Day 18 Birdsville

Distance today 85km Ave 19km/hr

It’s 750 pm on Wednesday the 19th May 2021. Yay Birdsville!!!!! 1637km.

I’m very happy to be here. Brisbane to Birdsville is (was 😀) stage 1 of the challenge. It was an important stage to get me and the gear in sync and see what works and what needs tweaking. Most importantly it was about waking up the body and mind into the right head space.

I have been much more elevated over the last years dealing with some traumatic events and personal issues on top of working through Menopause. It’s taken a toll on my perspective and self belief. Anxiety and depression have made some days a bit more tricky. With the support of family and professionals, I continue to grow through the process but there is a gap between the woman I am and still want to be. Challenges have always been my way to find the motivation to rise up and especially when I’m part of, and contributing, to something bigger that I believe in. This stage has been very much about waking up in that space and revitalising my energy levels to tackle new experiences and keep evolving

The road here has definitely been a journey each day and I’m very happy and satisfied with how Banjo and I are going. Fundraising for Beyond Blue counts and helps me keep perspective when I could otherwise bottom out. The amount of support from family and friends is key and precious to stay focused and on track. I’m very grateful for the sponsorship team and this is about being committed to my promise of giving every day my best shot. I was talking to my boy tonight and he said, “Maree when I gets hard just do your very best.” Bless him!! 💕 I’m also on a promise to send him a picture of the first spiky desert plant I see 🤣 I’m on the look out for a cactus just for you mate xx

It was a later start today sleeping in after a bit of a restless night. But eventually I made mental peace with the dingos and got some decent zzz’s.

Today was 85km of recurring scenery. Really interesting to notice the pattern of riding up a sand hill crest with a slow decent into a floodplain. I would cross over a wooded dry river bed that meandered through the bottom of each plain then slowly ascend again to cross over another crest. Red sand hill country!!!!!! Some of the crests were sealed I suppose to reduce the corrugations. These are the bumps in the road caused by trailers and make keeping momentum up the crests a bit harder.

With 20km to go we had our break and devoured the last of the fruit gifts scored along the way

At last we were on the road into Birdsville happy happy 😃

I found the campsite easier enough and was welcomed at reception with “oh you’re the cyclist fundraising for Beyond Blue” He immediately made a phone call to the local police officer to notify them I had arrived. Apparently the police from Windorah heard I was cycling their way and called ahead as a safety measure. How cool is that. Tomorrow I’ll pop into the station and find out more about how I can support the process and thank them for looking out for us!!

I have a couple of days now to pick up my postal packs and reorganise the gear from what I have learnt from the last two weeks. Banjo of course needs a good service and I’ll revisit the maps and itinerary for stage two— the Birdsville track!!! I can feel an excited feeling in the tummy when I type this so that’s a very good sign of leaning into the next stage to come. Bring it on!!!!!

It’s after 830 and I still want to call my partner and have some dinner so I’ll sign off there. Talk soon xxxx