Bushwalking 101

$13,000!!
This is amazing! We want to thank you all for your donation and/or support on this journey.
This week has been huge- exhaustion, overwhelm, sneaky grief, but that $13,000?? Makes it all worth it. To send it all with love to those on their own MND journey makes us proud.
Massive thanks to our partners and kids. Thanks for being soundboards, organisers, cugglers.
Huge thanks to our Mum, our touchstone. We love you so much.
Cheers to Dad. We miss you everyday.
J, C & D xxx

We did it! Well most of it.... 3kms to go tomorrow around Bright. The Big Walk was super tough. Steep, slippery or rocky path, along granite rock faces, about 1km of flat path.... but wow! The views, the wildlife, the company. And the amount raised. Dad would be crying and saying something emotional... so here he is 👍👍👍

One week to go!!
Yes, I have changed the target amount again, but sorry, not sorry! $10,000 is well within our reach and we are so grateful to everyone who has donated already. Seeing people reach out in whatever capacity they are able to, has touch all of us. Special shout out to Bethanga Primary School for hosting a classic "casual clothes day". Apparently Jude's eyes lit up when he found out about it. So special for them to see their loved pa remembered. Much love xx

Spent the weekend conducting some research on the mountain.
Toe held up for a 5km walk 🙌
Views were spectacular 🙌
Nobody had gastro 🙌
Will may consider camping again 🙌🙌🙌
The Big Walk is in 2 weeks! Bottom of Mount Buffalo to Lake Catani. That's a 1200m climb across 14kms. We got this!!

Here's my why....
Sometimes I get through the day and realise I haven't thought about him all day. Sometimes Google asks me to clean up my old photos and I get sucker punched in the gut by my grief. It is just unbelievable he is gone. It makes me want to flip a table, crawl into bed, or... walk up a bloody mountain. I haven't flipped a table yet, and I haven't spent too many days in bed. And we are coming for that mountain xx

Why MND Victoria?
While there are other State branches of MND Australia, MND Victoria was the one that supported Dad. Based on the NSW and Victoria border, our Occupational Therapist hooked us up with them after Dad's diagnosis. They provided regular phone calls from a support worker, who gave information and support on what MND was and what the "journey" was, supplied vital equipment both for the home, and when Dad travelled to Melbourne for Claire's 2nd (3rd?) attempt at getting married.

Bushwalking 101
Why Bushwalking 101? Dad was super fond of (particularly after a glass or two of wine), of giving us Music 101 lessons. His record and CD collection is huge and he liked to start his history lessons in the 60s and 70s. Many reds, whiskeys, psychedelic rock and folk anthems were shared and loved over these sessions.
Given our lack of very recent, decent bushwalking adventures, we are feeling like this walk, might be another type of 101 lesson for us, from Dad xx

The Red Socks.
Dad had a favourite pair of red socks, that he often wore when bushwalking. We liked to give him a bit of a hard time about them, but at the end of the day, those socks were quintessentially Dad!
Christmas 2023, and each of us were gifted a pair of red socks to wear for our Big Walk, from Claire, with the TS Eliot quote "Courage, dear heart".
And here are some now- Jess was recently very courageous and walked to the top of The Horn on Mt Buffalo for some light training!