A Walk to Remember

What would induce Rev Gillian to leave her comfortable house in the middle of the holidays to trek across parts of Australia’s hardest walk, risking blisters, sunburn and rocky escarpments, as well as freezing desert nights?

Walking the Larapinta Trail is a bucket-list item for many people. The whole Trail covers over 220 km of rugged territory, beginning at Mt Sonder (Rwetyepme) west of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) and finishing at the Old Telegraph Station just outside Alice. It is a test of endurance, but rewards walkers with incredible beauty and soaring views. As part of the Anglican Board of Mission (ABM)’s Larapinta Challenge, we walked a third of the 14 stages, although they were not necessarily the easy parts (there are no easy parts).

We encountered a remarkably green face of the desert, as there has been good rain this year. That meant the wildflowers were blooming, and we encountered an amazing array of desert flowers on our walks. We marvelled at the stars, and the Dark Emu in the heart of the Milky Way. My daughter, who walked with me, observed that it was the first time in her life she had really seen the Milky Way! Clearly we are not a camping family.

The heart of the experience was in walking with a group of strangers who soon became friends. This included three other chaplains from Anglican Schools, so many hours were spent comparing notes as we walked, and sharing our ideas and resources. We gathered for evening prayer each night around the campfire, we sang our sacred songs as we walked, and in doing so we entered into foundational experiences of being human, finding ourselves in a bigger story of creation, just as the First Peoples of Australia have done on these sands for millennia.

And while the scenery was no doubt very different, I think much of my experience was not that dissimilar from St Aidan of Lindisfarne, as he walked the paths of Northern England, talking with his walking companions, and allowing the rhythm of the days and the walking to shape his work and his speech. There is an attractive slowness to getting around on foot, even over difficult terrain. And like Aidan we walked to grow God’s kingdom, through the work of ABM which seeks to improve the lives of people in developing communities and to empower them to be their own changemakers. It is practical good news, and that is always worth supporting.