Day 79 Marble Bar – Rest Day 3

Distance today Nil

TOTALS: Distance 5456km. Donations $7570.09. Days remaining 60. Deserts: Sturt Stony, Strzelecki, Tirari, Gibson, Great Victorian. Tracks: Birdsville Development Road, Birdsville Track, Oodnadatta Track, Red Centre Way, Great Central Road, Goldfields Highway, Wiluna North Road, Marble Bar Road.

Note to new readers: I am travelling with my bike who’s name is Banjo. I often refer to ‘we’ meaning Banjo and I. ‘We’ have an amazing support team of family, friends, sponsors and folk we meet each day. But it’s still up to ‘us’ to face the challenge and tackle each day one peddle at a time.

It’s 730pm on Monday the 19 July 2021

I went off to bed last night having done what I could for peace of mind. Rob’s favourite saying is ‘it is as it is,’ and I thought of that as I fell to sleep. Thankfully no visitors during the night and I slept blissfully. I woke at 5am feeling the best I have felt for ages and ready to tackle the day. After cuppa o’clock of course 🤣

The first thing on the list of todos was plan my days to Halls Creek. It’ll be 10 days of 1332km averaging 133km/day. It’s my way to prepare physically and mentally for the Tanami Track. All going well, I’ll arrive Halls Creek on Thursday the 29 July for a couple days break before tackling stage 8. The postal pack will go tomorrow and should arrive before I do.

What was needing to happen today to finalise my preparations, was for the postal packs to arrive.

Banjo was otherwise all good to go.

Claudia and Lothar were ready for a chat later in the morning. They’re up in Kununurra and were looking out over a waterway of local crocs and birds during our conversation. How cool is that!!! It was wonderful to connect again. I have missed them immensely and we had lots to catch up on since Uluru. I shared with them some of my challenges and Claudia shared a beautiful quote from Fred De Vito.

They always know just what to say bless them. We’re friends for life. I deeply value our connection. After talking for a couple of hours it was time to get on with our respective days. Lothar said that if I need them I need only ask and they will drive to wherever I am to help. What a language of love my dear friends.

It was time to go to the post office and see if my parcels had arrived. I walked in and Cheryl was surrounded at the counter with the mail that had just arrived. ‘Anything with my name on it?’ She said, ‘come back in half an hour.’ I wished patience was a virtue. Time to go and see Amy at the community resource centre.

Amy is an impressive woman who managers the CRC here at Marble Bar. Her skill set is comprehensive and she’s clearly very capable and passionate about her work. Cheryl speaks very highly of her and it’s very apparent why. While I was there she was assisting 4 other customers with respect and patience and hovering between to offer support as needed.

Amy’s work is about supporting all the local community with whatever they need to manage their day to day. This may range from Centrelink or Trust applications, setting up a phone with Telstra, referral to support groups, community events or acting as the local information centre. It’s a State funded program that is inclusive for all persons in need and it works. They tried to close the program recently and the community were up in arms and successfully petitioned to have the decision reversed. What an acknowledgement to the essential work she does. She also writes and edits the ‘Mirage’ which is Marble Bars local paper. We spent some time together talking about The10desertchallenge in between her other tasks.

Our story now features in the July edition released today. Thank you Amy for your support and genuine reflection to promote our cause.

Time to see if Cheryl was finished processing the mail. I walked in and she said with a cheeky grin, ‘so I suppose you would like your parcels!!!!!’ Yayayaya 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

The rest of the afternoon was spent repacking gear. I was like a kid in a candy store and it was Christmas in July!!!

The best pressie was my foot pump.

For the first time, I have been able to inflate Banjos tyres to their max 30PSI. We have sealed road through to Halls Creek and hard tyres will be a blessing.

The pump has pride of place on my back rack under the saddle bag.

I can finally be independent with respect to managing his tyre pressures and deal with flats as needed. It’s true love!!!

We finished our todos by early evening and in time to call the folks before their bedtime. We’ve all been holding our breath hoping the post would deliver today. It was such a relief to share with Mum and Dad. Thank you darlings for your continued support and care.

So all that’s left now is a good night sleep for an early start in the morning. The riding conditions will change now heading north. The days will be warmer in the mid thirties. It will be interesting to see how this effects me and water consumption. This may also impact on how much water we carry for each day/overnight. At the moment 4 lites per day has been more than enough. Let’s see what the next days bring. Time for dinner and bed. Look out Halls Creek!!! We’re on our way on the Great Northern Highway. See you in 10 days!!! I’m excited to be getting underway again better kitted up with what we’ve learnt. I love ‘process.’ It’s all about continuous improvement and that way of working works for me!!! Night and talk soon. Xx