It's March!!

We leave this month!!

I'm still working but there is officially only 6 more working days before I am off for 6 months.

Those 6 months are just going to fly and I want to remember each morning when I wake in a new town and a new piece of the country to remind myself that I have to make the most of each and every moment. I also have to remember to motivate the riders to appreciate every day whether the weather is against us or the wind is in our faces. Every day is new and every scene is different and every person we meet has a story. This is not a race and it should not be a chore. We need to enjoy it for what it is.

Everyone I tell about this trip wonder how so many people are going to be able to live and travel together for such a long time. We only have 6 people doing the whole 6 months. Hopefully these people will get on together OK or at least have the insight into giving each other a break when they have had enough of each other. Collis and I are trying to work out a strategy for ourselves so we don't get on each others nerves too much also. Past riders will laugh at this because we are renowned for our constant bickering at each other but that is normal for us. It's when we are not bickering that people need to worry because that means we aren't talking to each other and that is not good in this household. So I will suggest we are all open and honest and no-one takes offence if someone needs their own space for a period. For each stage the group dynamics will change with riders leaving and new ones joining us. It should be fun and I'm really looking forward to hearing everyones' stories.

Not sure if all the riders are actually aware that we are not always going to have mobile reception throughout the trip. I thought this was pretty well understood until I was talking to one rider the other day who thought she would have reception all the way around. 

Never fear, we have purchased a satellite phone this trip (where on other trips we have hired one). So with this phone and the mobiles and of course the bush telegraph, we should be well catered for. We will instruct all riders of our satellite phone number, mobile numbers, outback emergency numbers via email before we leave. They must make sure their families at home have our satellite number but they must also realise it will cost them a small fortune to ring that number as well. The best thing for families to do is text messages to the riders phone numbers and then they get them when we get into a town. 

Collis is known for his poor dress sense and many a past rider has chipped in to buy him a new shirt. So this trip I decided he needed a shirt that stated who he was, stood out on the road (so he doesn't get run over) and looks a bit like a uniform. Those early morning rises the riders will also be able to spot Collis. I have also got a couple of these shirts but I probably didn't need them as much as he did.

We were going to get shirts for our unofficial crew but decided against it as we were pretty sure Anna wouldn't want to be wearing one of these.

The riders shirts have arrived and some have been handed out. So far everyone is happy with them and I'm sure the riders will be seen out there. 

On the back we have each leg with the kms stated so as the leg is completed the riders can tick off which part they have done.

Only 3 weeks to go!!!!!

Last minute change to Itinerary

When confirming the accommodation bookings we discover that the Culcairn Hotel is currently in a little trouble. The leasees have up and left leaving the owners in a bit of turmoil. Therefore we have made the executive decision to change our plans back to the original and that is staying at the Culcairn Caravan Park. It is a nice little park right on the river (and the road) but of course we miss out on sleeping in a bed again for that night.

4 weeks to go and everything is travelling along smoothly so far. Collis has his appetite back and I'm still trying to find the best way to keep him on track. The house looks like a bomb has hit it due to all the equipment lying around, surely we could start packing it away into the truck. 

The cycling shirts are here and we now have crew shirts for Collis & I so we should stand out also.

5 weeks to go!!

Collis has been sick this week and ended up in hospital on Wednesday. He had managed to get a dose of food poisoning (not from my cooking!!) and his electrolytes went all out of whack. He needed to be rehydrated, be given Potassium and Magnesium and then he was allowed home. Not sure what bug caused all the trouble yet but it certainly sent him for a sixer. He will hopefully be more careful of what he eats from now on. He doesn't get ill too often so hopefully this is it for the next 6 months. I couldn't cope with the 'sick' walk and voice that he puts on especially in the confines of the truck all day. "Murder on the Great Inland Way".

He's looking better now.

I met one of our new recruits who has signed on for the whole round trip. She's come over from England but it's not her first time out here. Annie has done a few cycle tours so it will be interesting to see how ours compares to some other ones. We have 3 females and 3 males booked in to do the whole round trip so hopefully they will all get along most of the time as they are spending a long time together. I did say to Annie that we are fortunate that we will have changing faces for each ride as we go along so they shouldn't get too bored with each other.

Annie said she has been told about just how much of nothing she will see in the outback. She did not seem too fazed by this and said she can't wait to see the nothingness (something they don't get in England).

I was just looking at the list of riders for this trip and a further breakdown:

# We have 11 males and only 4 females on the first leg. (Where as on the other legs the ratio is much more even).

# We have 11 who live in Oz and 4 who have come from O/S.

# One from England, 2 from the States and one from Germany.

# 8 riders are over 60, 6 riders under 60 and one who hasn't given us the year of his birth yet.

# No birthday celebrations on this leg although we do have Easter.

Collis is sure we will get a few more takers in the next few weeks but I'm not quite so confident. We do have 5 more spaces we would be happy to fill but 15 riders is a nice number really.

40 sleeps to go.

All payments have been accepted and we currently have 15 riders booked in for Stage One, 7 new riders and 8 returning riders. 2 riders have pulled out, one to illness and one was transferred overseas.

We have 4 crew at the moment, 2 official and 2 unofficial.
Anna is returning for another couple of legs and we have a new recruit, Michael.

The shirts have arrived and are looking good. We got a larger size than requested by most riders as they were very small sizing.

We are slowly re-confirming all accommodation over the next couple of weeks to ensure the places have actually booked us in as requested. So far I have rung the first 10 nights and 3 had no record of our previous booking, it's a long way around and we are staying at a lot of towns so we need their help to stay on track.

Collis has sent out an email stating he will pick up from Tullamarine airport Wednesday 20th March & Thursday 21st between 9am & 10 am. Riders will need to contact him prior to these dates otherwise he won't be able to meet them as he won't be out there waiting just in case someone decides to arrive.

The trailer is nearly packed. The equipment is all bought. We have bought our own satellite phone this trip but we are awaiting the phone number.

The training ride was quite successful and we were fortunate in as much that the bush fires held off until we came down from the mountain. The road ridden by the riders has been closed since, due to continuing fires. The heat on the first riding day was a bit overwhelming for most riders and we probably won't experience a day like that on this leg and hopefully if we do, it won't be up such steep mountains.