AAWT 2-0 Mellum

although andy's main issue was gear failure/wetness he sent this to me in an email.
he didn't mind me posting it here as it very eloquently describes the battle ahead in conquering the aawt.
there are runable sections.
and there are sections that are simply jungle.
this is extremely tough physically.
and an even bigger challenge mentally.

if beau (set off a week ago north->south) and dave byrnes (set off a few days ago) are to beat karl's 28days for this beast they will need to push thru these sections.

i looked at my gps track through the black river section. bizarre. i had no trouble finding the way out of the river this time. thank god. it was further along than i remembered though. i put the tape out for dave (byrnes) as described.

then it was worse than last year. 12 months of extra vigorous growth. i actually saw 2 burnt off markers and found a couple of short sections of track but otherwise it was just find the least resistance. sometimes i was cocooned and caught in vines and branches and couldn't move at all.

when i got to the knoll where we are supposed to turn right again all i could see was a sheer drop into thick bush. so i kept going across the knoll along the right hand edge hoping to pick up the trail leaving the knoll. eventually i started dropping off the back and realised so came back onto the knoll and headed parallel to the trail based on the gps. it was terrible. sliding where it was open and strangled where it wasn't. when i bottomed out in the saddle it was impenetrable and i couldn't see a thing. i went back and forth trying to find a way through. i gave up and started angling across to where i thought the trail should be again based on the gps. out of the blue a footpad appeared coming across my path from the left. which surprised me as i thought it should be on my right still. i angled slightly to follow it, excited. it started climbing straight away. oh yes i was already climbing mt shill. then another wall of bush. i looked down at the gps to get a heading and WTF i was headed back up to the knoll! angling onto the trail had taken me back the way i had come. i couldn't believe this so checked the compass and map and sure enough i was going the wrong way. i was shattered. i turned now totally unconfident and went back again hitting a blank wall.

this time i just plowed on following the heading. it was so hard to make headway. slowly i started climbing and eventually i hit the old vehicle track and kept bashing until i saw the ribbon i had put out last week. now i was happy. i thought then that i would get to tharwa.

not a lot to update with the hammy.
now 3.5weeks post prp injection and long story short no change.
a period of worsening eased somewhat with massage, a single dose of mobic and backing off the nordic curls.
2.5 weeks to go.

spent the weekend in melbourne: groomsman at a mates wedding.
those who know me well will know that i am not a huge fan of weddings ;)
i'm not the most sociable person!
'molly' and i have known one another for 24 years and been through lots of good times and bad over this time.
it was fantastic to share the experience with him, his wife, their family and other friends.
warmest congrats to 'team donut!!'