Into the wide green yonder

2006-08-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8:31PM, 34 hours 31 mins
The victorious team.

2006-08-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8:31PM, 34 hours 31 mins
The victorious walkers.

2006-08-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8:28PM, 34 hours, 28 mins
Finally at the top of the last climb and heading down towards the finish. The crowd had no idea who we were, but cheered us on our way. Several kids were delighted to see that Superman had finished the walk.

2006-08-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8:25PM, 34 hours 25 mins
It was a very long 8Km in the pitch black darkness, with many boulder scrambles, steep climbs and decents, and finished off with 1Km almost straigh up hill on slippery sandstone. We are only a few minutes away.

2006-08-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday 5:48PM, 31 hours 48 mins
Finally ready to leave CP8 after an extended break to accommodate a very necessary taping of Superman's knee, we head off on the final 8Km stretch in the dark.

2006-08-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday 2:33PM, 28 hours 33 mins
At the Cascades (the 8Km mark on this 17Km section) we take a blister check and food break. This bush fire truck and crew were having a training session that apparently ended up with the bank of the creek giving way under the truck and the trainees desperately trying to prevent the whole thing tipping into the water. Unfortunately we had moved on by then.

2006-08-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday 2PM, 28 hours
After a long and now painful (due to the poorly state of our knees) decent on the trail to CP8, Tony walks on water.

2006-08-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday 1:09PM, 27 hours 9 mins
On a rare road section Ren has mislaid a pole, but continues to mime her way through.

2006-08-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday 12:14PM, 26 hours 14 mins
Leaving CP7. I have no idea why the support crew are laughing at me, but I get that a lot.

2006-08-27T23:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday 10:44AM, 24 hours 44 mins
At the top of yet another long hill climb, Tony was feeling so energetic that he gave us a demonstration of his Superman rap dancing. Here he is executing the "Super Wave".

2006-08-27T23:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday 10:35AM, 24 hours 35 mins
Tony got a lot of comments on his Superman shirt.

2006-08-27T23:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday 10:27AM, 24 hours 27 mins
Somewhere on the trail between CP6 and 7 we became a little disoriented. Here Tony and Ren are seen walking in confused little circles.

2006-08-27T23:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8:51AM, 22 hours 51 mins
Her cunning plan had worked. The glue in the porridge was the perfect thing to get Mike to keep his trap shut. Tans is pretty happy with her achievement.

2006-08-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8:40AM, 22 hours 40 mins
Finally at CP6, the lovely Tanya met us with porridge. Unfortunately, due to the lateness of our arrival the porridge had become somewhat thicker, and it was not until we all had the spoons in our mouths that we realised the similarities between porridge and super glue.
Actually, the porridge was fantastic after a nine Km trudge along the edge of the water. Mike had bowed to the weight of reason behind Ren's arguments and withdrew from Trailwalker 06. It was a gallant effort to struggle on for so many Km in the pain he must have been in.

2006-08-27T22:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday 6:11AM, 20 hours 11 mins
Dawn between CP5 and 6. There is a big gap in the photos here because I was too tired to notice that I hadn't taken one for a while. Mike had battled on with his knee pain and tiredness since leaving CP4, but reversed a decision to withdraw after he had a good strapping from a physio and a two hour pass-out in the O'Brien's camper. The rest of us also put our heads down in the camper, and at 4:30AM we headded off for CP6.
Ren had entered her silent phase, so no-one really knew how she was, but at least she wasn't limping. Tony, as always, seemed in good spirits, and dispite having some pain in his knees was happy to keep moving at a solid pace. Mike made the initial down-hill section quite well, but was thankful at one point for Tony's quick hands when he almost slipped off a ledge into the darkness and was grabbed by Tony just in time. Drama!
After that, the pain in Mike's knee and various other areas kicked back in with avengance, and his pace slowed to about 2 Km/h and a gait that would in any other circumstances been pretty damn hillarious. Imagine how the Hunchback of Notre Dame would walk after three weeks on horseback and you get pretty close. It is my greatest regret that I didn't get some film of that.

2006-08-27T22:48:00.000-07:00

Friday 11:24PM, 13 hours 24 minutes
The fantastic Dave and Cheryl.

2006-08-27T22:37:00.000-07:00

Friday 11:04PM, 13 hours 4 mins
Mike had had it by the time we reached crosslands (CP4) and the hospitality of Tanya's parents. The picture says it all, and so did Mike when - in a repeat performance of the falling-on-his-arse-in-the-water incident - he dropped the F- word in front of persons of a more respectable age. However, Dave and Cheryl didn't bat an eyelid, and made us all feel much better with some hot stew. (Later, after his Trailwalk was over, he realised the error of his ways and appologised several times to Dave and Cheryl.)

2006-08-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

Friday 9:17PM, 11 hours 17 mins
This was the only shot I took on this 16 Km leg between CP3 and 4. Tony is enjoying himself, but Mike is beginning to feel the knee pain that would cause him to invent some interesting new uses for the F- word down the trail.

2006-08-27T22:31:00.000-07:00

Friday 6:13PM, 8 hrs 13 mins
We didn't stay long enough at CP3 to take any decent photos, but we did enjoy the soup!

2006-08-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

Friday 5:22PM, 7 hours 22 mins
With sunset just minutes away we hit a very steep climb-down and it starts to spit.

2006-08-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Friday 4:25PM, 6 hours 25 mins
Tony takes advantage of the break by grapping a quick nap with his head resting on the sign.

2006-08-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

Friday 3:39PM, 5 hours 39 mins
After a very professional grease and oil change at CP2 we are again on our way.

2006-08-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

Friday 3:20PM, 5 hours 20 mins
The impulse I had to shave my ankles in the shower the previous night obviously ran out before I had finished the job.

2006-08-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

Friday 2:51PM, 4 hours 51 mins
Ren waits patiently at the beginning of one of very, very many climbs.

2006-08-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

Friday 2:30PM, 4 hours 30 mins
The first water crossing was a little slippery, but the guy in the wetsuit was definately taking water safety too far!

2006-08-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

Friday 1:19PM, 3 hrs 19 mins
A rare point where someone could keep up with Ren's blistering pace.

2006-08-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

Friday 1PM, 3 hrs
In too much of a hurry to pose, we move at the speed of blurr from CP1 to CP2.

2006-08-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

Friday 12:08PM, 2 hrs 8 mins
We made it to CP1 right on schedule.

2006-08-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

Friday 10:59AM, 59 mins
Shortly after the gridlock we find ourselves pretty much alone again. Here we are passing through the marshes on our way to CP1 at a good clip.

2006-08-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

Friday 10:28AM, 28 mins
As soon as the trail moves onto single-track we run into Trailwalker gridlock.

2006-08-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

Friday 9:55AM, -5mins.
Mike catches some last minute zzz's while standing at the start. Would it be enough?

2006-08-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

Ready to walk.

2006-08-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

The men of the team. Mike had been working on that sneer all morning. I think it worked out pretty well.

2006-08-27T20:49:00.000-07:00

Finally, Friday Aud 25 come around and we are as ready as we will ever be. We arrive at the start early and pass the time by taping anything that moves, rubs or in any way looks like falling off, and entertaining ourselves by sending Ren's parents on various errands to the car for last minute items that we forgot. It would be 24Km to the next time we could get outside assistance.

2006-08-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

So, we are about to start on the real thing this Friday at 10AM, and I've just realised that I haven't posted any info about the walk!

This is what it's about: www.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/sydney
This is where we're walking: http://www.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/sydney/the_trail/
And, importantly, here's how you can sponsor us: https://www.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/registration/donatenow.php3?WebID=2610

Thanks!

Pete

2006-08-19T18:04:00.000-07:00

All bowels intact, we make it back to the car a bit later than expected.

2006-08-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

Pete (with a nose that could steer small watercraft) again supplies a photo that is difficult to comment.

2006-08-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

Aaaarrrgghhh! There he is!
Oh, it's just Mike.

2006-08-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ren in the middle of describing how the creek monster likes to disembowel night trekkers with a blunt spoon.

2006-08-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

A well earned break after a couple of possums leapt down from the trees to stare at us, and an unseen presence (probably a wallaby or a kangaroo) made normal movement sound quite alarming. Mike can hardly hold back the tears.

2006-08-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

One of the creek crossings. It was astounding how little you could actually see even with the lamps. The water seemed to swallow the light, which gave the impression of walking accross a gently gurgling yet infinite abyss.

2006-08-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

While walking down the hill into Crosslands we heard a strange and aggressive chanting coming from a building we had not noticed before. Was it a Chritian youth camp? Satansits? Women's Power group? We never found out, but it was quite surreal being three lonely walkers in the dark listening to a large group of chanting wierdos.
After being blinded several times by Ren and me turning to face him while he was talking, Mike's mood began to deflate a little. Fortunately, Ren helped him get his Camelback working and he was happy again. Perhaps there was more than water in there.

2006-08-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

I didn't have the same confidence as Mike, and stuck with the traditional centre placement.

2006-08-19T17:07:00.000-07:00

Mike, however, had no intention of any mention of ghosts or other rediculousness escaping Ren's lips, and had been wearing his lamp in public for days now.

2006-08-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

Ren could barely contain the stream of ghost stories that keps springing to mind, and was very relieved that she could finally wear her headlamp out in public.

2006-08-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

Friday 18 August 2006, 20:00. Darkness.
With less than one week to go before the real thing, Ren, Mike and I made our way to CP4 for our last training walk - a short 8.5Km night walk to Berowra to test our equipment and get a feel for what it's like to walk in the dark.
We were all feeling a little unsure about heading out into the inky black bush at a time when most people (excluding madmen and murders, who were almost certainly waiting for us out there) were sitting at home eating dinner and watching the footy, but then Mike kindly rolled his ankle for old times sake and we felt we were all on more familiar ground.

2006-08-14T01:06:00.000-07:00

Certainly a fantastic way to end the walking day with this view of Middle Harbour.

2006-08-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

Ren took us all by surprise at check point 8 by revealing her talents as a 1920's flapper dancer. Here she is in mid Charleston - and boy is she loving it!

2006-08-14T00:59:00.000-07:00

Mud.

2006-08-14T00:51:00.000-07:00

Mikey was very pleased with the performance of his swanky new not-boots. An odd choice you might think for a man with the ankles of a five year old girl, but they sure did the job. The added stability of the rigid sole along with the ankle taping and strapping meant that he didn't roll an ankle even once! Hurah! This also had the added bonus that he was the pillar of comic strength for Ren and myself over the entire 30Km. Mr Pants is seemingly now a distant memory thanks to these not-boots.

2006-08-14T00:48:00.000-07:00

In-depth discussion about ankles.

2006-08-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

Mike meets his match trying to work out how to get water out of a Camel Back. More amusement for us!

2006-08-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

August 12 - two weeks from the real walk.
This is The Shpynx. It's not on the Trailwalker trail, but marked the start of our 30Km walk.

2006-08-13T06:16:00.000-07:00

Not shown in this shot is where the weather continued to be pretty ordinary, Mikey rolled his ankle for the third time that day (ALL the way over - 90 degrees - ouch!) and we were overtaken by a bunch of hard late-teen/early twenties girls who had recently dumped a team member for being too slow! Wether it was the weather, the pain, or the frustration at being overtaken by girls, Mikey made the rare decision to abort. Not wanting to leave anyone on their own we joined him on the next side path to the road. As soon as we did, the clouds parted, the sun came out, and young love sprung anew - as this photo of Mike and young Dave demonstrates.

2006-08-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

Almost stright after our cold lunch under a rock we literally had to walk through a waterfall. Not around or behind - through. I was experimenting with trail clothing and had decided not to bring a raincoat, however I wasn't expecting a waterfall! I got pretty wet, but it woke me up and was extremely refreshing. Highly recommended! :)

2006-08-13T05:57:00.000-07:00

Mikey didn't really agree. Nonetheless, dispite the weather and rolling his unstrapped ankle twice had managed to keep in a pretty buoyant mood. Mr Pants no longer!

2006-08-13T05:54:00.000-07:00

In one of the few sheltered spots we decide to take break and have some cold wet lunch. This is good adventure stuff!

2006-08-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

A typical section of the trail between checkpoints 1 and 2 - with the exeption that it is not actually raining here!

2006-08-13T03:18:00.000-07:00

After raining all week we cut back the 31Km walk planned for August 5th to the 24Km between the start and checkpoint 2 in case it continued to rain on the weekend. This is part of the massive overflow at the ford at checkpoint 1, where two of us crossed the shin-deep fast flowing ice cold water in sneakers and socks. It was a difficult start to the second leg of our journey.

2006-08-13T01:35:00.000-07:00

At the top of the biggest climb in this leg, Freshbox was fine, I was fine, Ren had face-planted into a rock (check out her right knee), and Mr Pants, after flatly refusing to lead on the trail, was now flatly refusing to be in another bloody photo. We all found this quite amusing, but were to afraid to mention it at the time.

2006-08-13T01:33:00.000-07:00

This was part of the path.

2006-08-13T01:32:00.000-07:00

More scenery.

2006-08-13T01:27:00.000-07:00

About 20 minutes before this shot was taken, Cranky Pants, who was already in a foul mood, slipped on a rock during a creek crossing and fell square on his arse. After swearing loudly, frequently, and with searing conviction (rather shocking the baby-boomer nature lovers who happened to be trying to get a photograph of the serene natural setting at the time), Mr Pants stormed off ahead leaving us in his dust. When we reached checkpoint 6 in this photo, this is as close as anyone would get to him (with the exception of his betrothed).

2006-08-13T01:21:00.000-07:00

2006-08-13T01:20:00.000-07:00

Typical trail on the way to checkpoint 6. This will all be pitch black on the actual walk.

2006-08-13T01:18:00.000-07:00

Freshbox and Mr Cranky Pants in the background.

2006-08-13T01:16:00.000-07:00

Dapple overload!

2006-08-13T01:13:00.000-07:00

Walking accross the pedestrian bridge over the Pacific Highway as we leave checkpoint 5.

2006-08-13T01:12:00.000-07:00

Half an hour wait for four take-away coffees at the cafe at checkpoint 5. I have to say, however, that they were damn fine coffees!

2006-08-13T01:11:00.000-07:00

... until we arrived with the marsh beast - soon to be known as Cranky Pants.

2006-08-13T01:07:00.000-07:00

A really nice spot to sit and contemplate nature ...

2006-08-13T01:04:00.000-07:00

Ren and something that leapt out of the marsh.

2006-08-13T01:03:00.000-07:00

Tony of the marsh.

2006-08-13T00:59:00.000-07:00

2006-08-13T00:57:00.000-07:00

The morning is a fantastic time to be walking from checkpoint 4.

2006-08-13T00:55:00.000-07:00

Mike loves vasaline.

2006-08-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday 29 we did the 22Km from the start to checkpoint 1 and back. 8Km from the start are these mysterious lodgings under the Epping Road bridge. Could this be an entry to the Black Lodge?

2006-08-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

Tired and happy at Crosslands (checkpoint 4) where the black cloud (no longer black), ankle man and Tony met us after having spent some time shopping.

2006-08-13T00:17:00.000-07:00

More speed walking through the greenery.

2006-08-13T00:14:00.000-07:00

Ren on a slippery water crossing under the road bridge at the bottom of Galston Gorge.

2006-08-13T00:13:00.000-07:00

2006-08-13T00:12:00.000-07:00

Danger is her middle name.

2006-08-13T00:10:00.000-07:00

I don't remember reading anyting about a fork in the road!

2006-08-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

A steel bridge called The Steele Bridge.

2006-08-13T00:05:00.000-07:00

River crossing.

2006-08-12T23:26:00.000-07:00

Apprentice? Master? It's the beginning of the Ren and Pete show after losing Mike to another ankle injury and Tans to a serious black cloud. Tony was as solid as a rock, but decided that he'd done enough on his first day of training.

2006-08-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

Babes in the woods.

2006-08-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

Rugged beauty.

2006-08-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

Uphill. Ren is racing off ahead.

2006-08-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

Now with added pharmaceutical power in the form of Tony G. Mike not at all looking like a nonce with his knee-saving sticks.

2006-08-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

Off to a good start on CP2-4 on July 22

2006-08-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

Happy campers after the walk

2006-08-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

Pretty knackered

2006-08-12T22:24:00.001-07:00

Into the rock

2006-08-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

Into the greeen

2006-08-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

2006-08-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

Lunch at the Cascades

2006-08-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

The Cascades

2006-08-12T22:14:00.001-07:00

Blokes

2006-08-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Stream crossing