Rain, Wind and Sand Dunes

Hi Everyone, I did my last training hike today down at Wanda sand dunes Cronulla beach and it was such a horrible day!!.. On top of training in all of the gear that I am going to take on the trek next week and having to push through the toughness of the sand dunes, I also had to do it all through some pretty tough winds and rain..

Well.. what can I say????.... The conditions could not have been more perfect!! I'm going to be dealing with much tougher conditions on the track and it was the perfect opportunity to test all my gear and my preparation skills. There's no major adjustments, but the mind is already ticking away with little ideas that will help me on the trek to get through much worse conditions.

I really enjoyed today, it was just what I needed to reassure myself that I'm ready and that I've done everything I need to do to be fit and prepared. This week I can dot the i's and cross the t's and concentrate on preparing mentally for the conditions, because if they get horrendous I want to be able to push through them knowing I am stronger.

Thanks heaps to Inspired Adventures for organising todays practice hike. It was great to meet a few of the faces in their crew that I've had dealings with over my journey so far and it was interesting to hear more about what they do.

Want to find out more? Check them out: http://www.inspiredadventures.com.au/

It was also interesting to meet a few other people with challenges of their own and other adventures such as Kilimanjaro, Kokoda and the Inca trail in support of other charities such as The Leukaemia Foundation, Lifeline and Amnesty International. One amazing guy had even just finished up his treatment for Leukaemia and was after 3 long years was taking his challenge up later this year on the 4th anniversary of him being diagnosed.

Check out a few of the pictures - it was several hours or rain, wind and sand dunes and I could not have been more happier than a pig in mud! :)

One week to go and closing fast! :):):)


When it starts raining everyone starts getting out their wet weather gear to keep dry.. err - or to avoid the start of this wonderful hill! :)

Almost at the top - I'm so glad I had the trekking pole to get up the last steep incline. It stopped me sliding down. hahaha

Walking along the beach the rain and wind got bad so I had to get the poncho on - a lot of blowing around in the wind, but it did it's job perfectly!

At the end of the day - still wet and windy, but all smiles! - it was a great training day to get before the real thing next week.. now all I needed was to dry myself.. everything was pretty wet.. except for my pack! A++

A great group shot of everyone after we finished the sand dunes and started our beach walk.. Most other people were taking adventures later in the year so I was the only one carrying a full kit - but yes, that is air!! Boooyaaaa!! :)