It isn't Trolltunga, But it is captivatingly beautifully high.

It's been a long hike,  here I stand, toes to the edge of something both very significant and totally unimportant. From this vantage, the view is wonderful: theres a haze that lets my vision pierce through to the greater world here and there. For the elevation I've gained, It's surprising how obscured my vision is still. The path by which I arrived stands clear, and already I can see a few likeminded following the same pilgrimage.

Bluff Knoll, Stirling range, WA.

This peak is high, it's the highest I've been in this place. This peak is called Bluff Knoll and it is also called being 29 years old. Standing at 1099m it was once thought to be the highest point in Western Australia. It is both as high as I've been and as old as I've been. The long winded metaphor I've put you through relates to these two minor summits in my life.




Up to now, every peak was summitable. Bright, proud and invincible, there was no feat i couldn't see myself achieving as a babe. But at the bases of mountains the slope is gentle, and we rarely consider the number of paces between tying ones laces at the base and finally planting the pole above.

As I've learnt before, keep your hotels. Camping in the car park and spoilt with a spectacular dawn sunrise

29 and Bluff Knoll, Bluff Knoll at 29; Two unimportant milestones, but two places of fantastic viewpoint. I thought that by thirty, I'd have a life plan sorted, A career I love and a strong direction in my life. As I'd said before, sometimes the clouds lift and there are little parts of the land that glow clearly in the sunshine through the grey fog. Largely however, things are unclear. What direction do I take with my life?

I'm told to take the worn path to a worn back, to work hard, to save money: To consider the future. I don't mind hard work, in fact I often relish it. I do find myself contemplating other ways that provide bread, maybe less bread for better work, or more bread for different work.

Standing on this magnificent, trivial peak there are two things clear to me. The 300m void in front of me suggests that down is not an option and that there are grander summits yet to climb.

Maybe that's it. Maybe no one really knows what is best or where they are going. Maybe my Idols are just as confused as I, contemplating the view through the fog from their lofty peaks.

It makes perfect sense to enjoy that moment celebrating my birth in the same way I came into this world.