Over Staverton

Day 4: 17 February 2019

Staverton is high farming country sitting above Lake Barrington and the Forth River valley. Day 4 was the steady climb up over Staverton and down to Cethana on the Cradle Mountain Road. For Tim, it was tackling the first hills since his surgery.

Staverton is so close to home yet it feels like another world. Large farms and small cottages dot the landscape. By this stage, Mount Roland is seen from the side and no longer dominates the southern skyline. It is now Mounts Claude and Van Dyke which take up their own place.

It was Merran’s first walk through Staverton, and she enjoyed the space and height; being close to the mountains and meandering just under the clouds.  The air of the high country (except for the occasional road kill we had to dodge) was cool and fresh, adding to the richness of the experience.    Gently walking the high ridges, aware of the remoteness, noticing things never seen on a drive-through, Merran felt that she was processing some of what had happened over the last few months simply by walking. She felt close to tears but comfortably so. This is one of the gifts of pilgrimage, one we have come to cherish.

It was a great day for Tim as well.  He walks this way for a number of years on an annual trip to Mount Ossa so the country was familiar as were the roadworks which have been going for three years now at least.