Well, what a starting event it was with a 20 km walk from Esk to Toogoolawah. Ten intrepid walkers were at the event and eager to challenge themselves. We started at Esk with a nice cup of coffee and then set out at about 8.45 am a little behind schedule.
We were eager and it was a beautiful day to go walking. We knew it was going to be a long walk and we had to arrive at the other end early enough to ensure we were in time for lunch.
Even though it was reasonably cool, it didn't take us long to get warm and I for one was glad I wore shorts. The pace was slow at the beginning at around 5.2 km per hour but soon the keen walkers Maryl-Ann & John Marshall accompanied by Kerryn Bridgeman were out in front and taking the pace up to 6.1 km per hour.
The miles went past and the pace was maintained. We lost a couple of the walkers who went back to Esk but through them, we found out that lunch venues in Targoolawah were not good and would be better to have lunch at Esk. That meant that we had to rendezvous with a couple of cars in Targoolawah at 12.30 pm to be taken back to Esk. Now the pressure was on. But John Marshall at 82 years old was out in front and maintaining that pace. We passed a lot of beautiful country, mostly flat thank goodness. We saw some cattle and I believe I saw a water buffalo.
Now I was telling Terry Coman about the walk and he informed me that he grew up in this area and he knew a lot of the history of the area. He stated that at the end of the second world war there was just a sea of army tents from Esk to Toogoolawah, with the Australian and American forces. There must have been a hell of a lot of soldiers stationed there.
But virtually, at the exact time of 12.30 pm, the front runners arrived at Toogoolawah. We all had sore feet with only one thing on our minds, when can we have a nice cold beer?
The cars arrived and the group took the easy car drive back to Esk. It was so great to get off our feet at long last. We had booked a restaurant for 1 pm and it was very picturesque, out in the garden under the trees with many beautiful birds flying around. However, the restaurant was not licenced so not to be deprived of that cold beer, Barry raced off for another km to a bottle shop and brought back that well-awaited cold beer and wine. Then it was a relaxed time and enjoying a lovely meal and the companionship of our AAH members.
So thank you Brian May for making this happen, our first Walk of Discovery event and definitely not our last. So don't miss the next one. There are some good suggestions coming from the participants, such as not as long and having a break in between, so walk for 1 1/2 hours stop for a coffee or such and then complete the last 1 1/2 hour walk. Finish the event with a most enjoyable lunch.
So make certain you keep up to date with the emails coming out about our future events.
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