Theaussiechallenge Post # 41 Mathison Rest Area

Day 46 96 days to go. Distance: today 105km total 3242km. It’s 7pm Tuesday 21/8/12 Mathison Rest Area. It’s on dusk now and a beautiful twilight to do my post by tonight. Ive spent the last hour or so pawing over the Camps Australia bible trying to figure out how to see the ‘stairway to heaven’ in Broome on the 31/8. I showed Rube and her comment was ‘so a few early starts hey – I’m up for it if you are’ Thats my girl!!!! I’ve tried to put a few shorter days in to mix it up somewhat but on paper at least it’s 1577km in 10 days averaging 158km per day nice nice pheweeeee…..nice nice!!!!! God I love challenges. They really make me tick. And the ones I set I have no idea whether I’ll be able to manage it or not but that’s what makes it a challenge with an edgy cool factor yay. Rube’s right up there alongside me in that regard so the perfect match yay yay. I wanted to include a cycle in/out of the Bungle Bungles but unfortunately its a 55km ‘rough dirt road in and we’re not set up for that. Can’t break my girl as there’s still a long way to Perth PS Sorry Moppy had hoped to share that one with you but maybe next time around with an off road set up
and PPS thanks for my Mint Intense Lindt Chocolate and ginger care pack. It lasted the 2 night in Darwin and big yum!!!!! Before the BBs we’ll hopefully get to have lunch with Bruce in Kununurra. He’s the fella I met at the 41 Mile Bore Rest Area. He seemed a very cool man in our brief meeting. I sent him an email from Katherine letting him know we’ll be through in the next days so here’s hoping Bruce if it works mate I’d be great to pick the conversation up where we left it. Both Rube and I really want to see the ‘stairway to heaven’ for our birthday. We share the 5/9 and it’d be a pretty cool thing to do together. For those of you not aware, the effect of the full moon rising over the low tide flats off broome is supposedly something pretty shmick to see and a world renound natural phenomenen.

It was good to get on the road today and turn the legs over. They’re still a bit stiff from the keen run in Darwin but feel really good tonight. We had our break at a rest stop 60km into it and met Hazel and John from Albany who invited me to join them for a cuppa. We chatted for a couple of hours. They’re really interesting folk. They came to Australia with their 2 children for 10 pounds back in 1968. They tripped about the country to find somewhere they liked to live and after a few good time tries at it ended up settling in Albany and running a B&B. They were at school together and married in their late teens. Now in their 70s theyre enjoying retired life and loving being grand and great grand parents with their family spread across the world. They donated $10 thankyou thankyou and we got some pickies and exchanged details to hopeully keep in touch. Very special folk. As we were saying goodbye Margaret and her husband who we’ve met a few times now drove past and saw us. It was so cool that they wanted to stop and say hi. They have been visiting family in Katherine and seeing their great grand child for the first time how incredably special for them. They are from Tweed Heads and on the same route as Rube and I so we may yet see them again. This time we exchanged details and Margaret’s going to get onto the blog to keep track of our challenge. The last time I saw these lovely folk were in Camooweal at the billabong campgrounds when Margaret’s husband said, ‘that’s a big chook,’ referring to one of the Jabirus 🙂 I think of that every time we see a Jabiru and share a giggle.

$1184.35 cash donations and time for dinner and beddy byes. It’s one of those early starts Rube was referring to tomorrow so bed beckons soonish. Talk soon x