A message from our intrepid walkers - Anne McKenzie and Mary Waterford...................
Hi friends and supporters
We may not have been the fastest (40/47 teams) but I think La Lao Halimar
sang the loudest, had the most fun and, to top it off, had the NUMBER 1
support team at Saturday's Kangaroo Valley Trek for Timor! We started
singing on Friday night and didn't stop until we went to bed Saturday
night.... yes some of it was tuneless but all in good spirits and well led
by our woman of song Josie!
All donations over $20 are tax deductible. go to
http://www.kvrp.org.au/page1/page10/page10.htmlRead more about the lighting project at
http://www.kvrp.org.au/page4/page5/page5.htmlWe (Jem, Josie, Mary, Kay and I) were on the track at 10 past 6 on Saturday
morning fully decked out in our rain gear as it was drizzling. We were happy
though as the day before it was 32d and windy. Drizzly and cool was great
even though we missed all the beautiful views along the way.
We loved walking in to our first checkpoint, an hour ahead of time, to
Maggie with a big sign and Maria with a big gluten free cake, and all the
comforts of home (including hot water and face washer) - yes we were spoilt
rotten and this goes some way to explaining why we took a while - it was so
hard to leave such luxury and pampering.
One of our highlights (being the very fine chorus that we were) was the
"Corridor of Surprises". This was a relatively flat section near the end of
the 2nd section and 2 very talented people had put together a "guess the
song" corridor. Each of the 11 sculptures was brilliant in both thought and
execution. (you can see us climbing the "Stairway to Heaven" and trying to
blow out the "candle in the wind"). Once guessed then we had to sing them to
the next one a few hundred metres up the road. We only missed one (can you
guess it? attached) but we still took to the podium anyway!
We were unsupported at checkpoint 2 but the wonderful T4T organises put on
soup, hot drinks and good cheer for everyone. The event was beautifully
organised even though they had to contend with all sorts of dramas - the NP
lighting a fire the day before and closing part of the track (due to rain
could reopen at 10am on the day!), the weather (cold for their very
courageous and dedicated volunteers), and various other little hiccups we
learnt of after the event.
The river crossing was fun. I SOOOO nearly made it across without getting my
boots wet but took a tumble off the last rock and had wet boots (changed at
next chpoint). Mary made it and everyone else took sensible precautions and
took their boots off!
We arrived at Jack's Corner to an engineering feat - a tent heaven! I nearly
wish it had have been raining so we could REALLY appreciate it. Maggie,
Maria and Amanda again waited on us hand and foot (and we loved it).
We finally lifted our very full and satisfied tummies off the chair and
headed out on our last 12km section most of which we did in the dark and to
the sound track from the Sound of Music. The track was good (apart from the
odd wombat hole... not sure if any walkers were lost down these) and so we
practically ran home to the chaff bag! Unfortunately we were so fast, and
there was no mobile coverage so we couldn't warn our support team of our
speed. We finished an hour earlier than we thought and of course we all
walked in to our own version of "We've been walking 'round the mountain all
day long...." and were greeted by a very excited Bush Lemons Tart team
(Jocelyn, Jen, Sharron & Angela) who finished 3hours earlier but WAITED for
us to arrive! It was great to be cheered in (totally forgot to get a pic
though).
With only 1 fall, a few blisters and a few tight bits we were very happy and
proud of ourselves. You can imagine what we were most looking forward to...
yep a long hot shower. But ... there was a blackout at the caravan park and
we had to settle for a warm sponge bath. I quite liked it as it reminded me
of what we were doing this all for.... Timor. I bathed like this for 4
months when there and was happy to do it again!
If you haven't already donated I would encourage you to do so. This is a
great event for a wonderful cause we are doing well in our fundraising but
would love to come in the top 3 fundraisers as THIS is what this event is
all about!
All donations over $20 are tax deductible go to
http://www.kvrp.org.au/page1/page10/page10.htmlRead more about the lighting project at
http://www.kvrp.org.au/page4/page5/page5.htmlYou too could have this "feel good" feeling next year at the BM T4T. Save
this in your favourites
http://www.trekfortimorbm.org.au/. From my
experience I can say it is a fantastic way to get fit, feel good and get
close to group of friends!
Thank you so much for your support, La Lao Halimar are very proud and we had
a ball!
Love to you
Anne & Mary.