Sunday 29 November 2015

Planning, Planning, Planning

Cart #1 on over night camp Cowan
Over the last few months its all been coming together.


I organised to meet up with Lucas Trihey at his house in the Blue mountains. Lucas has a great knowledge of desert walking , and has built up a company that looks after event safety and logistics.


We chatted for a couple of hours and decided I need to write up a risk assessment plan. We also discussed all things carts, axels, tyres , bearings, brakes harnesses, water ,food, nightwalking, distillation, blisters and everything in between.


I built cart number 1 from steel box section 25x25, bought some 29inch wheels and tyres on ebay, bought some aluminium scaffold for my draw bars and thought I would give it a crack up and down my drive way loaded with 100kg of water. Well going up was relatively easy , down was a little different , me 75gk cart 100plus kg wow I needed brakes. So my first attempt at brakes came in the form of your old school rim brakes but soon realised I need to go for disks. A little reinventing and I had a set of disk brakes controlled from make shift handle bars and brake levers from my old bike that I bought when I was 15.I borrowed a set of Large Marge rims and fitted tyre to these. For those who don’t know about FAT bikes these are a 100mm tyre they look like motor bike tyres(they look a bit silly really.)
Fat wheel this side and normal MTB farside


This s a great training cart heavy and very strong but not one to take across the desert.

After many sketches and conversations about which size aluminium to use I finally settle on 40mm round 3mm wall thickness T5. I have also decided to go with singles sided axles like those on a car or box trailer. 20mm thick axle.

The draw bars (really that’s the only way to describe them the things that I will hang onto to pull the cart across the desert) are 42mm 0.8mm wall T7 aircraft alloy super light and super strong. I purchased these from Moyes Hang gliders. These guys where great and gave me heaps of help. There work shop was a dream.(maybe next I might hanglide across the desert.)

One thing that has been on my mind constantly whilst planning the cart in my head was tyres and punctures. I had this idea to fill the tyres with a profile of EPDM rubber. So I made contact with a company in Brisbane called Trelleborg. I spoke with a really nice bloke called Victor who is doing every thing he can to find a product that will suffice.

Charging all the equipment along they way is also another small drama , I was unsure how to work out how many amp batteries I would need and only want to carry the minimum as weight is crucial. I drop in a spoke to the guy a Battery World Hornsby , these guys are fantastic and are working out all my power needs. At this stage it looks like it will be 2 solar panels, one on my backpack/harness and the other on the cart. (2 systems  2 batteries so if one breaks down you have the other)





In The Beginning

I remember the day that I decided on the name for the walk, we were on our way to Canberra for Christmas, It was December 2012.

“Walking for Talking” , because I’m going to raise money for beyondbue I told her, Katrina thought I was crazy then and still does I think, but has never given up supporting me on my crazy adventures.

So with much planning, training and support I walked East – West across the Simpson Desert 430km in 10days. We raised over $12000 for beyondblue. It was August 2013. It was a fantastic trip supported by Daryl Fox, boss driver and great mate, who I could not have done it without.
2nd last day Walking 4 Talking doing
 "Walk like an Egyptian"

The trip was not life changing, but has sent me down a path of many more walking adventures.
Me middle of Simpson Waling 4 talking
Foxy all set up on Walking 4 Talking


Early 2014 I came across an organised walk “Burke and Wills Trek” walking from Innamincka to Birdsville retracing a small part of their ill-fated expedition  I met heaps of great people on the walk and we were raising money for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)


Camels from Burke and Wills Trek


One of the great people I met on the Burke and Wills Trek was its Saftey Cordinator Lucas Trihey. In 2006 Lucas became the first person to walk the Simpson Desert unsupported. We spoke many times about his walk and he planted the seed in my head that I could do it too. Lucas is such an inspiring mate.

November 2014 , Idea to walk the Simson was firmly buzzing around my head , but not something I had shared with Katrina. When the time came and I did let it slip the support was there again this time with a little apprehension ,”this one is a little more serious you know that , and would our life insurance cover you!” And with that planning began

I came up with a name “Hauling for Calling” which I thought was sensational!!!  Many people could not see my point of view. And so “Walking for Talking 2” was born.

I was at the Pub (Berowra Tavern) with Brendon Last one evening discussing my next adventure. I suggested that Bren should join me. With a bit of persuasion I think I have him across the line. For Bren its not so much the time away from work as it is the leadup training, but a worst case scenario he would come out to Birdsville with a be a part of the safety crew.

Just before we headed of on our family holiday for 3 months to Western Australia , I learned a bloke called Ian Vickers would be aattemping to cross the Simpson Desert this year, so I caught up with him by phone . Ian was more than Happy to help and gave me heaps of ideas for building my cart.


We had a fantastic trip away and we really grew a team spirit within the family. It was so good just being a family with only worries being will the kids finish there School work for the day so we can go fishing again! I did get a lot of time to plan the walk though. Many nights falling asleep dreaming of my walk.