Ode to my thongs (and to my mum)

You might remember the movie, ‘Top Gun’? The part, in particular, when Maverick (Tom Cruise) says to Goose in the midst of a very tense bit of air-combat, “Switching to Guns“.

This classic 80’s movie proved surprisingly inspirational on my recent hiking trip when, finally thwarted by raging blisters and bruised toes, I gave up on my boots.

“Switching to Thongs“, I announced. Aloud. To only myself, who promptly cracked up laughing.

Yep. To my blue, Hawaiian Havianas, a present on my last birthday from Mum. Packed at the last-minute as an afterthought. Made all the more fetching by teaming them with my white, woollen, hiking socks. This smart look carried me the final 61.3km of my hike on the Northern Bibbulmun, although I did have to remove said thongs as I reached the steep, slippery granite summit of Mt Cooke (my feet kept sliding out of them on the sharp gradient).

In the hiking community, its all about the shoes. In-depth analysis of the pros & cons of different footwear is undertaken: low-cut or hi-cut? Boots or trainers? Waterproofness? Sturdiness? Support-vs-flexibility? The good shoes are all $250-plus.

I don’t think anyone has ever analysed the thong as a hiking shoe. They will now.

Never again will I not buy myself the ‘expensive’ ($40) thong in favour of the cheap ($5 from Target) option whilst waiting for birthday time to come round. The wisest investment is often the one we didn’t value at the time. As is the unremarkable gift, even the one from someone that loves us best.

My humble thongs’ true glory was revealed as the one thing that got me over some (very) tough bits.

Thanks, Mum. x