Day 10 Charleville

Distance today 92 km ave 20km/hr

It’s 648pm Tuesday the 11th May 2021

Hi fine folk posting from the Cob and Co caravan park in Charleville. The owners offered me a free camp and it’s a beautiful spot 1km out of town. I’m squeaky clean after 2 longer sessions in the saddle today. This morning started at very early o’clock with a radio interview over the phone for ABC breakfast show hosted by Craig and Loretta. I think it went well. It went for about 5 minutes. I had walked out of the Showgrounds and into a nearby paddock so that my voice didn’t carry and disturb the other campers. Talk about surreal standing in total darkness and chatting to the hosts about the challenge. There’s a link to the recording on the socials so check it out if you like.

We spoke mostly about the postal packs topping up supplies and the support from Mum and dad and my partner to make sure they’re posted in time. Oh my goodness I got so emotional speaking about this but managed to pull myself together and not be a blubbering mess for the 5 minutes. The next interview was at 830 with radio 8ccc Alice Springs. This went a bit longer and they were very interested in Banjo and his make over before we left to make sure his bits are siloconed, greased and lubed up for the dusty tracks ahead. Thanks again to the guys at The Mountain Biker in Stafford for donating all the service work to make Banjo shine. I’m waiting for the audio file for this interview to share on socials.

The support from sponsors is inspiring. I want to share with you tonight the story around my favourite bit of kit, the Inreach mini. This is the orange electronic you see strapped on the backpack. It’s a satellite tracker, messenger and navigation device that pairs with my IPhone. It tracks me and my riding each day. The information is recorded on Mapshare so you can follow our travels. There’s a link to mapshare at the top of my blog page. It also enables me to share emails with my family and message on Twitter and Facebook when out of cellular service. I am able to SOS in an emergency and two way communicate with the 24/7 responders about the situation until resolved. In a nutshell it’s my lifeline.

The mini needs a satellite subscription with the iridium network. This is bigger bucks. I had applied to a major company for sponsorship to cover the costs of the device and subscription but was unsuccessful. A few weeks out from leaving I needed a plan B.

I approached Anaconda Northlakes to see if they would come to the party. The manager, Colleen offered to approach the company again on my behalf and see if she could get them to reconsider. When that didn’t work she stepped up and donated the mini. Thank you again Colleen and Anaconda for my favourite and essential bit of kit. The next challenge was covering the cost of subscription to Telstra and Iridium that cost $1000 total with set up.

Being a Sandgate girl, my plan B was to approach 10x businesses in the Sandgate community who know me well. This process was amazing as each of the following businesses were happy and excited that they could support our cause. We set up an account at the Sandgate Commonwealth Bank so that they could donate $100 straight into the account to be used then for monthly payments. All transparent and is working beautifully. Sandgate is like a village and it’s a privilege to be part of a close knit community.

So it’s with all my heart I say thank you to Linda and Jacki and Laurels Beauty Salon, Karen at Oakwood Cottage Organic Whole Foods, Fiona at Fiona Green Podiatry, Tim at Market Meats, Arte and Brock at Sandgate Realestate, Peta and Bruce at Bruce Connolly Builders, Viv at Sandgate Wreckers, Steve at Rigby Family Chiropractic and Terry at Terry Duffy Optometrist. Both Steve and Terry donated an extra $100 and Terry also gave me my subscription polarised sunglasses. Your support has enabled me to travel safely and get on with the challenge ahead with peace of mind for me and my family. Time for dinner and onto Cooladdi tomorrow. Talk soon xx

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