And you really live by the river?" one Bushwalker asked me, pointing to my hat as we hiked down to Chinamans Point. Feeling much like the Rat in "The Wind in the Willows", I happily replied, "By it and with it and on it and in it".
I've been an early riser all my life. Bed to me has never been something to 'get into' but rather to 'get out of', and I've never been late, or - God forbid! - called in sick, but this morning I did feel a little off and almost cancelled my appointment with the Batemans Bay Bushwalkers who were going to hike down to Chinaman's Point. But here I was, enjoying the early morning sunshine and the company of my fellow-walkers.
This was no Kokoda Trail but then neither was I still in my twenties when I had accomplished that particular hike. Instead, this was a leisurely walk from Holmes Lookout just off the Kings Highway down to Chinamans Point (which must've lost its apostrophe at about the same time the last Chinaman left). For the past several decades it had been occupied by an oyster shed which was run by a pool-acquaintance who'd assured me he'd have the kettle boiling by the time we'd get there.
Then, some forty-five minutes into the walk, and just as we were scrambling down another very steep hill which ought to have been strictly reserved for mountain goats, I took off the same hat that the other Bushwalker had pointed to, wiped the sweat off my forehead and mumbled in a low whisper to Padma who was beside me, "There's a reason I received that OBE last year. I'm Over Bloody Eighty and I'll never get back up that steep hill again. Let's call it quits before they call the ambulance." And so I excused myself from the group and, exhausted but greatly relieved, we scrambled back up the hill again.
It's been a long day! I saw some new things, met some new people, but most important of all, I learnt something about the physical limitations imposed by old age. We are home again, and as I sit here on the sunlit verandah, looking at the river and nursing a hot cup of sweat tea, I recall those words from Chapter 5, Dulce Domum, in "The Wind in the Willows": "But it was good to think he had this to come back to, this place which was all his own, these things which were so glad to see him again and could always be counted upon for the same simple welcome".
