Section 5: Green Line Fever

It’s been a weird section.

Long tracts of paddock and back road contrasted with narrow easements of preserved nature corridors and the occasional conservation park before finally arriving in the Barossa.

While it hasn’t been a ’hard’ section, it has felt long. A section to get done rather than to take in, though it hasn’t been without its moments.

The trail has taken us from Burra to Tanunda over seven days. The first half of the section was definitely the hardest, with us camping or staying in huts and averaging 25km days.

Fatigue has started to creep in as well, which is unsurprising given that we’ve been hiking for only a month with only one rest day in that time and some pretty big days back to back.

We’ve been deep in farming/grazing country for a while now and while the landscape is pleasant, it’s often generally unremarkable. The trail does it’s best to find ways to keep you in nature, however, this often means walking inside a government-owned easement sandwiched between two paddocks.

Hiking out of Burra with my mates Shannon, Annelise and Paul was great fun and the World’s End campsite was a beautiful place to end the day with its massive gums and flocks of native birds. Paul also surprised us with a roast chicken and beers for dinner. Thanks mate.

Reaching Kapunda was a great boost and we stayed in the reputedly haunted Sir John Franklin Hotel. The upper floor where the accomodation is located is said to host the ghost of a woman who walks the hallway and the ghost of a child in Room 20. 

While we didn’t see any ghosts, the bar staff had great fun telling us a story about ghostly footsteps that are sometimes heard walking behind the very barstools we were sitting on!

 The huts in this section were also fantastic, both Huppatz Hut and my personal favourite Marschall’s Hut. Huts are such a respite from the elements and it was great to get a fire going in the big fireplace at Marscall’s Hut. The old stonework in these places is really something special too.

Reaching the Barossa was an interesting mental shift after being in relatively isolated places for so long. Walking into Greenock, with its tastefully appointed and tidy public spaces was a bit jarring at first but having access to excellent services and facilities remedied things very quickly.

Camping on the Greenock Oval was also a blast. Something I can say I’ve never done before and more restful than expected.

Highlight of the section was definitely reaching Tanunda and seeing family. It was amazing to see Alison and to catch up with my daughter Abi, her partner Nathan and my granddaughter Olivia. Ali also surprised us with an epic gourmet lunch packed with all the things we had been craving. For me - cornichons. I’m pretty sure she brought half of the Central Markets to us. Best wife ever!

At the time of writing I’m enjoying a rest day which has included a slow morning and will involve a remedial massage to ease some of the pains.

Section 6 will see us reach the Adelaide metropolitan area and hiking theough a very familiar part of the trail. In a way I expect it will feel a bit like coming home.

We’ve got two weeks of hiking left and I’ve been looking forward to the coming sections for some time. 

Next stage will be familiar stomping grounds through the beaut Adelaide Hills and the push to the finish.