Cape to Cape Walk, Day 3

Blackboy Hollow Cave Road to Margaret River Mouth, 8km We make the decision not to cover the full distance from Redgate Beach to Margaret River Mouth. With the help of our official maps and Google, we discover where we can access the track by car and we find it at Blackboy Hollow, where we drive nearly 2km on an limestone compacted road. But first, an update on the found-key story. When we started from Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, and some 7km into our walk, we found a set of car keys. Quick thinking led us to scratch a message on the sand: Key found, heading to H.B. Hol. Park. Call [mob. #]. The next morning we got a call thanking us. At the holiday park reception, the owner was reunited with her key. By performing a good Samaritan act, we could have earned karma points and our Day 1 walk happened without mishap. But today, it's a beautiful and short walk, through Rottnest tea trees, peppermint and magnificent karri. We arrive at the river mouth in early afternoon. It's crossable!

CAPE TO CAPE WALK Day 2

A day to take life slowly! Redgate Beach to Conto Campgrounds, 11km It's a day to recover and take life slowly. We fish at the Augusta jetty, catch three undersized fish which we throw back into the water. Then, we eat pies in this most southerly town. One of the staff asks how we are. She is holding two jobs and had served us at the fish and chips shop. We park one car at Conto, the other at Redgate and our 6-km walk starts from Redgate Beach. The sea is not as rough as yesterday, surfers are having fun, the beach is beautiful. The coastal scenery is beautiful. Surfers enjoy riding the tall waves. Tonight, we camp at Conto. I was hoping to test the hiking tent I bought 11 years ago for my Fjallraven Classic Sweden, but the storm forecast for the morning does not materialise. So far, It's been a walk that makes one count one's blessings. How lucky to have these facilities made available to us! This morning, Marty receives a call from the owner of the set of car keys we found near Skippy Rocks on Day 1. I had drawn on the sand we found the key and we were heading to Hamelin Bay Holiday Park. I inscribed Marty's nine-digit cellphone number as he was the only one among us to subscribe to a Telstra line. What's the chance that you can recover something you drop while hiking on the Cape to Cape Track?

The Cape to Cape Walk: A Painful Start

Leeuwin Lighthouse to Cosy Corner, 20km I watch the waves rushing up the shore. The hooded plover watch too, their beaks lowered. Will the next wave uncover more food? Our boots are wet, covered with sand, washed by the waves. I look over the limestone rocks, to the Indian Ocean. I imagine myself in Cape Horn, the waters of the Pacific on my right, and the Atlantic on my left. We fail to see a marker on our right. This mistake costs us some 90 minutes of walking. It is unsafe walking on sharp limestone rocks. Marty cuts his left palm on one. There are indeed lessons on navigation that I learn. I thought I had learnt then 12 years ago, but I was a rookie bushwalker then. The sun has set. The moon appears as a lovely crescent on our left. I don't feel a sense of danger walking in the semi darkness. The eyes adjust. And we have left the blowholes behind us. I don't relish walking near them, 50 cm in diameter, patiently waiting for us to step into them to be sucked down into the ocean depths, accompanied by the short sighs of the Greek god Poseidon. A long day, taking 10 hours to walk the distance. And then, the light from VC's phone shine on our car, parked at Cosy Corner. Our first stop is the fish & chips shop in Augusta. I order the fresh king fish. But VC says his ginger beer tastes better than the fish. I don't care. Any fish tastes good in a hungry mouth. #capetocape2025

Dazzled by Simple Thoughts

I've known Adrian since I was 16. It's odd. How does one keep a friend for so long? Over such a long distance? Odder still, we have met only twice. We were penpals, and nobody does penpals anymore. Someone in a podcast tried to explain life's meaning and referred to Dostoevsky, whose literary works explore the human condition in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia. Perhaps, friendship and life can be explained simply. Perhaps, answers can be found right in front of us. The satirical comedy, The Monk and The Gun, which we watched this week, offered insights into a simpler world, where money and liberalism meant little, and rituals and offerings a lot. I won't spoil it for you, but watch out for this movie wherever it's streaming.

Baths, Faiths and Rites

This morning, I walked the 200m to Yunomine-oji. It's a shrine that defines this village onsen. We put up last night in Ryokan Adumaya. It's featured in the book, Hidden Hot Springs. I've finished walking the Kumano Kodo with Brian. I've decided that rituals are not the answer to problems. it's one of the crutches we need to get through tough days. Japan is a country of rituals. Pilgrims are supposed to start their journey from Kii Tanabe. it doesn't matter that they take a bus to Takijiri, and walk to reach Kumano Hongu Taisha. We didn't even arrive at Kii Tanabe. So, we weren't following a ritual early last week when we started. Whether one is rich or poor, healthy or ill, one cannot avoid practising rituals, or profess a faith for that matter. The first thing I did when I woke up was to luxuriate in the rotenburo, an outdoor bath. I was alone. I was not fastidious about scrubbing my back as I saw a few bathers do in my stays at a Japanese inn. Are they obsessive? Probably not. But, scrubbing the back seems to provide a clue of what the soul of Japan is.

Soul food, a journey through traditional Southeast Asia cuisine cuisine

Hainanese Chicken Rice Chili sauce is key. But each of us will have our own favourite. The original Hainanese chicken is Wenchang chicken in Hainan (a city near Haikou). Big and fat chicken, castrated for flavor. The Malaysian and Singapore version is a "improved" version. I'm looking forward to this dish, which I hope, on the day, to match the last great tasty meal I took in 1979 in a hainanese home. Enjoy this read, written by Adam Liaw, a Hainanese himself: https://adamliaw.com/recipe/hainanese-chicken-rice/ Nasi Lemak https://www.visitsingapore.com/en_au/dining-drinks-singapore/local-dishes/nasi-lemak/ I like the picture on this site: the "rich rice" served with peanuts, fried anchovies, sambal paste and...yes..half a hard boiled egg. How traditional can you get? Wrap it in banana leaf, and it's as authentic as you can get! Nasi lemak is Malay cuisine and a national dish in many regions of southeast Asia. The sambal paste makes or breaks the dish. I miss the rice served at breakfast, whether it's pandan leaf and coconut milk flavored rice in Singapore, Malaysia or Palembang, or the Daing na Bangus (milkfish) served with Sinangag (garlic fried rice), and fried egg I enjoyed so much in Iligan City, Mindanao. Curry Chicken with Bread Long before the N-S Highway was built, whenever we travelled between Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh, we would stop in Kampar to eat its famous dish, curry chicken in bread. No one stops in Kampar anymore, so I haven't eaten it for a long long time. Sharon cooked this dish for us using her Grandma's recipe. The curry is dry, so it doesn't spoil the bread. For more details, click here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/journey.com.my/story/the-best-chicken-curry-bun-in-kampar/amp/

A Product of Our Circumstances

I've just completed reading a novel titled 'A Man With No Surname'. It was the second novel translated from Vietnamese that I read, and this time, again, I felt a thrill: there was familiarity with the morality woven in the story, and there was a profound lesson that its author, Nguyen Xuan Duc, wanted his readers to learn: sometimes, we are a product of our circumstances. I would love to ask the author if that was what he thought, but, alas, he passed away two weeks ago.

Lang, the main character in the story, decided to escape to the South. He found that he was not trusted. He performed menial jobs to survive. But, people took pity on him. He even felt shoots of love grow within his boyish heart. He grew up. He became an expert in kungfu. He rose to became a gang head.

After Unification, he became a fugitive, hunted by a clever police officer, nicknamed Zhuge Liang, of Three Kingdoms fame.

I felt the author's sadness when, after he completed his mission (I won't be the spoiler and reveal Lang's fate), the police officer said: It's sad. Lang was a human being before he became the devil.

There was also romance, unrequited love.

Lang would ask, when at wits' end, why he left the North.

Other readers may call his, fate. He deserved what he sowed. Karma. But I think we are sometimes a victim of our circumstances, of which we have no control.