Urban Kindness, Western Horizons

After refuelling on Geelong's southern outskirts, we sought water replenishment at a promising location that WikiCamps suggested might offer hot showers—a luxury we'd learned to appreciate after eighteen months of bush camping. The locked shower blocks greeted us with familiar disappointment, but our water tanks drank deeply regardless, preparing for whatever lay ahead.

Our original plan—camping locally before catching trains into Melbourne for tomorrow's screening—dissolved when Anth's phone chimed with unexpected providence. A message from Sia, a friend forged during previous clinical trials, offered parking at his inner-city home. This serendipitous connection would transform our hour-and-a-half train journey into a mere twenty-minute morning commute.

Driving into Melbourne's heart felt like entering another dimension after Tasmania's intimate scale. Glass towers replaced mountain peaks, traffic replaced wallabies, the city's pulse so different from the ocean's rhythm we'd grown accustomed to. Our bus, bearing dust from countless bush tracks, seemed almost defiant amongst the urban polish.

Sia's welcome exceeded mere parking provision. His genuine hospitality—offering showers, laundry facilities, and preparing a delicious shared meal—reminded us that human kindness transcends geography. Conversation flowed easily around his table, though we retired early to our bus beside a community garden, conscious of morning's early demands. The screening would determine not just immediate funding but the trajectory of coming months—ours for continued wandering, Torrin's for international adventures.

Dawn saw three figures departing through city streets toward the clinical facility. For Anth, the environment felt familiar—faces recognised from previous trials, introductions made between old acquaintances and Torrin. Meanwhile, Sal remained bus-bound, wrestling university assignments toward completion, her academic journey continuing regardless of our shifting coordinates.

The screening process stretched longer than anticipated, compressing our afternoon timeline. New tyres beckoned—our rear wheels having donated considerable rubber to Tasmania's roads. While we'd never been stranded, wisdom suggested upgrading to more aggressive tread before tackling mainland adventures. The tyre shop's efficiency impressed, fresh rubber soon gripping Melbourne's streets as we navigated back through urban maze toward western horizons.

Our delayed departure meant darkness would catch us before reaching intended destinations. Flexibility—that essential nomadic skill—prompted recalibration. Somewhere between Melbourne and Ballarat we'd find tonight's sanctuary, another unplanned coordinate on our ever-evolving map. As suburbs surrendered to countryside, we felt the familiar satisfaction of leaving cities behind, our compass pointing toward spaces where stars outnumbered streetlights.Read more