Half Way There - Can you help?

Okay, we're in Birdsville the halfway point of our ride. We're finding it challenging and enjoyable. You can help us out by supporting our charity of choice the Inspire Foundation. Please follow this link to Andrew's everyday hero page to support this worthwhile cause.

Birdsville ... at last

Despite another pre-dawn wakey wakey, there was a spring in the boys' steps as they struck camp early on Saturday morning. With only 53 km to ride, and the lure of a bacon & egg breakfast, cold beer and a rest day, the excitement was palpable.

With AP hauling the first bike train out of camp, the peleton covered the first 10 km in a tad over 26 minutes - testament to the relative smoothness of this section of track, the stillness and coolness of the conditions, and the lure of Birdsville.

We captured some video footage of us riding along on the next leg with Ric hauling the train, and the boys continued to clip along at 20 + km/h. As we got closer to Birdsville the impact of the recent floodwaters became more apparent, with the road washed away in sections, and pretty torn up. This slowed our progress, even for AP after his front wheel slipped into a rut, his bike standing on end (the rarely seen front wheel wheelie) and Ric narrowly missing him to his right hand side.

Alan captured some shots of us crossing into Queensland at the border, and a few kms later we passed our thousand kilometres done point. Alan was again on hand just on the outskirts of town for some photos. A few final shots at the fabled Birdsville Racecourse were pushing the friendship with a hot brekkie just a tantalizing few moments away.

With our dusty, muddy steeds tied up at possibly the only licensed bakery in the country, Dom, Pete, Ric and Andrew dug into enormous plates of bacon & eggs. Alan joined in, while Julie opted for the curried camel pie - a local favourite.

With Alan reporting to the local medical centre again, the boys set up camp, did some washing, and cleaned themselves up. Another visit to the bakery for lunch, and our first beer, and then a relaxing afternoon resting our legs and butts. Dinner was at the picturesque Birdsville Hotel, with the hardy travellers turning in a little after 9pm.

Day 12 on the Birdsville Track ... Still

We all elected to do an early departure strategy again, with Ric waking us up at 5:15am so that we can see the sun rising as we are ride along the Birdsville track. This morning there were some clouds in the sky, so we had a very impressive display with vivid reds and oranges.

We all love the first couple of hours riding, with generally low winds and the great light.

We cycled 93km today along a challenging track with the day progressively getting hotter (it is a desert after all!) We had a head wind for most of day.

Many sections of the track today were in very poor shape after the rains, and we had a large section of water that we needed to cycle through. Dom was in the lead and headed off into the 50 meters of water at a depth of about 30cm. I think he was expecting us to follow him through, but we all stopped to see what was going to happen.

Dom made it, and then the other lemmings made it through too.

At one stage Pete looked back and saw Ric and Dom being chased by 60 head of cattle, yelling "don't stop, keep cycling". After the cattle passed us, Andrew chased them down the road. Pete and Dom commented that he is likely to bowled over by the cattle, perhaps Andrew has some kelpie in him?

Ric found his mojo again on the bike, and he headed off for a 6 km run in the late afternoon while Pete Andrew and Dom took it easy in the shade set up by Alan.

We have 53km tomorrow into Birdsville and a rest day which we are looking forward to. The Birdsville Track has certainly been a challenge.

Alan and Julie again found some shade and another great camping site in the Simpson desert. Just amazing to see the desert lights and experience how inhospitable the desert landscape is. The thorns have been a real challenge for legs and tires. The flies became a real menace today both on the bikes and at the camp site.

Alan and Julie left to go to Birdsville this afternoon to get Alan's hand looked at at the medical centre. When collecting firewood Alan had cut his hand a few days ago, and it has become infected. It was a little eerie to be left in the Simpson desert under a shade tarp. The cyclists were wondering if they should muck up while "the adults" had left on an errand.

All went well at the medical centre, with antibiotics and the instruction not to have any alcohol. Alan brought back some XXXX beer which was shared with parched cyclists. Alan had good news that he has been invited to participate in the "Sculptures by the Sea" in Bondi with a series of life size zebras.

The boys are planning to have bacon, eggs and beer at 9:00 am tomorrow morning when we (hopefully) arrive in Birdsville.

Somewhere in the Simpson Desert to Somewhere in the Sturt Stony Desert

After enjoying another sensational dinner of beef burgoine we were all fully carb loaded for the day ahead. With the tribal council having convened over dinner and agreeing on a pre-dawn start, we set set off at 6am and rode into a gorgeous sun rise. The stillness and crispness of the morning was gratefully received by us as we were greeted by a rainbow of delicate yet bold colours.

The first 20km passed by with relative ease, but as the sun rose it became clear the we were in for an arduous morning. The road surface was becoming increasingly challenging with the Stony Desert living up to its name. Loose stony surface, punctuated by soft sand filled gutters, as well as a solid head wind limited our speed to a steady 15km/hr.

The sand monster reared again as Ric and Andrew each bit the dust a couple of times. Thankfully only wounded pride and no broken gear.

On the whole, it was a lonely day as we were passed by a solitary vehicle. We have come to appreciate how tough the people that trail-blazed these remote outback areas were. The countryside is, at the same time, beautiful and brutal.

Tackling the day in 10km stages, we were met by the troopie at the 40km mark for some peaches, and then again at the 70km mark for lunch. 20km to go!

On the whole we all felt pretty good, Ric having recovered from his flat day yesterday. Andrew tapping out a rhythmic cadence, Pete continuing to look comfortable and Dom keeping a steady speed.



At 90km we were greeted by another great bush camp site found by Alan and Julie, and another afternoon of lazing around reading and recovering for the next day.

Distance today 90km. Time 5:36

Grand total 860 km

Day 10 - Mungerannie to somewhere in the Simpson Desert

After a tearful departure from Mungerannie Phil and his rats, the boys headed off a little before 8 on what would prove to be a tough day.

It soon became apparent once we took the right turn onto the Birdsville Track that we had another day of headwinds. The first 20 km were rolled out okay, but the combination of the headwinds and track conditions that varied from deep bulldust/sand to bone-jarring rock slowed us back a few notches from what we had previously experienced.

Terry, Brian & Harry passed us around 10 am just in time to see the bike train (riding four in line to limit the headwind) ride into a deep and long patch of sand. Dom shot off one way, Pete in a different direction and Ric in a hard skewing left turn. Andrew came to a sliding halt and then toppled off into the sand. No major injuries were reported, and indeed a few kms down the track Ric managed the same impressive feat - the sand monster continues his work!

The boys rode on rendezvousing with the troopie at about 40 km from Mungerannie. We topped up with water, and dried fruit and pushed on.

At this point Ric really began to have a bad day at the office. Nothing really went wrong, but Ric was hanging onto the back of the guys and just had nothing more to give.

When we rolled into our bush camp with 230 km to go to Birdsville, the boys rejoiced in having our "rest day" breakfast of bacon & egg rolls at 2pm. Fortunately Alan & Julie had picked a beaut spot under one of the few trees in the Simpson desert. We lazed around for the remainder of the afternoon trying to keep out of the sun and away from the ants.

Distance today 80km. Time 4:53.
Grand total 770 km

Day 9 - Cooper Creek to Mungerannie

Our camp for the night was on the flood plain of the Cooper Creek. Along with the rains and everything coming to life ... comes the compulsory mice plague. We were overrun last night with the little critters all over the camp. It proved entertaining to let them climb on top of the swags and then smack them away in a flying back flip into the bush. We were also serenaded by several packs of dingoes howling a mournful tune through the night - or at least those who didn't snore through the show.

An early start saw us picking our way down a rocky and sandy track through the Cooper wetlands. We've been extremely lucky and timed our ride in between floods. The track was closed here only two weeks ago, and is forecast to be underwater again in another two weeks with rains from Queensland making their way down the channel country.

Large expanses of water are a welcome break in this flat and dry landscape. Flocks of Correllas and other bird life accompanied our first five kilometers through the wetlands before we broke through to the now familiar desert surounds, and our day's work stretched out in front of us. 71km through to the Mungerannie Roadhouse.

The high pressure system that has been accompanying our travels has moved on a little, and brought a welcome shift in wind direction that gave us a gentle tail wind. Combined with a slightly less bumpy track, we were able to kick along at a much better pace than yesterday's ride.

Our familiar friend the Puncture Monster raised his head again this morning after laying dormant for a few days. Ric picked up a prickle thorough the rear tyre that slowed him down from our cracking pace. We'd no sooner fixed that one than Alan called for a photo shot under a Lake Eyre road sign. In the process of carrying the bike off the track Ric somehow managed to pick up another prickle through the rear tyre! Score now Ric 2, Andrew 5.

We made good time for the rest of the morning and made Mungerannie in time for lunch. Confidence up and spirits soaring, we've decided to waive the scheduled rest day tomorrow and push on for Birdsville, another four days riding ahead. We enjoyed a delicious pub meal at the hotel cooked up by the delightful Pam, and then watched a short film about one of the legends of the Birdsville Track - Tom Kruse. Tom was the first postie to make it through to Birdsville from Marree in a truck with the mail.

Day 8 Clayton Creek Station to Cooper Creek

We started our morning looking out on a light orange horizon just prior to the sun rising. It was 5:30 AM. Ric lead us through an Anzac Service, talking about Gallipoli and then a summary of Australia's contribution to major conflicts through to the current Afghanistan and Iraq wars. All commented on how moving the ceremony was, and we had our two minutes silence as the sun broke through on the horizon.

The day's journey then kicked off with a traditional gunfire coffee (coffee and rum [albeit with whiskey as a substitute]) - just what you need before doing 85 km on a dirt road through the Tirari desert!!

The first 20km was fast on packed dirt, but the track then got progressively worse with us "aqua planing" through some sand sections and bouncing off the largest rocks that we have seen so far on the journey.

The iPods were out for all the cyclists today as we pushed our way through a tough 60km. Andrew was listening to classical music, Ric seemed to be humming to the Carpenters, Dom was listening to a playlist that Jacqueline (his daughter) made for him and Pete was listening to a rock compilation that his wife Karen compiled.

At 57km into our day's riding Alan and Julie were waiting with fresh water and some sandwiches. There is not a lot of shade, and I think they found the only tree within 5km. The Tirari desert is mostly flat and has lots of small green shrubs - we suspect that the shrubs are probably due to the significant rain the area has had.

Peter was much happier riding with a different saddle for his bike and Andrew has ironed out some small niggles with his bike tires and gears.

All the cyclists were happy to come over the last rise to see Cooper creek (a very wide shallow creek that rarely has water in it - but does at the moment) A couple of months back we all thought that we would have to cross the creek via a temporary ferry but we will be able to cycle through it tomorrow.

Our average speed for the day (while we were cycling) was 19 km per hour. Pete was on fire, driving the four man peleton along.

Dom, Pete and Andrew all bathed in the open air to get the dust and sun screen off them. Ric commented that he will now need to see a psychiatrist and that he will the first to crack and get a proper room when we get to Birdsville.

The thought of bacon and eggs for breakfast at Mungerannie on the next rest day is keeping us going. Legs are definitely getting weary and the saddle soreness is a constant niggle.

Day 7 - Marree to Clayton Creek Station

Easter morning dawned bright and clear and was even accompanied by the crowing of a cheerful rooster close by.

With only 50 km to cover, we left at the slightly more relaxed time of 7.30 ish with AP and Ric checking in with their families first to see if Easter Bunny had visited.

Alan captured a couple of shots of us heading out of town and onto the Birdsville Track for the first time.

After the first few kms it quickly became apparent that Easter Sunday was going to be a tough one in the saddle. While the headwind wasn't gale force, it was bloody persistent. For most of the route we couldn't tuck in behind one another simply because the track condition varied from marble smooth, to deeply stoned and sandy with everything in between.

When we rolled into the campground just after midday all four of us dived straight into the large ag pool fed by the local artesian bore. The temperature was somewhere between 40 and 50 degrees - just perfect for soothing the leg muscles.

We whiled away the afternoon reading books, the Saturday paper and playing cards. Ric took himself off for a run down to the wetlands, but the highlight was a visit from Neil the piper and his wife Kathy. They joined us for another delicious dinner of salmon patties and salad.

Another nice, early night just after 9pm should set us up nicely for another couple of tough days in the saddle.

Day 6 Lyndhurst to Marree

We are back into some respectable distance on the bikes today with about 85km to be covered, most of it on unsealed roads.

With some good sleeps on a lovely grassed campground under our belts, we got away just after 7am. A couple of kms out of town we stopped to check out the Ochre Pits where the local aborigines have been digging ochre and using or trading it for hundreds of years.

Setting off again, Pete had stack number 2 of the trip, but fortunately, again it was only a minor fall - although still hard enough to crack the screen on the handheld radio.

We covered the ground quickly after that on a dirt road that was delectably smooth. After a little over an hours riding, we turned off to take a look at the ruins and historic sites at Farina. The displays maintained by local and interstate volunteers are terrific and well worth a look. Farina was once a bustling railhead boasting two pubs, a police round of thousands of kms and a few months, and a railway station.

We refilled our water bottles and then headed on for the 45 odd kms in front of us. We enjoyed another sealed section of road, but as the temperature continued to rise, all the lads began to flag a little. When we rolled into Marree a little after midday, we were happy campers.

We whiled away the afternoon napping, writing postcards, drinking coffee and enjoying a beer at the Marree Hotel. With the $25 buffet dinner under our belts, we are heading to bed in preparation for Easter.

Day 5 - Beltana to Lyndhurst

With dawn breaking over the fabled Beltana Racecourse, Andrew's brain cogs had been awhir ...

Shortly after the scheduled gun time of 7.30 AM, the inaugural Beltana Handicap over 400 - 600m for bicycles was run. You will need to wait to see the video of this soon to be infamous event.

Overnight the Puncture Monster had hit again, this time with Terry and Brian's landcruiser suffering. While air was added to their front right tyre, the boys set off on yet another still and coolish morning enroute to Leigh Creek for morning tea.

We covered the sealed road at a rapid rate, until that damned Puncture Monster decided to visit Andrew again. His third puncture in a couple of days.

We stopped a couple of times and pumped air into his tyres leading into Leigh Creek, and then saw the Puncture Monster again just before Copley. Poor old Andrew couldn't take a trick today with almost more punctures than kms covered.

The good news was that the boys got to enjoy an extra coffee and pie at Copley, before racing the final 30 odd kms into the night location of Lyndhurst at about 40 km/h with a terrific tail wind.

The remoteness starts in earnest over the next couple of days, so Happy Easter and we will update the blog as and when we can.

Day 4 - Angorachina to Beltana

Day 4 Angorachina Station to Beltana

Another clear and cool morning greeted the Gulf2Gulf team as we aimed at a 7am departure.

Our route out of Angorachina took us via Parachilna (our dinner venue from last night). The track was really rough in places and we were glad to hit the sealed road again after 17 km. Harry blew a tyre on his 4wd on the same stretch later in the morning. But while the going was rough, we had a whale of a time on a few water crossings. We know we keep promising photos, but we're a little hamstrung at the moment with www access & bandwidth. (Stop Press: We have added some photos, no video yet).

We had a double dose of lattes, cappuccino, and flat whites at the pub, and then headed on for a blissful 35 odd kms of flat & sealed highway into Beltana. With the daily distance today only being 55kms, we were in by just before 11 am.

With Ric running off ahead, the rest of the boys piled into the troopie for the 11 km trip out to old Beltana. The rerouting of the highway and railway in the early 1980s now mean that there are two towns. A bite to eat in the old town and a wander around the sites, before we returned to our night location - the Beltana horse racing track!

Angorachina Rest Day

Rest Day - Angorachina

With two tough 100 plus km days behind us, the boys have deserved a rest day. Despite this, Ric was up early and out for a very gentle 6 km run. Breakfast of muesli followed by bacon & eggs was wolfed down as the sun rose around the northern reaches of the Flinders Ranges.

We continue to meet really cool people keen to hear about what we are doing and why. A big thank you to the Muller family (Samuel, Jeremiah, Isaac, Elise, Marayne, Marian & Wayne) for their support of the Inspire Foundation.

Brian and Terry were keen to head off on a 12 km round trip bush walk along the local river bed to the Blinman Pools. Andrew, Pete & Ric decided to tag along. The walk was a little tougher than we had first thought, as we rock-hopped, scrambled and wandered along the predominantly dry river bed.

Brian took a bit of a tumble when his footing gave way. Being support crew on this trip is proving to be more risky than riding. Brian's injury is now added to the 4 butterfly stitches on Alan' s head from Sunday night.

While the walking was tough, the rewards of the view and seeing fossils millions of years old was well worth it. When we made it to the first pool at 5 km, the younger lads stripped off for a dip and then it was time to head back for lunch.

And what a lunch it was. Alan had baked bread in his camp oven! We enjoyed hearty slices of fresh bread with olives, tomatoes, cheese and salami before settling in for an afternoon of taking it easy.

Julie, Ric and Pete all had a bit of a read. Dom downloaded some of the video and photos to date with Harry. AP did some editing and redrafting of his upcoming blockbuster on the ins & outs of Private Equity. While Alan, Terry and Brian rested up.

Just after 5 pm it was time to jump in the vehicles and drive into Parachilna for a special dinner. We arrived in time to enjoy a westerly facing beer/wine and watch the sun sink into a landscape that had flattened out considerably. The Parachilna Pub is something of a highlight for gourmet travellers, and it wasn't long before we were enjoying emu, camel, goat and kangaroo. Their house specialty is the "FMG" - feral mixed grill. A great night was had by all, and we were tucked up in our sleeping bags by 9.30 pm.

Day 3 - Rawnsley Park to Angorachina

Day 3 : Rawnsley Park to Angorachina

An absolutely awesome day - by so many measures.

For a start, we peddled 108 km with about half that distance off road. We headed out just on 7.30 in the morning, arriving around 4.15 pm

We climbed and descended about 1200m with a steady 30 km climb up into Blinman, apparently the highest town in South Australia.

We had some terrific descents off road, ripping through corners, creek beds, rattling and hopping over corrugations, gravel & big rocks.

But the real highlight was turning off the main sealed highway and riding down into Bunyeroo Gorge. Fantastic scenery all round, and riding within sight of some of the really significant geological formations in the Flinders Ranges was amazing.

Today was a day of firsts for the trip. Ric had the first stack - nothing serious, just a thrown chain on an uphill stretch with an ignominious tumble onto the track. Andrew had the first (and second) puncture.

The novelty of the bush hasn't worn off yet. We started the morning by pacing kangaroos beside us at a solid 25km/h - until they bored of the company and burned us off at impressive pace. We also spotted several mobs of emus during the day. Our first group proved an ideal test for Andrew's theory on attracting these long-legged indigenous birds. We lay on the ground and cycled our legs in the air! Loe and behold, the entire mob came from 60 meters away to within a few feet out of sheer curiosity. (Thanks to Andrew's uncle Max for sharing this gem.) We hope to load the video footage of this shortly.

One mob also ran out of a creek bed and joined us on the road while we careened down a hill. Quite an experience to travel at 40km/h with an emu traveling on each side of you at eye level!

Day 2 - Quorn to Rawnsley Park

Day 2 Quorn to Rawnsley Park

We stumbled out of our swags and tents to a frigid and clear morning. The pack-up and departure ran a bit faster this morning, and we were on the road just after 7.30 am.

The first hour of the ride was absolute bliss - riding along dead flat sealed highway into the rising sun and an awakening landscape. The legs felt good, and the coolness quickly gave way to a really lovely morning.

About 40 km down the road we stopped by the Kanyaka ruins. In the mid 1850s the Kanyaka station held 70 workers, and stretched over 360 square miles and supported 50,000 sheep. Drought and the buy up of pastoral leases to push wheat growing spelt the end of the large homestead in the early 1900s. The ruins are quite substantial and well worth visiting.

After Kanyaka we rode on for a scheduled lunch stop in Hawker, another 25 km down the road. The temperature was warming up, but not uncomfortably so, and we arrived in good spirits at about 11.30. We refuelled on sandwiches, coffee and sports drink before remounting our faithful steeds and heading off for the final 35 km or so to Rawnsley Park Station.

The last stretch went well, with the final 3 km into the station our first real stint off road and a reminder of some of what lies ahead of us. Total distance for the day was 107km.

On arrival at Rawnsley Park, we got stuck into our post ride routine of stretching, hydrating and getting out of our cycling gear as quickly as possible. We then set to the task of changing our road tyres for cross-country tyres. We tightened up the odd nut & bolt, gave the chains a bit of a clean & oil, then Dom, Ric and Pete headed off to check out the swimming pool.

The pool was deliciously cool and at the local shop we picked up some more useful intel on the day ahead. We also learnt that Tim the "tour guide" would be giving a presentation on the local area that evening in the communal kitchen.

Julie and Alan put together another beaut dinner - this time spaghetti bolognese with broccoli! Julie, Harry, Terry, Brian, Ric and Andrew then headed off to the communal kitchen for the talk. We picked up lots of good info on the local history of the station, the geology of the Flinders Ranges, and the local flora and fauna. Then it was bed by 9pm in the full knowledge that we had a big day of uphill and off road riding in front of us tomorrow.

Out & About in Quorn

After settling in at the local caravan park this afternoon, pitching our swags and enjoying a delicious lunch of salad rolls, we rolled slightly more casually into the main township of Quorn.

Julie had spotted a local Gymkhana being run at the show grounds, so we pulled our two-wheeled steeds up there to see some pretty impressive riding from everyone from 8 year old girls to 30 something jackeroos.

Peddling slowly through the main streets of the town reminded Pete of the truly fine SA architecture that dates back more than 100 years. The old mill, pubs, courthouse and the houses are definitely worth a closer look.

At 4pm on a Sunday afternoon not much was open. But our eyes were attracted to 2 heavily laden bikes tricked up with panniers, gps, the works. We wandered into the aptly named Cafe Flinders Bikes & Bytes. Website. We were superbly looked after by Katie, who not only delivered a delicious cuppa and brownies, but also pointed out a couple of key stop-offs for us on tomorrow's longer (100 km) leg to Rawnsley Park Station. If you in Quorn, stop in at 43 First Street and say g'day.

Day 1: Port Augusta to Quorn

A beautiful day greeted the gang at the Big 4 Caravan Park in Port Augusta. Our first night under canvas / nylon passed uneventfully. Pete got some tough feedback from the lads, and will now spend the rest of the trip sleeping a little further from us all - especially if he sleeps on his back!

Ric was so keen to get underway that he went for a 6 am six km run along the waterfront.

To be honest, we mucked around a little getting started today, but no doubt our breaking camp routine will be much slicker in a day or so.

We headed down to the Spencer Gulf for our all important photo at the start of the trip.
We hope to add these photos soon. Everyone looked terrific in their new shirts - support crew & riders.

The ride itself was a nice easy day 1 of only 40 kms or so. There were a couple of hills to keep us honest, and the temperature was warm, not too hot. The start of the foothills to the Flinders Ranges gave us a great preview of the vistas we can enjoy on the days ahead.

A special thank you to Karen, Meredith, Pat and Mavis who we have met over the past couple of days and had a chat to. They have all made donations to the Inspire Foundation. thanks for your support.

Safely arrived in Port Augusta

Well, the team's safely arrived at Port Augusta.

Julie (head chef & cheerleader) and Alan rolled into town on Friday, setting up camp at the local campground and waiting for the mad cyclists.

Harry, Terry and Brian arrived Saturday afternoon.

The lads departed from a very wet and windy Sydney a little later than scheduled this morning. We were farewelled by lots of sad ladies - no, not what you think. We are missing a couple of critical birthdays - that's all.

The bike boxes, bags and the boys all arrived in one piece in Sunny Adelaide. We hopped a shuttle bus into the city and then boarded the coach to Port Augusta.

Alan collected the lads and their bikes just before 5pm. After a bit of "faffing about", bikes were back together, tents pitched, and beers chilled.


As we pen theses few comments we are sitting at the pub enjoying a feed of fish & chips and a cold beer. Tomorrow we head to Quorn. An easy day of 40 km.

More news then ...

Final check from the ipad

This is a final check (Friday afternoon) prior to the Saturday am departure that all the technology is working. If you can read this. It is!

Andrew's Charity Fund Raising

Andrew has organised a charity fund-raising page via Everyday Hero here. Feel free to add some comments, and of course, contribute a donation to this very worthwhile cause - the Inspire Foundation.

You can also check out one of our recent training rides completed with Guy - the infamous Two Gorges ride in Northern Sydney here.

Final Preparations

Wow, the big ride's only a week away now. We're all in the final stages of our preparation with some of the lads heading out on a couple of shorter training rides this weekend.

Alan and Julie have been doing a stupendous job of shopping and packing the troopie with all the gear we're going to be needing for the next month: food, eskies, camping gear, vino, etc.

Dom's got us all organised with the spares for our noble steeds: tubes, tyres, spokes, chains, rear hangers.

Andrew's been pulling all the dough together - and now he's paying it out.

Ric's bought up a couple of local chemist shops to keep us in anti-inflamatories, ice-packs and linaments.

And of course, Pete has been just brilliant in keeping this collectivist caravan careening toward commencement!

Our most exciting piece of news was the announcement just Thursday that the Birdsville Track is now open again after all the Queensland floodwaters had flowed southward. The disappointing news is that the "Tin Lizzie" won't be joining us - on this challenge at least. It's a real disappointment for Alan, but probably a blessing in disguise if the trip is as punishing on bikes/cars & bodies as we have been led to believe.

We'll be doing our best to update this blog once the trip kicks off in a week. Hopefully there will be plenty of photos and perhaps a video clip or three.