A Few Hours To Go

A concoction of adrenaline, nerves and excitement, we had little or no sleep last night.
It is now Saturday night and we are cleaning our rooms, packing our belongings and watching the amazing but ominous looking fork lightening outside. It seems there is a huge storm brewing and it looks like it may start raining. Rain....hmmm...this is a spanner in the works we haven't prepared for.
As a Brit, when Anne first landed here in the middle of Australian winter Gareth laughed at her as she adjusted to a winter where the sun shines and you get a tan! Everyday for the first week after she arrived here she took out her coat and umbrella wherever she went, just in case. She has finally gotten used to the Australian glorious winter and it looks like it may rain now of all days.

Oh no.... Wet plastic bin bags, no clothing or shoes, wet hair and no towels to dry ourselves with! It's not something we are looking forward to. Fingers crossed the storm doesn't stay around tomorrow because we have to give up everything, which means we won't be able to use umbrellas!

We have been offered a number of beds and jobs in various places around the eastern coast of Australia. Thanks for all the offers!
People have been been sending us wonderful messages of support which have been very encouraging. That people are showing their willingness to get involved in this trek is really in line with the feelings being shared around the world tomorrow on United Nations International Day of Peace. People exchanging goods for other goods or services and giving a helping hand to others for no other reason than to share a smile.


We are keeping our fingers crossed that someone will turn up tomorrow and donate a camera, some clothes and offer us a job or invite us in for a feed. Unable to predict the outcome of tomorrow, we will surely have another restless night sleep, but we do have faith in the people of Brisbane......even if it does rain......... Read a cheeky bit more!

2 Days to go!!!!!!! Eeeeep!

We have less than two days to go before we are naked in our bin bags, a quivering trio in flimsy black plastic, covering nothing but question marks and hope, in The Valley Mall on Sunday. Eeeep!

We have had a great response so far. However one of the big things we still need is a video camera so we can film our exploits. Can anyone help us with this?

Gemma Snowdon from 4zzz radio and The Wire, interviewed us today. She is the first person to witness 'The Steve'. Listen to what she had to say about it here! Listen to The Wire's MP3 'Backpackers do it With a Difference'

Toucan displays have given us the means to advertise our challenge with a panel display wherever we go.

We have been offered some interesting jobs and and have been offered some beds along the way. Base Brisbane, on Edward St, have offered us bums beds on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Nova Radio inteverviewed us, we will put a link to the interview here as soon as we get it.

Lach Stock and Barell have donated shirts and a crate of wine for us to use as bartering tools for fuel etc.

eprintonline.com.au printed us 500 flyers.

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3 Days Til The De-robing.

Wicked Campers have very generously given us a campervan! This is a marvelously generous donation! A huge thanks to the team at Wicked Campers. Some members of their team will be coming to see us on Sunday in the Valley Mall at 9am when we de-robe! They are customising one of their vans for us. Can't wait to see the 'cheeky' design!

Simon from the Brisbane Times came to speak to us. It was lovely to meet you Simon.

Three Britons are about to leave themselves at the mercy of Australian generosity as they embark on a nationwide tour using only donations.
On Sunday Anne Race, 30, and Phil Carr, 28, both from England, and Gareth Owen, 31, from Wales, will abandon their worldly possessions and - dressed only in garbage bags and carrying only the equipment needed to record their journey - begin the daunting challenge of trying to circumnavigate the continent.
read more

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4 Days to go

Camping.com.au have very generously offered to provide us with all our camping equipment. This is a massive help! It means we will not go without a place to rest our heads wherever we go. Using this great site you can search for outdoor services, shop, discover Australia using the location guide, browse through the classifieds, Match/Meet an outdoor type and get Membership Shop discounts.

Our interview with ABC Brisbane was wonderful. See Here
We met the lovely Kelly Higgins-Devine who will be following our trek and catching up with us every few weeks on her Drive show.
Listen to our interview here!
We were donated these caps to keep the sunburn off during our trek and listeners are starting to email us with invites to dinner at their homes and maps among other things. Thanks a lot for your support!

Willing Workers On Organic Farms (WWOOF) is a form of cultural exchange in which WWOOFers live and work as family with host farms, and learn about the skills of organic growing and the area they are visiting. They have given us three free memberships and some shirts! Thanks WWOOF team!

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5 days to go!

We have got our license through from the council to put up a display in Fortitude Valley and sit in front of it in our bin bags. A big thank you goes out to James Dorman for giving us a prime spot in Valley Mall.

Raised £415. Great stuff everyone. Not bad for our first days.

Received money in our fuel fund and Anne has found her lost driving license.

Received T-shirts and literature from Book Aid International, Thanks to Lesley Pinder.

Manx Radio are interviewing us this week.

The Sunderland Echo are printing a story.

A huge travel book and map was given by Andrew Herbert, thanks mate.

Beds have been offered around some destinations we will be going to near the end of our journey.

A car is in Sydney waiting for any mechanic that has the time to do a little fixing, and for someone to pick it up or to drive it down to us.

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it. Read a cheeky bit more!