Day 24 - (Wednesday, 7 September)

We were awake early this morning.  It seemed so strange sleeping in an actual bed after so long.   

We all packed our bags one last time, put our Jennys Place shirts on and went for breakfast and coffee.

When we were finished we walked 2.5 kms into town to do a little shopping before heading g back to our accommodation to grab our bags, check out and jump in the cab to the airport.

Our flight was delayed so Ali and Mumma took advantage of a little airport shopping at Peter Alexander !

We finally boarded our flight and were weary but excited to finally be on our way to Newcastle.  

Well that’s it for the blog for this Trek.  This is my 7th charity Trek and I am often asked which was the best and how do they compare.   It’s really hard to answer as each one is so different and all had their challenges.

For me, this was definitely a tough one.  Tough in respect of being away from family and friends for almost a month.  Tough getting up every day facing another 20 to 25 kms for 21 days straight. Tough dealing with 32 degree heat and -7 degree cold along with a category 1 cyclone, torrential rain and boggy mud. Tough ensuring you woke up every single morning being optimistic and upbeat even if you weren’t really feeling it and tough dealing with no shower or hair wash and virtually wearing the same clothes day in and day out for so many days.

For all the other trekkers I am sure they felt these things too but nobody said it.  Each day they would just get up, know what had to be done, help those that needed help and just got on with it.  When they weren’t feeling good, they remembered why we were doing this challenge and who we were doing it for. 

Together we have become part of a very small but special group.   Less than a couple of hundred people have walked from one end to the other of the Simpson Desert and Camel Paddy believes we are the first Charity to have done the whole thing. 

It is so hard to explain what we experienced as a group.  The absolute vastness of the Desert laid out before us as we conquered sand dune after sand dune. The never ending track that led from one horizon to the next and never seemed to end.  Together we sweated, shivered, hurt, healed, laughed, cried, bore our souls and supported each other. 

Ali, Em, Mumma, Shay, Jen, Lis, Kimmie and Troy - thank you hardly seems adequate to say to you all.  I am in awe of your strength, teamwork and resilience.   You are all my heroes and true legends.   What you have achieved for yourselves and what you have done to raise awareness and funds for Jenny’s Place is inspiring and I hope you never under estimate what you have all accomplished.

“What are we ? - T U F F “

Donna x

Day 23 - (Tuesday, 6 September)

After a wonderful afternoon and night of celebrating, lots of us had trouble sleeping last night.   It was so strange to hear so much noise in the caravan park as we tried to sleep.  While we were in the Desert it was so quiet except for the odd bit of snoring but, last night our senses seemed so heightened to other voices, cars, horns, crickets, etc - it was really strange.

We were all awake by about 6.30 am and off to have another awesome shower before heading back to take our tents down and roll our sleeping mats for one last time.

With bags full of dirty clothes and a little bit of Birdsville Souvenir shopping, somehow they seemed heavier and harder to zip up than when we started !

Unfortunately the Birdsville Bakery and the Roadhouse Cafe were both shut today and it seemed the only place open for coffee was a small cafe run by Paddy’s friend Don’s wife.   Don is a ranger out here and has known Paddy for a long time.

While she made all our coffee orders, Paddy helped Don whip us up a toasted sandwich each to eat.

We then headed to the airport and once we were all checked in and got one final photo, we hugged all our support crew before waving them off.    It was a bittersweet moment for us all. They now had a couple days of driving to get back to Townsville and then a lot of unpacking and cleaning. 

While we waited we charged phones, updated Facebook, swapped photos and Ali sorted out snacks for everyone for the plane as it was going to be a long day.

We boarded our Rex flight about 10.30 am and bid Birdsville a fond farewell.  Our first stop was then to a little place called Windorah where we had a 40 minute break to collect a few more passengers and have a toilet break.

Today is Troy’s birthday and while we were stopped he got to heat up a Mrs Macs pie in a microwave and get a can of drink for his birthday lunch !

About 12.30 pm we were back on the plane and this time headed for Quilpie.  We didn’t get off the plane once there and just got two more passengers.

Up into the air we went again bound for Charleville.  This airport had a tiny bit bigger arrivals area that even had a small cafe.  

At 2.45 pm we took off again headed to Toowoomba Wellcamp and arrived there at 4.00 pm.  Once again we were asked to stay in the aircraft as a couple of passengers disembarked.

We were then back up in the air again and finally on our way to our destination of Brisbane. 

We finally got to our accommodation about 5.30 pm and then went out to dinner to celebrate Troy’s birthday, Em’s impromptu Hens Night and being the first Charity to walk from one end of the Simpson Desert to the other !

We were all very excited to climb into an actual bed tonight and all really excited about seeing our families tomorrow after being away for almost 4 weeks. 

Until tomorrow,

Donna x

Day 22 - (Monday, 5 September)

Unfortunately it was too wet and boggy for us to walk the last 5 kms to our final destination of Big Red this morning so we had to go in the cars.

Once we got there we climbed to the top and were so excited to finally “cross the finish line”.  We got lots of photos and we got service for the first time in 3 weeks so there were lots of happy and teary calls made from on top of Big Red.

Big Red is the “finish” of the Desert terrain as such and there is a gravel road that leads into Birdsville.  We did want to still walk the 5 kms we still had to do so Paddy dropped us about 7 kms from Birdsville and we walked from there.

We approached town finally at 10.10 am and we went straight to the Birdsville Bakery for some camel pies which were awesome.  We were all starving as we hadn’t had any breakfast.   

At 10.30 am Tracy Mac from Newcastle Live did a live cross with myself and Camel Paddy to hear about how we all were. 

We then walked around to the Birdsville Pub to get a photo and have a celebratory drink together.

Then we headed to the caravan park to put our tents up for the last time.   We have all become masters at putting them up very quickly.

Finally it was time for showers.   Talk about the best feeling ever! Hot showers with great pressure, soap and shampoo - it was so great to finally wash ourselves and our hair. 

We all then headed back to the pub to have lunch and some drinks. So much reminiscing, laughing and chatting about what we had all achieved. 

We didn’t really move much from the Pub and a great afternoon and night was had by all.  We will all be sorry to say goodbye to our awesome support crew tomorrow when we get on our Rex flight.

Until tomorrow,

Donna 

Day 21 - (Sunday, 4 September)

Today we got the yell from Paddy at about 6 am to get up.

When we had all the rain a few days ago, the vehicles were unable to move from camp for 2 days but we still did 22 kms each day to ensure we got our kms done and came back to camp.

So, this morning when the vehicles could leave, it meant we all jumped in the cars for the first 22 kms.   It was a different experience being in the cars going over the dunes and trying to find ways around where the water had all gathered in the gullies without getting bogged.  It took us 1 hour and 45 minutes in the car just to do 22 kms.

The exciting thing is we actually saw another group of 8 camels which was awesome!

Once the cars reached the 22 km mark they let us out snd we started then walking our walking for today while they went and set up for lunch.

It was chilly walking today and the track was so boggy with lots of water laying around.

Paddy ended up getting bogged in one of the vehicles and there were a few places today where we had to do extra kilometres to walk around the water and get to a place we could cross.  

Several times we were up to our ankles in mud.  We have had all seasons while we have been on this trek !

Today was our last full day of walking.  We are now only 5 kms from Big Red. It’s so hard to believe we have been walking for 20 days straight, done 400 kms and not showered for 3 weeks. 

We had a lovely meal and campfire tonight and we presented Paddy with a trekkers shirt and thank you card we had all written on.  We also gave Uncle Ken and Alex a Jennys Place key ring and Kimberley a Jennys Place hat. 

Paddy said some lovely words to us and told us what an awesome group we were and how much he and the crew had enjoyed their time with us. 

Ali and I had written a poem when we were stuck in our tent on the rainy day and we read it out for everyone tonight.

It was a great last night together out in the Desert as tomorrow night we will be staying in Birdsville.

As we all headed to bed there was the sound of tent zippers going up and down, sleeping bags being rolled out and good night calls.   Everyone is excited about finishing at Birdsville tomorrow, about having a shower and washing our hair and about seeing our families in a couple of days.

Today we walked 24 kms over 6 hours and 20 minutes and 42,158 steps. 

Our feet and legs are weary but our hearts are full of awesome memories and we are all excited for the finish. 

Happy Fathers Day to all our dads.

Until tomorrow 

Donna

Day 20 - (Saturday, 3 September)

Exciting news!  After 18 days of walking we finally got to see camels today !!!

We left Camp about 8 am this morning and not long into the day we hit our first dune.  As we reached the top puffing and panting, Troy yelled out “camels”.  

There standing on the road in front of us was 8 camels.  We were so excited we finally got to see some.  We all just stood still, not game to move, watching them and taking some pics.  

Troy ran back to camp to tell Paddy and the crew.  They jumped in their vehicles and came to meet us and were just as excited to see them - Paddy and Uncle Ken love their camels !

It was a great way to start our second last big day of walking.  

We did 14 kms before we reached the crew for lunch.  It was a pretty cool morning so we stayed fairly layered up with clothing.

After lunch we had another 8 kms to cover.  We like to get a bigger amount done before lunch when we are fresh as after we have eaten and the afternoon heat and tiredness sets in, we tend to find the walking a lot harder.

We were into camp by about 2 pm today and after we got our tents put up everyone had a bit of a rest in them before we gathered around the camp fire.  

Today we walked 22 kms over 6 hours and did 34,550 steps.

There was lots of talk around the camp fire tonight about how far we have come.  We only have another 27 kms before we reach Big Red. It’s mind boggling to think we left 3 weeks ago and have walked as far as we have.

Everyone have just gotten on so well and really looked out for each other which has made our time together really enjoyable.  We have spent so much time with each other, I think we know everything about everybody as there is lots of time to talk and it definitely helps the kilometres go quicker.

Paddy had written a poem about our time out here together and he read it to us around the camp fire tonight.  He had done a great job and we all really appreciated the effort he had put in.

Another big walk day tomorrow and then we are home free !!

Until tomorrow 

Donna x

Day 19 - (Friday, 2 September)

The rain finally stopped at about 9 pm.  Troy slept on his tent floor with no sleeping mat or sleeping bag.  Ali and I both slept in her tent using the dry parts of her mattress to lay our heads on and the rest of us on the tent floor.  Lisa and Emma slept in one of the cars.  Mumma had all mine and Ali’s luggage in her tent.  It wasn’t the best night sleep for anyone but we all just made do.

This morning when we got up the area we were camped in was a boggy muddy mess.  We all had breakfast and then started hanging our mattresses, tent flys, pillows, sleeping bags and clothes off the Gigi trees to dry.  

We weren’t moving from this camp site again today as there was concern the support vehicles could get bogged.  

Originally we were only needing to do 16 kms per day for today and the next two days but because we couldn’t walk due to the rain, it meant we now needed to do 22 kms per day.    

As we had to stay at the same camp site again, we decided we would do 12 kms before lunch and 10 kms after lunch. So we walked for 6 kms, had a break and then walked 6 kms back to camp.  We then did the same thing in the afternoon but going the other way.   It’s not ideal walking back over the part you have already done but we were determined to still do the full amount of 440 kms.  

It was a windy day so when we got back into camp for lunch nearly everything was dry.  The Camp looked like a Chinese laundry !

As our tents were already up, once we got into camp we were able to enjoy some time around the camp fire talking about yesterdays events.

They haven’t see rain like we had out here for years and we got 25 mls of rain.  The Birdsville Races even got cancelled.

After another yummy dinner we all headed to bed.  Everyone was excited about being able to stretch out again in their dry tents.  It is a really still night - the wind has stopped and we were all enjoying the stillness tonight.

Today we did our 22 kms over 6 hours and 36,022 steps.  We now only have 49 kms to reach Big Red.   We are all getting very excited as it’s getting so close. 

Unfortunately the rains didn’t bring out the camels- still no sightings.

Until tomorrow 

Donna

Day 18 - (Thursday, 1 September)

I am not sure where to start with the blog today but I guess it will be from 3.00 am this morning when we started to get very heavy rain.

It started then and has continued on all day and into the night.

Several of us got our tents, mattresses, sleeping bags etc completely drenched and some had to jump into the cars because they were so wet.  

About 6 am there was a little break in the rain and we got up to find a very wet camp site.   We managed to get the kettle on the gas burner for a cuppa and quick breakfast before it started again so back to our tents we went. 

After another couple of hours it stopped again and looked like it may clear.  We all appeared from our spots in tents or cars and started to put our sleeping bags, mattresses and clothes in the Gigi trees to dry a bit.  

Uncle Ken gathered wood and we managed to get a fire started.  The chairs were muddy and wet but we wiped them off and sat around the fire to get warm.  It was Shay’s birthday and Lisa decided to make scones for her.  We had jam and box cream so they were a real treat. 

We sang happy birthday and about 20 minutes later it started pouring again so we grabbed the gear that was drying and ran to our tents.  After that we didn’t get out of our tent or car for the rest of the day/night!  The rain just didn’t let up.

Thankfully we all had some snacks in our bags that we were sharing around for lunch. 

Around 5 pm we heard two motorbikes arrive into camp.   One of the riders was injured.   They put him in the back seat of Uncle Ken’s car for Kim to look at him and it turns out he had broken his ribs.  He stayed in Uncle Ken’s car for the night and his mate pitched a small tent.

It was a pretty long day with everyone either playing cards, reading or napping trying to wait out the rain.

By 6 pm everyone was pretty hungry and there was no chance of cooking dinner so Paddy once again boiled the kettle and we had a choice of cold baked beans, cup a soup or noodles.  Poor Paddy, he was drenched and running around worrying about everyone.  Kim and Em were wet from helping the motorbike riders so they were delivering our soup snd noodles to our tents/car saying “Uber Eats has arrived”.  

Everyone was just so amazing and coped with the situation so well.  Who would have thought we would get so much rain in the Simpson Desert !  

Never a dull moment on this Trek.  We have had a category 1 Cyclone on Mumma C’s birthday and been flooded in on Shay’s birthday - we are a little nervous about what could take place on Troy’s birthday!

The weather prediction is for the rain to clear tomorrow so we all have our fingers crossed for this so we can dry everything out.

Then we will need to make up the 18kms we missed today over the next 3 days that we have left so the kms will be back up again! 

The rain is still falling now, let’s hope we can get reasonable sleep in our cramped conditions to tackle the kms again tomorrow! 

Until tomorrow 

Donna x

Day 17 - (Wednesday, 31 August)

Another awesome nights sleep.   Paddy says that because it is such a long and intense trek, you have to have good food and great sleep.  For this reason, he has given us all a fantastic sleep mattress and a full size pillow and pillowcase. It has meant we all sleep so well every night - it’s amazing.

We left this morning about 8 am and started on our way.  It was cooler this morning and we had cloud cover so it was pleasant walking.  The sand dunes however are getting way bigger.  As we stand at the bottom of them and look up, we just take a deep breath and start off.  It’s easier if you can walk in the footsteps of the person in front of you. It may just be a mind game thing but we all find it works to get us to the top!

On every dune, We get to the top, get our breath back and continue on.  Ali, Mumma and Troy even had a race up one today - crazy !

After 12 kms we saw Paddy set up for our lunch.   Uncle Ken and Alex left early this morning to head to Birdsville to get more water, food supplies and hopefully some fuel.   The problem is that there has been a lot of rain in the area and as such it has meant that as from yesterday the main roads to Birdsville for the races this weekend are cut.   Paddy is not sure how long it will take before people will be able to get out of there and then there will be a shortage of fuel because the petrol truck is now unable to get there. 

We are hoping Ken and Alex will get back to camp about 6.30 pm.

We head off again for the afternoon of walking with full tummies all the time on the lookout for a camel.  We did see a few more dingoes this morning. 

We got into camp and had a cup of tea before getting our tents all set up.  

Some rain is predicted to come our way tonight so we have battened down the hatches in case it comes. 

After a yummy meal of pasta carbonara and of course damper, we settle in at the camp fire to wait for Uncle Ken and Alex to get back.  Finally about 7 pm after 11 hours, they arrived back at camp and they had even bought back some beers and chocolate.

Everyone’s hair is feeling very itchy and we are hanging out for a shower.  Baby wipes are our best friend but you no sooner wipe yourself or your bag down and the sand and red dust is back again so we are definitely fighting a losing battle.

We all climb into bed around 8 pm wondering if we are going to get any rain through the night.  Fingers crossed it holds off until we finish in a few more days.

Tomorrow we will be on our 16th day of walking and despite the fatigue, everyone is still working as a team and in good spirits but all really missing our families.

19 kms over 5 hours and 50 mins and 32,218 steps.

Camel sightings = NIL

Until tomorrow

Donna

Day 16 - (Tuesday, 30 August)

We awoke to another morning of yawns and groans with tents rustling as clothes are pulled on, sleeping bags and mats are rolled and we crawl out of our tents for breakfast.

We got some great pictures on the salt lakes at sunrise and then once we were ready we headed off.  We had our best ever fundraising day today making $930 from vehicles on their way to Birdsville for the races and we felt really upbeat with the amazing words of encouragement we were receiving from passing cars.  Once again everyone was in shock when they would see us walking as they came up over a dune.  They are always keen to know what the heck we are doing out here.  We have met some lovely and very generous people.

The dunes are getting further apart but lots bigger.  We just take them one step at a time and stop to get our breath back at the top before heading off again.

We did 12 kms before stopping for lunch and were then on our way again.  When we get in for lunch Em ices her leg to help her get through the afternoon- she has been a real trouper.

Paddy is a little concerned as there has been rain predicted for Thursday and if we get too much it will really effect the track and could mean we will have to bunker down for a day in camp.  Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen and it blows over. 

Uncle Ken and Alex are going into Birdsville tomorrow as we need water and some food supplies.  They will leave tomorrow morning and won’t get back until dinner time so it will be a big day. 

Because they will bring back water with them we were able to have a small dish of water to wash out a shirt, socks etc if needed which was very welcomed given we have been in the same clothes for so long. 

Kimberley, with the guidance of Jen - our resident alcohol adviser, made some “Simpson Desert Espresso Martini” cocktails tonight using Kailua, Rum and coffee and everyone enjoyed them very much. We may have only got a small serve each but gee did we saviour every mouthful! 

After dinner we all sat around the fire talking about the day and about what’s to come.   We are now down to single digits with only 90 kms left until we finish.  Today was our last Tuesday we will experience out here!

Paddy also let us know that the sand storm we all endured on Mumma C’s birthday night was a category 1 cyclone!

We did 19 kms today over 6.25 hours and 34,492 steps.

The end is in sight and we are all very excited about the hot showers at Birdsville.

Still no camel sightings !

Until tomorrow 

Donna

Day 15 - (Monday, 29 August)

Every night when we get into camp Paddy lets us know what tree, mound or mini dune he has put the toilet behind.  Last night it was a little further away than other nights but we all knew the vicinity of where it was located.

About 4.30 am this morning I thought I heard a howl in the distance and I just presumed it was a dingo as we have heard several out here.

Next thing several of the other trekkers heard it too and it now sounded like a person.   Lisa and Jen got out of bed and had a look around - we could now make the noise out and realised it was someone saying “Help”.  Just as Lisa was heading to the car to wake Paddy he realised something was going on.  He heard the cry and went running.  By now everyone was awake wondering what was going on.

It turns out that our lovely support crew member, Kimberley, had gone to the toilet and had walked back the wrong way and gotten lost in the dark.  She had made her way up onto a hill and was singing out “help” hoping someone would hear her.  The poor thing only had her T-shirt on with her jacket over it.  Once Paddy got her back to camp and we knew she was okay, she copped so much stirring about it all day and she was such a good sport. 

After that most of us just dozed until it was then time to get up at 5.30 am.   It was predicted to be another hot day so we were leaving early.

Em’s shin splints are not good but she refuses to do anything but keep walking so Kim (our Psychiatrist come GP) has been trying to manage it with ice packs, voltarin and other medication so we can hopefully get her through.  She is so determined.  We walked 20 kms over 5 hours and 50 minutes today and did 31,702 steps.

We started with a bit a cross country sand dune walking and then we walked for 18 kms along a massive salt lake.

The terrain out here is just so hard to explain.   The vastness of it is incredible.  Yes, there is sand absolutely everywhere, but you will come over the top of a dune and there will be a mini forest of Gigi trees, or there will be a massive salt lake and as you stand on the top of each dune you can see a never ending track that goes for miles into the distance to the horizon.  Then when you finally make it to that horizon, there is more sand track that leads to yet another horizon.  The sand just doesn’t end for as far as the eye can see and all we can do is just keep walking until eventually we spot Paddy and the crew.

We are now up to 13 days since we had a shower or washed our hair.  Paddy had let us know tonight that we may need to go a little sparingly with the toilet paper as we have already gone through 63 of the 70 rolls he bought with him and we still have a week to go! We have all voted that Ali is the biggest consumer!

We have had some more lovely people travelling in their vehicles stop and speak to us and donate to our fundraising.  People are so shocked to see us walking out here and most of them are really encouraging.

Once we got into camp it was really windy and we were camped right next to the salt lake.  It’s a beautiful spot but quite a challenge getting our tents up with the wind tonight.  And when they were up they just filled up with sand continually.   By the time we went to bed the wind had mostly died down so we all took turns with the dustpan and brush to sweep off our beds and sweep out our tents before jumping into bed.  

We are all trying to keep each other’s spirits up.   It’s tough waking up every morning for 20 days straight in dirty clothes and doing an average of 20 to 22 kms consecutively but, always at the forefront of all our minds is the women and children we are doing this Trek for and that’s what keeps us all going.

Until tomorrow 

Donna x