Postcard from the heart of Australia
running the Larapinta Trail
Dearest wild and wonderful readers,
A little postcard from the heart of Australia to say hello.
A special welcome to all those who are new here, I am delighted that you have joined us. You can find all the details of what to expect on the About page. And there are many more wild and wonderful stories to enjoy here.
If you enjoy Wild and Wonderful, I’d love you to share it with a friend.
With love and momentumn,
Kate xx
I am writing this postcard to you from Mparntwe/Alice Springs, in the centre of Australia.
My girlfriend N and I are here for a 4 day, 82 kilometre, trail running race - Run Larapinta — through the rugged and remote West MacDonnell Ranges. It’s an event we are running to raise funds for the brain tumour community in Australia (scroll to the bottom for more on this).
We arrived on Thursday by plane, a journey of six-and-a-half hours from our home in Tasmania, a small Island at the bottom of Australia. We are staying at a hotel and every morning we rise in the dark to eat breakfast, pull on our running gear, stuff trinkets, water bladders and various forms of sugar (jelly beans, gels, energy bars) into our running vests, and catch a bus to the start of the trail. We are two days and 34 kilometres in.
I am tired, but running here and sharing this adventure with a dear friend, is wonderful. My heart is ripping with joy.1
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The landscape is a world away from our cool temperate Island home of Tasmania.
A vast red desert landscape.
A bright wide sky — blue, almost green. Orange hills caked with rocks. Thick sand the colour of fire. Short grey-green trees, spindle like, some blackened by fire. Thin and spikey grass — viscous and bloody. Gorges that weave like serpents, full of lush Mallee Eucalytpus trees, native ferns and palms, and pools of deep dark water that reflect the landscape, perhaps even our hearts.
I wasn’t prepared for the abundance of life I would find here. There are native flowers — purple, yellow, red and white — lining the egdes of the track. And bright green shoots pushing out of the brown limbs of trees.
Nothing is familar. Even the air is strange.
It is cold in the morning. A desert surprise. But the sun soon breaks over the valleys and brings a brittle and savage heat (29 degrees Celsius). It wicks the water out of my body with a hunger. I struggle to replace what is lost. And when I rub my face I can feel the salt crystals on my fingers, rough and sandy. Moisture is precious here, more so than in my own Country of rainforests and rivers. Shade is a salvation and is found deep in the gullies and in slices — under a ledge of rock, the semi-circle canopy of an eucalyptus tree.
By mid-morning, I am sweating under my ‘sun safe’ legionaries running cap (with a large veil that covers my neck and cheeks) and sipping water rich with essential electrolytes from my drinking bladder. And I wonder if it is foolish to be running here in the hot harsh daylight?
The Larapinta Trail is in Arrernte Country — the land, sky and waters of the Arrernte, the Aboriginal people who have lived here for 30,000 years and continue to be its custodians. I have been here for not quite 3 days but already I can feel that this is a sacred place — the Country moves me.
Perhaps I am a desert pilgrim — pricking my ears as my feet hit the flint of the trail, listening to the beating heart of land under my feet.
I wonder if it is the far away horizon, the wide open sky, or the silence of the desert, but there is space here to reflect and to restore.
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In the afternoons, a bus delivers us back to our acommodation and we stagger to our rooms, pull on our bathers and walk our shaky legs into the frigid water of the pool. It is glorious. And when my legs are numb, I push my whole body under.
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It’s dark now, the cold night air is sinking down to meet the warmth of the earth. I am tired, my feet are covered in brown strapping tape (blister prevention) and I want nothing more than to climb into bed and rest. So I’ll say goodnight.
What wonderfully wild things have you been up to?
What trails are under your feet?
Reciprocity: Nature Writing Interview Series
I was deeply honoured to be part of a nature writing interview series earlier this month with
who writes the Substack newsletter .Julie is passionate about the natural world and all things wild. She writes stories about our relationship with nature, essays about architecture, sustainability, and building community and resilience.
I adored Julie’s story Shapeshifting — a tale of a boy and a heron and the restorative power of nature. Her writing ripples. You can read the story here. And I am delighted that she is now a fan of Tasmanian author Robbie Arnott!
Julie reached out with a series of beautiful questions about my island home, why I write about nature, and the writers and stories that have inspired me. I enjoyed sharing my responses with her Substack community and I was delighted to meet other nature writers and readers from all around the world. Thank you Julie for this wonderful opportunity.
I have included the interview below. I hope you enjoy.
As you read this postcard, I will be running stage 3 from Birthday Waterhole to Stanley Chasm — 21 wide eyed kilometres.
Two more days of running, then I’m looking forward to exploring the township of Alice Springs (I hear there is a wonderful independent bookstore) and catching up with a dear friend and her family. I will be sad to miss the Red Dirt Poetry Festival happening here next week.
A big thank you to my gorgeous husband and my mother who are looking after our home and our children while I am away. I miss them all dearly.
Looking forward to sharing more from my adventures in the heart of Australia with you very soon.
Wishing you a sunset with all the colours of the desert — red, orange, yellow and pink.
Kate xx
Run Larapinta. Help support those affected by a brain tumour.
If you are interested in learning more and supporting our fundraiser, link is here.
It is such a special part of the world, Kate. We walked a stretch of the Larapinta Trail, years ago with our two girls and I loved how rugged it was and yet at the same time somehow delicate. I'm not sure that I'd want to run it though!
It's such special Country, isn't it. Enjoy your journey along those ancient caterpillars. 🐛