Wednesday 28 February 2007
Trailwalker website update
Oxfam have recently updated their Trailwalker website, and I think it's a great improvement. Head on over there and check it out!
Monday 26 February 2007
And they walked by the light of the moon...
Well, two of us did, anyway.
Owing to unforeseen circumstances, we were short-handed last night on our walk from Olinda to Woori Yallock, a 30km stretch of the trail that we demolished in a touch over 5 hours. It was quite a hard walk, in that we really pushed the pace, but the actual trail itself was fairly easy-going. The revised route between Olinda and Mt Evelyn (taking in Silvan dam) has removed some of the more precipitous downhill sections, and also excised the 'mystery hill' that wasn't on the cross-sectional plot last year. The only slightly unpleasant section is just after Silvan dam, when one sees a sign saying 'Mt Evelyn - 4.6km'. After walking for about 15 minutes, we came across a new sign saying 'Mt Evelyn - 4.8km'.
The Warburton trail was closer to the road than I remembered, and there seemed to be many more houses close to the path (they can't all have been built in that time, surely?). However, it's still pretty long and boring. We were pretty pleased when we got to the Killara platforms at about 11:15pm, with only about 4km left to go...
As you can see, it was pretty dark, and my diddy cameraphone struggled to make Eoin out. Still, we got to Woori Yallock on the stroke of midnight, slightly sore but with increased confidence for the event. Maybe next weekend we'll repeat the dose with the other two MOOs.
Owing to unforeseen circumstances, we were short-handed last night on our walk from Olinda to Woori Yallock, a 30km stretch of the trail that we demolished in a touch over 5 hours. It was quite a hard walk, in that we really pushed the pace, but the actual trail itself was fairly easy-going. The revised route between Olinda and Mt Evelyn (taking in Silvan dam) has removed some of the more precipitous downhill sections, and also excised the 'mystery hill' that wasn't on the cross-sectional plot last year. The only slightly unpleasant section is just after Silvan dam, when one sees a sign saying 'Mt Evelyn - 4.6km'. After walking for about 15 minutes, we came across a new sign saying 'Mt Evelyn - 4.8km'.
The Warburton trail was closer to the road than I remembered, and there seemed to be many more houses close to the path (they can't all have been built in that time, surely?). However, it's still pretty long and boring. We were pretty pleased when we got to the Killara platforms at about 11:15pm, with only about 4km left to go...
As you can see, it was pretty dark, and my diddy cameraphone struggled to make Eoin out. Still, we got to Woori Yallock on the stroke of midnight, slightly sore but with increased confidence for the event. Maybe next weekend we'll repeat the dose with the other two MOOs.
Tuesday 20 February 2007
Campervan update
Looks like we might be in luck...
We'd thought that hiring a campervan might be a good idea - somewhere for the B team to play cards while they're waiting, and somewhere for us to lie down to get a massage at checkpoints (to say nothing of somewhere to sit in the event of rain). Unfortunately, all the companies seem to want minimum 5 days hire - which adds up to a fair bit of money.
However, Belinda has managed to swing a great little vehicle for us from a generous donor of her acquaintance! Woo hoo! We can get a nice hot dinner now (I don't think we'll be using the solar handheld shower....).
We'd thought that hiring a campervan might be a good idea - somewhere for the B team to play cards while they're waiting, and somewhere for us to lie down to get a massage at checkpoints (to say nothing of somewhere to sit in the event of rain). Unfortunately, all the companies seem to want minimum 5 days hire - which adds up to a fair bit of money.
However, Belinda has managed to swing a great little vehicle for us from a generous donor of her acquaintance! Woo hoo! We can get a nice hot dinner now (I don't think we'll be using the solar handheld shower....).
Thursday 15 February 2007
B team update
Tuesday 13 February 2007
Those wonderful Baretto Staff!
The fabulous staff at Baretto Espresso Bar are continuing to come up with new ways of supporting the MOO Walkers 2007 campaign. They have very generously given over the proceeds of their tip jar for two months to the Moo Walkers. And last week the staff organised a casual day wearing jeans to work and each donated $5 to Oxfam. They are also responsible for our caffine addictions but that's another story ...
Feeling the heat
Yesterday was a training day - for two of us, anyway. We parked at the finish line in Wesburn Park, walked back along the highway into Yarra Junction, and then followed the trail route back to the car. All up, a distance of 18-20kms, with a bit of climbing along the way. Not too arduous, you might say. So why did it feel so hard?
Well, the first problem is that it got hotter than forecast - we were expecting a top of 28 degrees, and it certainly got to 31 if not a bit higher. The heat radiating off the track on the final climb was quite something. However, the major problem for me is that I was hotter than I needed to be - when I got home, I found I had a temperature of nearly 39 degrees and now have some antibiotics!
Hopefully, then, the fact that I really struggled with the final climb is due mainly to the latter. Otherwise the last ten km of the walk are going to be dreadful. Even so, we managed the distance in a touch over three and a half hours, which is probably a little quicker than we'll manage on the day itself. We know it won't be so hot, because we expect to be doing this part at dawn!
Well, the first problem is that it got hotter than forecast - we were expecting a top of 28 degrees, and it certainly got to 31 if not a bit higher. The heat radiating off the track on the final climb was quite something. However, the major problem for me is that I was hotter than I needed to be - when I got home, I found I had a temperature of nearly 39 degrees and now have some antibiotics!
Hopefully, then, the fact that I really struggled with the final climb is due mainly to the latter. Otherwise the last ten km of the walk are going to be dreadful. Even so, we managed the distance in a touch over three and a half hours, which is probably a little quicker than we'll manage on the day itself. We know it won't be so hot, because we expect to be doing this part at dawn!
Monday 5 February 2007
An update and a promise
Well, in the few weeks since we sent out our first emails asking for donations, we've managed to accrue $2690, plus whatever is in the tips jar at Baretto. This is a great effort, so huge thanks to all who have given money. However, I know we can raise more! So, here is an idea...
On Saturday I went to a fancy dress party (the theme was Broadway Musicals), dressed as Miss Saigon. Obviously I looked stunning, but I'm not putting the photos up until we're over the $5000 mark. So if you haven't donated yet (and even if you have), head over to the link on the right!
PS: If you're squeamish and don't want to see the photos, a large enough donation could be enough to prevent it...
On Saturday I went to a fancy dress party (the theme was Broadway Musicals), dressed as Miss Saigon. Obviously I looked stunning, but I'm not putting the photos up until we're over the $5000 mark. So if you haven't donated yet (and even if you have), head over to the link on the right!
PS: If you're squeamish and don't want to see the photos, a large enough donation could be enough to prevent it...
Thursday 1 February 2007
Training Walk January 29th
Give me a home among the gum trees ...
Our latest training walk had us wandering around the Churchill National Park on the eastern fringe of Melbourne. It's a very picturesque ramble with great views down to the Bay and off to the hills. Apparently we should have been able to identify 20 different species of eucalypt and 12 types of native orchids on the walk. I'm afraid not. However, the locals were bemused by our efforts and came out to see us stride by (see Murat with local above). It was a relatively short walk (about 16kms in 3hours) but there's a couple of steep inclines that kept us honest (see Checkpoint 1 to Checkpoint 2).
We all pulled up OK and there's a real danger of us starting to get complacent. Our next training walk planed for February 12th (an auspicious day) and we plan to tackle probably the most demanding part of the Trail: the climb up to Olinda .
Meet the B Team!
We've signed up our support crew now, so I'm posting this so that they can't back out...
Last year we had three women whose names began with B - Belinda, Bronwyn and Bridget - so the B Team was an obvious moniker. They were absolutely superb. Bridget is a born organiser who was not afraid of our feet (as you can see in the above picture), while Belinda is a qualified masseuse (pictured below inflicting agony on Gaius). Bronwyn had a first-aid background, so you can see that we had most bases covered.
Well, Bridget was adamant from almost the moment we retired last year that she was going to get us to the finish this year no matter what. And Belinda is a sadist keen to cause pain again. Unfortunately Bronwyn is not rejoining us, but in her stead we've got Katherine as an able replacement. Unfortunately, her name doesn't start with B, so she'll be referred to as Batherine for the remainder of the Trailwalking experience. We had considered calling her 'Bruce' (to keep things simple), but she's not at the University of Woolloomooloo.
We're thinking of getting the B Team to drive a camper van of some sort - anybody have any experience of doing this in Trailwalker? Is it a good idea?
Last year we had three women whose names began with B - Belinda, Bronwyn and Bridget - so the B Team was an obvious moniker. They were absolutely superb. Bridget is a born organiser who was not afraid of our feet (as you can see in the above picture), while Belinda is a qualified masseuse (pictured below inflicting agony on Gaius). Bronwyn had a first-aid background, so you can see that we had most bases covered.
Well, Bridget was adamant from almost the moment we retired last year that she was going to get us to the finish this year no matter what. And Belinda is a sadist keen to cause pain again. Unfortunately Bronwyn is not rejoining us, but in her stead we've got Katherine as an able replacement. Unfortunately, her name doesn't start with B, so she'll be referred to as Batherine for the remainder of the Trailwalking experience. We had considered calling her 'Bruce' (to keep things simple), but she's not at the University of Woolloomooloo.
We're thinking of getting the B Team to drive a camper van of some sort - anybody have any experience of doing this in Trailwalker? Is it a good idea?
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