Day 19 – Murray Kulkyne Park to Colignan

When I began planning for this trip I found myself stating to others that the expedition on the Murray would also be a spiritual journey. At the time I had little idea what shape this would take or what I actually meant. For example would I meditate, keep a diary on my reflections as we travelled along or indulge in reading my Buddhist teachings to inspire personal growth. I have done none of the above or tried to define what a spiritual journey should entail. Rather I have opened myself to simply being in the day, allowing my soul to be moved by nature in all her glory and open to wherever she takes me.

Just like the sunrise this morning when I open my tent and enter the day. The still waters provide a mirror refection of the trees as a lone kangaroo made her way to the river’s edge to take water after a scorching hot night.

The atmosphere takes an eerie orange glow as the sunlight bounces off the stone ledges almost creating a sensation of all being surreal. My mind is cast back to the day of my beloved grandmother’s funeral. I vividly remember walking up to her cask where she lay to see a soft white veil laid gently over her face. I lean down and tenderly kiss the veil not wanting to push it against her face as the contact would only reinforce that she was indeed deceased if I were to feel her lifeless lips. However by kissing the fabric gently, leaving a space between us I could imagine life and death to merely exist as a thin line between the two, as if she had simply slipped into another room. This morning felt the same.

The image before me so beautiful and miraculous that if I could just slip into it and dwell there, all of nature’s wonders would be revealed. It’s a moment; just a moment where a euphoric energy fills me. This is not the first time the river has given me this gift or as I believe a spiritual moment.

Our tent

Dianne at Alan’s shed, Colignan

Inside Alan’s shed

Galahs

Monitor lizard