I walked the full Fernleigh Track today. I’d wanted to do this for years, since I’d only done it once before (in 2012), but the logistics of getting home were always an obstacle. Thankfully, Sue came to the rescue!
She picked me up on her way to work and dropped me off at the Belmont end of the track. My plan was to walk the entire track home with a break at Charlestown for some lunch.
I started the track at 7:21 am. The first mile or so is heavily shaded by trees, which kept the temperature low. I was wearing shorts and it was quite chilly (8C/48F) but thankfully my rugged Australian constitution kept me going.
For the first third of the walk the birdsong was raucous and nonstop. There were no other walkers and a few cyclists so perhaps they were squawking at me? I loved it, especially the bellbirds, and occasionally found a sunny spot to pause and enjoy the sounds.
I was curious as to how long the walk would take so kept careful track of time (and steps) as I walked. The Belmont to Whitebridge leg is about two thirds of the track, and took me almost exactly two hours (and ~13000 steps). I wasn’t even tired yet, and it was time to divert and head to Charlestown Square for lunch.
This was no small side-trip either, since the walk to the mall from Whitebridge (and back) added 2.5 hours (and ~14000 steps) to the expedition! I ate some maccas, bought some magic cards and then had a nostalgic walk past old places we’d lived before rejoining the track in the early afternoon.
By this time the sun was high in the sky and I was in shirtsleeves, and maybe even getting a little sunburned? I’d done the Whitebridge-Adamstown leg many times and freshly refueled with frozen coke I knocked it out today in only one hour (and ~7000 steps). Once again I completed the entire track in one go, and I’m probably good for another decade or so! In total the track (alone) had taken me almost exactly three hours and a tad over 20,000 steps.
Of course I still had to walk back to mums, and it was this final leg of the trip – only a half hour or so after many hours of walking – where I started to feel the burn. But (of course) I made it, and when I finally reached mums I had been walking for 7.5 hours and 40,010 steps. My legs were spaghetti, but it had been a good day.
But I bet I’ll be feeling it tomorrow!
As a followup it’s now tomorrow and I feel fine 🙂