuing through the training area. It was a little warmer than yesterday until some cloud cover came over.  I knew I was in for a longer day as I have to cover nearly 30 kilometres.

Finally through to the other side of the training ground

I filled up with water at a cattle trough.  5 minutes later a car stops and we have a chat and they offer me some bottled water. I had to say no as I was looking forward to my filtered cow snot water. 

Someone had been drinking Pepsi Max and throwing the cans out just to torment me. If any one is driving past I invite them to take a shot at me with a Pepsi Max tin.  Just make it full and cold.

This patch of walking is where the discipline to get up and move comes in. You know there is not much interesting to take your mind off things. I let my mind wander and think of conversations I wish I had and conversations I want to have and conversations I should have had. You can beat yourself up a bit but I realise I can not be perfect so mistakes were made. Learning is a big thing.  Also wandering alone on outback roads tends to minimise the mistakes I can make.

Too shy to stay in the photo

I shared the cows trough water

I finally get to the Mingela Hotel and meet Ivan and Moana in person. They are Kiwis who bought the pub 21 years ago. Whilst I am there there would only be two other customers.  

They agree to make me a parmi dinner.  Whilst the parmigiana is out of a box there are a lot of fresh vegetables and I scoff broccoli and cauliflower with a couple of good sized potatoes and the obligatory beans and carrots. Topped with some bread and gravy you may get the impression this was the most exciting thing for the day. Well the four beers I consumed and then Ivan offered me a complimentary shot of his port was the topper of the day.

Instead of making me set-up the tent next to the public toilets across the road. Moanna who had mowed the lawn out back of the pub offered me the grass free of charge. The pack seemed heavy and the new boots a little wobbly as I went out to set up in the dark. 