Moment of Clarity

June 1996, onroute to the Overland Track,
Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park,
Tasmania, Australia.

This picture was snapped during a 3 day bushwalk madly undertaken in the middle of winter in Australia. Di, my tree-hugging housemate at the time, and I had initially planned for a 4 day walk but the weather was so bad that we had to cut the trip short. On our first day, the wind was making the rain go horizontal. My 15 kg backpack wasn't helping much for a comfortable walk either. On the second day the overnight snow was almost calf-high at some points. And it was freezing cold.

Oh, but what an experience! It was almost surreal; having been raised in a tropical country and now finding myself walking along a mountain plateau in icy wilderness.

I think my body was in shock...after a wet, sloggy day, I developed a fever that first night. But after 2 panadols and a whole night's sleep (what else is there to do in a freezing hut?), I woke to a bright sunny day feeling pretty good. Outside, we were greeted with a thin carpet of snow. I made a tiny snowman on the porch and named him Bob. Then I held his little snowy hand for luck. Further signs of good fortune: we saw two feathery white cockatoos flying low across the snow-covered rocks soon after we left the hut, heading for Cradle Mountain. Di said they're a rare sight, so it was a good omen.

The above picture was taken on the Horse Track, which is sort of a plateau in the highlands on the way to Cradle and the Overland Track. The view of Crater Lake below and the surrounding mountains was absolutely breathtaking. Di was walking far ahead of me (she knows the Track like the back of her hand) as I took my time along the trail. It's hard to concentrate on walking, in the face of such wild beauty.

All along the way, the wind had been noisily talking to me...sometimes softly whispering, at times howling with rather unnecessary ferocity. Then suddenly, it was quiet.

Complete and utter silence.

As if Time itself was taking a pause.

I stopped and just drank in the whole experience. I felt like I was the only thing alive. It was almost like being on the roof of the world, looking down at such magnificent beauty. Mountains as far as the eye could see - great craggy sentinels enduringly, resiliently, watching the march of Time.

I can't begin to describe the feelings that washed over me as I stood on that plateau. For the first time in my life, the feeling of being alone that had long been my constant companion till then was no longer stabbing me with the dull ache of loneliness. My heart was aching that day, yes, but only with joyful wonder as it sang out to the splendour that lay before my eyes.

And then I had my epiphany. Life was ok. I was gonna be ok. There are grander things. Beautiful things. All we need to do is take time to stop. And just stare.

The world then decided to do an encore. As I turned back to the trail, I noticed the blue spot in the cloudy sky. So I took a picture.

Till today, the memory of that moment of deep, clear silence, leaves me breathless.