20 June 2020
My plan was to start at the point where I left the Heysen Trail in Kuitpo Forest on my last run and finish in Hahndorf, where the artist Hans Heysen lived and had his studio. It is also a town with a strong German history and culture, not to mention excellent cafes and delicious baked goods. However yet again I managed to lose my way between Bridgewater and Hahndorf – quite exceptional really given the semi urban nature of the area.
The trail passes through the old Jupiter Creek mining area, where you can find ruins of old mines, including chimneys and mine shafts, before joining up with sections of unsealed and then sealed roads through the town of Mylor and into the back of Bridgewater, before going under the Eastern Freeway and looping back to Hahndorf.
Inexplicably after stopping briefly at Bridgewater Oval to consult my map, I still managed to miss the sign where the trail forked – and promptly followed the wrong fork away from Hahndorf. I realised my mistake quickly, but no matter how many times I retraced my steps in an effort to find the right way to go, I simply couldn’t work it out. In reality, I didn’t go far back enough. By now I was well behind schedule (imperilling the all important cafe booking) and being cold and wet, compounded my ineptitude by deciding to try and follow the road system to find my way back onto the trail. This was completely unsuccessful, leading to numerous messages to and from the pick up crew to arrange a meet up.
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