Walk the Walk

The final entry!

2006-08-10T20:14:00.000+10:00

Whenever anyone reminded me that the walk was going to come to an end I would reply with 'yeh, I know - I'll be right!', and try not to think about it. Well, the walk has come to it's end and now I'm forced to think about it!

Last Monday was the fantastic walk in to Canberra. My thoughts were here, there and everywhere - I'm not quite sure what I said in my speech, I didn't really want it all to be over! It was pretty tempting to just keep walking...

The past two weeks has been a cloudy, strange time with mixed emotions and many, many happy memories. When I was preparing for the walk, I was getting ready to have more bad times than good. I was wrong, and am pretty sure I can speak on behalf of Whooshka here when I say that we really did have the time of our lives, whilst raising awareness of ABI, meeting thousands of fantastic people and learning a lot about people's lives, their strength and determination to keep going through extremely difficult times.

We have had the most amazing time. I wish I could properly explain everything I have seen, heard, looked at and emotionally experienced. It's funny when you get sudden flashbacks or reminders of an occasion and all you can do is laugh. It usually happens when I'm in a shop by myself so I look like a weirdo, but it's worth it.

A huge thanks to everyne who kept up with the Walk With a Rose story and especially to those who put on comments. In particular Lindylou! A lot of people told me they looked forward to our blogs, but our secret was that we really looked forward to the comments! We would talk daily about who had put a comment up, what they had said and regularly check for new commens. Secret admirers were always a laugh - Big Steve's wife did finally show up, to.

Whooshka whooshka whooshka, what can I say. You are a truly amazing person. You were with me every step of the way and never once lost your determination, sense of humour or ability to clean my smelly socks. Without you I don't know where I'd be...lost somewhere, probably. Sorry the walk make you lose 48 kilos, I'll let you off the nuts and berries diet now.

Time to get back to life, work, uni and more importantly, time to put all these thoughts of my next project down on paper and made some decisions.

Thanks again to all our blog readers. Whooshka and Stretch are clocking off from Walk With a Rose, but wil be returning soon.

Stretch is on holiday

2006-08-07T11:23:00.000+10:00

Hi all, just to let everyone know that Amy's having a couple of days R&R (I can't understand why....I don't get a rest!) and will be blogging in the very near future.

Catch you later Wooshka!

It's all over

2006-08-01T19:47:00.000+10:00

Well folks, we've reached the end of the journey, and I've gotta say it has been the ride of my life! From sunny Queensland to Wintry Canberra, this trip has been awsome! The experiences I've had and the people I've met are something I'll never forget. But the most amazing person I have met is Amy herself. Her determination, drive, and easy going personality has made it all the more enjoyable and easier to endure. We walked into Canberra yesterday with a cast of hundreds and the reception was unbelievable (and well deseverved on Stretch's behalf)

As I write this I have a lot of mixed feelings......happy to be home and sad that it's come to an end. As I said it has been an amazing experience, and one I hope I can repeat again. My kids joined me for a little of the final walk into town (a very little bit I might add....and complained about sore feet after about 10 minutes!) They even brought my faithful hound dog for a visit, and she managed to get my only clean shirt covered in paw prints!

I've spent the last couple of days sorting out the gear we had in the van and washing clothes (even after we get back, I'm still stuck washing Stretch's stuff!) The house has managed to survive my absence....thanks to my favourite daughter's attention, and it's good to sleep in one bed for more than one or two nights! And at least I know where the toilet is in the middle of the night if I need it....there was a couple of close calls while we've been away!

We were joined for the Goulburn-Tarago leg by some members of Goulburn Rotary, and presented with donations raised by them prior to our arrival (many thanks Marty!). Unfortunately, as so often happens with everyone who walks with Stretch, they soon realise the pace she sets with her loooong legs, and it has caused some early retirements. I hope everyone pulled up OK.

As I say it's good to be home, but I miss life on the road heaps! But it had to come sometime, and it's time to get back to some normality

Until next time Wooshka!

Amy's diary entry 17

2006-07-28T17:07:00.000+10:00

With Canberra number plates everywhere and familiar sights I can feel the end drawing nearer. How exciting. I think I'm a bit nervous actually!

Brian and I had a wonder through Morton National Park the other day and threw some coins onto the wishing well. I spoke to the lady at the front desk about joining WIRES (wildlife rescue team) and it sounds like an awesome idea. I would have loved to look after Wally in my home!

We were invited to attend and speak at the opening of the Transitional Living Unit in Goulburn Hospital along with the Mayor, staff from the hospital, staff from my Uni and members of the NBIF in Canberra. It was great seeing familiar faces, especially Dorothy, Ken and Pauline, who were the first people to help me with the Walk With a Rose project. It was a beautiful ceremony with the ribbon being cut by man with ABI who had been at the hospital for a couple of years. I hadn't actually walked into Goulburn yet at that stage and when I did the next day they all came out a couple of k's and walked in with me. The Goulburn radio had reminders about our arrival every hour that day, so it was definitely a warm and well known reception!

We were taken to have a little peek around Goulburn gaol yesterday arvo. There sure is a strange feeling about that place! Lots of people with big toys on high walls with razor wires and motion sensors. The guys working there were really informative and more than happy to answer all our questions...some of which we didn't really want to know the answers to! We all decided we'd be good.

And now the end is near etc. etc.

2006-07-28T17:02:00.000+10:00

Well folks, I'm in sunny Goulburn.....the home stretch! We're looking forward to Monday, but in a way I'm gunna be sort of sad that's over. It has been a fantastic experience! But on a brighter note, we're both still going well and Stretch is still putting in the big ones. Over the past few days we've seen some great places and met some really nice people. We managed a short tour of the Bundanoon area and the Morton National Park's highlights. Checked out a couple of lookouts, Fitzroy Falls, and a formation called the wishing well (I don't think Amy's wish came true as I'm still here) Bundanoon was a really friendly place, and although the weather was a bit inclement, we still had a great time. Apparently it used to be the honeymoon capital of Australia........maybe I'll go there for my next one!

Next stop was Marulan, and once again our hosts couldn't have been nicer. We even joined in the trivia night, but for some strange reason (perhaps it was my partners) we didn't take out first prize...in fact we didn't even feature in the placings! Although we scored a couple of bottles of wine in the raffle which were promptly dispatched to all the other tables.

On to Goulburn, where the highlight was attending the opening of the new wing of the Transitional Living Unit for people with brain injuries. We also got in a tour of the gaol. It was a real eye opener, and surprisingly, they let us all out again......although I noticed they gave me a couple of sideways glances!

Ames has got us all the way to Tarago today, and the Loaded Dog Hotel, although we're staying at the Tattersalls at Goulburn again tonight. The kind people of Tarago and districts have donated some dinner vouchers for us to raffle tonight so I have to do more PR work....it never lets up!

Hope to see you all in Canberra on Monday, as I have a sneaking suspicion we could be in for a big one! Hoping to find an internet cafe again before then,

Wooshka

Amy's diary entry 16

2006-07-24T16:33:00.000+10:00

Okay, so if anyone else has seen an Amy-look-alike having a lazy coffee or driving one of the support vehicles...NO, it's NOT ME!! It's my sister!!

What an awesome part of the world. Camden...Picton...Bargo...Bowral. We were walked into Picton by the Mayor as well as members of the Head Hunter group and just before we all sat down to lunch, I heard a noise. Somewhere in the distance a bark sounded that was very familiar to that of the beautiful husky I left in Canberra...and sure enough, prancing across the road came Tsar with James and Jules. It was the best suprise ever!

Finishing up in Bargo for the day, we located our place of rest and made our way over to the bowling club for dinner. Whooshka nearly pulled every muscle in his back when he tried to swing around on a non-swivel chair that night. Lucky he had his 'Wipe-on Sex Appeal' swabs he bought from the men's room in Hornsby.

Not a whole lot of cows in Bowral. We came across some donkeys on our walk in. One of them let me rub his head, but when I went to give his mate some attention he got cranky and tried to bite his leg. So I tried to rub both of their heads at the same time, thinking fair's fair, but no, neither of them liked that decision. They both made some weird noises and trotted away. I prefer the donkeys with the big ears though so I wasn't too offended. That's what I told them, anyway.

Crazy, crazy day. There isn't an internet cafe` in Moss Vale, so we went to the library but thought that their asking price was a bit rich so drove to Mittagong where we discovered the internet cafe` had closed last July so we went to the Mittagong library which closed half an hour earlier, so we went to the Bowral library which opened every day but today. An abundance of churches, but very few places to blog. After a quick prayer for sanity, we arrived with our tails between our legs at the original library where we were greeted by screaming children and strange looks. I think the screaming children was pay-back for thinking we could get a better internet-usage deal and I'm pretty sure the strange looks had something to do with our lack of talent in finding public washing machines...

Off to Bundanoon tomorrow. I like saying that word, Bundanoon. It's a bit like nashi pear - just a good word. We have a nashi pear in the car, actually. I'm going to eat it in Bundanoon so I can say I ate a nashi pear in Bundanoon and get to use great words in one sentence. Maybe Bundanoon has donkeys with long ears who like nashi pears? We'll see.

One week to go!

2006-07-24T15:21:00.000+10:00

Oh well all good things must come to an end, but I can't believe that this time next week we'll be in Canberra and it'll all be over! Since I last blogged we've lost Justo as he had work commitments in Canberra and we've managed to make it to Moss Vale. On the way we've caught up with the Mayors of Picton and Moss Vale as well attending a Rotary dinner in Camden. We also met Pat Farmer, the former ultra marathon runner turned politician.

The weather, however, has turned a little nasty, but at last I have 2 windscreen wipers! It would have been an interesting trip through Sydney in the old bus, but nothing I couldn't have handled. The Southern Highlands are a really pretty place and it is good to see a bit of rain up this way. Unfortunately early yesterday morning I decided to sneak out to buy the paper, only to discover I'd managed to lock myself out of my room! After a very cold breakfast, I discovered the window to my room didn't lock and I could've gone back to bed until a reasonable hour! I have a strange feeling Stretch may have a photo of me climbing back in the window!

With just the Seagull and myself (if your not sure who the Seagull is check out today's Canberra Times) the constant demands on me are increasing rapidly. Not only am I expected to drive the support vehicle, but I also have to deal with accommodation, media enquiries, keeping up the food supplies (which in itself is a full time job) but now I have to do the laundry as well! This wouldn't be a problem, but as you can imagine, after a days walking, Amy's clothes can get a bit on the nose! But as usual, I just do as I'm told without complaint!

Yesterday was a rest day, so I managed to have a bit of a tour of Bowral, and checked out the Bradman Museum. If you are ever up this way check it out, the memorabilia is fantastic. It is really good to get back to the country after the hustle and bustle of city life. What is the go with every suburb nowadays.....if they have a street that actually takes you somewhere they have to turn it into a mall or a one way street! Fair dinkum, it took me 4 trips into Parramatta to figure out how to get out of the joint! Every time I drove out I managed to do it by a different route and by the time I had it sorted it was time to move on! Amy and I had an indication of how bad the road system is when we tried to ask directions, and people didn't even know how to get to the next suburb! Mind you we both managed to get ourselves lost in Westfield shopping mall in Parramatta!

As I said it's only a week today till we hit Canberra, so I hope everyone comes out to cheer the Seagull home, and we're both looking forward to a BIG party Monday night! Have to go and do the washing now, so we've got some clean clothes for the next 7 days.

Catch you later....Wooshka

PS ........Hi T see you in a week, miss you heaps, and love you too!

Amy's diary entry 15

2006-07-20T20:42:00.000+10:00

It is now day 51 and it is up to Brian and I to see the walk through. The two remaining battlers.

Even though our numbers have significantly dwindled, our determination is still strong as ever and my legs are far from wanting to call it quits. One of my toe nails fell off the other day but these things happen.

We had a lunch at the Liverpool Hospital a couple of days ago where we were able to meet patients with ABI and many members of the staff. It was great to hear an ex-patient speak of his experiences at the hospital after the accident that caused him to be left with a brain injury. He made a great point that while parents need a break from taking care of their child, that child needs a break from being taken cared of by them too! Very light hearted yet also very touching. I was presented with a bunch of flowers and 'an energy pack' they called it. This energy pack turned out to be a huge box of choccies, marshmallows, toffee and more. Whooshka's eyes lit up like never before!

After back to back interviews we made it to Liverpool and over to our accomodation. Usually sharing a room with Whoosh isn't a problem - considering he doesn't snore. The only thing that lessens the chance of a snore free night is a lack of beverages. Well after five window-shattering 'WHOOOOSHKA!! STOP SNORING!!!!' screams I think he got the hint. The fifth one would have been around 5am, so as you can imagine I wasn't the happiest chappie the next day. Ah well, it was a rest day. I ate chocolate and got my hair done. I spent the afternoon looking like a girl again, not smelling and actually wearing clean clothes.

It was a long day today. It was one of those days where I wasn't quite here nor there. I don't think I had a worthwhile thought all day, I was just in my zone, walking walking. It's not like there's nothing to think about - quite the opposite actually, but sometimes it helps to just switch off all together and get into the walking rythm. It took over five hours without breaks to walk from Liverpool to Camden, but it was a nice suprise to be greeted by Pat Farmer to walk with me to our hotel! It was great to talk to Pat about the walk and about his runs, similar difficulties we have encounted and to share funny stories.

Something we both found was the need to stay disciplined. There has been so many times throughout the walk when I have just wanted to keep going through to the next town rather than stop and wait until the following day. I have had so many thoughts about pushing through Canberra and just keep on walking. It's hard to make yourself stop sometimes but really, at the end of the day, it's not a race and it's not to 'see how far I can get'. Also it's not over! I have walked from Brisbane to Sydney, but still have to walk from Sydney to Canberra!

Amy's diary entry 14

2006-07-15T16:30:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I walked in the rain for five hours. Every footstep came with a really pretty squealching sound. I could hardly see because of the flow of rain over my face, and the road was turning into a fast slowing river. Every so often my toes would go numb, so I started to run for a while to get the circulation going again. The rain did bring with it two benefits, though - it saved me from having to wash my hair this week and cleaned my clothes for me.

My first burst of laughter came from Brian when he called to say he somehow managed to turn onto the Freeway and couldn't see a spot to turn around. He received a good amount of pay - outs...then I managed to do the same thing. At first I was going to keep it as my little secret, but then I called to tell him I'd found him a present (a spanner) and he just happened to ask where I was...

The Hawksbury River is an amazing place. Every couple of minutes I'd see a hidden house and think to myself "oh, I'd love to live there..." then change my mind and choose the next house...and so on. I stood on a bridge to take a photo of my head with an awesome background. I didn't like the way I was smiling in the first five I took but finally got it right, all the while talking to myself, to turn around and see a guy sitting in his car at his driveway staring at me. Well it's not like there was a shop to walk into or a hole to jump into so I just kept on walking and pretended I hadn't seen him there. What a loser.

We arrived in Brooklyn to find a Post Office with Internet access. Mufasa was working in the store that day, and boy oh boy did he have some goods to buy! Everything was negotiable and it was ALL things that we really needed, like the Nokia phone finger sling thing. You can plug it into your phone and the sling wraps around your finger and you can carry it around like that. What an invention.

That night Jules nearly jumped through the roof at finding a dead spider under her pillow. It took me a while to get to sleep after that as I had the giggles bad. Nice sister I am.

A black cloud settles over the walk!

2006-07-15T12:20:00.000+10:00

Well, all good things must come to an end....a pall of sadness has engulfed the crew. Well the bus driver at least! Today is the last day I have with the beloved Beddy....Rodney is coming tomorrow to take her back to Canberra for a Variety Club Bash. While I'll be sad to see her go (and my main claim to fame as well) many thanks must go to Rod for the loan. At times I think she was more of a star than Stretch Walker herself! Also, at this point we only have 16 days till we get to Canberra, which I for one am looking forward to and dreading at the same time, as I've had so much fun on the road. Life will seem pretty ordinary after this. At the moment we have stopped for a coffee ( and to give Stretch a chance to dry off as it's been raining all day!) at a place called the Road Warrior Cafe just North of Brooklyn on the old Pacific Hwy. A top little spot popular with all the motorbike riders, so if you get the chance call in! My roomy (Justo) is a bit under the weather today and at the moment is sound asleep in the bus.....must have been something he ate!

The trip through the Central Coast has been fantastic, and it made a nice change to see the ocean. Although the weather has turned nasty today, it's still been a beautiful drive through the misty mountains. We've had Australian Story and The Footy Show visit us over the laat couple of days, which has been an experience in itself! Stayed in some great pubs, and met some great people, who are very appreciative of what we are doing. Amy granted us a rest day yesterday, so we got some R&R aqnd even got in a game of outdoor pool at Iguana Joes in Gosford. The tables are actually on a covered deck that goes out over the water! Justo and I were going to try and squeeze in a game of ten pin bowling, but there are just so many hours in the day, and there are quite a few pubs in Gosford! The night before last we had dinner at Amy's Uncles house with all her family....thanks must go to them all for their hospitality (although Uncle Paul did try to bring me undone last night!)

Just for a change, my phone just rang with Amy informing she is lost AGAIN! She's about to hit the Sydney Newcastle Freeway, but in her defence I must admit I did the same in the bus about an hour ago!

Anyway, I'm going to go and see if I can spruce up the bus ready for her farewell tomorrow. I have no idea what we are getting to replace her, but I know we won't be able to fit in even a tenth of the stuff we have now, so I'll have to do some serious culling (getting rid of some of Amy's clothes would be a good start)

Catch you all later....Wooshka!

Amy's diary entry 13

2006-07-15T12:05:00.000+10:00

Walking into Wyong I managed to eye-ball a bug that decided to stay there for a good five or six minutes. Mmmm that felt nice.

Brian's kettle in his room at the Dam Hotel brought a few laughs - it boiled at random, usually every 3 mins or so. Apparently little Lisa is still with us from the haunted hotel in Branxton...

For the first time ever the following day I shook hands with someone whose hand totally engulfed mine - Paul Harragan. Very tall guy, but also very down to earth and ready for a laugh. We all had a ball walking with him and The Footy Show producers and couldn't wait to see the footage on the show on Thursday night...and what an exciting night that was! Sitting in the Gosford Hotel pub, after doing a pokie - winning - dance, we were all so proud to see the story and hear Chief and Peter Sterling speak highly of the project. It was a proud moment with lots of smiles.

We had a few visitors come and go over the past few weeks. Lots of laughs with Michele and my mum (having mum join us ensured our food supplies are topped up!). It's always good to walk with fresh faces and minds...it was learnt that one should really refrain from drinking local water. Especially a whole bottle of it. It was also learnt that walking up and down hills on sandy terrain for a good couple of hours left ouchy feelings in the backside the following day.

We all had dinner with my relatives in Gosford the other night. Driving the bus with all lights glowing and the horn blaring in the suberbs certainly got a few looks - some that were happy - to - see - us looks ... and some that weren't. We were all spoilt with a huge dinner and drinks - that vegetable lasagne is sure to keep my feet stepping it out for the Sydney to Canberra remaining trek! Great food and great company...what more can you ask for.

We walked past a shop that was called Wally's Warehouse. It made me think of Wally the champion wallaby and if he was ok. I wish I had kept him. How much fun would a pet wallaby be bouncing around the house!

Now it's time for the parrot story. This parrot caused me the biggest stomach pains from laughter. We went to a mate of Rex's farm to have a peek around and Corey the parrot came over to me and sat on my arm for a while. We had a yarn, catching up on the good old days, then he flew off and we got in the car to go back to the hotel.

Well we must have made a good impression on Corey, because he didn't want us to go (I really shouldn't write what he was screaching out). As we were driving off, Corey flew over the car, sat on the roof, then slid on his butt down the windscreen to stare at us. We were picking up speed, yet Corey just turned around to face the wind as if to say he didn't want to get his feathers messed up. He was moving his head up and down like he was riding a surf board or something - then he flew off. Well, after the laughter had settled in the car, you wouldn't believe what happened next. Corey was flying, at the same speed as the car, next to the drivers window staring in! He stayed there for a while, then flew over the top of the car to the passanger's window, and did the same thing! It started to get a bit freaky after a while - it was like he was about to head butt the window to get inside the car - but then he flew off. Crazy bird.

Rex gave me a call the other day, too - and yes, he is coming to Canberra for the 31st July to yodel with me! What a treat for everyone!

Happy campers

2006-07-10T15:26:00.000+10:00

Hi all, well we made it to Camp Breakaway today, and it makes it all just seem that little bit more worthwhile to see where the fruits of the walk will be going. (not that we needed any encouragement!) Luckily it was the end of one of their camps, so we got to have lunch with some of the carers and their kids....inspirational stuff!

The last couple of days have been as hectic as usual. Coming in to Singleton, I was ahead of the crew and decided to have a stroll back to meet them. Unfortunately, as they like to do they had gone bush again (without letting me know). After about 40 minutes of backtracking, it was obvious that I had missed them, so I began to retrace my steps, only to hit the heaviest downpour of rain to date. My phone rang with Justin informing me they were high and dry under a covered picnic table at the bus! By the time I got there I was soaked! The best thing to come of this however, was that I spotted a kangaroo that had been hit by a car. Unfortunately it was dead but it had a joey in it's pouch which was very much alive. We all piled in the bus, drove the short distance back, and Stretch jumped out with a towel and pulled it from the pouch. After leaving with the local vet (it was christened Wally) we were back on the road. Singleton was a great town, with the highlight being the world's biggest sundial, but for some reason Justo and Stretch were very underwhelmed! Also they have very few street signs, which meant I had my second experience of going the wrong way down a one way street on this trip....it certainly makes the other drivers eyes open up when they see the bus coming at them!

Our next stop was Branxton, and a couple of nights at the haunted hotel. The local publican had bought the only other pub in town and closed it down, so we had the whole place to ourselves for 3 nights. On arrival, the place was racked by blood curdling screams....but that was only Stretch after I scared her half to death! She's a big sook really!

On to Newcastle where we had a reception in the park with the Lady Mayoress. This was preceeded with a walk along the waterfront with the local members of the Brain Injury Foundation. As well as this we were joined by Andrew (Joey) Johns, Luke Davico, and Michael Hagan....I could tell they were honoured to meet me! All in all a great day was had by all.

Oh well....the frothometer is showing dangerously low levels, so I better find our next pub to stay in!

Amy's diary entry 12

2006-07-10T15:14:00.000+10:00

We all miss Wallabadah terribly, especially Rex. If ever we get the chance to yodel again I think he would be really impressed; my triples are really improving. Triples you ask? Sorry, yodel talk.

The last week or so has continued to be quite educational for the team. We all know everything there is to know about coal mines, especially how absolutely enormous they are. We have gotten into the habit of counting the number of carriages on the coal trains which at times leaves you quite dizzy and grazes the knees occasionally as we trip over objects on the path while we stare at the trains but we can proudly say we have counted all carriages on all passing trains. The longest one had eighty. Felt a hint of travel sickness after that one.

One exciting adventure we had was the saving of young Wally. Wally is a fighter if ever there was one. We discovered Wally's mum lying on the side of the road. She had gone to animal heaven. Wally's legs were poking out of her pouch, so we grabbed him out, wrapped him in a towel and took him to the vet. Brian swears he was a kangaroo but I'd already named him Wally the Wallaby so we're going with them being wallabies. Brian occasionally makes things up to annoy me anyway.

For the two nights were in Branxton we stayed in a haunted hotel. It had been closed for months - we were the only people staying there. Scary stuff. Brian tells us little Lisa wasn't happy about us being there and that she was going to play the organ during the night to make us leave. I never did see little Lisa that night. It is possible that Brian made it up to scare me, but he's not usually like that.

Our welcome into Newcastle was really exciting. There were people waiting to walk with us across the forshore up to the old tram sheds. Most of these people were carers, parents and people with ABI. It is times like those that remind us how much of an impact we are having and how important our task is. It is such a good feeling to talk to people with acquired brain injuries about what we are doing and see a great big smile extend over their faces. Eveyone has a unique story, personality and energy, but they were all there for one reason - to join us across the forshore in gratitude. It was an amazing feeling.

We were also fortunate enough to be joined by Michael Hagen, Andrew Johns and Luke Davico that morning! We felt very privileged indeed. After a few minutes of walking and chatting, though, I realised how relaxed it all was and had an interesting time talking to them. They too were very supportive of the walk and it was a real benefit having them with us.

Walking up to the tram sheds there was a band playing to welcome us as well as the members of the community, the Lady Mayoress of Newcastle, the Hunter Brain Injury Unit and the Lions Club. What a crowd and such a fantastic group of people.

On our walk from Newcastle to Swansea yesterday, Chris (new member to the team!) and I found something by the side of the road. Similar to Wally's mum, he was in animal heaven, but we couldn't quite figure out what it was. I really did look like a squirrel, but Cris informs me it couldn't be. We decided it must have been one of those posscats.

We arrived at Camp Breakaway about three hours ago, having walked here from Swansea this morning. We were greeted by happy campers, parents and volunteers and all had lunch together in their hall. Tonight we will be staying at the camp and tomorrow night we will be at the Dam hotel in Wyong. We may have to check to see if the beer is cold.

It was our arrival to Newcastle that first made me realise we weren't going to be surrounded by cows all day every day anymore. I do miss talking to the cows. Maybe we'll see more posscats? They must be native to this area.

Farewell from Zoe

2006-07-08T18:15:00.000+10:00

After five weeks on the road, I have finally made my way back to chilly Canberra. Playing my part in getting the walk on the road was a lot of work, and I've learned a lot from it. Brain Injury is such an overlooked disability; it's a privilege to help bring it out into the open and support carers.

Best of luck to all the crew - I hope you get home safe and happy.

Amy addresses the Wallabadah pub

2006-07-03T17:29:00.000+10:00

Amy addresses the Wallabadah pub
Originally uploaded by walkwitharose.

After the bbq, the whole bar was packed out - this is Amy giving her thanks to the locals.

whhoshka saves the day

2006-07-03T17:28:00.001+10:00

whhoshka saves the day
Originally uploaded by walkwitharose.

No, he's not happy.

Amy and Justo lend a hand

2006-07-03T17:28:00.000+10:00

Amy and Justo lend a hand
Originally uploaded by walkwitharose.

Many years of hard-earned bar-tending skills went to good use as Amy and Justo gave the Wallabadah publicans a well-earned break.

Amy's diary entry 11

2006-07-03T16:04:00.000+10:00

Wallabadah pub was the place to be on Saturday! The radio ad encouraged every man and his dog to come along...and they did. There were a few people from Sydney, the whole of Wallabadah, Quirindi and of course Rex and his family. Rex put on a fantastic show, then it was time to show the world what I was really made of.

The Stretch Walker Rex Dallas duo went off with a bang - of laughs. He did say that I had improved.

Max, a long time local, said that he overheard us in the pub the other night saying we did enjoy a touch of port from time to time. So off we went to his house (across the road) for him to give us a present. A bottle of port that was twenty years old when he was given it as a 50th birthday present. Max is now 69. Needless to say, the walk with a rose crew had their wobbly shoes on later that night.

Feeling fresh and smelling like roses we got about an hour out of town the following morning when one of the bus tyres blew and the boys were required to do the boy thing and fix it. It took over an hour to tackle the beast (nothing to do with day-after-really-good-port heads). Lucky I had the video camera handy.

Sunday night we had walked to Muswellbrook, we are now halfway between Muswellbrook and Singleton. Today Justo and I walked a monsterous walk through bushland, wading across creeks, climbing up steep hills and running into massive power stations. These power stations are HUGE things - quite a lot of extra walking goes into finding a way around the area.

We did come across something strange today. On the top of a hill, up a dirt track, Justo and I came across some weird cow burial area. Only the cows weren't buried. There were hundreds of skulls and skeletons everywhere. Walking around the area, neither of us could talk and I realised I had been holding my breath for ages (partly due to the smell of course). I couldn't believe what we had come across, it felt eerie to be just standing there. So once the bus arrived we pulled out some food and ate lunch - not the greatest idea in the world, but at least it got us talking again.

I had a good look at my feet last night. As I have now covered just over 900k's, I thought I'd better give them some attention. Neither foot has a blister, which is good, but man do my toes look weird or what. I never knew toes could mould together like mine have. The sides of each toe have a well - defined ridge on them, like they are trying to grow into each other. I think my foot modelling career has gone down the drain. Ah well.

I have been meaning to do something for a while now and that is to thank the Australian Hotels Assosciation, particularly Leslie (thankyou!!). The AHA has given us all our accommodation for the whole of NSW. Every night we have had rooms waiting for us. There is nothing more exciting than knowing that after a day's walk with meals on the road (and conversations that always turn strange after a couple of hours with whoever is walking with me) there is a pub full of people ready to have a yarn, massive meals, generous publicans with raffles organised, posters up on the walls and beds. And the beds always have electric blankets.

It has just started to rain. Tomorrow should be an interesting walk - maybe my feet will be webbed enough to swim!

Justo's first blog

2006-07-03T16:00:00.000+10:00

Ok guys, i've been with the team now for a bit over three weeks now and i have finally learned how to turn on a computer. Now, where do i begin with the adventures we have been on so far? How about in Guyra where somehow i got myself roped into playing rugby union for the local team, 'The Glen-Guyra Ghosts'. Now, i haven't touch a football in a few years and with my first touch of the ball (about three quaters of the way through game) i got absolutely drilled by the biggest guy on the field. Boy did i hurt after that one. A better effort on my behalf, was when i played in the Deepwater pool comp and ended up winning $70 (which i put in the donation box).
The walking. with my first day of actually walking was about 16km and that within that time Amy somehow managed to break me, so i took a few days off from doing that.
The people. Along the way everyone that we talk to has been so friendly and so helpful so that one day Brian and I decided to help out some of the locals at Guyra. We gave these two guys a lift form Guyra to Armidale which is about an hour away. Both these guys were absolutely blind drunk. Along the way, one of these guys just sat there and said nothing (we think he was a serial killer), but the other guy would not shut up thoughout the entire trip talking at the top of his lungs. This wouldn't have been to bad, except for the fact we could understand a thing he said. We could only make out a couple of words, They were "Fred Ward's Thunderbolt" which he said about twenty times as we passed Captian Thunderbolts cave, Something about football and "the turn around, the turn around" refering to the round about in Armidale where we dropped them off. That's pretty good considering he didn't shut up for a hour.

Bus Captain's log....stardate day 34!

2006-07-03T15:56:00.000+10:00

We are currently in Singleton,staying at the Agricultural Hotel, but officially don't arrive till tomorrow. We also made our triumphant return tour to Wallabadah, with the added attraction of a concert by Stretch Walker, and her support act Rex Dallas (Thanks again Rex!) And thanks again to all the crew at the pub, as usual your were awsome! On our return drive we had some minor dramas however . On the way back to Muswellbrook all the air fell out of the front tyre on the bus. Luckily all our lives were in capable hands and the highly professional bus driver brought us to a safe stop. This was just what we needed after a BIG night at the Marshall McMahon! None of us had changed a bus tyre before, but we managed to fumble our way through and got back on the road. Camped last night at the Muswellbrook Hotel and once again the hosts were great, as usual on our trip (the unisex bathroom raised caused a few concerns however). The last few days the guys have been treading the maintenance track for the rail line, which runs beside the highway, so I've had a pretty easy time of it, but I think thats all about to change. Although Amy has a fetish for bush tracks, so I might not see them for a while! Unfortunately,I have to tear myself away now however as the beer at the Ag is running out rapidly!

More info as it comes to hand.....Wooshka!

Amy's diary entry 10

2006-06-28T11:27:00.000+10:00

Walking into the Wallabadah pub, everyone knew who we were and the drinks were waiting for us..

I asked a local if we could say hi to the pigs in his ute out the front. They were so cute - the one with the straight tail was a bit shy (I would be too) but the other two couldn't have been more excited to see us, oinking away as they do. I asked the bloke (after convincing the others that they must be his pets) how long they would live and really wished I hadn't. 17 mins left.

After Brian successfully stabbed himself in his leg trying to sit at the table and hold his knife and fork at the same time, we sat down to dinner - pork chops and spare ribs. Hmmmm. At least there was plenty of salad.

I have been practicing my yodelling for the Rex Dallas Stretch Walker performance at the Wallabadah pub on Saturday. It should be a cracker of a day - I predict Rex will ask me to record a CD with him as it really would be a top seller.

Now that the team was shown how honey gets made we all think we're experts. Never mind the bee stings - the Walk With a Rose professional honey makers are a tough lot.

I now know the trick to getting a cow to lick your hand. And nearly eat if off. What you have to do is: not wash your hands after making honey, slowly approach one by softly yodelling, then when it hasn't run away and is actually staring longingly at your hands, realise that it has smelt the honey is really hungry.

We are now in the upper Hunter Valley. It took over an hour to walk past the Emerates horse stud yesterday - it was huge. We have walked over the last of the Great Dividing Range (thanks be to God) and the road ahead looks pretty flat. More and more people are pulling over every day to donate money or buy a t shirt. Most people feel sorry for us and offer lifts - even if they know about the walk!

2006-06-28T11:18:00.000+10:00

Hi again, when I signed on for this gig, I was hoping to avoid using a computer for at least 8 weeks, but it wasn't to be. Amy's big on getting stories on the blog, so every time we see an internet cafe, it looks like I'll have to subject you all to another bit of dribble. We've stayed the last couple of nights at the Marshall McMahon Inn at Wallabadah, and it's been great! Mine host Ken and the restof the locals have been really friendly and generous. We've been invited to see honey being made this afternoon, and it should be pretty interesting...maybe even score a free sample! I've never actually figured out how they get the buckets under a bee to milk it! Justo and I had a bit of a stint at running the bar last night (with Ken's blessing of course!) and even managed to keep the drinks up to the thirsty crowd. When I say crowd there was only about 10 of us there, but boy was everyone thirsty! We are all also life members of the Wallabadah Surf Rescue team, and to date there hasn't been any reported drownings in the area....which is pretty good as it's about 400 Ks from the sea! We are also making a return trip on Saturday for a lamb on a spit lunch with raffles etc that the locals are putting on. Sorry to rave on about this town, but if you ever pass through stop in...you won't regret it!

Oh well off to the bee farm now, it's mustering time! Ride 'em cowboy!!

PS sorry we didn't catch up last night Steve, I was really looking forward to meeting your wife!

2006-06-26T07:47:00.000+10:00

Hi all, sorry to keep all my loyal fans (well fan really) waiting for more news from up here, but internet access can be hard to find sometimes. So much has happened in the last week or so it's hard to keep up! We've made it to Tamworth....the home of country music, so I'm having a ball (not that the rest of the crew share my enthusiasm). Two things of real note have happened here....we have unearthed a new yodelling legend by the name Stretch Walker...formerly Amy Banson, Brown, Bantam. (Thanks to Rex Dallas and his wife for the hospitality, and to a lesser extent the yodelling lessen and CD for Amy....now the only thing you can hear in the bus when Amy's aboard is YODELAYDEEEEHOOOO!) The other major event came after I made a bold statement a few days ago about getting a tattoo in Tamworth, so now I sport a rose on my shoulder! A lesser man would have shied away from this, but I'm a man of my word!

A couple of our crew have headed home for a few days, so we're a bit down on numbers, but not on enthusiasm. So this morning we head for Wallabadah, where the publican has organised a BBQ for us tonight. Also I have to thank Bevan and Joan for their hospitality while we've been in Tamworth, you've been great!

Anyway, gotta go...Brekkie awaits.
Catch you all soon, Wooshka!

Amy's diary entry 9

2006-06-26T07:46:00.000+10:00

Our time in Tamworth has been the funniest couple of days - I really dont think anything will beat it...

After we finally, finally made it from Balandeen (where I smashed my head so badly on a metal frame the only thing stopping me from passing out was a two-hour-long need to go potty) we quickly showered and raced over to our reception.

The reception was great, once again we met a lot of people and were congratulated on our efforts. Then I had an idea. In mid-conversation, very cooly and calmly, I dropped a hint at my yodelling interest...and that is what let us to Rex Dallas, the four-time Golden Guitar winner (for yodelling) legend who invited us to his studio in Moonbi for a once-in-a-lifetime yodelling lesson opportunity.

So off we went. I was confident as ever that my on-road practicing would surely pay off and Rex would see no need for me to take lessons. Wrong.

The air was filled with interesting sounds coming from Rex's studio that afternoon. It is possible, I was told, that with practice (a few years worth, minimum) I may one day be able to call myself a yodeller.

We drove away from Rex's house with his CD blaring in the bus and my newly improved yodelling voice getting better my the minute when the suggestion was made that if I was going to bust out some tunes at the Country Music Festival next year I needed a name. After a few interesting suggestions were thrown about, it was decided... Stretch Walker.

The next day Brian got a tattoo. He claims not a tear was shed, but on lookers tell me otherwise. We did manage to capture the whole event, in detail, on film - one of those behind-the-scenes films that may have to be destroyed before our return...

Storm clouds over Tenterfield

2006-06-24T11:13:00.000+10:00

Storm clouds over Tenterfield
Originally uploaded by walkwitharose.

This photo is from a while ago - it was taken in Tenterfield. Now we've made it from there through Armidale all the way to Tamworth!

So many of the towns we go through have streets like this and pubs like this, always with a good fire and full of friendly faces. The only trouble with these pubs is they never have Carlton Draught - I've had to switch over to XXXX Gold, which I'm slowly getting used to.

This pub is standard for us, but the weather isn't... I'm just glad we didn't have to walk in it!

Amy's diary entry 8

2006-06-21T16:56:00.000+10:00

I am now a lot older and wiser, having turned the big 23 on Friday. That was a strange day actually. I saw a chook on the side of the road. There were no houses around and no obvious chook pen to be seen...just a lone brown chook clucking about minding its own business. When I went to try and catch it, it nearly pecked my finger off. I was just going to carry it to safety into the next town, but the cranky thing didn't like the look of me and hid behind a tree.

We arrived in Armidale at 4pm on Sunday afternoon, greeted by the local member of Parliament, Richard Torbay, and students from various schools along with members of the community and Challenge Armidale. It was such a great feeling, having walked since 6am, to see a whole group of people waiting to welcome us, clapping and cheering. As we all walked into town there was so much chatter and excitement about, the last thing anyone expected was someone dressed up as a moose...?

The following day was one of the greatest days on the trip. I spoke at several schools in Armidale including PLC, O'conner Catholic High, Armidale High, Duval High, New England Girls School and The Armidale School. It was a strange feeling, walking into an entire school assembly, knowing that they were all there to listen to what I had to say. I am only a few years older than some of them, I thought to myself - why would they take me seriously? So I explained myself to all the students before I spoke. I wasn't there to preach or pretend I was better than they were, because that's not what this is about. I'm not an athlete, politician or movie star. I'm just a Uni student, I had an idea and am making it work. Simple. This, I hope, helped everyone (including myself) feel a little more comfortable and I was able to speak about ABI and what the walk was all about with ease, knowing that if I made a mistake, needed to sneeze or tripped in my heels it was ok because I'm as normal as they are!

We were then taken to the Armidale Dumaresq Council Chambers for a reception with the Mayor of Armidale, Peter Ducat, representitives from: various councils, Colleges, the Police Force, the Catholic Church, Challenge Armidale, reporters and members of the community. The Walk With a Rose project was spoken about very highly, we were congratulated and praised by all. Then it was my turn to speak. I've never been one to write speeches - the way I see it, if I don't know what I'm talking about then there's no point being there. I spoke about everything; how the walk came about, the many many people who have made it all happen, the journey so far and the team. I am often congratulated for my efforts but my hat goes off to the team here with me. Nothing is a problem for these guys, most dramas are fixed without me even knowing there was a problem.

Our departure from Armidale was also a very special one, the local police walked out of town with us along with students from various schools, members of the community, Challenge Armidale and the local media. My name was mistakenly pronounced Amy Bantom so the guys got a laugh out of it by clucking at me.

It was very quiet once everyone had left and it was just us again...so you can imagine the excitement when (whilst having lunch in the almighty bus) a cyclist came aboard to give us a donation and meet the crew. We bombarded him with questions and stories and laughter, made him sit down and have lunch with us and whipped out the cameras for a new face to capture. As much as the on-road team love eachother, it's always nice to have a fresh face.

Brian and I had a ripper of a day yesterday. We spent about 6 hours walking the road, talking rubbish as we do. We came across about four UFO landing spots, played 'I spy' (he cheated), played quoits with a rubber hoop we found and the white reflector poles (he's actually pretty good at that) then practiced yodelling together. Had a good tune going there for a while...then my throat started to hurt. Yodelling over and over again for long periods of time whilst trying to raise your voice higher and louder than your competitor and the passing trucks is quite a mission. I think I may get lucky with finding a yodelling instructor in Tamworth. Brian thinks I need lessons but I think fine-tuning a natural gift is all I need.

By now I could be running my own P plate business we pass so many on the road. As he is yet to be classified as a fully fledged walker, Brian found a very attractive belt on the road, put it on and stuck a P plate in it on his back. Good look.

I saw the most magnificant cow of all my sightings yesterday. It had a black back with a white tummy and a white head with black ears. It was the biggest of all and was all alone, as if to say no other cows were worthy of it's company. Brian made reference to the two hairs sticking out of the wart on the left leg of a fly that he reckons was sitting on the cows tail but seriously, the cow was stunning.

Today I walked to Bendemeer. Just as I was turning the corner into town I passed one of those big green signs (facing the other way). The end destination was Brisbane, 543k's. I was proud.

The view from the inside

2006-06-15T11:33:00.000+10:00

The view from the inside
Originally uploaded by walkwitharose.

Here's an insight into life for the support team - this is what members of the loyal bus crew get to watch day after day after day. Usually there's a bit more mess on the console, but this is basically our little world.

We've had a couple of complaints about the comments function only being useable by people with blogs - that's all fixed up now. Anyone can leave a comment, you shouldn't have any dramas at all.

Amy's diary entry 7

2006-06-14T12:23:00.000+10:00

Well we’re halfway between Deep Water and Glen Innes and not a cow in sight. I’m learning to cope.

Today a piece of metal got stuck in my shoe. It was long and thin and I was too lazy to bend down and pull it out. For three hours my footsteps were accompanied by the sound of metal scraping against tar. At first it was an interesting change – a new beat to sing songs to which gave me a whole lot of new song options. Then I couldn’t think of anymore songs that fit into the beat (and I learnt my lesson about making up songs yesterday when I decided if there was going to be a song about Tenterfield there needed to be a song about Deep Water…) so I decided to take the piece of metal out. This decision was a big one for me, that’s why I’m raving on about it so much – when I’m in full stride down the highway and have been building up speed for a few hours and I’m on a mission to find cows, it takes a lot to make me stop. Point of the story? After all that, the damn thing came out – fell out, I should say, after I had stopped and started to lift my foot to my hand.

We had a team ‘discussion’ a few hours ago about whether Winerama was a type of sheep, dog, or eighties band. Naturally, this lead to my confession about always wanting to learn how to yodel. I hope Glen Innes has a yodel instructor free this arvo – need to squeeze in a few lessons before karaoke tonight.

We have two new members to our team. Tex, (I have been sworn to secrecy regarding the nickname) and Justin. Justin is the Walk With a Rose champion pool player and is yet to acquire a nickname but this shouldn’t take long. Pete has returned to Canberra for personal reasons.

I washed by hair yesterday. And yes, in case you were wondering, that is a statement in itself.

Amy's diary entry 6

2006-06-13T16:46:00.000+10:00

Hey hey I found a computer! I met a lovely man here in Deep Water who let me use the computer in his house. We met at the pub and he warned me that his house was at the other end of the town so we'd have to drive. I would have called it just around the corner, as it was pretty much just around one corner, but at the same time he was right - it was the other side of town.

Needless to say, Deep Water is a lovely little town. Little, little town. Population 355 give or take 5 depending on whether a charity walk is passing through... But hey, we're going to be doubling the attendance at the Progress Society meeting tonight so that's exciting!

The last few days have been an absolute ball - much like the first few days. I drove the van earlier to where we had to start the day's walking from and me being me forgot to check that there was enough petrol to get us there. Ah well, at least we ran out on the top of a hill not the bottom. That's the positive I found in the situation anyway. Unfortunately the others couldn't see my point. I don't think there was a point actually, I just thought it sounded good at the time.

I apologise if my mood isn't as cheery as it has been. In fact I do feel a little down right now. The last few days I've been walking and walking and walking and searching and searching but there's very few cows about. Practically none. I heard a faint mooo a few hours ago but I'm starting to believe it was my imagination.

The team has come a long way in thirteen days. We had a decent minus five morning today, and I hear the road to Glen Innes is going to be a chilly one in the morning, but regardless of the temperature we did have a small victory today (a day early, I'll admit - any excuse to celebrate). Walk With a Rose is 25% closer to home. I think we're just about to enter the 'thick' of the walk. That is, the...post - honeymoon, pre - halfway mark part where we've really got to make things work. There has been some interesting challenges and some amazing victories and we're barely sitting on 2 weeks. I write this with a smile on my face, though, knowing that we are an amazing team and we really are setting very high goals and doing a fantastic job in achieving them. Every day. I just hope there's some nice cows to look at tomorrow.

Amy's diary entry 5

2006-06-09T09:07:00.000+10:00

We bought the Stanthorpe paper yesterday and made it to page three with a great pic of us walking into town... "At a leisurely pace" it read, on our way To Brisbane FROM Canberra. We must've looked like we were making damm good time for having been on the road for only 8 days....

Walked a easy pezzy 18kms yesterday as we were all really keen to check out this "Bald Rock"- we had seen the signs the day before. So we walked the walk( another new breed of cow would you believe - light brown with tuffs of blonde hair) and went over to Bald Rock. I think we all thought we just could drive there, see the rock, take some photo's and be done with it. But no. This rock, might I add the largest granite rock in Oz, was a 1.2km practaically vertial climb and we all had the same opinion - we had come this far, we can't just not climb it. I hate it when teams spend so much time together they think alike.

So we climbed the rock. All should I say we somehow managed to scramble up the face of some massively steep piece of granite, knowing that the slightest glance in the downward direction would be seriously regretted but not been able to resist looking anyway. Then seriously regretting it. I am speaking for myself here I should add - and yes, stretch is afraid of heights.

Trying to control the giggles after seeing Brian's deathdefying flight down the gravel path from tripping over a stone( funnily enough only he saw the stone) we arrived back at the bus and arranged our goodies on the table for lunch. By goodies I mean leftovers that had to be eaten. HAD to be eaten.

The only food that wasn't about to grow legs and run off into the distance was our cheese. It only makes sense then, with the way the world works, that a kookaburra would position himself on a overhanging branch, get his bearings just right and swoop across the table in order to steal the cheese - still in the packet - out of Pete's hands and over to his mates. Nice one. He then decided( the thief kookaburra, not Pete) that the cheese wasn't quite dead enough and proceeded to bash it, in his beck, against a rock. Over and over again. He was really gathering momentum and force at one stage - one miss and he was sure to knock himself out. At least we got the last laugh.

Amy's diary entry 4

2006-06-07T17:54:00.000+10:00

I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow last night. Got up nice and early and started the stroll from Dalveen to Stanthorpe. Stroll is a nice word and I like to use it . . . just going for a stroll from Brisbane to Canberra. It's this type of language that convinced me it could be done - now I've just got to make sure the legs keep striding it out.

I lost two bucks on a bet yesterday that Dalveen had a pub. The local (note: not plural) was amused when I asked directions to the drinking lounge. Apparently the closest we were going to get was the town hall on a Friday night. Byo.

Walked past a deer farm today. I then thought how cool it would be to have a pet deer, and whether I could take my deer for a walk through downtown Stanthorpe or better yet - teach my pet deer to fetch a ball. I then felt bad for admiring the deer when there were some great cows to look at and I then started up a conversation with Pete to stop my thoughts getting too weird.

It's my turn to cook dinner for the crew tonight. With all these animals around I decided pasta was the go. Anything to avoid negative vibes from the upcoming cattle of Tenterfield.

Out of Warwick... at last!

2006-06-07T15:20:00.000+10:00

Don't get me wrong - I love Warwick. It is a lovely town, full of great people, where the most controversial local issue is whether or not the rose bushes in the main street reduce traffic visibility or not (either way, they look great). But after four days, its nice to get back out on the road. As the bus winds along at 6 km an hour, there's lots to look at - rolling hills, friendly cows, skittering swamp wallabies, and the back of Amy's head.

Mostly the back of Amy's head. By the time we get home, I estimate that I will have watched the back of Amy's head for about 200 hours. Fortunately, she has a very nice haircut.

We're now in Stanthorpe, in the middle of the granite belt. I haven't seen too much in the way of granite, but people assure me its out there.

The best find of the last few days has been Vincenzo's in Thurlimbah. This fantastic place serves up some of the nicest coffee you'll find anywhere, has a stash of Italian salamis and local fruits to make anyone drool, and staff who are kind to bus drivers who cannot find the road they're supposed to be on to save their life. Thanks Vincenzo!

My very first time!

2006-06-06T21:33:00.000+10:00

Hi all,

well as you're probably aware, I'm the one who volunteered for the task of following this crew at 6 KMS an hour for the next 8 weeks! One look at the photos on the website and you can tell that the bus IM driving is a beauty! We left Canberra on Tuesday and stayed the night in Port Macquarie. One minor hiccup though.......we struck a rain storm just out of Sydney only to discover the driver's side windscreen wiper didn't work. By the way we are still trying to get a replacement part so if you know anyone with a '58 Bedford bus can you let me know!

All in all though everything is going great, the team is fantastic, and I am meeting some really interesting people and seeing some great towns (if at a somewhat slow pace!) By the end of this walk we should have some really unusual stories to pass on to all the folks. the crew are all well and happy, and life on the road is different to say the least! We are all living in close quarters but nonetheless are managing OK.

My pride and and joy: ie the bus is handling the going like a champion (thanks Rod!), and this is going to be the trip of a lifetime! We leave from Stanthorpe tomorrow with a 3 day trek to Tenterfield, all by the backroads. Mind you we have seen our share of backroads in the last 7 days. I am however a bit worried about Amy's fetish with cows..she has to stop and talk to every bovine beast she sees! We have also come up with a couple of different nicknames for the team, as in Brownie & Stretch for Amy, and Gilligan for Zoe, perhaps we might ellaborate on these when we make Canberra! By the way, my nickname is Midge!

Hope you all rock up in Canberra to see us finish this walk....will keep you updated on our progress and good times.

Wooshka!

PS: lead us home Stretch!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amy's diary entry 3

2006-06-06T21:26:00.000+10:00

Day 6 got off to a cracking good start when I left the kitchen tap running full blast then decided to pack away my sleeping bag, then re-arrange my clothes so they actually fit back into the bag they came out of then find the blue stripey beanie that I wanted to wear today then...yep. Water all over our van floor and in the cutlery draws. Then, from out of nowhere, young bus talent Brian whipped out the mop and had the situation under controll in no time. Quite the experienced water overflow cleaner this man.

Had a long day today, covered some good ground. Saw a new breed of cow too, which was interesting.

It's funny the things you think about and habits you get into when you're walking for hours on end. I have now mastered the art of positioning my drink bottle in my hand in such a way that there is no water movement noises when I walk. Oh and today I broke my record for the longest time I could walk directly on top of the white line at the edge of the road. Then my neck got really sore from looking at my feet for so long.

200k's have been walked. The wind has become cooler and the days a little less sunny and about the only thing on my mind right now is bed!

Amy's diary entry 2

2006-06-05T17:53:00.000+10:00

Brian made some friends last night with our neighbours in the caravan park and organised a cuppa tea date in our van for 7:30am. We were all up early, excitedly cleaning the little van for our first visitors and then waited. And waited. Just as the first of what was to be many pay outs for being stood up had begun they showed up and we pounced on the opportunity to talk to other travellers and hear their stories.

The continuation of day 5 greeted us with an awesome article in the Warwick Daily Times – front page beauty! We feel very special in this little town. In saying that, though, I think people feel a bit sorry for us too – we came across a fruit shop that was closed (we didn't see the 'closed' sign till after we nearly broke down the door) and just as we were walking off the lovely fruiterer gave us two cold apples each and his best wishes for our journey. Those apples were the tastiest pieces of fruit I have ever experienced.

Walked past a speed camera today. I figured the poor guy sitting in the van could use a good laugh so I went back a few paces and speed-walked past the van a few times trying to clock up a good reading. Unfortunately he wasn't impressed.

There are some really good looking cows in this town. Sometimes I try to strike conversations with them but you know what cows are like. Walking past one field there was a bunch of at least 20 black beauties munching away like they do and I thought I'd try to make their day a bit more interesting. Maybe I'd have more luck with them than the bored speed camera man. So I belted out a hearty 'moooo' and low and behold they all started running over to me! Well I was out of there like a flash – these legs of mine had a python flashback and went into 'must move really fast now' mode.

I must note here that Brian's bus driving skills have improved immensely. His true talent has really begun to shine through. Apart from driving down a one way street and freaking out the poor local Ipswicheans, he got a bit excited about taking us downtown to the Internet cafe and took off without closing the boot. Only lost a few sleeping bags but at least we gave the on-lookers a few laughs.

We have now completed our catch-up walking in Warwick. Today was a 32km day, tomorrow will be a 41km day from Warwick to Dalveen. I might keep to myself around black cows tomorrow.

The team - the bus.

2006-06-05T11:33:00.000+10:00

The team - the bus.
Originally uploaded by walkwitharose.

I just realised there isn't a picture of our bus on the blog! Well, here is it. The bus was done up for a Variety Club Bash, and it is AMAZING. It has eight seats, taken from the first class section of an old plane, little drink fridges next to each seat, a big table up the back, a dvd player, flashing lights oll over, and it weighs nine tonnes.

About the only thing it doesn't have is the power of flight.

It would be really cool if it could fly...

club lift

2006-06-05T11:10:00.000+10:00

club lift
Originally uploaded by walkwitharose.

For those of you who heard about the lift drama, here's the proof: This is us, two minutes away from a live cross to the Today show, stuck in the lift. And yes, that gentleman on the right in Mal Meninga, and yes, he is as lovely a guy as everyone says he is. And yes, me missed the live cross. And yes, it was a one in a million chance, and yes, it was really REALLY funny.

You can't see him, but behind Amy there was a guy from ACU wearing a heavy dog-shaped mascot suit. It got very, VERY hot in the twenty minutes we were stuck in that lift - the poor thing was red as a beetroot by the time we got out!

A couple of people have told me that they saw footage on Canberra news of me cracking up laughing telling this story. Here's what happened: There was a crew from Australian Story filming us, and when we got out, they asked me what happened - so I told them. There was another cameraman there too. He had a small camerra, it didn't have a station sticker on it, and I figured he was just from the hospital.

As it turned out, he was actually from WIN tv...

Oops!

Posted by Zoe Rose

Amy's diary entry 1

2006-06-04T21:05:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone! We put up a quick entry a few hours ago but I’m now going to add details!

I will be running the Walk With a Rose blog like a diary from now on. It will be my personal story of the whole project, updated every three days max. I really want to keep you all up to date on the highs and lows of the walk as there have been so so so many people help the walk get to where it is now and I want to keep you all as involved as I can!

Let’s go back a few days…to Thursday, the final, long – awaited send off from the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. I woke up early (not that I slept much) with that little-kid feeling in my stomach like it was Christmas day. This was to be such a memorable day – and everything had to be just right.

Of course anyone who knows me well would completely understand why we got stuck in a lift on level one going from ground to level two when we were two mins away from doing a live cross with the Today Show – I just have really good luck. So it was 9:05 and I was supposed to start walking at 9am and we were standing around not knowing whether to laugh or cry or have a tantrum when a doctor stuck in the lift with us spoke up and mentioned his name – Doctor Stuckey. What are the chances.

Great start to the day! We finally got walking on what was to be a 40ish day walk. Brisbane to Ipswich – pretty straight forward, right? Wrong. I am one of those talented people with a special sense of direction – it is possible that we walked around in large circles at one stage – anyway we made it in the end. Only took an extra few hours walking, no big deal.

We were graciously taken in by a family who were members of the Rotary club in Ipswich and had steak and veggies waiting for us at their home. It was the best steak and veggies I’d ever eaten.

That night I slept with the biggest grin on my face ever! We had survived our first day with only a few minor dramas and figured – if being stuck in the lift with Doctor Stuckey and missing the Today Show then taking the extra long way from Brisbane to Ipswich was the worst thing we were to encounter on the two month mission we were doing ok!

Ipswich to Amberley on Friday nearly gave me a heart failure when I missed stepping on the head of a python when attempting to navigate my way under a bridge. I think poor Pete had ringing in his ears for a while after that due to my squeal – as my dad would say, ‘we nearly had to go to the dry-cleaners’.

My near-death python experience called for a cold one so we de-briefed at the pub and chewed the fat.

I went on the Warwick Community Radio this morning with Russell. My interview straight after news that a lady had tried to marry a snake but the snake failed to show up to the wedding - ? After about the sixth time he called me Amy Brown I gave up trying to correct him. All went well though, and we love it here. Woke up so cold that you could see your breath and not may people out for a morning walk at 5:30am but it is a beautiful, clean place and the days are still quite warm.

We had to drive 96 kms from Amberley to Warwick because we were not legally able to walk that section. That’s why we will be spending three days here – making up the driven distance by walking the outskirts of Warwick – 32k’s a day for 3 days. We have once again been looked after by some lovely people here in Warwick with. Tomorrow is our third day here then we head to Dalveen. There’s only one road to Dalveen so with any luck I won’t get lost.

On the road... at last!

2006-06-04T12:43:00.000+10:00

It's day four, the weather's gorgeous, and we have finally found a computer!

Sorry to everyone who has been wondering where we are - we're still getting used to life on the road. We will be updating a lot more once we're into the swing of things.

We've walked about 140 kms so far. We've seen some nice cows, friendly farm dogs, and one huge python. Amy nearly stood on its head, and thankfully Pete's ears have survived the squeal that that caused.

We're currently in Warwick, the city of Roses - a very nice town. Don't be fooled by rumours about Queensland being warm - Amy and Pete's walk at 5.30 am was their first sub-zero walking experience.

amy, zoe, brian and kevin

2006-05-27T18:51:00.000+10:00

amy, zoe, brian and kevin
Originally uploaded by walkwitharose.

Three quarters of the road team - Amy, Zoe, and Brian (the best bus driver ever). In the background we have Kevin, the event's organiser, who was hoping there might be a prize for "most colourful jacket".

the winner of the silent auction

2006-05-27T18:47:00.000+10:00

the winner of the silent auction
Originally uploaded by walkwitharose.

Amy hands over a pretty snazzy olympic coin collection to Al, the winner of the silent auction.

dinner dance - carolyn, amy and james

2006-05-27T18:46:00.000+10:00

dinner dance - carolyn, amy and james
Originally uploaded by walkwitharose.

Left to right - Carolyn and James from Cre8ive, and Amy. Carolyn is responsible for the beautiful art that you see on our website, posters, letterheads... pretty much everything. (She does great work.)

...and a good time had by all.

2006-05-27T17:32:00.000+10:00

I'll admit it - last night was my first ever dinner dance.

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect - the words "dinner dance" left me with a mental picture of an old guy singing "Time after time" time after time, and maybe a piece of over-cooked cow with a couple of bits of zucchini and carrot cut into little star-shapes to go with it.

How wrong I was to doubt.

The dinner dance was great. I had so much fun! It was a fundraiser for the Walk, and about 110 people showed up. With a turnout like that, there were sure to be some surprises in store for us newbies. And there were some great ones...

Surprise 1. Men in bow-ties and dinner jackets. I was expecting most of the menfolk to be wearing jeans - really nice jeans, of course, but still jeans. I have never seen so many carefully groomed gentlemen - well done guys, you looked lovely.

Surprise 2. Delicious food. Cold beef with noodle salad for entree - yum!

Surprise 3. People who actually knew how to dance. Properly. I like to pretend I know how to dance, usually by bobbing up and down arhythmically and occasionally making someone grab my hand and turn me around in a little circle. There were people last night, however, who casually sauntered onto the floor and started straight into the Fred-and-Ginger moves as if it was as easy as walking. Thanks for making the rest of us look bad, guys. You know who you are.

Surprise 4. Realising how many people had contributed to the event. There were demonstration dancers from Danceways giving up their time, A silent auction of Olympic memorabilia generously donated, book giveaways, the works. Not to mention the fact that over a hundred people chose to spend their Friday night supporting Amy, and through her, people with Brain Injuries. Thank you all.

Surprise 5. Realising that we had actually only bought three shirt sizes to sell as merchandise - XL, 2XL, and 4XL. The fact that many people - of all sizes - still bought them is proof of the generosity of the whole crowd. (Here's a hint to those who bought one: think of them as nighties.)

Surprise 6. How much fun everyone had! As Amy commented later, it was fun just watching people have so much fun. Everyone in the crowd really got into the spirit, including the ones (like me) who had been shown up by all the Fred/Ginger impersonators. When the band finally got tired of us and went home, the dance floor was still full - it was a good night out.

Thanks to everyone who attended - I hope you had fun.

ps. They did play "time after time", by the way. Twice.

the ActewAGL team, 18 May

2006-05-23T14:19:00.000+10:00

the ActewAGL team, 18 May
Originally uploaded by walkwitharose.

Here we are - a healthy sample of all the people working on the walk. In the front left we have Brian (our bus driver) and Pete (support team). In the middle of the front row is Zoe (support team). On the far right is Gaye from the University of Canberra, who is working on our media. Amy is standing tall centre of the back row.

Everyone else is from ActewAGL - if you can believe it, all of these people are working on the walk, and all of them have been amazing. This team gets together every Thursday to talk about the week and make plans. Usually I walk out of those meetings with about fifty more things to do than I walked in with... but then again, so does everyone else.

Starting from the back left, we have ActewAGL staff Michael, Stephen, Michelle, Trudy, Craig, and Lucille. Karina, Amanda, and Racheal are in the front.