New Italy

2nd May : It was a misty morning to begin a day of Clarence River sugarcane fields. This place is called "New Italy", but I'm cynical after an exhausting day. Why compare?

Letter

A heavy dew condensed on the leaves of the fig tree I camped beneath and rained down big drops on my swag. My swag was therefore wet and heavy to shoulder as I continued the river road in the misty morning.

McLean is this mad Scott town where every power pole has been given a kilt, worn proudly with the tartan of every scottish clan. It was probably too early on a sunday morning to see a rough-lookin sight like a scrubby, tick infested, raggin-muffin, swaggie. A few sideway looks. After a brief battle with exhaustion, ending in an equitable draw, I took to the Pacific Highway once again. It's reassuring that swaggies are an endangered species, but not so much when you see so many other animals made into roadside pancakes. I camped in a rest stop I thought had been declared the 'New Italy'.