Finding Peace in Nature: A Healing Walk Through Morton National Park
It’s been a traumatic couple of weeks. When I say traumatic, I mean by our standards. We try to live a simple life, so when something quite big happens it can feel traumatic. Things come in Three’s they say… It did for us.
1. A rent increase of $60. It doesn’t seem much but when your rent is only $540 a week, that’s an 11% increase and $60 per week that doesn’t go towards our savings or investments.
2. Our youngest fell over and complained about their tooth hurting. We didn’t think much of it until we woke up Monday morning and they had a massive swollen upper lip. After a trip to the hospital and feeding them Clarantyne like biscuits, we woke up the next day to a swollen face. A visit from the paramedics, a trip to the dentist and another to the hospital, we got that under control.
3. Our development application (DA) after 11 months needed to be withdrawn due to some council bullshit ruling that modular homes cannot be built in the area which we brought land. This is considering 3 modular homes have been built previously in the council area and this is a decision at the “council’s discretion.”
It was safe to say I needed some time to myself as my head was full. The rent, ok, we cop it, not much we can do there. Kids fall over and are highly unpredictable, so you roll with the punches. The DA though… 11 months! Couldn’t they have told us this when we submitted the DA? This means renting longer and many options when it comes to the land, which I will share on another occasion.
By chance, my wife was taking the kids to see a friend, so I have almost all day to myself. We live very close to the Morten National Park in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It’s heaven on our doorstep. I planned I would do a walk here and then go for an infrared sauna in the afternoon. I called the sauna place to lock something in, but they didn’t pick up. This was actually a blessing in disguise, because it meant my bushwalk now didn’t have a time pressure, and while it would’ve been nice to go for an infrared sauna, if I didn’t go, then that’s ok also.
I had planned to walk the whole loop of the national park, which considering I’ve only done a few of the shorter walks there, it was overly ambitious, so I reduced my expectations by setting out to do the Tooth’s lookout to Bundanoon Creek. Anything else I could manage would be a bonus. I set out at 8.27am from our home and walked to the entrance of the National Park in 25 minutes. From there my goal was not to get lost. I didn’t want to use my phone, so checked out a map at the visitor information board. I wanted to walk the most direct route, which come the end of the car park, I could not see a track, so ended up walking the long way around.
Something that amazes me with this national park, you see so few people! Seriously, what are people doing!? For the whole of my time in the National Park (2 hours and 39 minutes) I saw 2 runners, 2 people walking in their RM William boots, jeans and puffer jackets, which I am completely judging here but I guess a couple from the city (city to people in the Southern Highlands can mean anywhere in the Sydney basin) who have walked a very short distance and that ticked off their ‘being in the country’ on the to do list, 2 other walkers who actually looked like they wanted to come for a proper walk and a group of 8 people of which one wore a Palm Beach Yacht Club hat (affluent area in Sydney.) Jumping ahead here… When leaving the national park, there were 4 cars parked outside the entrance, which while again, completely assuming, this to me links the cars to the 8 walkers with the Yacht club hat (2 people per car) which suggests that if they can afford to live in the Palm Beach area, then they can afford the National Park fee. Well, news for you sunshine, the park isn’t currently charging a fee, so sucked in to you, you had to walk further to walk of last nights schnitzel and chips from the yacht club!
Moving on… As I found the start of the Tooth’s lookout to Bundanoon Creek the sign said, ‘not for the faint hearted, steep descent.’ Life can be hard sometimes, and absolutely not for the faint hearted, but I am determined. I currently don’t own a pair of walking boots. I do most my exercise in trainers, which are not made for walking in the bush. Especially steep descents. Upon leaving my wife advised of grabbing a walking stick, which during the flat part of the walk I managed to acquire.
Walks in nature are just something else. The variety of wild growth that surrounds you. (This is me trying to sound like David Attenborough, but clearly have no clue what surrounds me.) The sounds of the breeze, the leaves rustling, birds calling. It’s so relaxing. Then comes the fork in the road.
This is a great analogy of our current life situation (a fork in the road.) We moved to the Southern Highlands 12 months ago to escape the approaching masses in Camden, a town approximately an hour’s drive south west of Sydney. We had an amazing 10 year there. Bought our first house, got married and had children. It was time though for a change. The tree’s and nature were calling. We hoped to build a house, which now after 11 months has been thrown into disarray. We have many options ahead of us, but which is the right one? Time will tell.
A sign points back to the Tooth lookout, which was a great stop for a drink and a bush wee. Another sign points in the opposite direction to the Fairy Bower waterfalls. So where is the walk to the Bundanoon creek? Amongst the junction there were signs of a path, but due to the winter, it appeared the bush was in the process of claiming back some land. Doesn’t this just highlight that sometimes the path you wish to take is not always clear? Once I’d fought my way through the bush following the path, then came the decent and yes, it was steep, however don’t you love how nature guides you? Fallen branches line the edges of the path. Routes from tress stick out on the side of steep rocks, almost like a handle. It is almost rude not to say thank you for their assistance. Then I see it. The creek! I’d been focusing so much on where I was putting my feet and not to slipping, I then tuned into the noise of the flow of the water. It was paradise!
Like the true hunter/ gatherers we are I looked around for the perfect spot. On the left hand side, the water appears still, motionless, with no rush in the world to go anywhere fast. Then comes a rock formation, which forms a little rapid, before dispatching the water out the right hand side into a beautiful flurry before slowing down its pace and making its way on throughout it’s journey. I found my spot, under a tree to the right hand side. The shimmer of the water is reflecting on the over hanging branches. It’s just bliss. I sit and while staring off down the creek, my mind takes over. Thoughts flood into my mind from the last 2 weeks. Tears come to my eyes. Boredom then takes over giving me the urge to get up and move or do something. I don’t listen to it. I just sit. And then after 10 minutes, like someone removing the plug from a sink, the stress built up in my body drains away.
30 minutes passes. I feel lighter. I’ve been considering going for a dip in the water. Surely not! It’s way too cold. I climb back over the trees and rocks to other side where I can see the still water’s surface. ‘Just go for paddle mate,’ my mind says to me. I take off my shoes and socks and take the plunge. Water covers my ankles, and it feels amazing, but it’s freaking freezing!
I had started playing football again after 10 years, which didn’t go to plan. After 2 friendly games I got tendonitis in my achilles, which after rest and rigorous daily stretching I made a come back for 3 league games before straining my quadricep. That was my calling. I don’t want to be cripple. I want to enjoy life with a healthy body. It was my bodies way of saying enough is enough and for someone who has suffered significant injuries for most of his playing career, it was hard for me to admit my time had come.
During the descent down to the creek I could feel the stiffness in my ankles and the twinge of my achilles, but after just 10 seconds of standing in cold water, the pain seeped away. I shuffled out the water for a moment and then shuffled back in for another 10 seconds. The coldness was excruciating but on the other hand it was like an ice bath for my feet and ankles. I retreated once again, taking back in the scenery and serenity. It was a place of rejuvenation. I felt my healing was done. I popped back on my shoes and socks after wiping the wet sand from my feet, turned around and took in one last big deep breath, only to be disturbed by a big bloody plane flying overhead.
The climb back up required a bit more exertion. I appreciated the bent over trees making an archway for my departure, like a sign saying ‘thank you for visiting and see you next time.’ I scaled the hardest part, but then lost the track. Sometimes in life we lose our way and that’s fine. It’s important however to use our intuition to guide us back on the right path. I felt there were 3 different ways I could go. I took the middle path which landed me in a big patch of this long yellow flower. While my surrounding was quite a sight, I started to get unnerved from clearly losing the main path. I generally have a good sense of direction and knew if I kept heading up and to the right, I’d soon hit a walking path, which I did.
As I retraced the path, passing the tooth lookout and Fairy Bower waterfall sign, (which I took the latter,) and the scenery suddenly changed. It was framed by big moss-covered trees, a dirt leaf covered track ran through the middle and mossy rocks by its side. It was like I was entering a fairy land. After hearing a noise which I can only describe as a dog sniffing loudly I marched on through to the base of the Fairy Bower waterfall. I have seen many waterfalls throughout Australia, especially in Tasmania and this one is up there with the best.
Nature is a natural healer. After leaving the park (11.31am) and making the 25 minute walk home I felt I had been refreshed, reset and although I was physically tired, I was energised. The feeling was euphoric. Consider this… It’s a free activity and the best 3 hours and 29 minutes spent focusing on me.
I wish to say thank you to National Parks NSW. Thank you to the Gundagurra people upon this land we share. And thank you to my wife for letting me have the time to have this experience today.
Time = 3 hours and 29 minutes
Cost = While the park is currently free, we still pay the yearly $22 fee to access the Morten National Park, which we recently renewed.
Feeling = 10/ 10