Distance today 70km. Hi fine folk. It’s 6.23pm Saturday the 8th of May 2021. This rest area is beautiful. I arrived at 5pm this afternoon after a late start from Yulara. Margaret and Kevin invited me to toast, eggs and good company for breakfast and of purse we got chatting. The ride went well with the first stop in Wallimbilla 20km out. There was a small cafe run at the information centre there and a popular stop off for many folk travelling this road. It’s the Roma show this weekend so the road is also busy with locals travelling to/from. Banjo attracted lots of attention at the info centre with many folk wanting to know more and take a photo of our website to follow how we go. One lady offered me her unit at Mitchell to stay overnight but I’m aiming for past Mitchell tomorrow as tempting as it was. Generous ofer. Lots of folk have mentioned the hot springs at Mitchell great for soaking the muscles. More about that tomorrow.
My partner gave me heads up to check my socials in particular Instagram as there was a couple of messages there from folk. I apologise for my social media tardiness as I’m on a learning curve to be active on the platforms and monitor messages in a timely way.
One of the messages on Instagram was from a lady Sarah Hammond Apparently Sarah has raced bicycles across many desert roads in Australia so knows just how hard riding out there is.
Sarah mentioned she came across my challenge in the Moreton Daily and asked if I have a PR person or if I have been promoting the ride. Sarah has reach to a large network of cyclists globally and has offered to help advertise our ride. I’ll link through to your web page too. She offered advice on post content and in particular how people may want to know about my set up. Her reaching out is awesome and very appreciated.
One of the key nothings folk ask me is about water, how I plan to carry the volume between water points and harvest water on route. So this post I thought I’d start there. Below is a picture of my water kit. It offers me options to gather water depending on the source and quality. I have a tea filter to remove large debris and a pump action filter to remove smaller particulars and 99.9% bacteria. The filter has a lid that attaches to my water bottle and allows me to filter water directly into it. Extra sterilisers are acquatabs (1 tab/litre) and colloidal silver (2mls/litre = 2 droppers). I have the capacity to carry 30+litres of water which will be hard going given every litre is a kg. There will be multiple days between water points at times so the ability to carry 2-6 days of water is essential. I also have lots of foil water bladders that can be used for unplanned events like water dumps if the situation arises
If you have any specific questions or comments please ask away either through socials or the ‘contact us’ section on the blog. I refer to ‘us’ as Banjo and I as we’re a team effort and will continue to look after each other on the journey. My partner is also keeping a close eye on the social platforms and is giving me heads up about messages while I have my ‘L’ plates on. Thanks as always my love xxxxxxx
I hope you all enjoy a close and connected Mother’s Day tomorrow. The ‘mothers’ in my life never cease to amaze me with their 24/7 capacity to care for their family. Talk soon xx
The 10 desert challenge 
hey Ree, what’s water dumping????
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Hi Janny. Water dumps are when someone drops water ahead on the track at a prearranged location to save me carrying water on that leg. It’s an option if the situation and opportunity present itself. Thanks for the question xx
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…..so who do you organise it with Ree? And how do you know if the stretch you’re going to travel has that option?
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