Day 35 was quite a long, hot day.

My objective was to get to The Entrance, which was all-told about 35 kilometres. It was still high summer, but I honestly wasn’t realy suffering the heat at all.

It was quite a solitary day – just a small handfull of encounters across a long day of walking. Mostly just ‘making the ks’

That theme-song stuff was just for a giggle, although it could well be the continuing signs of a person declining into insanity.

I passed through a couple of little beach towns, but mostly it was a day through forested highway, three hour marches, and pleasant little shady rests where I could find a nice spot to haul up for a bit.

(I wasn’t yet at the stage where I’d find myself falling asleep by the roadside)

As you can see, the campsite was nice and wild. Trees were viable, not many hazards, all good.

EXCEPT .. the bloody leeches.

But I’d learned my lesson from back before Crescent Head, where that leech had attached to my back. I was very careful not to let any get on my gear before climbing into the insect proof hammock.

But as I packed in the morning i spotted easily a dozen of them clambering about the area, and a few on my gear, so I packed, moved to a dry bush pathway, and then fastidiously checked for the alien little bloodsucking bastards.

Haha, I’m sorry, but they’re CREEPY !

If you watch them, it’s just this weird, relentless questing, this slinky-type movement looking for a living mammal to latch to and feed on.

The joyful moments for me were the encounters – above left is Jack Slapp and to the right his Mum & Dad (to me now and forever to be referred to as THE SLAPPIES)

True blue flat strap aussie legends, such kindness. “Here mate, have something to eat and drink”

And this gorgeous family to the left.

Oh how it made me ache to hug my kids, and took me back to when they were that little and I used to sing them to sleep.

But for the most part, Day 35 was a long day of solitary walking. I think around here my thyroid medicine stopped working (its meant to be refrigerated) because the old gut stopped shrinking.

I packed it in a bit early (6pm) and made a video showing how I set myself up for a rough sleep.