All the preparation and hard work has brought us to today, to this moment right now. As I sit here writing this post, waiting for the riders to pull in for their morning tea break, i think about what amazing things our efforts are going to bring to so many children, and their families :)
First of all can I express our sincerest thanks to our families for putting up with us for the last 6 months, we love you! and to all who came to the coffee club this morning to farewell us, It was a great turnout and greatly appreciated by all.
5:30am arrival to pack the riders gear into 'winnie' and the trailer, then breaky and some chit chat, photos and toilet stops and before we knew it we were saying our goodbyes!
Kalahni and Charli proudly held the green ribbon (so wonderfully made by Elissa) across the road to mark the start of the ride. The ribbon was cut by one of Elissa's students,amy, as she was the very first person to make a donation to our charity (out of her pocket money I might add!). Jen and I had positioned ourselves in front of the riders so we could see them start and take pics out the back window, I had to be mindful of Jen running up and down the aisle whenever I accelerated, I could just imagine her flying backwards down the aisle and going butt first into the windscreen! Needless to say we got some great pics (thanks Jen for taking one for the team!)
Along the Northern rd we headed , and were gob smacked at the signs along the road for the cc's, left Jen and I both with goosebumps! Then Jen jumped onto fb to check out all the photos that had been uploaded already and came across a lovely MSG left on the cc's Facebook page from Barbs brother. It took her a couple of attempts to read it to me, and left us both in tears (a little heads up for you all, jen and I are known for our emotionalness). That out of our system, we headed to the first mini stop at Narellen where the riders had a quick breather, some lollies and twinkle time ;) then off to pheasants nest servo for morning tea! Now that part of the journey was not without hiccups! Poor Winnie is having engine issues and as I pulled into our stop I lost all acceleration, well not all my heart was going ten to the dozen, but poor old Winnie had nothing :( bit of a rest and she was good as new. At this stop we farewelled Matt, he will be back on day 4 to finish the ride. Hot cross buns and Easter eggs were on the menu at this stop, no complaints, however if there was, being a public holiday my complaints department is closed!
So now I sit at Mackey truck stop and continue writing , Kathleen has given us the 5km warning call, lunch is all good to go, rolls salad and cold meat, again complaints department is closed so like it or lump it, hehehehehe
Now I believe I reported that earlier on Winnie was not behaving very well? Well unfortunately she got worse! From Mackey truck stop we were to head to Marulan truck stop so that we could escort the riders through some roadworks this side of Goulburn. Well that was fine Jen and I made it there with only one stop , and sat at Marulan for quite some time. They all arrived in chirpy spirits and after a few jokes about us struggling to keep Winnie going it was time to head off. The riders and Kathleen go, Jen and I had plenty of time to overtake them b4 the roadworks right? Well yes if Winnie would start!!!!!!! Correction, she started she just wouldn't move, like a stubborn mule I tell you. After many attempts we were pretty sure we weren't going anywhere! A call to Kathleen, who tells us they r through the roadworks!, gee we did our job well ;) she was to come back and get us if we were still stuck once they arrived at Goulburn, pfffft there's no way you'll beat us to Goulburn, well guess who's now eating her words! Yep that'd b me! Once winnie decided she'd move her fat ass (sorry she's not my favorite anymore) we thought right let's just get to Goulburn! By now the word had spread on fb that we were in trouble, and so many people pitched in to offer help and advice (thank you) , so we had phones ringing, dinging and vibrating whilst I'm trying to hold winnie in a straight line, watch the speedo, traffic and get off the road if my A turned into an F! Talk about a fiasco! Jen was busy manning 2 phones trying to sort something out for us, and I was an absolute basket case , sweaty palms, clenched fists on the wheel, u get my picture???? We had trucks rushing up our butt then hurling abuse at us, cars refusing to move over as I was trying to merge back onto the hwy, ahhhhhhh my worse nightmare really! Well we finally turn up to our hotel, all the cc's sitting out the front ushering us into our parking spot. We pull up look at each other without words, but knowing exactly what the other was thinking (and quite possibly not appropriate for this blog) the boys open jens door to see how we are, I bolt to the toilet a complete wreck to take a few deep breaths and calm the farm (so to speak) .
Turns out F stands for fuel (who knew? And not f*^+ed) and this particular model has a dodgy water separator (or something like that) anyways after showers and dinner, a debrief and story time (a lovely idea put forward by Paul dukes, where everyone shares their highlight of the day) , NRMA turn up! Yep she's gotta go, so tomorrow we will farewell Winnie and welcome, well I haven't named her yet, got to meet her first ;) the riders may leave us, we will make sure they have MT and lunch with them, and Jen and I will catch up when we can :( what a disappointment.
All in all though I have to say, the riders did an amazing job in tough conditions, they never complained (even Elissa, even though she's battered and bruised after her fall), used their manners and were just a pleasure to look after. I am Honored to be a part of this journey, and just quietly very happy that I'm in the comfort of a heated vehicle (even if she did let me down) tomorrow is a new day and will bring with it new adventures. Heres hoping they are happy and positive ones for everyone!!!!!!
Doin it for the kids
Clair :)
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