2024 Ngawudu Ultra Marathon - They Did It!

 

They did it! 

In that hot dusty and rocky terrain, 

Nelson and Fabian ran the whole 52kms!

The boys started at 4.30am in the dark! 

With lights on their heads, they ran from the 

Mitchell Falls campground up to the 

top of the falls and back down.

Then the big loop to the Kandiwal Community and 

back to the campground. 

You can see where they ran above.

 

 By the end of the marathon, the temperature was about 35oC!

Heading towards the finishing line.

 I love the big smile on Nelson's face.

Crossing the finishing line!

Not a bad effort for Nelson's first marathon!

 

Little Shanton coming from behind.

Everyone who took part in the event. 

APT staff, members of the Kandiwal Community.

From running to making signs and cheering everyone on.

After nearly 7 hours it was done!

Having a well deserved rest.

Enjoying some vegemite toast later that night. 

He's looking a bit tired! 

Nelson said he slept like a log Sunday night.

He felt good Monday, just had sore quads.

The community killed and cooked up a 

freshwater crocodile as a thank you gift to the 

APT staff for all their efforts.

It's not something they do for everyone 

so it was a very special dinner.

I asked Nelson what he thought of the crocodile. 

His reply: "I wasn’t the biggest fan.

I prefer salt water crocodile to be honest"

Nelson and Fabian were interviewed 

by radio ABC Kimberley. 

You can hear them talking about the Marathon

 around the 1 hour, 7 minute mark.

 The link is here. 

We are so proud of Nelson and all the others.

They have raised around $40,000.

What an amazing effort!

2024 Chookshed Challenge - July and August

  

As you can see, I am a couple of months behind with my 

challenge reports due to our road trip to the Kimberley.

Project # 1 was the July project.

 I changed my project #1 to work on my road trip rugs. 

I originally had making some tea towel aprons on my list 

but that wasn't going to work while I was away.

I am lucky that I can crochet in the car and driving over 

10,000kms gave me a lot of time to work on my rugs.

Although it looks black, it is actually navy.

I was hoping to finish my navy blue and white rug 

but I was one ball of navy wool short.

I had also taken wool to start another rug on the trip. 

A much prettier one this time.

I made a rectangle granny instead of square.

This is more true to the colours.

My project #3 was to work on my much 

neglected Tilda hexagon quilt.

We arrived home from our trip 2 days before 

I was to head off to NOTYQ retreat. 

Just enough time to unpack, 

do the washing and repack for retreat!

When I got back to Victoria I was able to get to Spotlight 

to buy some more wool to finish the navy rug. 

I had also decided to make the rainbow rug a bit bigger 

and needed to get another ball of that as well.

So both rugs were finished at retreat, 

along with stitching more hexagons together.

2024 Ngawudu Ultra Marathon

While Nelson has been working up at APT Mitchell Falls 

Wilderness Lodge in the Kimberley, he decided he wanted to do 

something to help the Kandiwal Community. 

He came up with the idea of running an ultra marathon 

to and from the top of Punamii-Unpuu (Mitchell Falls) 

and back to the Community. 

 

Tomorrow, 1st September, is the big day!

 

It's going to be 52km navigating rocky, dry and dusty terrain 

in the extreme Kimberley heat which is no small feat.

  

Nelson and Fabian, one of his co-workers, 

will be running the whole 52km, 

while other co-workers are running a half marathon.

Funds raised from this marathon will be used to help the 

Kandiwal Community improve their lives and make themselves 

self-sufficient. You can read more about it here.

The Kandiwal School kids have all got new running shoes

 for the big event and are very excited to show them off.

 They'll be running alongside Nelson, Fabian and the others 

when they cross the finish line.

 

Shianne, Shanita and Winston

Lulu, Maya, Kingsley, Djinda and Kimarnie.

The kids and staff from APT have been busy painting signs.

We are so proud of Nelson.

I wish we could be there to cheer him on.

 I'll share some photos of the marathon when I get them.

If you would like to donate to this worthy cause go here.

Thank you for any support you can give. Every little bit helps.

2024 Kimberley Outback Adventure (Part 3)

We spent an afternoon visiting the 

Kandiwal Community School. It was so lovely to see all 

the kids again (and meet some new ones). 

Unfortunately, my little shadow from our 2022 visit 

Carmen-Lee, was away with her family.

Sid, the chef at the lodge, was spending his week

off teaching the children to cook. 

Today was pasta day. They all did a fantastic job.

They made enough to feed the mob that night, 

along with Sid's special sauce.

Shianne, Shanita, Winston and Sid.

Scones for afternoon tea with the community and staff. 

Nelson has some very lovely workmates 

and they all made Noel and I feel part of the family.

All too soon it was time to say goodbye to Nelson. 

We spent eleven days with Nelson and it was very special

 to spend time with him at this wonderful place.

We caught the mail plane back to Kununurra.

The Wilderness Lodge from the air.

Before we left Kununurra, we went to Lake Argyle 

and did a cruise on the Ord River, finishing off at sunset.

 

Saw quite a few crocodiles.

This is called Elephant Rock. 

It is just before we got back to Kununurra.

Our friend Megan had climbed Elephant Rock and

 she filmed us coming down the river.

We then started the long drive home. 

Spent another night at Daly Waters.

Instead of driving back down the centre of Australia, 

we headed over to Queensland and came down that way.

Emus at Longreach. We only had a short stop 

here as we were on a time schedule. 

We had to get back in time for me to re-pack 

and head off on NOTYQ retreat!

We will definitely come back here as

 there is so much to see and do. 

Stopped at the Walkabout Creek Hotel. 

This is where they filmed some of Crocodile Dundee.

With Mick Dundee!

Walkabout Creek Hotel.

We came through Corowa and had a quick visit 

with Sharmayne from Country Fragrance.

After driving over 10,000kms through 6 states and 1 territory, 

we arrived back home from our road trip to the Kimberley. 

We had such a fabulous trip and it was very special 

spending time with Nelson up there. 

I hope you've enjoyed a snapshot of our trip.