HOWEVER you look at it, walking 5000km from Wilsons Promontory, Victoria to Cape York in Far North Queensland, is no mean feat. Add in La Niña and its effect on the landscape, all the uncertainty of COVID, and the fact that for 23-year-old Bailey Seamer, this is only her second ever multi-day hike, and you have all the ingredients of a life changing walk. And that’s what this story was going to be about.
That Bailey has bipolar disorder and is raising money for the Black Dog Institute is part of it, sure, but it wasn’t going to be the focus. That’s because I didn’t understand what it’s like to have a chronic mental illness and be followed around by the metaphorical black dog even on a walk such as this. But the black dog’s presence is a constant, mostly lagging behind, sometimes beside and occasionally out in front. Walking this walk, while managing that dog, is the real story here.
The first of many steps
The east coast of Australia can be wild and rugged. South Point, the mainland’s southern most point, especially so. The scenery is
