I continued the journey north to the next town Mataranka which is famous for its thermal springs and the story We of the Never Never. This was an autobiographical novel about the first white women to settle in the area back in 1902, it was later made into a film. I had a quick cuppa in one of the few cafes where again my time out was spent in the company of one of the locals. From there I continued to travel to Katherine to look for Cocos Hostel which I had been advised to stay in by a biker that arrived at the Pink Panther Motel in Larrimah that morning. I must add I stopped at the motel for a quick refreshment, quick as it was not far from my start point that day, it felt too early to be stopping, time wise and by distance covered but every time I went to leave, someone piped up with a comment that would spark another interesting conversation, then another biker pulls in and well there was no getting away anytime soon, what was to be a 5 min break turned into at least 2hrs. As i enjoyed the mix of travelers a small part of me was anxious to get going. I don't know if its the effect of the constant rush and pressure we feel in our daily lives to be places and to get things done, you know how it is when your constantly looking at your watch etc. It felt like it had become ingrained in me and even though I bask in the freedom of living unaffected by the constant tick of the clock, I was still invaded by a feeling of anxiousness and guilt. A feeling like i shouldn't be sitting doing nothing, I should be doing something, I should be making my way somewhere. I struggled to understand where this was coming from as I knew I had weeks of freedom left and the only thing I needed to consider at present was when the sun comes up and goes down. I am not the only one who experiences this, a couple of other travelers I talked to felt the same and I am guessing this is the very reason that Mat had decided to do his trip on foot, at first I didn't get it, why walk? He told me he wanted it to be slow still I could not make sense of this, why so slow? However back on the bike where your mind wonders over everything trying to make since of thoughts and feelings and my head started to fit the pieces together, putting two and two together, maybe I am not getting four and this is not how it was for Mat but from where I was it looked like this. The way I had felt, rushed when there was in fact no rush, this is what Mat meant when he said he wanted it to be slow and that is why walking was the chosen one. He was taking control forcing it to be slow, however I wondered if it was the escape he had planned. In theory it makes since in practice I believe it would get worse because he has increased the pressure of some basic survival needs. By walking no matter what happens he cannot afford to hang around. He must get to his next supply stop before his current supply of food and water run out. This highlights that the problem is not in how we travel but in how we think. Is it possible to escape, here we are many of us travelling to get away from "it all" We can pack our bags leave our jobs or give them up for a while, leave it all behind we think we have broken the invisible chains but have we? Can we? For me at this stage I hadn't I couldn't escape the software that modern life had embedded in my head. If I had I wouldn't have experienced those feelings and thoughts that were stealing my attention.