This one ended in a few medical bills.

It sounded simple enough. There was a community post on Facebook about the ruins of an old cottage hidden in the bush nearby. There was only a general location given but I had often found hidden gems using the geocaching app. Sure enough there was a likely site, it looked short and only required a short bush bash.

It was a hot day, but not too crazy. It would turn out that the forecast was understated today and that the temperature would soar into the mid thirties. I usually hibernate in such weather and I wish I had today.

The track was easy enough to find and after a short walk I had a few options. I could try walking straight and find a place to dive into the bush, I could cross some rock platforms then dive through the bush, or I could take a side trail then cut into the bush. I stupidly did all three.

Trying the path straight ahead seemed to take me away from my target so I turned around. I briefly checked the rock platforms but the bush looked thick, so I backtracked and tried the side trail.

This looked ok. The grass was quite tall so I was on the lookout for snakes, but none were around. I found a spot that seemed ok to enter the bush, but decided to walk further along the trail to check for other entrances. I started climbing, which was the wrong direction so I returned to the ideal spot.

My brain clearly wasn’t working as I decided to go all the way back to the rock platforms and try there. Of course it was too thick (it wouldn’t have gotten thinner since the first time i checked!) so I went back. I was aware I was wasting energy and the heat was starting to build. As a sign of my brain further collapsing in on itself I decided to walk along the original track as the map seemed to show it turning. It did turn but not after taking me quite far away. So again I backtracked. With all of my senses seemingly switched off, I found a random spot to enter the bush and ploughed on through.

The heat had properly kicked in. I hadn’t realised that the forecast was wrong (or my phone had simply not shown the latest?). I sipped some water, clearly not enough, and ploughed on through. It wasn’t too hard, I told myself. I aimed for a creek visually and also the mark on the geocaching app so navigating wasn’t problematic.

I noticed something dangling in front of my eye and tried to wipe it away. There was nothing there. I had a dark spot at the top of my right eye and kept trying to swipe it away but it wouldn’t move. I didn’t think much of it, just a vague concern that it wasn’t quite right. I found the creek, which was mostly dry, and had a rest. I reasoned that the heat was getting to me. I drank lots of water but the vision issue didn’t go away. I didn’t like the idea of going back through the bush the way I came as it was the same distance if I kept going straight via the cottage.

I soon found the cottage. There was not much left of it. From what I understand, it belonged to a quarryman and his wife. The sandstone in the area was extracted and sold, some of it forming the walls of the cottage. His wife fell or became ill whist he was out of the valley and she was unable to leave the cottage. When the husband finally returned home he got her the help she needed but, quite rightly, she refused to go back to the cottage. In time it fell into disrepair. There were three walls remaining, so possibly the stone had been robbed over the years. The remains of a doorstep could be seen and there was some twisted metal on the ground, possibly a large can or a bucket or possibly a bit of roof?

I rested again, this time the low stone walls provided a well place chair and the surrounding trees offered some shade. I still had the vision issue and it was finally starting to worry me. Was it a migraine? Sunstroke? Was I going to faint? What was going on?

I carried on and found the geocache, as it looked to be on the way out so why not bag it? Of course I decided to try a “quicker way” and had to backtrack. I finally took the path of least resistance and lo and behold I found myself out on the side trail at what I had originally thought was the ideal spot to enter the bush. I need to trust myself more! But maybe the heat was messing with my decision making.

The vision loss persisted. I was proper worried now. I quickly returned to the car and cranked up the air conditioning. I could still see ok but the darkness was still there at the top of my field of view, and just felt like something like an eyelash was hanging down. So I drove home and had a sleep.

The vision issue persisted. $800 later the eye doctor advises me that I had a mini stroke in my eye. I have more tests to do but in the end I am unfit and was out in excessive heat. Something went pop! It’s not a minor issue so I will need to work to get fitter over the next few months. Right now though the issue seems to be less than it was on the day so maybe it’s slowly getting better.

I still enjoyed finding the cottage and geocache! I just did everything wrong by not planning my entry point into the bush properly and not using good judgement throughout. I should not have been out in such heat. I have to realise that I’m turning 50 this year (!) – random medical issues are going to be the norm from now on!