Still striving towards $1 million

YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!.  What an awesome feeling to ride through the city at 4am on the quiet streets of Sydney and then paddle down that magnificent harbour of ours.  It wasn’t until today that we realised that the marathon is in fact only 91 days, not the original 92 as thought.  For me, it was a day of very mixed emotions.  As I paddled down the harbour and saw the harbour bridge in front of me I thought how proud Jess would have been.  Her smile would have been from ear to ear and her facial expressions would have said everything.  I know she would have been proud of dad, and I would have loved to have had her by my side at the finish.

The finishing point was a great way to end my journey.  While the door closes on my ultra-marathons, the other door stays firmly open in reaching my goal.  I feel that I cannot do any more than what I have done to raise funds and awareness and now hope that the rest of Australia get behind me to reach this goal. 

This morning we were on the Today program on Channel 9, and then did a live interview with Steve Price on 2UE.  I am now planning to relax for a day or two before starting the massive task of sorting out equipment and gear loaned to us for this journey.

I do plan to do another blog next week so don’t leave us just yet as the website will be open for over a month with regular updates.  If you are into your fitness then stay tuned as I will mention tips for marathons and general fitness for those who are keen.

To all those who have been watching the blog, I thank you very much for your support.

Stay tuned, Craig

Climbing toward the finish line…

A bit of going forwards and then coming backwards today – all in the name of fundraising. I am still pushing ahead each day when the weather is kind, as I know a front is on the way. If conditions come back like last weekend then I will be in for a shocker! My daily average, as I have previously mentioned, is now shorter than leg 2 and 3. I have planned this as I know fundraising/media commitments are going to take some time as we head back towards Sydney.

I had a sleep in this morning and didn’t get out of bed until 6am to leave our camp site just south of Orbust to travel north. I rode through Orbust Valley, which was looking extremely green and had some very healthy looking cattle roaming the land. A thick mist blanketed the valley on my right side and small ranges started appearing on my left. About 15 kilometres out of Orbust I started to see signs like “Falls Creek” and “Snowy River”, which meant hills. For the next two hours I basically started climbing up Mount Raymond State Forest and then over some other ridges further north. I finished riding near Cann River before returning to Lakes Entrance for two fundraising events – one this afternoon and one tomorrow at breakfast.

Today we received some great media attention with the help of 2KY, 2UE and 2WC. We have found that each time we are able to speak on different radio stations a large number of donations come through the following day – let’s hope the trend continues.

7 days to go…

Craig

 

riding through day 84

 

Orbust Valley