So, before I started, I decided I'd be taking it easy today, and I wouldn't try to get any further than Moss Vale.

As I was walking, however, I found that my cramps of the previous day were slowly abating, and I'd found a way to combat the blisters on my feet - I cut holes in the backs of my running shoes (thank god Nike isn't one of my sponsors). So the walking got almost pleasant. I strolled (I really did! I actually strolled!) into Moss Vale at around 1:30, and didn't feel like stopping (make hay while the sun shines, and all that), so I pushed on for another 12km to Exeter, all quite uneventfully.

In Exeter, I was picked up by Yolanda and Kasse, the lovely couple who were putting me up for the night (they live in Bowral).

But the icing on the cake - the very frosting on the inscription on the icing on the cake - was that (wait for it) Yolanda just happened to be a professional remedial masseusse! I've got no more excuses now - half an hour ago she rubbed all the stiffness out of my legs.

(Aside: I know there are many of you out there that are little interested in the actual nuts and bolts of my walking days, and are tuning into this web site only to see what thoughts, inspirations, reflections and truths I've come up with since I started walking. I know that's true - you've been sending me emails asking me about it. To all those people, please be patient. This walk has really only just begun. I only left Wollongong yesterday morning. I've got at least two more weeks of walking - this first week was mostly spent getting used to this walking thing. Call it a warming up week (I might be fit, but I can tell you one thing - I'm not a natural walker). There are germinations of ideas kicking around in my mind, but it would be premature to voice them at this stage. For the next few days I may just have to bore you with the inanities of life on the road. Thanks for sticking with me this far. End of aside)

Today I walked with Yolanda (my massaging host from last night) for most of the day. We walked 22km together, and it sure made the time fly by. I'd love to be able to walk with people every day. I eventually stopped in the dark at 7pm, but I felt like I could walk on for hours more. I only stopped because I was getting close to the surprisingly loud noise of the Hume Highway, and I wanted to be able to sleep in peace. I found a peaceful spot under some trees and got out my tent. The rural night was gorgeous, warm and still.

So there I am in the middle of nowhere, putting up the tent in the pitch dark, headtorch focused down on what I'm doing, and I hear some footsteps not ten feet from where I'm standing. I shine the headtorch in the direction of the noise, right into the face of a huge bull. Its horns were maybe five feet across.

A pause. A delicate moment. Where did I leave my red cape?

What to do? After a moment I pointed the torch square into his eyes and said very quietly, "Go away."

Well, after 21km of walking on that god-forsaken strip of bitumen, I can safely say those were two days well spent. Boring, featureless roadside, punctuated every ten seconds or so by the roar of a car passing at 110km per hour or a truck scaring the bejesus out of me with its air brakes.

Yes, I'm very glad to say that I won't be going near that road again for the entire walk (except on the way back, I suppose). I have a new understanding now of travelling by car. It is so fast.

I carried my pack today, after three days without it. My god - what a difference! At the end of the day, with a new swag of blisters (I'm up to eight so far), I limped - literally - into Goulburn and into the local office of Mission Australia. There, a very lovely lady called Carol took me back to her home for a shower and a hot meal, and a very good night's sleep.