Time for a rest?

Following the Yarra Trail

The full team walked together on the 8th January for the first time since last Trailwalker - following the Yarra River Trail from Westerfolds Park to the CBD, a distance of about 35km (I should point out that actually I left at Punt Road and caught the train home...).

We've decided that we trained on the actual route so much last time that it would be good to do something different, and the Warburton Rail Trail is boring enough without doing it over and over. We also discovered two things last year; one, that walking a long way on the flat is not easy - because your stride doesn't change much, you can get very sore. The second thing was that you really need to walk long distances in training - the parts of your body that ache after 10 or 15km are not the same as those that start to hurt after 30 (or 60). So the Yarra Trail was good because it was long and (we thought) flat.

We started in fairly cool conditions around 10am, and finished around 4pm, which included a decent lunch at the Fairfield boathouse, so we did well for pace (we're aiming for an 'on-the-day' speed of between 5 and 6 km/h) - but we were all a bit stiff for a couple of days, especially on the hips and lower back. The sun came out pretty strongly after lunch, as well, so there was a little bit of sunburn too.

I was testing out a theory that it's better to wear trainers when walking on tarmac - this theory remains unproven. I did the whole walk last time in boots, and only had a small blister (and given the weather last time, boots were a good choice). On this outing, I got a blister in a totally new spot and really felt the lack of ankle support, although I think having slightly lighter footwear did help a bit.

One of the great things about Trailwalker is that I've discovered places that I never knew existed - last year it was Churchill NP and Lysterfield Lake, whereas this year I've found that there is a footpath right next to the Eastern Freeway (not quite in the same league, I know), and that the Yarra between Dights Falls and Gardiner's Creek is very attractive.

Sponsorship Deal Announced - Baretto Espresso Bar

The MOO Walkers are very pleased to announce a new sponsorship deal with Baretto Espresso Bar. Our first commercial sponsorship!

Apart from serving the best coffee in Melbourne the Baretto staff are very generous and most agreeable. The Baretto Espresso Bar is located in the Alan Gilbert Building on the corner of Barry & Grattan Streets, Carlton (nice map here). We strongly encourage all friends, family and supporters of the MOO Walkers to pop in and say hello to Brigid, Sab, Dez and the staff at Baretto Espresso Bar. Try out the fabulous coffee and perhaps a yummy Italian treat. None for us of course as we're in training.

If you know of any other business that might be able to sponsor the MOO Walkers in 2007 please let us know in the comments.

In case you're wondering...

Here's where we get our pseudonyms. I was pleasantly surprised by my result...


Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

First hit-out

So our first training walk was on December 18th (it's taken me a while to get the pictures up), climbing Mt Sugarloaf and walking the Razorback in the Cathedral Range. It's a stiff walk (some would say climb), but great fun - squeezing through Well's Cave is a highlight...


That's us struggling up the track to Sugarload saddle in 30 degree heat - I think Marc had a crafty chuck soon after this (paying for a Christmas party the night before).


And that's us at the exit of Well's Cave - you can see it gets quite narrow...


And that's the view from the top. It was pretty smoky - there have been lots of fires in the Victorian high country this summer - but shortly after this the wind changed and it cleared up a lot.

Remember, support Oxfam and the Moo Walkers - we're team 134!

Return of the Moo Walkers!

Here we are, retiring from the 2006 Oxfam Trailwalker Melbourne - 2:30am (ish), at Woori Yallock Primary School... now we're back to finish the job! The feeling of nearly completing 100km in under 48 hours is motivating us to do better this year - and raise plenty of money for Oxfam in the process.

We've set an ambitious target of more than $5000, and you can help us by donating money here - remember to click on the Trailwalker Melbourne button, and we are team 134 (or you can search for Moo Walkers). Every little counts...