After saying farewell to our host Sally under her magnificent Fig tree, we set off for our day of walking. I was dreading a section of this route as when I cycled it with Cycle Against the Nuclear Cycle (CANC) a few years ago, I recalled a section of the journey riding up and down these big dippers. Anna from GECKO assured me that there were only 3 such hills, whereas I remember 15. Di kept on asking me “is this the big hills?” and I kept on saying “nah, this is just a rise”. We got to Nerang and those dreaded hills didn’t seem to have appeared. So I’ve concluded that walking the hills is easier than riding those dippers.
I then took over the driving task to meet everyone at the next break stop. We all pointed on the map our meeting point and then I drove to the destination. Layed out all the food for lunch, with BBQ, electricity and had charmed a couple in a campervan with a kettle to boil some water for a refreshing cup of tea or coffee. I walked to the corner to greet my fellow walkers and after waiting a while, I returned to the banquet and did some computer work. It seemed like over an hour since I left the crew and thought they would only take 30 mins to arrive. About 2 hours later, I got a phone call “where are you?” I’m at the park with a Big Ship. “Oh we went past that ages ago...we’re hungry. Could you please come and meet us?” Packed up lunch and took it to a lake at the entrance to a golf course. We had a view of a lake and the Taj Mahal, but none of the civilised facilities I had manifested at the other rest stop. But the important thing was I had the food to sustain the last leg of the walk.
Once we got to Carrara Markets, we enjoyed a coffee before heading off to our accommodation for the evening. We stayed with Rita and Dorryl who had built the house with their own blood sweat and tears. The outlook was spectacular. We had a chance to rest and unwind before heading off for a dinner at Nerang, right next to the “big ship park”.
The reception was very welcoming and the table setting was extraordinary. We then discovered it was the first evening meal to be consumed in the renovated community building. We got to share with the Nerang Progress Association our stories and motivation to do the walk and what we wanted to achieve from doing the walk. Afterwards there was a peace crane folding workshop and the delight on every face indicated how much fun they were having. These cranes will be presented to Kevin Rudd when we meet him on 25 May. There were some members who are keen to join us on the walk from Currumbin on Saturday morning, so am looking forward to reconnecting with these people.
The community engagement is so important to me and whilst I struggle with finding the energy to do this effectively, I feel that it’s an important way to empower people to feel part of the bigger picture.
Footprins for peace
Once we got to Carrara Markets, we enjoyed a coffee before heading off to our accommodation for the evening. We stayed with Rita and Dorryl who had built the house with their own blood sweat and tears. The outlook was spectacular. We had a chance to rest and unwind before heading off for a dinner at Nerang, right next to the “big ship park”.
The reception was very welcoming and the table setting was extraordinary. We then discovered it was the first evening meal to be consumed in the renovated community building. We got to share with the Nerang Progress Association our stories and motivation to do the walk and what we wanted to achieve from doing the walk. Afterwards there was a peace crane folding workshop and the delight on every face indicated how much fun they were having. These cranes will be presented to Kevin Rudd when we meet him on 25 May. There were some members who are keen to join us on the walk from Currumbin on Saturday morning, so am looking forward to reconnecting with these people.
The community engagement is so important to me and whilst I struggle with finding the energy to do this effectively, I feel that it’s an important way to empower people to feel part of the bigger picture.
Footprins for peace
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