Distance today 72km

It’s 730pm Sunday 9th May 2021. Happy Mother’s Day everyone.

I came through the town of Amby today during the time my family was having their Mother’s Day picnic so I was able to call and join in on their celebrations via phone chat. Super special to send my love to my mum, dad, partner Dawn and the boy, Dylan.

Leaving Roma, he countryside changed with wide open fields and big skies. It was a beautiful ride again. I stopped at the the dot town of Muckadilla for the first break and popped into the sleepy servo there. I was welcomed by an ol’ fella and his cat who had worked there for an era and he was keen for a chat which was great. What a gentle old soul he was and kindly filled my water bottles with cold tank water and a warm smile. He was getting ready for some chill time with mates with videos, Kentucky and whisky on the menu, so he was in good cheer and had a twinkle in his eye.

I arrived in Mitchell and stopped outside the general store drawing lots of attention from the locals. More fun chats of course around Banjo. His 4.8 inch tyres continue to be a show stopper and a great conversation starter. I also met a lady who was a teacher at the local school and her family own a cattle property outside of town. She was excited to share photos of the running creek on their property and spoke about the challenging times for farmers with the long drought. Apparently there’s a ‘free land’ droving corridor that runs through their property. There’s about 2000 cattle being moved through the area at the moment and it’s likely I’ll come across them tomorrow. She gave me her number and offered to contact her if I need any help and she’ll know someone who will know someone who be more than happy to help out if needed 🙂 Very nice to know. She also invited me to camp on their property which is about 15km out of town. That was the plan until a storm came through this afternoon. I was a bit damp and smelly and in need of a shower so I ended up heading to the Major Mitchell campgrounds where they were kind enough to offer me a free camp and clean up.

It’s a beautiful campsite just before the bridge and the town sign welcoming travellers to “the gateway to the outback.’ Very appropriate!!! I’m one week into this stage of the trip and feeling a lot more settled and excited about the challenge ahead. It’s a good feeling indeedy after lots of ups and downs getting into gear. Tomorrow I’ll be in Morven which is great because on Tuesday morning I have a phone interview with a breakfast radio station from Alice Springs so needed to make sure I had good phone reception.

Tonight Ive had a look and rough plan for the next days to Birdsville and I’m still on track to be there before 5pm Friday the 21st to pick up my first postal pack to top up supples. That’s the logistics I want to share with you tonight.

There’s some essential food and other items I need during our travels. To top up on these supplies I have arranged parcels to be posted to towns on route with postal services. These parcels are addressed to me care of the post office address and they hold it for up to 30 days for collection. The trick has been to make sure I’m arriving at these places during trading hours. Most towns are open Tuesday to Friday but the hours vary. Mum and Dad have the prepacked boxes at their place and will post them allowing plenty of time to arrive. Mum and I finalised the Birdsville box today which will be posted Tuesday. Even though I don’t have a support car following, I still have a very extended support crew who make this challenge possible. My mum and dad and partner are my number 1 crew members and I am so grateful and doing this because of their love and support.

Time for dinner xx

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Distance today 72km

It’s 730pm Sunday 9th May 2021. Happy Mother’s Day everyone.

I came through the town of Amby today during the time my family was having their Mother’s Day picnic so I was able to call and join in on their celebrations via phone chat. Super special to send my love to my mum, dad, partner Dawn and the boy, Dylan.

Leaving Roma, he countryside changed with wide open fields and big skies. It was a beautiful ride again. I stopped at the the dot town of Muckadilla for the first break and popped into the sleepy servo there. I was welcomed by an ol’ fella and his cat who had worked there for an era and he was keen for a chat which was great. What a gentle old soul he was and kindly filled my water bottles with cold tank water and a warm smile. He was getting ready for some chill time with mates with videos, Kentucky and whisky on the menu, so he was in good cheer and had a twinkle in his eye.

I arrived in Mitchell and stopped outside the general store drawing lots of attention from the locals. More fun chats of course around Banjo. His 4.8 inch tyres continue to be a show stopper and a great conversation starter. I also met a lady who was a teacher at the local school and her family own a cattle property outside of town. She was excited to share photos of the running creek on their property and spoke about the challenging times for farmers with the long drought. Apparently there’s a ‘free land’ droving corridor that runs through their property. There’s about 2000 cattle being moved through the area at the moment and it’s likely I’ll come across them tomorrow. She gave me her number and offered to contact her if I need any help and she’ll know someone who will know someone who be more than happy to help out if needed 🙂 Very nice to know. She also invited me to camp on their property which is about 15km out of town. That was the plan until a storm came through this afternoon. I was a bit damp and smelly and in need of a shower so I ended up heading to the Major Mitchell campgrounds where they were kind enough to offer me a free camp and clean up.

It’s a beautiful campsite just before the bridge and the town sign welcoming travellers to “the gateway to the outback.’ Very appropriate!!! I’m one week into this stage of the trip and feeling a lot more settled and excited about the challenge ahead. It’s a good feeling indeedy after lots of ups and downs getting into gear. Tomorrow I’ll be in Morven which is great because on Tuesday morning I have a phone interview with a breakfast radio station from Alice Springs so needed to make sure I had good phone reception.

Tonight Ive had a look and rough plan for the next days to Birdsville and I’m still on track to be there before 5pm Friday the 21st to pick up my first postal pack to top up supples. That’s the logistics I want to share with you tonight.

There’s some essential food and other items I need during our travels. To top up on these supplies I have arranged parcels to be posted to towns on route with postal services. These parcels are addressed to me care of the post office address and they hold it for up to 30 days for collection. The trick has been to make sure I’m arriving at these places during trading hours. Most towns are open Tuesday to Friday but the hours vary. Mum and Dad have the prepacked boxes at their place and will post them allowing plenty of time to arrive. Mum and I finalised the Birdsville box today which will be posted Tuesday. Even though I don’t have a support car following, I still have a very extended support crew who make this challenge possible. My mum and dad and partner are my number 1 crew members and I am so grateful and doing this because of their love and support.

Time for dinner xx

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