2nd training session – Lysterfield Lake to Olinda Reserve – 26 kms

It was pouring before we knew it. By the time we started our car ascend to Olinda our visibility was very limited. Fortunately, we managed to drop the first car in Olinda and then we headed strait to Lysterfield Lake – more than 20kms away. Jane and Angel had no idea what was to come; it was still dark so no one would register anything in particular.

Jane and Angel started their one-way 26kms run/walk just before 6am and, probably 300 metres into our second training session, the misty rain turned heavier. In reality for the next 17 kms it was like that at various times.

Last week we left the story before we could reach the Lysterfield Lake so today we simply started from Checkpoint 2 (to reach Checkpoint 4 – Olinda Reserve) but still did not see the Lake – however we still had the satisfaction that at various times kangaroos kept us company, just like last week.

We run our first three kilometres with such ease since it was relatively flat and the rain manageable. By the time we reached the Birds Land Reserve we were just wet – not in the philosophical sense but in the real sense. There was nothing dry in our bodies. Fortunately there was a shelter and we made a technical stop so we could examine our maps. We continued after a few minutes rest and, at that point in time it did not really matter if we stepped in a paddle – our feet were so wet that we felt we could jump into any of the creeks that were streaming the 36 militres of rain of the past 24 hours. However we had a mission to accomplish for the day, conquer the hardest terrain of the Oxfam Trailwalker Challenge.

When we reached Belgrave, Jane had reminiscences of her Puffing Billy race a few months ago. Seeing Jane so enthused when we crossed the railway track is a reminder that the memory is such in that even in hard conditions like today we still manage to express our fondest recollections of the things that bring us joy.

For the first 14 kilometres we did not see a soul at all. We saw runners when we were resting and having an energy gel in Grants Picnic Ground. After we will runners and walkers intermittently.



By the time we were going through the Sassafras Creek we were feeling confident of our epic, but (as there are always buts in any epic) little did we know that after that the biggest challenge will appear in front of us like many things in life – unexpectedly. Hackets Road appeared after a turn and we had to go up and up and up for what appeared to be an eternity. This is steepest section of all – made worse by the rain and, after a relatively calm sector another steep section emerges in Old Road and Olinda –Monbulk Road… In brief: our hearts pumped so hard for more than kilometre in Hackets Road and again after two kilometres. At one stage, just past the ‘For Evergreen Nursery’ Angel said to Jane the negative thoughts are just there: Angel wanted to quit. Albeit to say, in Jane’s world quitting does not exist.

We are wiser today in that we have to stage our energy depletion and uptake if we wish to walk / run 100 kilometres in April 2008. Today’s photos are a testimony of a huge challenge in adverse conditions.

After 4 hours and 40 minutes and against the elements, Jane and Angel completed their walk. Kate could not keep us company today. Certainly on Christmas day we will eat, drink and be merry like no other day.

We would like to wish you all a very happy festive season. Thank you for your support and words of encouragement.




BTW - the amount of rain for the past three days in the area we covered today exceeded 110mm, according to the park ranger.

Oxfam Trailwalker – First training

We could not have asked for a better start -
Yesterday rain brought relief to the summer haze.
Today, Churchill National Park greeted us in perfect conditions.

At sunrise we set to our first training session.
Here we come to our
Oxfam Trailwalker challenge.

It all began with a timely perfection
- Synchronisation; harmony and, a happy birthday cheerio
to one of our team members.

We leaped to the track one and one and one
going so meticulously as a team we discussed life matters;
pondered the readability of the map
and, most importantly, pondered our fitness.

Invariably we stopped talking fitness and life matters.
We enjoyed the landscape and our
passing encounters with kangaroos.

We conquered Churchill National Park,
with its morning splendour
and the solitude of
the ridges surrounding the outer suburbs.

We followed the path cheerfully,
tackling the hills with candours esteem.
Nothing stopped us,
not even one unavoidable detour at one critical intersection
– (a vandalised sign) –
made us break the allegory of a morning bush run.

Just before we reached the Lysterfield Lake
we turned back, time was ticking away.
By every minute our confidence grew,
knowing our spirits will rise
on time for the challenge that matters
sixteen weeks away.

Today we let our fears disappear
and acknowledged the Wurundjeri people
for preserving such a beauty.

A new challenge: Oxfam Trailwalker Melbourne

This week our team got accepted by the organisors of the Oxfam Trailwalker Melbourne, to be held in April 13-14, 2008.

The Oxfam Trailwalker is a 100 kilometre endurance walk, starting from Jells Park to Wesburn Park.

I am doing all this because a friend convinced me that this was a good idea. The purpose of the Oxfam Trailwalker is to raise money for Oxfam Australia, which works in 29 countries across East Asia and South Asia, Southern Africa, the Pacific and Indigenous Australia, in partnership with local communities to overcome poverty and injustice. For many years I have been supportive of this organisation and its predecessor (Community Aid Abroad), in particular when it had a focus on Latin America.

I will post more details later on. In the meantime... Feliz Navidad.