It’s taken a couple of days to think through my takeaways from the walk. I’ve had two days in Hobart, a city I know well as a visitor and love, visiting the odd art gallery and museum, and drinking a lot of good coffee in little cafes. Staying in a nice hotel, connecting with the two friends I walked with but having a peaceful haven to return to, has been a lovely end to the trip. I’ve come up with three real themes which capture my thoughts.
Ephemeral; everything passes. I think this relates back to our sudden trip back to the UK to bury Andy’s mother. On the last couple of days of the walk, as my body adjusted to carrying the pack and the physical exercise became easier ( note, not easy, a critical distinction !), I wished I could just keep on walking for days more. It’s important to enjoy each moment as it occurs; once the moment, or taste, or experience, is over there is no way back.
The paintings are from a lovely exhibition at the Art Gallery of Tasmania, still-lifes reflecting the ephemerality of life.
Simplicity; enjoying simple pleasures. I love travelling with just a backpack or a suitcase, and having a streamlined but carefully curated set of possessions from which to choose. I was pretty happy with my packing for the whole trip, and will have used pretty much everything I took. Getting the clothing right was important, I took one too many tops but was very happy with the combination I took on the actual hike which was very pared back( hiking trousers, leggings, worn and spare pair of undies and socks, hiking shirt, that superfluous light top, thermal long sleeve top, fleece jumper, puffy waistcoat, raincoat, beanie, cap).
The privilege of a few days in a simple but luxurious hotel room with a view over Hobart, that’s a pleasure I will never take for granted. Also reading real books, in peace, rather than the incessant input of social media, news websites, doom scrolling.
There’s a beauty, for me, in eating simple good food. My breakfast the last couple of days has been yoghurt and berries, I did crave fresh fruit by the end of the trip ! I love eating out and beautifully presented, elaborate meals but do come back to good food, well prepared with care as my baseline.
Our lives today, with social media and endless inputs, work with that stress, and the toxic global environment currently, are complex enough. Keeping a focus on simple joys provides a shelter from the external world chaos.
Resilience; one definition I’ve read of resilience is “The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity”. I wouldn’t say that I have recovered back to where I was prior to MS so over a decade ago, however I have completed the majority of a walk I completed in 2017 just as my walking was beginning to deteriorate. In 2017, I didn’t manage the side trip to Cape Huoy and rested at the turn-off; this time in 2025 I managed the whole side trip. Admittedly I was very tired at the end of the walk, which pre-MS I would have been able to manage without issues.
However, I’d slightly change that definition of resilience, to be the ability to withstand or adapt to changing circumstances. Sometimes it’s not possible or desirable to return to a previous state, and resilience includes finding alternative paths or destinations that fit the current zeitgeist. For me, it’s being able to bushwalk again albeit at a lighter level than in years past, and finding swimming moderate distance is something I can enjoy and relish.
In Tasmania, I’d have to bring the weather into the discussion ! It varied from warm and very bright sun, to fog and walking in clouds, to overnight rain and back to sun in a few days. That beautiful water I swam in, at the end of the walk and in a previous photograph ? Refreshingly chilly for sure and not Coogee beach water.
The next challenge is flying back to WA tomorrow morning, and getting back into the routine of work, swimming, kayaking, and of course loving three very spoiled cats.
My Longest Journey 