THE DESERT SONG
BIG walks like the Larapinta Trail are pipe dreams for many people. You enjoy folding them up neatly, putting them into your chest pocket and taking them out every now and then to look at, dream over, maybe hazily plan for. For my own ‘End to End’ it simply felt like the right time to put that dream into action. Wide open spaces utterly devoid of people, a nice big sky and a few weeks solitary wandering sounded like just the ticket, so I turned around and booked one for the start of July. Incidentally, also the only day of the year Northern Territorians are allowed to buy copious quantities of fireworks and set them off with gay disregard for the laws of physics.
I turned up in this remote outpost of Alice Springs with nothing but a big pack, big grin and big ideas. I had no idea how far the track was, if there was reliable water or if my boots actually fit. After a busy season guiding and organising other people I
