After the big experience of Canberra, Day 7 was a chance to get back on the track.
The team started at Forbes Creek, a small farming village, and followed the Hell Hole Fire Trail toward Palerang. Darin described it as about 15 kilometres, depending on how many steps you took.
It was one of those proper crisp days on the trail. Cool air, forest tracks, good conversations, and even a small flurry of snow.
Not enough to settle on the ground, but enough to make everyone notice.
A Cold Day, Good Conversations
Darin said the mood was good.
After the excitement and weight of the Canberra experience, the group seemed glad to be walking again. The conversations were open, relaxed, and full of energy.
There is something about walking that does that.
You start the day with a destination, but along the way the conversations go where they need to go. Sometimes they are serious. Sometimes they are funny. Sometimes they are just the simple back-and-forth of people sharing the road together.
For Darin, one of the best moments came at lunch.
The weather looked like it was about to turn. There was rain in the air, but through the clouds and trees came an orange-yellow glow. The raindrops seemed to hang in the light as they drifted down.
It was one of those small moments you probably miss if you are in a hurry.
But on pilgrimage, you notice it.
Carrying the Hard Parts Too
arrying the Hard Parts Too
Not every part of the day was easy.
Darin was carrying a knee injury, and the downhill sections made it harder. A freshly graded section of track, with loose rocks and rough ground, pushed the knee close to its limit.
But he was clear on one thing.
It was not going to stop him walking.
That is part of the honesty of this pilgrimage. There are good views, strong moments, and plenty of laughs. But there are also sore knees, cold wind, hard ground, tired bodies, and days where you just have to keep going carefully.
That is not a failure of the journey.
That is part of the journey.
The Caterpillar Caravan
There was also room for a laugh.
At one point, the group came across what looked at first like a small snake crossing the road. But as they got closer, they realised it was not a snake at all.
It was a line of about 30 furry caterpillars, nose to tail, moving across the road like a little caravan.
Darin called it the caterpillar caravan.
It was one of those odd little things you only see when you are out walking slowly enough to notice. Creation has a way of pulling people up short, even in the middle of a big day.
Remembering East Timor and INTERFET
The military theme for the day was the Australian-led INTERFET mission in East Timor in 1999.
Darin has served in East Timor himself, so this reflection was not just history on a page. It connected with lived experience.
The devotional reflected on the character required in peacekeeping and stabilisation work:
restraint
patience under pressure
strength without aggression
authority held carefully
wisdom to hold back when needed
That fitted closely with Darin’s reflections from the trail.
He spoke about being shaped by the environment around you. Even something as simple as the weather mattered. When the group stopped for lunch, the cold quickly caught up with them. If you did not put on a jacket after walking, you got cold fast.
For Darin, that became a picture of something deeper.
We are influenced by our surroundings. That matters in the field, and it matters in life.
As a Christian, he reflected on the need not to get swept up in the atmosphere, pressure, or excitement of the moment, but to remain faithful to what you believe.
People of the Way
The theme for Day 7 was:
The Life of Discipleship — People of the Way
The Scripture reading was from Galatians 5:22–23, 25, where Paul writes about the fruit of the Spirit:
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
And verse 25 says:
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.”
The reflection also drew on the words of Jesus in John 15, where he speaks of the deep love shown in laying down one’s life for one’s friends.
After lunch, the pilgrims walked for about 30 minutes in silence.
That gave them space to think, pray, and notice what was happening inside them as they walked through the world outside them.
Darin said the phrase that stayed with him was:
“The power of the Holy Spirit.”
That is not a loud phrase for a quiet walk, but perhaps that is the point.
Discipleship is not just one big heroic moment. It is a life formed over time. Step by step. Day by day. Walking with others. Learning patience. Practising self-control. Carrying hardship. Receiving beauty. Staying faithful.
That is what it means to be people of the Way.
Question for the Way
The devotional question for the day was:
Which fruit of the Spirit do you most need for the road ahead?
It is a good question for a pilgrimage.
It is also a good question for life after the pilgrimage.
Because the road ahead is not only the next section of track. It is the next conversation. The next pressure point. The next hard decision. The next chance to show patience, gentleness, courage, restraint, or love.
Day 7 reminded the pilgrims that the Spirit forms people not just in quiet places, but in cold wind, loose rocks, shared stories, sore knees, and steady walking.
