The sun warms the right side of my face. Monarch butterflies, with their stained-glass wings of black and white and brown, mate in the air above me. Soursobs and Salvation Jane are flowering on the shale outcrops. The stream is an always-superb composition of chance; smooth water and riffles, crimson heath by pale green rock, the beauty of the un-modelled.
In 2007, Mike Ladd walked the River Torrens from its source to the sea, taking notes as he travelled. First appearing as a popular series of articles in the Adelaide Review accompanied by photographs by Cathy Brooks, Karrawirra Parri is a beguiling social and natural history of the river, and a delightful meditation on literature and walking.