Well here we are again, off onto the cold and misty roads of country NSW.
Today we walked from Bathurst to Tarana where the hospitality of the local pub and the freezing waters of the Tarana creek await.
Last year we discovered through the wisdom of our currently injured Physio Cameron, that ice bath recovery was a great thing.
So all day we walked away thinking about how good our muscles would feel after the burning sensation of the ice water on our sore legs.
It was a spectacular day, starting out very cold but clearing up to reveal the wide blue skies and long open roads ahead.
Crossy started out early to get the start on us, Tony and Graham followed him out with about a 30 minute lead on the rest of us.
Once everyone had eaten and feet strapped up we took to the road. All the fellas looked good at the start, fresh and despite nursing a few sore heads from the first night’s activities took the road on with a smile on their face and enjoying each other’s company.
As the day winded on a few blokes started to tighten up in the legs and the hills became a bit tougher.
We discussed the fact the Crossy was still nowhere to be seen and that perhaps his legs are not as bad from the double knee replacement a few years back as he makes out, and that the real ploy is to just start early and finish early and be the first to the pub. I guess we will continue to test that theory over the coming days.
As it turned out we did indeed find him at the Tarana Hotel with a couple of familiar faces supporting us at the end of a long day. Thanks to Shane and his mate for driving all the way to Tarana to see us in.
This afternoon we had the pleasure of presenting a cheque to a very worthy organisation here in Bathurst called ‘Head Space’ which provides many areas of support for the youth of this region including mental health issues.
The Great Walk Foundation is proud to be in a position to help great people such as this and the local newspaper turned up to record the hand over. So now we have all had a rub down under the cruel hands of Greg and Trent and showered up, we can sit back and enjoy a few drinks at the Knickerbocker hotel and Scotty the publican’s hospitality.
Scotty supports us every year by taking us in for a couple of nights and feeding us, thanks Scotty. Tomorrow we get dropped off back out to Tarana and take on the many hills all the way to Lithgow. In particular the massive winding hill coming out of Lake Lyell is a tough climb for everyone, so it will be good to see who gets to the top first.
Keep following our daily diary for updates of our experiences on the road.
