APEX Movie under the Stars

I would like to say thank you to all the people who came along to the Movie last night. The rain held off and I even saw a star or two.
Thanks also to the Berowra Apex and Hornsby Council for host a free community event.
The donations that where put in the bucket tallied $124.40 which goes straight to beyondblue. Proceeds from the BBQ will also be going to beyondblue.

I had a great time taking kids for rides on the cart. I had modified the cart adding 2 seats built from milk crates and old school chairs, installed a couple of guards so  no fingers would get caught in spokes and it all worked a treat .

Big news the final tally from all donations not including my bucket for the night was $1574.

Great work to every body that came along to support such a fantastic cause.

Spend Spend Spend.

This little adventure does cost money, lots of it. I'm cool with that and so it nice when companies and people are more than happy to help out.
Firstly a massive THANKYOU to my local coffee shop

WELLSPRING Cafe. Phil has decided to sponsor my shoes . Thanks Mate.
By the way my shoes of choice are an ultra light weight marathon shoe called Hoka stinsons ATR. They have a huge amount of cushioning.

Kathmandu has also come up with the goods in the form of a voucher that I used last Thursday night in Hornsby KMD store. The voucher entitled me to some extra discounts.

Trying not to go to overboard we still managed to knock up a nice bill. 

I also finally went and saw Warren from Promomania this week. I have known Warren for ever and we are best of mates and he has been very helpful with designing some t shirts for me.

Spot Messenger Trial

OK I have purchased a new toy. Its a Spot messenger 3! Wow you might say , its about the size of 2 match boxes and will be a way you can track my progress across the desert.
This is the link(hope it works that's why its called trial)
Graeme's Spot Mesenger
From the Spot messenger I can be plotted on a map, send an I'm OK , send a preset message, send a I'm ok but need help message and use it like a EPIRB/PLB (get me the hell out of here distress signal which hopefully I wont be needing)

Training Training Training.

My training in the past month has really started to ramp up. My aim for March is to get 10km per day minimum + half hour of stair training every second day , and on every other day take "foxy" out for Gully Road Hills ( Gully road is about 1.2 km long starts off slow with a nice pinch at the end.)
Today I have also been at training in the form of St Johns First Aid, I am completing the Remote Area Course which takes 3 days and is really hands on with heaps of scenarios. The course is great fun and if you have the time and money well worth it.

Christening 'Foxy'

Christening 'Foxy'

With brakes fitted ,attachment points for my harness in place I decided to take 'Foxy' out for her first real test( other than going up and down my driveway many times) it was to be a walk to Berowra Tavern then onto the Apex meeting not to far away.

I loaded 'Foxy' up with 80l of water strapped it all down, and off we went. Now 'Foxy' is a little wider than a foot path and I knew this from the beginning, but what I did forget that night was it was bloody bin night. I only hit two and successfully managed not to knock them over. The bougainvillea bush was another story and I got hung up in it both going to the pub and on the way home.

All in all I was more than happy with how she performed

On the hit list now 'Foxy' will get some nice shinny reflectors as I did spend some time on the road .

Australian Geographic Sponsorship GRANTED!

Australian Geographic Sponsorship GRANTED!

I am very luck to be the recipient of sponsorship for my walk from Australian Geographic Society. Two rounds of sponsorship are offered each year, with a limit on sponsorship being $1500. Due to the large number of entrants in  my round of grants I still received a substantial contribution to my walk  . This money will go towards some of the cost like...

Construction and materials for the cart 'Foxy'

Satphone purchase+ calls

Travel to and from Birdsville

Food both for me and support crews

Clothing and shoes

GPS, first aid gear, epirp, spot messenger, paper maps

So thanks heaps to Australian Geographic.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner .... Thanks Triple M

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.

Sydney radio Triple M was running a competition called "Back in Black". All you had to do was send them in a bill that you needed paying and a little blurb about why, who, how. 

One of the big bills so far was for the Fat Wheels and tyres for the cart $820.67 although they were heavily discounted from the supplier /builders Dirtworks.

So on Thursday morning I was very happy to receive a call from the boys on "The Grill Team" to tell me I had won hat mornings competition.

It has also opened up an opportunity get get some more radio exposure during the walk as they are interested to keep in contact.

THANKS HEAPS TRIPLE M