Monday 31 December 2012

Headin' South NYE

NYE in Brisvegas!! Headin' South Crew having NYE celebration together at South Bank - last minute carbo load!

We' ve had an insane day trying to get everything organized, ready for a VERY early start on New Years Day.

On our 14 day trip south we have decided to have two awards - " The Ass award" for anyone that does something stupid or funny! And " The Spit-the-Dummy award" for anyone that chucks a tantrum. Anyone can be nominated and then the "committee" aka  Flash and Polly decide on the recipients. These are daily awards. So today the Ass was Nadsy for having trouble putting a straw in a fruit juice container and needing to ask how to do it!! And the Dummy Spitter was Tinka for chucking it when a couple of guys were 30 mins late for our  round the river ride this afternoon (fair enough though, I nearly chucked it too)!!

We are all heading to bed soon, no welcoming in 2013 at 0000 for us!!
We are leaving Roma Street Fire Station at 0530!

So, out next blog will be from Byron Bay - 218 km south of Brisbane!

Happy New Year from the HS crew!!

Em






Crazy Day!!

Sometimes things just don't go as planned.

The person you spoke to two weeks ago isn't at work today and then no one else knows what's going on. Tinka and the support crew have been trying to pick up two camper vans today. A job that should be so easy turned out to be very hard. Frustration all around I think!

I was a bit over zealous putting my bike together,  I over tightened a screw on my head stem and busted it off, with a bit of the screw left behind. My nickname is no longer "Em", it 's " muscles". Hahaha!! Can't get the Giant head stem I need in Brisbane city centre. Major bummer!!  Ben to the rescue - massive thanks  to McBains Cycles in Hobart for express posting me a new head stem, I will pick it up at Forster on Day 4. My bike is still rideable - thank goodness, not ideal to be missing a screw, but not the end of the world. I'll just have to make sure that I don' t do a sprint finish into Byron Bay tomorrow (after 210km) LOL!!

We just have to get the vans, buy some food supplies, pack the vans, put the signs on the vans and we're all set! Bikes are put together, everyone feels great. I'm sure that things will flow smoothly once we are on the road.

A quiet NYE planned for us tonight at an Italian restaurant at South Bank.

I can't wait until tomorrow!!

Em





Sunday 30 December 2012

Brisbane!!!

We've finally made it to Brissie. The 15 fliers met up with drivers  Jase and Tink at the hotel. We hit the mall for dinner - carbo loading with pizza, pasta and beer (of course)! These boys  ( and Megs) can drink beer!! I'm into the pink frozen cocktails ( well, one cocktail hahaha).

We are having a fantastic time together, this trip is going to be so much fun!

The plan tomorrow is to pick up the camper vans, get supplies from the supermarket, put the bikes together and go on a 30 km spin on the  "round the river ride".

Check out the pics.

Hobart airport


Next blog will be from Brissie!!!

Wow!!

This day has come about quickly!!

We are flying out of Hobart this afternoon - a direct flight Hobart to Brisbane. We are getting very excited and a bit emotional. It's going to be an amazing experience - not just riding 2500km but meeting people along the way, making new friends and getting lots of support for Headin' South and the Australian Cancer Research Foundation.

The next blog I post will be from Brisbane. Stay tuned for lots of stories and pics.

I better go and finish packing...

Em

Saturday 29 December 2012

Road trip north....

Hope you all saw the article in yesterday's newspaper! Never a good photo but always a good story!! We are getting the Headin ' South for a Cure story out there now! We have sent media releases nationwide and we are working hard to get some tv coverage - hoping that a morning show will pick up our story.

One day to go until the crew fly to Brisbane to meet up with Tinka and Jase, who are already on their own road trip north. They drove over 1000 km yesterday and stayed overnight in Yass, one of our stopovers. And were made very welcome by the locals there, including staff from Bendigo Bank and blokes from the CFA. Today they're catching up with a firie in Sydney then driving 1200km to get to the Gold Coast tonight!  Great work guys, stay safe. See you at Brisbane airport on Sunday arvo!





Thursday 27 December 2012

Packing the bikes, getting ready to go...

Today was a big day of final preparations for the Headin' South crew. We pulled our bikes apart and packed them in boxes and loaded them on to one of our support vehicles. All our gear was packed: lollies, gels, bars, sun cream, bum cream, socks, sleeping bags, pillows, bike tools, spare tyres and wheels...a very long list of gear.

Tinka and Jase are driving up to Brisbane with the bikes and gear, overnight tonight on the Spirit of Tasmania and two days of solid driving to meet the rest of the team in Brisbane on the 30th Dec.

We will celebrate NYE together in Brisbane (somewhat sedately - I'm sure).
The nine HS riders and six support crew with three vehicles will roll out of Brisbane Fire Station in Roma St at  0530 hours on New Years Day!

We can't wait!!