Brentano-Murphy's Adventures

The big day was here, and I had been rolling around in the sleeping bag, imagining that it was raining and cold outside. A beep on my phone woke me into reality – “Hey u, are u awake”, it was Jason, waiting outside for me. I got changed and went outside to be greeted by his warm smiling face, which reminded me of the previous night. I guess our affection could not be hidden from there on, but no one made comments or asked questions. My focus had shifted slightly and I stared out into the water wondering if what I had done the previous night was right. After a quick breakfast, the tent was taken down and everything packed away, and we were on our way to the start. Jenny dropt us off just by the start before proceeding down the road towards the finish to hand Dylan our bags, and beginning her journey with Jason on the way home. I cannot deny the sparkle in Jason’s eyes as we said goodbye, I had no idea that we wouldn’t even have time for a good bye hug, and I guess this was a reminder ...

I was awake pretty early, and tried not to disturb the others my getting changed camping style (in the sleeping bag). I tried to figure out what kind of weather was outside, but it wasn’t long until Jenny unzipped the door to the tent and let bright sunshine come streaming into the tent. A little while later Jason was cooking the breakfast before a few of us headed into the dam for a quick cool down.  Jess and I were in charge of keeping everyone’s stuff, and I ensured Jenny had everything she needed for her swim, and for afterwards. We waited with Jenny and Jason for a while at the start, and this was the point where I started to get really nervous – I guess just seeing all those people made me realize how big this event actually was, and I started to feel a little out of my league. A short while later Jess and I had driven up to near the finish (near in this case meaning a nice walk, and an easy place to get out of), and went in search of a blue tent by a ridge, to drop off...

So the weekend I had been training for was finally here, my nerves were on end but I was looking forward to completing a new challenge. Friday, 11 February was a pretty early start. Jess and I were catching a ride with Jenny and one of the boys from her school (Jason). Jenny left us to deal with the packing, and as per usual, with no instruction, I was clueless and standing there watching the other 2 at work, while at odd times throwing my 2 cents in. I looked at the full trailer, and the full boot, and realized there was still more stuff – later this stuff went into the back with Jess and I, where eventually I had no space left on the floor for even my toe. I also started to wonder why we needed all this stuff for just the 3 of us, but didn’t think much of it to ask, as I had not been in that situation before. Well, by 9 we were loaded up and on the road for what will be a very long and quiet journey. We did stop at a petrol station along the way for some food, where I introduced Jen...

New Years 2010/ 2011... What an experience! Christine, Belinda and myself decided to go to Jet at the Dome by Northgate to celebrate the New Year, and it just so happened that they were having a 'beach party' outside - slightly different to my last New Year spent in a plane back from England. I got to Christine's house at just after 5, and we went to fetch Belz from her work. I was ready to party and kept the entertainment going both there and back.Once we got back to Christine's house, I downloaded Belz pics from her birthday and started getting ready while Christine had her hair straightened by Belz (never trust me with a hair straightener if you still want hair!) After posing for pics, we popped open a bottle of champagne and toasted to an early New Year, before setting off for the club at roughly 8pm. Jet was interesting, but it got to a point where it was like 'Spot the white / black', Indians were everywhere. Drinks were also difficult to come by,...

So, I just finished my first job house sitting. Not bad pay, considering all the luxuries I had, including endless Cd's, DVDs and Xbox games - a TV junkie like myself's dream. I spent 5 nights at the house - a compact, 2 story complex type house, but it was comfy. I didn't spend much time there, mostly fed the 2 dogs and cats and came and went. The animals were friendly, however, for the one cat, Zack, who took a while to get use to a stranger in the house. Alice Toby Chloe Zack I've mostly been riding my bike around since the roads are quieter, and i can feel the confidence and cockiness growing. Wednesday wasn't a good day though. From the rain, the sand was soft, and as i was closing the gate before i had a chance to turn around i heard the sound...  JL's side stand had dug into the soft soil and slipped too low, to a point he fell over. Of course i couldn't lift him, so my mo...

25 July 2010 Belinda and i did the 15km part of the 702 walk the talk. The day started off really early with me waking up at 4:15 to be at Belinda’s gran’s (Dawn’s) house by 4:45. We set off to Kieran’s house (Dawn’s son) as he was providing us with a lift to the venue. Four of us squished into the back as Kieran and his fiancée, Nancy took the front. We got dropped off at the corner of Emmerentia, and not realizing that he was going back home had to whip off my tracksuit quickly in the car. The morning wasn’t too cold, despite being 6am, so i didn’t mind being in shorts. We took a walk up the hill to the start, which was about 1km away. Dawn set off at 6:30 doing the 30km walk. Belinda and i hung around at the start for an hour, watching all the late 30km walkers running to the start and start walking once they got to the banner. The crowds for the 15km came with 30 minutes before our start, and the mood was set. To get warm and our heart rates going, Black Eyed Peas, I gotta Feeli...