Day 67 - 68, 69………………………Much Needed Day Off!
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| Amazing fruit and veg at FoodWorks Gloucester |
A busy day off in Gloucester, we had arranged to be at the
FoodWorks store for 9am to sort out an interview with the local paper, radio station
and get the shopping done. We had spent the evening camped in the competitions
carpark, IGA Supermarket, but Innes
owned this too, and as I learnt from having dinner with him and his family the
night before, it sounded like this town should be called Innescester.
It was good to catch up on a few things and just take some
time out from the relentless pounding I
was putting my body through.
Day 68……………………..People You Meet
I started in a place called Caramea Homestead, I was lucky
to start here as It was the other side of the Drover Gap where I had been
forbidden to go the day before. I wouldn’t have started there if it wasn’t for
Anthony a local cattleman.
It was a four wheel drive track all overgrown that took a
steep decent down a spur line to the bottom of the valley floor where the
homestead was.
Anthony had taken time out of his day to take me down there
and take a look around some where he hadn’t been for a number of years.
So ,who’s Anthony I hear you ask? We had driven from
Gloucester to a place called Nowandoc
the night before and I was going to run from there to Yarrowitch. We had
pulled up in a rest area in the middle of town (well three houses and a closed
down shop) We were all ready for bed and we hear this ute pull up. It was
Anthony to clean up the toilets and empty the bins. Vickie felt sorry for him
with it being 10pm and him still working and I was sent out to see if he wanted
a cuppa.
Before we knew it we had him in the van having a good old yarn,
turns out he knew heaps about the trail. He offered me he lift down into the
valley so that I could run this thing properly.
8am on the dot and Anthony pulls up. I wondered all night if
he was going to be there, he was a bit blurry eyed as he finished a beer the
night before and headed home.
It was a cold and foggy start to the day. The decent was
steep and it was an 8km uphill battle to get out. Once at the top I had the
undulating 20km back into town along the main road and then another 10km down a
dirt road to Top Station where I finished up for the day. We were lucky to get
the Mothership down there, the road was good, but only went as far as the
station. Tomorrow I would be heading out over the rough country.
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| Views from the top of the velley, worth the climb |
Day 69………………………Top Station Wilderness
We awoke to a beautiful morning in the rolling country side
of this station. The foggy valleys made for a magical started as I headed up
the dirt track watching the Mothership drive out the opposite way, it looked like
a speck in this vast landscape.
I had a 43km of tough going and not much of a trail to
follow as I made my way through huge cattle stations without a person or
property in sight. The focus of today was going to be getting to the finish by
at least 1pm as Vickie had arranged a talk at the school in a town called
Walcha.
I often think how great some of these sections would be if I
wasn’t so tired in the legs. 43km for me is not such a huge distance but when
you put back to back marathons or more together over mountainess terrain
consecutively it becomes a whole different experience. If it was a weekend run
with friends you would have it knocked off in just a few hours having a whole
lot of fun along route. Not that I’m not having fun, but pain and lots of it
makes up most of my days both physically and mentally. So at least I’m
experiencing what I wanted to while planning this run.
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| Another day heading out into the wilderness |
I made it by 1pm on the dot and we rushed into town just in
time to entertain a bunch of school kids that often surprise me with some of
the intelligent questions they can ask at such a young age.
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