I blinked and double blinked. I almost missed the tiny green sign, probably no larger than my hand, on a pole opposite me as I walked from Granton to New Norfolk.

This tiny sign indicated that if I stayed on the Lyell Highway, I would only need to walk a further 10 kilometres to arrive in the town of New Norfolk. At that moment the end of the walk seemed so close, it was not yet 9.30am, and in a split second I thought the remainder of my walk for the day wouldn’t take long and I could reach my destination at lunchtime. But there was still a lot more walking to do, and later I would be walking off the main road following tracks – which would extend the journey. And later I would stop and chat with people – which would extend the time it took to reach New Norfolk.