Then, as today, Australia was a dream destination for nature lovers.
Muirs steamer paused at Adelaide, the capital of the state of South Australia, for only one day.
Muir was in raptures.
Kangaroos near Esca, a retreat in South Australia’s Inman Valley.Credit:Sia Duff
From there, he wrote of gazing up at the thickly wooded Adelaide Hills to the citys east.
Wish I could have spent a week in them, he wrote wistfully.
As an Australian expat living in New York, I became fascinated by this eccentric tale.
The modern amenities at Esca.Sia Duff
Its so calming here, whispered my guide at the museum.
Few know about the quirky institution, she added, but those who stumble across it are bewitched.
A creaking staircase led to a silent, light-filled chamber where faded survey maps were spread on mahogany tables.
From left: Muir’s book, part of the State Library collection; the 75-foot-tall tree at the Sequoia Lodge.Sia Duff
Had John Muir visited this lovely time capsule?
A wizened librarian looked puzzled.
Never heard of him, he said before looking Muir up in the catalogue.
A gallery of native plants at the Santos Museum of Economic Botany.Sia Duff
Oh, yes, weve got one of his books!
He produced an 1894 volume, Muirs The Mountains of California.
I photographed the books opening pages on my iPhone and read them that evening.
From left: The Santos Museum of Economic Botany, which is set in a park; a mushroom display at the museum.Sia Duff
The next morning, I set off on my tree-hunt road trip.
Hot summers and wet winters are perfect for plants, she said of the local climate.
Still, rural Australia poses its challenges.
A koala at Sequoia Lodge.Sia Duff
She tut-tutted at a mangled rose bed, muttering, Some roos have been nibbling these!
Rising near my door was one of the three sequoias planted by Arthur Hardy in 1852.
A passion for trees would have been all that Hardy would have shared with the frugal Muir.
The sleek suites at Sequoia Lodge.Sia Duff
Hardy was sort of an antipodean Jay Gatsby, a lawyer, politician, and party animal.
Today that tradition of festive gastronomy is kept alive at Hardys Verandah Restaurant, which has terrific valley views.
Heysen lived there with his wife and their eight children, like the von Trapp family.
From left: Chamomile flowers being dried at Jurlique; Cherie Hutchinson, a farm manager at Jurlique, inspecting the flowers.Sia Duff
They were great entertainers, luring Hollywood stars and European aristocrats.
Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh performed Shakespeare here.
Anna Pavlova danced, Kerestes said proudly as she showed me a modest stage in the living room.
From left: A chocolate dessert at Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant, next to Sequoia Lodge; a kookaburra at Sequoia Lodge.Sia Duff
The farther south I drove, the wilder South Australia became.
As the last rays of golden sunlight faded, I turned onto an unpaved track flanked by shadowy bush.
There wasnt another car on the road.
From left: A firepit at Esca; Sequoia Lodge’s restaurant.Sia Duff
Cell phone reception faded, and the radio crackled.
A few kangaroos stared at me from the side of the road and bounded away.
After rounding a bend, however, I was astonished to see an enormous bonfire on a hilltop.
When I paused to take a photo of the blaze, two silhouetted figures waved at me to join.
They were Escas owners, Mark Kirk and Claire Mills, who were burning branches cleared from their land.
Nearby they had set up a sunset picnic with local Roquefort and Camembert and sparkling wine from Mosquito Hill.
Solitude, I decided, was overrated.
The next morning, Mills offered to take me hiking along the coastal section of the Heysen Trail.
There wasnt a cloud in the sky, but a chilly gale blasted up from the Southern Ocean.
This was the last stop before Antarctica, and it felt like it.
I was longing for a swim, but the air was icy and the water near freezing.
I had to ask myself: What would John Muir have done?
There was no other choice but to strip off my shirt and shoes and throw myself into the waves.
I lasted about five seconds, but Ive seldom felt so alive.
