shecyclesolo

Day 90 52 days to go. Distance today 60km total 6843km. It’s 9pm Friday 5/10/2012 16km south of Armadale WA. Hi there!!! Us girls are having our first wild camp all by ourselves being big and brave. We were aiming for a rest area 16km south of Armadale a town 60odd kms south of Perth. Unfortunately it never turned up so plan B. It was getting dusk o’clock when I saw this sign to a farm stay down a no through dirt road. It just kept going with no farm in sight so the perfect opportunity to have our first bush camp which is very cool indeedy. It’s a beautiful evening clear and chilly and we’ve been catching up on emails as I still have reception being close enough to the towns south of Perth. It’s weird not having vans around which we’ve become accustomed to but I like the remote feeling of wild camping. We’re very tucked away off the road with the grasshopper set up in a gravel clearing ready for beddy byes. It was great getting back into the new saddle today. It needs some adjustment re position but it’s so much more comfy for the butt butt and that’s a good thing. The cycle was mostly though built up towns but the conditions and road were great with a good shoulder to ride on away from the traffic. The last 20km were more rural mostly cattle farming properties and rolling green pastures a nice intro to south west WA. We received two donations today, one from a volunteer at the airport who emptied her change purse of $8 and another from a truckee at a set of lights who passed us down a $5 note from his rig how cool!!! We were also stopped by a couple at a set of lights who recognized us from way back in Qld somewhere on the Bruce highway. They couldn’t believe they were seeing again and with so many kms in between. The Bruce highway seems a loooooong time ago. Just a short post tonight to get back into the swing and it’s very good to be back into it I must say!!! Here Here!!!! from Rube. Cash donations $2067. Talk soon x

Day 90 52 days to go. Distance today TBC total 6783km. It’s 3pm Friday 5/10/2012 Perth. WE’RE BACK!!!!!!!!! And good to go for the next 7000km from Perth round to Brissy. Family time’s been awesome. The last days have flown but spent doing lots of nothing but very cool stuff with loved ones just perfect!!!!!! We’ve got 52 days to Brisbane on the 25th November for white ribbon day. First stage is to Albany following highway 1 approximately 552km. I’ve made a rough plan for days ad kms. We should be close to Norseman by the 16/10 for our Nullabor bash. But before then we have 11 days-ish to enjoy the south west of WA. Ive heard so much about this corner of the country and all good delish stuff so looking forward to the next 2 weeks. Rubes been pampered and polished with her Chinese red and chrome bits shining. She’s well rested
and is biting the bit to hit the highway together yay. We have a new seat to stop the ouchy wiggles which is a great place to start for us both. I hope you enjoyed the last gallery of photos. I suggest they’ll be somewhat different to the next weeks. Our country’s such an enigma of contrast and we’ll experience that first hand this next half. Its special we get to share this with you. Are you ready!!!!!!!! Me too xxxx
Let’s get back into it full steam ahead big time yay. I received 2 donations over the last days thank you thank you Angus and Ruth ($20) and Viv and Desley ($155). Crazy generous stuff fine folk and equally appreciated. Talk soon x Cash donations $2054. Talk soon x

Day 79 65 days to go. Distance today 110km total 6783km. It’s 5.30pm Monday 24/9/12 Perth. PPPPPPEEEEEERRRRRRTHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Yayayaya Rube said to say hi and that she kicks ar$se. Love my girl and yes she does absolutely truly truly!!!!! She’s packed ready for pampering as promised. We danced the last 50km into Perth to our favorite 80s tunes. Rube was humming ‘April sun in Cuba’ while I packed her up for her rest and service. She’s also a little over tired but we’re both incredibly joyous to be here safe and sound and ready for a family fix and pamper. We were stopped by a couple on the highway just outside the city. They’re from Perth and have been traveling the spots as far up as Broome. They have seen us heaps of time during their travels. Seeing us today they just had to stop to find out what we’re up to. Mark and his partner are also into cycling and were totally interesting to talk to during our 30min roadside chats. We spoke about WA folk in general and how they vary across the State according to the industry and area. They said the southwest where we head next are different again being quite alternative and al natural nice nice our scene indeedy. Anyway nice to meet you fine folk and thankyou for your donation. Its been a chill bill day starting early with steam coming off the river. The first half of the ride was through forestry and woodlands. It was beautiful for cycling and easy to pass the kms. We then came into more build up area and traffic but the road was awesome. So we smashed the second half like horses bolting all the while singing our tunes and having a good time of it. If was a cool space and we had some fun which was overdue given we’ve done it tough the last weeks. The girls are all smiles now and looking forward to time out zone. So that’s us offline until the 5/10/2012. Take care and stay tuned to the gallery post I’ll upload over the next days. Don’t go too far away as we’ll be back into it full of vigor and ready to tackle the next 7000km of Theaussiechallenge. Thank you for your support to date. It really counts to capture and share the day with you and I look equally forward to doing it all again in 10 days time. Talk soon x Cash donations $1878.65

Day 78 64 days to go. Distance today 140km total 6673km. It’s 7.30pm Sunday 23/9/12 Moore River Bridge Rest Area. What a beautiful spot to have our last Rest Area break before our R&R time reaching Perth tomorrow. Rube and I are camped right on the river and set up next to a park bench which I’m sitting at now posting you fine folk. Very civilized!! There’s two other vans set up further back so we’ve got the river to ourselves and loving it. It’s early evening and very chill bill so the grape’s keeping me cosy in the night air. But the weather’s clear albeit cold and we’ve enjoyed awesome blue skies today which has been great. There’s of course the wind that’s made for a long ten hour ride to cover the distance but we chipped through the hills and kms and were all smiles arriving here just before sunset. Being a Sunday there was allot of traffic heading back to Perth on the ocean road but nothing to cause us grief and no road trains awesome awesome. We’ve got Telstra and Optus reception despite feeling in the middle of nowhere so Perth can’t be too far away. I’m not sure exactly and will check when we pass our first road sign tomorrow but I think it’s about 90km ish. So whatever Mother Nature wants to throw at us weather wise, we’ll brave and head off early to get to Perth at a reasonable time to organise Rube. I’m soooo looking forward to a fix of family to recharge the batteries. Both Rube and I are feeling the pinch of WA and it’ll be great to have a break physically and mentally. I threw a few turret tanties today with the inclines and wind combo which is always a tough one after a few hours hard at it. The scenery however was stunning and the WA coastline was showing off in the beautiful sunshine. So were the wildflowers and natives and we stopped heaps of times for photos and to enjoy the delish views. We passed fields of ‘black boys’ which looked spectacular against the backdrop of blue skies, coastline, rolling hills and sand dunes. The wild flowers are something out of a manicured garden and look like they have been meticulously planted and cared for. My Mum would go off sick being an avid gardener. I’ve got lots of pickies Moppy to share with you the flora treasures of this part of the coral coast. Not long now, two sleeps to be exact. Rube’s cheering in the background 🙂 One more day for my girl to work her magic so here’s hoping her bits have one more working day in them into Perth.

Tiss and Gary passed us today coming back from seeing the pinnacles. Tiss said they’re like someone has through down a bunch of rocks that have landed upright. It’s another ‘wow’ factor according to her and Gary and to add to the itinerary next time round. She took a picky of Rube and I and emailed it to me which I’ve forwarded to the fam and will upload in the next gallery. It’s nice to have these sort of action shots to add to the usual self portrait collection. I like Tiss and Gary very much and they’re feeling like old new friends now. We look forward to seeing them again most likely on the Nullabor. They’ve asked me to email them our itinerary so they know where we’ll be and hopefully plan a meet up along the plain very cool!!!!

I was camped next to a couple last night who partied into the wee hours this morning indulging in lots of port and loud chats. Good on ’em for having a good time but not the best to camp beside so I’m pretty tired tonight with zzzzz deprivation. Bed in the quiet rest area is sounding a treat yay. Next post will be from Perth and what an awesome awesome note to end on. We’re so happy with our peddle tripping to date and that each day has found us in the next place safe and sound with a whole bunch of steak knife treats along the way. We’re pretty much half way and so far so bloody good indeedy. A lady said to us when we arrived this evening, ‘you’re doing it the hard way.’ I told her we’re half way around our Aussie challenge and she said, ‘well aren’t you clever!!!!’ Rube and I smiled at each other and reckon she’s right on the money 🙂 Talk soon x

Day 77 65 days to go. Distance today 110 total 6533km. It’s 8pm Saturday 22/9/12 Jurian Bay. Hi there fine folk. We’re sitting in the camp kitchen in the campgrounds at Jurian Bay. It’s soooo chill bill. I have all my thermals on and the grape and beanie. The weather continues to be temperamental with strong winds that have flipped around to a headwind bugga bugga. Regular rain clouds also blow in from the coast so the day’s had lots of intermittent showers again. They don’t last long but they’re pretty constant and I cycled with the thermal on all day with the wind chill factor as well. Apparently springtime is renowned for crappy weather so it’s nothing unusual. Boy!!!! Rube and my character is getting such an overhaul we’ve got it spilling out of our ears. Today was one of the more tougher ones. Whoever said it’s downhill from Geraldton to Perth was a bit off the mark. The coast road has slow long inclines and very short descents than more inclines and so forth for the 110km from Cape Head to Jurian Bay. Add the crazy head wind and rain and it’s been pretty tricky for us both. No road trains but which is a welcomed break. After 55km we passed a small seaside town with a roadhouse. I went in and bought $2 worth of snakes to get us through the afternoon session. It worked a treat. We also scored two donations which was great. Thank you Chris $3.80 and Judy $5. We were averaging about 12km/hr so I broke the snakes into rewards every 5 minutes leaving my favorite colors until the end. And slowly but surely the kms and snakes disappeared yayayayay. The scenery is beautiful and a real positive to taking the ocean drive to Perth. There’s lots of stretches right on the waterfront so the change of scenery and ocean inspiration is awesome. We passed a sign today that welcomes us to the “Wildflowers’ part of the coral coast. Unfortunately with all the rain they’re not as impressive as what we’ve seen but they’re still very beautiful. I laughed today as I stopped for a wee walk and while doing my thing I spotted 6 different types of tiny flowers growing out of the sand. It was a nice moment in a moment 🙂

The campsite folk here have been awesome and let us camp for free. They were keen to put up some White Ribbon brochures but I don’t have that sort of info on board. Their support was really appreciated but!! Also staying here are Helen and Ted who we met at the Cliff Head Rest Area last night. We caught up with them this morning briefly and they have invited us to stay if we’re anywhere near their place outside of Gossford. Helen said she’ll make us her famous roast if we make it sounds delish!!!! Her and Ted donated $8 which was just awesome as I know their pennies are extra precious thank you darlings and for the invite and we may yet see you in Gossford. When we arrived this arv they invited me over for coffee and cake and Helen showed off her photos from their trip which was lovely. They’re real characters and not doing too badly at all for 90 year olds. Life on the road is clearly good for keeping the soul young at heart. I went back to Rube still parked outside the reception and there were another couple checking out her trailer sign. They were full of questions and compliments and have also invited us to stay if we go past their home town in South Australia. It’s a bit off the highway but you never know!!1 They also donated $5 so thankyou kind folk for your offer and donation. We have our last Rest Area stop over tomorrow night at Moore River Bridge about 130km away. It’s suppose to be a nice spot and it’ll be an early start to get through the kms in what will be probably more of the same today. It’s all good as long as we give ourselves time to chip away at it. Monday will see us peddle into Perth and I know Rube for one is ready for a break and some attention. I’ve promised her lots of pampering to get her bits rested and back in tip top condition ready for the southwest and Nullabor. We’ll be offline from the 25/9/12 to the 5/10/12spending time with the family but I still have a couple more posts to go ’til then. I’ll also have the next wod of gallery pics to upload when I get the chance soon which will be awesome. With the $21.80 cash donations that makes the total $1872.65 pretty bloody good I reckon. Talk soon x

Day 76 66 days to go. Distance today 115km yesterday 115km total 6423km. It’s 7pm Friday 21/9/12 Cliff Head North Rest Area. Welcome to the beautiful Batavia Coast dotted with archepelo islands and reefs that provide its major industry of crayfish and rock lobsters. Wheat and sheep are another primary industry in the inland fields which are lush and stunning. Not to forget it’s tourism hot spots with sandy stretches of beaches idyllic for swimming, surfing and fishing. The reefs are also treacherous and have a history of ship wrecks dating back to the Dutch explorers of the 17th century. The most infamous story is of the ‘Batavia’ shipwrecked in 1629 on the island reefs off Geraldton. While the captain sailed to Batavia (Jakarta) for help there was a mutiny where 125 crew were massacred. The wreck is nowadays one of many popular dive sites. The islands are fished for crays for a three month season in its last weeks now. There were handful of fisherMen already packing up ship with their quota full for the season. The wharf was part of the tour Sue and John took me on this morning to show off their beloved big dot town (35000 pop). Their son in law was a cray fisherman until recent times and they would visit him and their daughter staying on the islands during the season. It was a great opportunity to visit their grandchildren and enjoy the island life not otherwise open to the public. Geraldton is beautiful and interesting as are Sue and John. John is a clever skallywag and Sue is feisty and eloquent. They share a love for mischief, fun and family and have four children, fourteen grandchildren and are endearing folk with hearts of gold. I met them first in the rest area before the WA border and we crossed paths a number of times after that. Their invitation to stay when we came through Geraldton always seemed like such a long way off. Now we’re camped 115km south at Cliff Head along the Indian Ocean Drive. We left highway 1 and its road trains at the turn off and are on the coast road all the way through to Perth yayayayayayay. The weather is so wild windy with cranky clouds and intermittent rain. We cycled through some heavy showers during our afternoon effort but with a gail force tailwind it was a quick albeit rocky ride. Rube and I were pretty relieved to arrive intact as the wind+road train gusts were unnerving. The rest area is right on the ocean beach. We arrived with sunshine and checked out the beachfront and rocky inlets. Its an awesome location but pretty exposed to the wind and patchy rain coming off the ocean. I’ve pitched grasshopper and tucked Rube in behind a camper van and its giving us some relief from the offshore weather. Im now cosy in the grape and there’s more than enough room in the grasshopper to enjoy a comfy evening before bed. Opsy in all the debacle I’ve forgotten to send my spot tracker message so I’ll be back soon….. Sorry family but it was a bit nuts arriving and setting up camp. You wouldn’t believe who’s also here, the elderly couple Helen and Gary who wet met on the 8/8/12 at New Castle Waters Rest Area. Helen spotted us and thought,’here’s another nutter like Maree’ then when she saw it was us she squealed the biggest ‘hello I can’t believe it’s youuuuuu.’ We chatted a bit but it wasn’t weather nice to stop long so I hope to see them in the morning when we wake to blue skies…… Optimism 101.

Rube and I loooooved our stay with Sue and John. The ride into Geraldton was 115km of wicked hills, head wind and flies eeeeek. I almost fell into Sue’s arms with relief when we finally rocked up at 4.30pm. Their home is up on a hill overlooking the ocean so I got to see my first sunset over the west coast big time yay huge delish treat. Just cycling onto the coast was euphoric after our long haul down the inland highway. The ocean has been teasingly close but not close enough to detour by bike. So Rube and I were all smiles when the highway hit the coastline for the last 15km into Geraldton nice nice!! Just before town we were met on the roadside by a fella who saw is in Cararvon and figured out when we’d be cycling into Geraldton where he was staying overnight. He’s a keen mountain biker from perth and had a poweraide drink waiting for us to say ‘hi’ and find out more about our story. Thank you Bill. Enjoy the Mullin Bimby track x

Sue and John are local folk who clearly love their home. They were the most gracious, generous and fun hosts and we were spoilt rotten with good company, food and treats. Sue’s sister Pam was also staying with her Jack Russell Nellie. Nellie is a rescue dog from the animal shelter with one eye. She scored half of Pam’s chicken parmagana and are mutually each other’s best friend darling sweet duo. After cleaning up and phone chats with my family, we shared an awesome evening of wining and dining and good conversation. The topic of the indigenous culture came up again. I’m so drawn to our challenge to unite the cross cultural health of our one country. Sue showed off some of her favorite photos and places they’ve visited in their three month trip. It wasn’t long before we were all ready for bed yessssss a bed……. with a doona and two fluffy pillows and everything!!!! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and more zzzzzzzzzzzzz and even more delish zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sue woke me up at 7am which was so yummy o’clock after our early rises for yonks. We breakied and headed off for a tour of the town and a spot of shopping. We checked out the beaches and headlands, the harbor and wharf and the memorial ontop a headland overlooking the ocean. The architects from Perth who designed it did an amazing job. It’s unique and clever and appropriately beautiful. It honors the history and lives lost on the HMS Sydney 11 sunk by a german ship during WW11 and killing all 365 on board. The features of the memorial include a dome designed with the silhouette of seagulls equalling the number of lives lost. The designer was inspired when he stood at the location and a flock of seagulls flew over. There’s an obelisk replica of the ship bow equal in height with the Australian flag hoisted. There’s also a brass statue of a woman looking mournfully out to sea hoping for the ship’s return. When the memorial was erected they hadn’t as yet located the wreckage. In recent times when the sunken ship was finally located, another water pool was built using the seagull theme with a backdrop of the coastline map. John did the lighting for the fountain when he was a member of the International Rotary Group responsible for it’s construction. Pam headed off this morning with Lillie back to her home town of Dongara but not before donating $10 thank you darling heart. She left without her handbag and Sue later caught up with me on the highway so I could drop it off to her when we cycled through. Dongara’s 65km south of Geraldton and it was the least I could do to help out this gorgeous family. They waved us off after lunch and made us promise to come back to visit proper before they’re using walking frames. How could I refuse and why would I want to 🙂 As I’ve said before we’ve only just had a taste and will definitely be back for a decent check out of WA’s treasures. Thank you Sue and John for what’s been a highlight of our trip meeting you both. I must say that the grasshopper is the best comfy beach cave out of the wild night weather. It’s time to find some yummy treats for dinner and enjoy going to sleep with the sound of the ocean. $1850.85 cash donations Talk soon x

Day 74 68 days to go. Distance today 115km total 6193km. It’s 8pm Wednesday 19/9/12 Murcheson River Rest Area. It’s late o’clock and Ive just got back to camp after spending a delish delish evening with Tiss and Gary. These are the couple I keep running into and have since Longreech. It’s been so nice sitting around the campfire getting to know them more. What a cool couple. They live at Curumundi Beech Caloundra only 30 minutes from home. With their side tripping we’re traveling at the same pace and I’m loving meeting up with them along the way. Tonight’s been the first opportunity we’ve had to sit for hours just chatting and sharing stories. They spent ten years in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands doing contract work for the building industry in those places. Incredible stories about the local challenges and ex pat living over such an early era and long period of time. This experience set them up financially and built amazing skill sets for them both professionally but not without their share of challenges each personally and for their relationship. It’s been beautiful sharing a fire as its chill bill tonight the first for ages and I have my thermals on and the grape now away from the warmth of the fire. I’m kinda liking being rugged up in the cosy grape and looking forward to beddy byes. It’s 100km into Geraldine tomorrow to stay with Sue and John who we’ve also met in our travels. Today was a beautiful ride. Rube did it a bit tough on the inclines carrying the extra weight in water but my girl did awesomely. The scenery has changed and showing of are the wild flowers with heaps more varieties and color amongst the native grasses, bushes and trees. Everything is in flower and apparently it only gets better from here on into Perth. If today’s just a taste I can only imagine the carnival of flowers we’ll be riding through yayayayaya. The floodways have been replaced by open fields of green pastures and crops. The difference is startling from the distances of barren expanse we’ve seen for the last weeks. I must say I’m euphoric with the change and it feels like the arrival of springtime all over. WA is proving to be such a vast State of diversity from the Kimberleys to the coral coast to the barren floodways and now entering the lush finery of the south. And our experience is just a slice from the highway let alone all that the inland has to offer along with the National Parks throughout. It’s be interesting to talk some more with Sue and John who live here and I’m sure will have so much more to expand on our experiences. The rest area is stunning right on the river flowing and alive with black swans. After setting up camp i enjoyed a cuppa watching them feed on the river bed grasses with their long necks bobbing. Theres lots of signets and they were happy to let me sit right alongside them enjoying their afternoon grazing. The rain clouds that were threatening earlier have cleared to a beautiful sky of stars and a crescent moon. Yep its a bit awesome and its very nice to be a part of. But for now it’s time for dinner and that cosy bed which is calling. Talk soon x ps Evan I saw another shooting star tonight xxx

Day 73 69 days to go. Distance today 125km yesterday 125km 6078km. It’s 7pm Tuesday 18/9/12 Billabong Campground. Yesterday morning I met Les the owner of the campground we stayed in Carnarvon. What an interesting man. We shared a cuppa and his love for Carnarvon and his work. He said the town still works very much as a small dot town with most folk knowing and supporting each other. Les reckons he has the best job and piece of paradise and loves meeting the folk who visit each day. They had Buzz Aldren stay recently when he opened up a new communication centre how cools that!! Les has a shed out back of camp where they gather for happy hour and he has walls of photos from people who have stayed over the years. We were honored to have our picky taken to join the display.He was really inspiring to talk to and so positive it was a pleasure to spend time with him. Les and his wife donated $100 which was amazing ontop of their generosity. Thank you lovely folk xx. What a great start to the day!!! We got on the road about 8am. The scenery was so barren but really beautiful with new varieties of wild flowers that are like little treasures against the red sand and spinafix. There’s allot of low lying shrubs new and distinct to the area. Also new are huge numbers of wild emus and goats. There’s just as many emu roadkill as roos which is always a sure sign of the numbers. I startle small groups of them eating by the roadside particularly first up in the mornings. One of my favorite moments was yesterday morning when I passed a single emu grazing and gave him big frighties. He ran alongside us for about 5km crossing the road ahead of us a few times. He could have just stopped and we would have ridden past but clearly he wanted to show of his bouncing pom pom bottom feathers and speed. What a road runner. He eventually got the smarts to run diagnonally off into the fields and disappeared in the shrubs. Awesome experience!!!! It happened again this morning with three we startled but they ran with us for about a km before turning down an adjacent sandy path. We spotted some domestic goats today but lots and lots of wild ones that are big, black and white with huge curled horns and impressive. The terrain over the last two days has been mostly undulating steeper than what we’ve seen so far but that’s made for some fun descents to reward the hills. There are still patches of open floodways between and the wind particulalrly in these stretches is wicked. Thankfully it’s been mostly sideways coming off the ocean with some tailwinds when the road turn which have been awesome. So we’ve earnt our kms and stops each day.Yesterday was at Wooramel Roadhouse. We were treated an overnight stay freebie by the owners Sharon and Phillip. They couldn’t do enough for us giving us bottled water which I guzzled and a takeaway box of hot chippies and a vegy pie for dinner yum!!! I woke to it raining this morning OMG!!!! We haven’t seen rain since leaving Rocky. It eased up after a brief downpour wih attitude and we got underway about 8am again. We stopped at the roadhouse where the turnoff to Shark Bay is. I had a definite urge to turn but we’ll be back in different circumstances so next time round for Monkey Mia. We stopped for a python lollie which I devoured like a python and headed off sugered up for the last 50kms to Billabong. Before heading we got two donations $10 from Mary and $4 from Jenny. There’s a van park next to the roadhouse at Billabong and I met the owner Ian who like so many other generous folk have let us stay for free. He was explaining how the bore water in this stretch from Cararvon to Geraldine is full of salt and minerals. He has to buy salinated water it’s got so much salt in it. He said water is like gold and salinated water is really expensive. It tastes so much better than the water from Wooramel which was straight from the bore. We drank the other today treated of course but it’s kinda thick not salty as such but you can taste the minerals in it. It’s given me such a windy tum poor Rube 🙂 Ian said you definitely can’t drink the bore water in this area. It makes me appreciate how lucky we are when we can drink water from the tap. It’s something I take for granted but not in this part of the country that’s for sure. Water’s precious and hard to come by and we’re lucky to be looked after so well by the roadhouses to avoid carrying the weight of extra litres. We’ve set up camp and pottered making sure we’re good for more rain forecast overnight. A woman stopped us along the roadside yesterday and gave me a bag of strawberries which I’ve chopped up and sprinkled with sugar for desert super yum!!! On that note that’s about us for the day so I’ll end it up there and check out what’s for main. $1840.85 cash donations !!!!!! Talk soon x

Nurture nature gives us rules
we use to build our comfort.
Do not touch the stove is hot
Don’t step outside your comfort.
Boundaries that keep us safe
are healthy in the making.
But some are made of fear and doubt
And hide the child at heart.

Lead the way my childhood friend
and take me on your ride.
Let me feel the highs and lows
and ride the roller coaster.
We’ll brave the slow and steep inclines
and squeal the fast descents.
We’ll go beyond our comfort zone
and stretch our boundaries.

I’ll get to know you once again
and smile your fearless smile.
I’ll learn to make each day a gift
and laugh at my reflection.
I’ll be a part of what I choose
and listen to my heart.
I’ll give my best to every choice
and grow with you each day.

Day 71 71 days to go. Distance today 145km total 5828km.It’s 7.30pm Sunday 16/9/12 Carnarvon. Yaaaaaay we’re here on the coast what an effort and sooo haaaappppyyyyy. Only the last 50km today were head windy so we ipoded it and arrived in town about 3.30pm. Brenton and his daughter Emily stopped us along the roadside 80km out of town on their way to holiday for a week in Coral Bay. They offered us to stay in the shed on their plantation about 16km out of town even though they weren’t going to be there. It sounded so beautiful with a resident goat and chickens. We were welcome to eat any ripe bananas, paw paw and limes we found and to make ourselves at home if we liked. What a gorgeous offer and such lovely kind folk. It was a bit out of town with what I wanted to do this arv plus I wanted to have Optus and Telstra access so we thanked them hugely and exchanged details. They sent me a text before checking we arrived safe and sound very cool!!! We ended up finding a caravan park at the junction road with Geraldton which is awesome for the morning. The folk at the caravan park have let us stay as a freebie and the facilities are amazing and super comfy yay. I told them I was heading into town to do a top up shop and they offered me use of their land rover to drive in. Ohhhhh Yeees Pleease!!!!! What a complete treat and indulged in a supermarket fix to grab supplies. Getting back to camp I set up home and have been visited by a handful of folk checking if I needed anything with two donations. Thankyou Robin ($5) and Judy ($50) for your generous help xx Short post tonight as I’m starrrrviiing and hanging out for an early night. So great to be here safe and sound after a long haul and very very very happy with our effort and selves. Rube and I rock clean riding socks yay. Cash donations $1726.85 yay!!! Talk soon x