Day 44: Port Macquarie to Lake Cathie

Having left Port Macquarie I now enter the final third of my Walk Against Want. Making it down to lighthouse beach, not far from the Port Mac CBD, I could have watched the waves roll in for hours on end. Like small concentric ripples expanding across the surface of a pond, bands of ocean swell gently rolled in towards the shore. From my vantage point near the lighthouse the distant swell far out to sea presented itself as no more than a mere ripple but approaching the shallow shoreline those ripples matured into something much larger and more powerful than I originally conceived. As they grew to a few meters in height the crest began to break ranks, spray ripped off the leading edge and curled down the rear body. No longer able to support its own enorminty, in a split second the wave unleashed its full power on the beach sands below. The crescendo of thunder that came with it echoed in your chest. It was a most mesmorising sight.

Looking back on Port Macquarie

Waves rolling in at Lighthouse Beach

I eventually got back on with the walk and made it to Lake Cathie setting up shop behind a thin belt of Banksia abutting the sand dunes. You all know how cold it has been during these winter months so I'm sure you could appreciate the bitter cold I must contend with when camping. Sheathed in cloth, layers four deep to the skin, and encased in a sleeping bag cocoon I am pretty well protected against the cold winter winds harrassing me by night. That is until I wrestle in my slumber and crack the seal keeping in the warm layer of insultating air. Every 2hrs I woke to freezing chills that night. A chill you could feel in your bones. But there was not much more I could do other than repositioned myself, try not to move, and fall back to sleep.

Headland south of Port Mac

During the daylight hours I still wear a few layers of shirts. And with all the gear loaded on my shoulders my body temp quickly rises as I begin the walk but, as warm as I feel, it's not until the height of the mid day sun that I even dare think about shedding a skin or two. For as soon as I stop and take off the pack an icy chill scampers over my back sending me into a shivering fit.

A steep headland climb that took the wind out of my sails

But my days camping are really nothing in comparison to the 630,000 people still living in tents in Haiti some 18months after the Earthquake. I thought I'd make mention of this considering I've just read a feed from Oxfam  (http://www.oxfam.org.au/news)  describing the conditions that continue and the work Oxfam is doing to provide people with support and protection from cholera. If you dont know much about Haiti other than the huge Earthquake which struck the island 2 years ago allow me to give you a taste of some of the suffering the Haitian's have experienced.... The small carribean island was first colonised  in the 15th century by the Spanish who wiped out, almost to the point of extinction, the indigenous people. The French then took over some time later, I'm no history buff, but if my memory serves me correct the East Inda Trading Company had a hand in that and not surprisingly forrests on the rocky hillsides were desomated to make room for richer coffee plantations and line european bureaurocrat pockets with gold. Some reports state that the lack of forests or vegetation only made the effects of the earthquake in 2009 worse. Like all colonies slavery was rife in Haiti. I scabbed one 18 century slave's account of the atrocities from a source somewhere online (sorry about he poor referencing!):

"Have they not hung up men with heads downward, drowned them in sacks, crucified them on planks, buried them alive, crushed them in mortars? Have they not forced them to eat excretement? And, having flayed them with the lash, have they not cast them alive to be devoured by worms, or onto anthills, or lashed them to stakes in the swamp to be devoured by mosquitoes? Have they not thrown them into boiling cauldrons of cane syrup? Have they not put men and women inside barrels studded with spikes and rolled them down mountainsides into the abyss? Have they not consigned these miserable blacks to man-eating dogs until the latter, sated by human flesh, left the mangled victims to be finished off with bayonet and poniard?"

To cut a long and horrific passage of history short on these here pages, the Haitians ended up revolting in the 1800's but in exchange for diplomatic recognition as an independent nation the country was forced to pay a huge indemnity to the French effectively burying the country in a lifetime of debt. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out why Haiti is still an impoverished third world country today.

I'm no history buff, nor do I intend on giving you a history lesson but we must take the time reflect on our history and learn from our ancestor's mistakes. We must not forget that horrific exploitation and injustices countries and companies have subjucted other peoples to for their own greed and glory. We must not be ignorant of the crimes against humanity that continue to occur today. We can not make the same mistakes. Don't feel down and overwhelmed by the gloomy picture cast then suit back on your couch and do nothing. Be mindfull and take small actions to make a difference.

Anyway thats enough for one blog here. Go check out the news at Oxfam: http://www.oxfam.org.au/news
And start encouraging your friends and family to Donate. Donate. Donate.

Call Oxfam Australia on 1800 088 110 and mention my walk or,
Follow this link: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/glen_hammermeister 

Cheers to all.