Bye Bye Bris-Vegas (Brisbane)

During the planning stages, Gareth and myself spent what seemed like years stuck in the flat. The days were extremely pleasant-dry and sunny-the evenings brought about some spectacular storms, most of them dry and silent with violent forks of electricity splitting the sky leaving you to expect the sonorous growls of late accompaniment which would sometimes not come. Night time was a little cool so jumpers were needed, but only just.
We managed to catch some of the fireworks for the Valley Festival, during our planning stages, before the countdown to our Cheeky Trip began. What a great evening it was.

Our Australian Cheeky Journey begins in Brisbane, affectionately referred to as Bris-Vegas. Population 1.81 million Brisbane has a great community feel to it although it is a lively, thriving city. Something for everyone as each district has a distinctly different feeling to it.<

Brisbane city council has spent a bit of money grooming and filling the city with wonderful pockets of artwork. For example, each and every electic box for traffic lights in Brisbane centre has been paited by a local artist in eclectic funky styles. That small box on the corner of every street adding some vibrant colours to the city really adds interest to your walk to the shop, and I am always pleased to see a new one as I walk though an area I haven’t explored yet.

The Brisbane River winds through the city centre and gives most places a good view of the water with its various river shore fronts. The river side makes, for those who like to keep fit, a great place to exercise on the various stretching and workout spots dotted around, and for joggers, a very scenic circuit. With much of the city high-life centred alongside riverside bars, cafes and other waterfront recreation, the CityCat high speed catamarans make for a very pleasant way to get around. There is even a beach with lifeguards on the South Bank shore front. Where else would you get that in the middle of a city?

We have clothes, we have a van, we have a few toiletries and most importantly all three of us have been given plenty of cheer and support by the good people of Brisbane.
Our first three nights of giving up everything was spent in Brisbane City. Thanks for the room Jeremy! Using Base Brisbane hostel as a very central, convenient base for a little sight-seeing, we wandered around the city.


With the new floating walkway along the river you get the most incredible view of Brisbane city behind the Story Bridge. A very romantic walk indeed. We have found Brisbane city to have a little something for everyone, each district has a very different flavour and the flavour in each district changes as the hours pass through the day.



Here is a picture taken from the walkway.


Shrine of Remembrance built in 1930. It’s eternal flame honouring Australian soldiers who lost their lives in WW1 sits at the back of a grassy area filled with city birds and people taking a break from office work or shopping.
Various forms of art scattered around the city add to Brisbane's character. The art changes at night as lights and reflections from street lamps illuminate another side to the many statues and memorial pieces.

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XXXX Brewery Tour- Three Brits Who Wouldn't Give a XXXX for Anything Else Either

As we were delayed leaving Brisbane by one day the kind people at Castlemaine Perkins invited us down to the brewery located in Milton Queensland.
Lending us a pair of shoes each they took us on a tour of the plant showing us the locations and all the different processes involved in the making and storing of the beer.Our tour started with the history of beer in Queensland and we learnt how and by whom the brewery was set up and how it came to be known as the famous XXXX brand known by people all over the world today. The number of X’s on the label representing the quality of the beer.
It was interesting to find out the various methods involved in making the different beers. We learnt that the darkness of the beer is dependent on how long the barley is roasted and that different strains of yeast are used to produce different ales. Also that as well as flavouring the beer the hops act as a natural preservative. It was interesting to learn just how important the type of water used in the brewing process can be to the particular taste and quality of the beer. This might explain why XXXX tastes that little bit better in Queensland than anywhere else.
After the Brewhouse the tour moved on to the Packaging Hall – the single largest packaging line in the southern hemisphere. The scale of this operation was hypnotic and we watched the millions of bottles and tinnies fly past with our noses pressed up against the Perspex, saliva pooling at our feet. Knowing that we would have no money to buy a cold beer for the next four months made seeing all this particularly tough. Our condition worsened as we saw what we thought was beer leaking onto the floor, however we were quickly reassured that this FloorX was a waste product and was just frothy water. Smiles soon appeared on our faces when we were told that we would be allowed to sample the beer very soon in their own on site XXXX Ale House.

It is also worth mentioning the great efforts the brewery are putting into making their site more environmentally friendly and to reduce their carbon footprint.
One of the by-products of any brewing is the production large amounts of CO2. At Castlemaine Perkins this CO2 is being captured and used to carbonate the beer. They are also currently installing a waste water recycling plant which will radically reduce the mains water used by around 400 million litres each year (the equivalent to 1.1 million litres each day). This water will be recycled to a very high purity but will not be used in the actual beer itself but will instead be used for cleaning, boiling and in the cooling towers. This will not compromise the beer as mains water will still be used for brewing.

Spirits soaring, we got to sample four glasses of the freshly brewed XXXX including the older and very rare XXX and a stout also produced on the site called Carbine. These proved to be the winners for us and we couldn’t believe that both weren’t more widely available. However the barman explained that both drinks needed to be drunk from a glass and so weren’t that popular when on the market.
Just when we thought that the fun was all over and we were worriedly finishing what we thought could be our last drops of beer for a very long time a very kind lady walked over and offered us some more vouchers which we redeemed at the bar with glee. Having only been in Australia less than a month I find it hard to believe that we will find a better drop throughout the land than the XXX we had that day. However anybody who believes different will find three very parched and willing testers.
A big thank you for the beer, the shirts and the hats guys.
To book a tour and taste for yourself visit here. http://www.xxxx.com.au// Read a cheeky bit more!

Story Bridge Adventure Climb-Brisbane

One of only three bridge climbs in the world the Story Bridge Adventure Climb was a great way to see more of Brisbane and the surrounding suburbs without having to leave the city centre. A short walk along the waterfront, from our hostel on Edward St through the city botanical gardens and over to Kangaroo point and we were there. Reputedly at 80 meters above the Brisbane River below, the highest point would surely be high enough to see not only the Glasshouse Mountains in the distance but also maybe even the sea.
We turned up early at the Adventure Climb Centre which is directly under the bridge, not far from the famous Story Bridge Hotel, maybe not dressed to impress but certainly sporting some killer attire. Anne looked like a lovely summer afternoon in the short floral dress she held onto rigidly, arms plastered by her side like a Roman Sentinel, or else be at the mercy of a gust of wind blowing it around her ears. Phil sported an urban hip-hop look, wearing denim shorts that made him look not so much 50 cent as his country cousin 50 cent a pound. I still had on a rather pink pair of pink flip flops (I can’t call them thongs, people would get confused) and a pair of tan coloured git-pants and a collarless white shirt, making me look like I’d just stepped out of a salon, then tripped.



The manager Paul Lewin came down to say hello and was a little surprised and maybe even disappointed that we weren’t in our bin bags. “If only you knew how much thigh was on display until he got those shorts”, explained Anne, “you wouldn’t be surprised that someone eventually had to clothe him”. He explained to us that we would have to have a run through of the safety precautions first, but that before dusk was one of the best times of day for climbing the bridge

With her gust of wind problem for now abated Anne moved around freely talking to people, while Phil just chilled yo, and hung out. I got used to the strange looks I was getting for wearing pink footwear. Soon enough Kirsty, our guide up to the top was with us, introduced herself, was pleased to meet us, then breathalysed us. After this we were taken upstairs to the changing room and given our climbing suits. All-in-one zip-up affairs, they are made for speed and efficiency and once donned we were then lead to another room, with simulator stairs and harnesses.

Once strapped in and clipped on we were shown how to use the safety harness with the wire clasp securing us to the stanchion of the stairway that ran with us as we walked. Feeling ready for action, we were then introduced to the bone transducer CB Radio headset which was clipped to our harnesses and wrapped around our heads. A head torch each was given us which we hung round our necks. The ration packs and machine gun we were expecting didn’t come, but a handkerchief was handed out, which we dutifully tied to our wrists and tucked up our sleeves.

The bone transducer headset works by vibrating sound through the skull and into the brain. The ears are not covered so you can still hear, and talk easily. The only snag with the technology is that if you happen have a hip-hopping friend behind you as you ascend the many steps to the bridge, laughing so hard at you in your snug-fitting speed suit that to keep the amusement going he keeps turning up the volume on the CB radio so that when your guide stops to tell you a fact her voice bores so deep into your brain that for a second you’re ready to do whatever she commands.

If this keeps happening, repeatedly, sneakily, and without your noticing, you can end up feeling lobotomised and a little brainwashed by it all. “Please watch your head”, I intone blankly to no one in particular. “The Story Bridge was built in 1935, by … as part of…” I say without quite knowing why.

Eventually I regain control of my mind, and we continue up the flights of stairs below the bridge, and out onto the walkway up the Story Bridge itself. At mid afternoon the traffic below is building up, the evening is calm and warm, with little wind, and Kirsty keeps us informed, and in control of my brain, as we ascend.

The view was spectacular, with the winding river lights illuminating South Bank with the skyscrapers of the CBD speckled silhouettes against the gradually pinkening sky. As we got higher we could see over the other side of the river, to Newstead and beyond. The peaks of the Glasshouse Mountains appeared between two highrises to the north, while south appeared the Gold Coast hinterland, and to the west Mount Coo-tha rose gently, with Moreton Bay and its islands to the east.

Stopping for a picture at the top, we paused for a good look round, and watched the sunset as it went from pink to a deep red, then spread out and melted a deep rich ochre. A very tranquil way to enjoy Brisbane from such a height, and capture views you otherwise miss out on. The suburbs merged in the distance as the vista sprawled out to the sea, which was just visible.

The safety instructions paid dividends in the end, as we felt safe and secure despite being 35 metres above the traffic and 80 meters above the river. On the loop back around Kirsty told us of the 1.5 million rivets used during construction, that were heated up and thrown to the worker, who caught its head and hammered it home. The work that went into the construction is, as ever with these tasks, immense and impressive.

Despite working under conditions that would give any self respecting Occupational Health and Safety Board severe piles if they were to see such a thing today, there were only three deaths during the five years it took to build, and considering they worked unharnessed, on stark supports, without railings or handholds, dangling their legs over a sheer drop or running up the steel girders it is a remarkable testament to the guts and skill of the guys back then. Of the million and a half rivets put in back in 1940, only four had to be replaced a few years ago when engineers inspected the bridge.

The Bridge is over a kilometre long and 24 meters wide, includes 14 000 tonnes of steel and has at its base 41 250 cubic metres of concrete, and it moves up to 200ml each year, requiring the expansion joints that take this into consideration, as it swells and contracts with the seasons. Luckily we managed to strike it on a day when it was fairly stable and by the time it got dark and we had on our headtorches and the bridge lights shone, and the city scape shimmered and glimmered with a thousand lights, with the river meandering languidly we were happy and content to have climbed the Story Bridge.
Thanks for the climb guys.
To book an adventure climb please vivist http://www.storybridgeadventureclimb.com.au// Read a cheeky bit more!

Manx Media

Manxman Phil Carr embarks on madcap charity challenge WITH only a black plastic bin liner to protect his modesty, Manxman Phil Carr and two friends began a charity challenge on Sunday to tour Australia relying only on the generosity of those they meet.
The proposition is simple: they begin with nothing — hence the bin liners — and anything surplus at the end of the trip is to be auctioned in aid of the charity Book Aid International.

Along the way no money is to change hands, instead the trio will barter, work and in fact do anything within reason in exchange for living essentials, travel and donations to the charity. Read a cheeky bit more!

Wicked Camper Video

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Our Cheeky Wicked Camper Van

Our amazingly designed, custom sprayed van with the bookaid.org logo and 'As Cheeky As You Can't' written on the back!!! It's wonderful! Big thank you to John, Camilla and Leanne at Wicked Campers!!!!!!! We love you! Our trailer has the Blues Brothers "On a Mission From God" sprayed on the back and we finally left Brisbane on Thursday (25th)afternoon. Not bad since we only started letting people know about what we were doing on the 14th!

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Wow! People are Talking! Fantastic

Someone pointed this out to us. Great stuff guys. "I just stumbled across this on the Brisbane Times website. It is an absolutely unbelievable thing to be doing, especially in a country as Australia!" Read Here

On Earth Garden
This type of thing REALLY anoys me. If they are paying for all their costs themselves and any donations actually go to charity, fair enough, but most of them don't!

On Wee Waa
Interesting Story
Three friends from around the UK have come together in Brisbane to set off on a circumnavigation of Australia, to raise money for a child literacy charity, Book Aid International and to write a book about their travels. With one small exception: They must start the trip from scratch, with nothing more than their trust in good will and generosity.

ABC Queensland
A Road Trip With A Differnce
A welshman, an english woman and a British Isles-man were sitting at a bar in Wales ... and they made a promise.

No, this is not a joke ... years later, the three friends left their jobs in Ireland, Osaka and Vienna and met up in Brisbane, Australia.
Here is the beginning of my post. Read a cheeky bit more!

BBC Article

Round Australia trip the hard way

The trio started off in bin bags on the streets of Brisbane
A Gwynedd man is taking an unusual approach to travelling around Australia to raise money for charity.

Along with two friends, Gareth Owen, from Groeslon near Caernarfon, started off with nothing - not even the clothes on his back.

The trio plan to work for all the goods and services they will need on the journey as they raise funds for Bookaid International.

The 15000 km round trip will end in Brisbane on 26 January next year.


Read more on the BBC website. "We've been planning the trip, which we've called 'as cheeky as you can't', for three years and we began by giving everything we had away," Mr Owen, 31, told BBC Radio Cymru's Hywel a Nia programme.

"The rules state that no cash can be earned and we will be working for food and everything else we will need along the way," said.

We have thought hard about what the possible problems might be, and how we might overcome them

Gareth Owen, 'Cheeky' traveller

The friends - the others are Anne Race from Tyne and Wear and Phil Carr from the Isle of Man - started off by giving all their clothes away and wearing bin bags on the streets of Brisbane.

"One man took off his flip-flops and others gave us bits of clothing," said Mr Owen.

"We're trying to get as many people involved as possible, and we've already got a van, tents and all our camping equipment.

"Someone even came to the door last week with a box of 12 bottles of wine," he added.

The trio hope their trip will be sufficiently different to attract enough publicity to raise £10,000 for child literacy charity Bookaid International.

"We are hoping that by doing the trip this way (depending on other people to donate everything) we can highlight the problems faced by people who have no money," he said.

Travellers tale

As Australia is such a vast country Mr Owen said they were hoping advance publicity would mean that communities along the way would be expecting them.

There is also an online blog of the traveller's tales.

"We have thought hard about what the possible problems might be, and how we might overcome them," he said.

"But so far we're doing really well, and we've had promises of food and places to stay," he added.

At the family's home at Groeslon near Caernarfon Mr Owen's mother, Mandy, said she thought the trip was a fantastic way to raise awareness of the Bookaid charity.

"I have been out today to send a parcel, as they are leaving forwarding addressed, but I'm not sure of their route," she said.

"At some point they are bound to go into the bush though, so I am hoping for their safety.

"They are extremely good friends though, and are in this together," she added. Return to Cheeky As You Can't home
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It's a Lifestyle Choice

The Challenge

From UN World Peace Day (Sep 21st) we circumnavigate the continent of Australia. See map.

We begin with NOTHING: we will have no cash, no clothes, no possessions and no vehicle at the start of our journey.

We remain penniless the whole journey, not spending a cent for anything.

We do any job given to us and donate all our wages to Book Aid.

At the end, we give back, donate or auction all we have been given.

Attempt to reach our goal of raising £10,000 ($22500) for Book Aid

We place the outcome of our journey, our lives and our adventure into the hands of others.

We work in exchange for goods and services such as food and fuel.

Each and Every Person Acknowledged

• We will not fail to publicly thank everyone who enables us to do this.
  
• Our a ‘Good on ya! Cheers mate’ list, will contain acknowledgements of all those who have helped us, and will be updated regularly.
• Nothing is irrelevant. A handshake and a kind word will be acknowledged.
  

How do we keep people involved?

• Our blogsite will be updated, added to, made fun, informative and the only official way to follow our intrepid adventures as they unfold
• Anne takes pictures
• Phil tells a joke
• Gareth grows a beard
• People contribute opinions, stories of their own, jokes, facts, anecdotes, and give us suggestions and invitations.
  

• 

Buckley’s or breeze?
We will be forced into a daily survival situation where we have to rely on ingenuity, audacity, exchange, dares, comedy gold and the generosity of strangers to obtain the most basic of things. We will make our way round in who knows what manner, or in what sort of state, but always with good humour and originality. We will have to be audacious and cheeky to carry this off. So, be it a simple case of picking berries for shelter, telling jokes for pies, dressing up as a chicken to get our socks washed or tightrope walking for toilet roll, we will do it in exchange for something we need to circumnavigate the continent without a penny passing into our hands for work. It will be hard, we have to keep on trying, not as hard as we 'can,' but until we 'can't'. We must continue pushing on to the finishing post back in Brisbane, no matter what difficulties we come across.

Along a planned route we will find as many activities as we can, visit tourist attractions and places of interest, try our hands at any and all jobs (especially those targeted to travellers who enter on working holiday visas) and we will document all our finds and experiences. Every small business or individual who helps us will have their company logo and or name printed on our weblog.

With the local and national media, radio, TV and newspapers involved, we will build a profile to generate a following that will be able to see our progress daily online.What we are collecting here is a resource for people interested in Australia and a mateship list. A list of people who share in the ideal that the world is a good place, a list of those who believe in helping others in need, and most of all, a list of Aussies who like to have a laugh, share a good time and believe a 'can’t' can become a dead set ripper of a 'CAN'! Join us on our quest to help international child literacy by lending us your support, by sending us things you think we may need along the way, by making online donations to Book Aid International and/or to our fuel fund and by telling your friends! Read a cheeky bit more, the link below, to find out how to help us achieve the impossible.

There are many ways in which our friends, family, the media, companies, and our new to be mates can help us.

Donations
Please make donations to Book Aid.

Please make donations to our fuel and emergency breakdown/car maintenance fund. We will endeavour to not have to touch this fund but we predict we will need some help making sure we are carrying enough fuel in our vehicle to get us through the long unwinding roads through the desserts. All money which we manage to not use will be added to the Book Aid donations.

Mechanic
Will we need some fine tuning? Probably. "Pass me the spanner mate, it's most likely the head gasket, or is it the sump? Kick the tyres and find out". We are engine illiterate. Help us

Wish List

Please send us some of the things on our wish list. Don’t let Anne have to go through months and months of driving with smelly boys. Send odour eater socks and car fresheners etc to our starting address or to a post office. We will be grateful to anyone who sends us anything!

Spot us on the street and give us something. See our car parked and leave us something in our donation box, anything will be gratefully received but if they are biscuit shaped, edible and crumbly, Gareth will be happy.

Burn and send us mixed Cd's of your own music. We will need to listen to something as we are passing through areas with no radio frequencies. We will put links to all the music we like on our 'Thank You, Good On Ya Mate' website.

Offer us work
If you have a business which hires contract or seasonal workers, offer us a job in exchange for goods. We want to try our hands at any jobs you have for us, the stranger the better. Any jobs which we haven't already done, we will do to the best of our abilities. And remember, all money earned will go straight to Book Aid International.

Suggest work places to us.
Suggest places which we should contact for work. If you have worked in Australia and found your job , the people or the place interesting, or if you have any contact details for unusual jobs Australia, please give us details.

Do you have a garden which needs weeding, a dog which needs brushing, laundry which needs hanging or a car that needs waxing, we will happily do it in exchange of a feed, a bed or a wash.

Suggest places for us to visit and activities for us to do. We want to hear your stories. What really impressed you when you were here? Do you love your Auzzie town, tell us why we should visit you?

Send us Off
Come down and see us off at our start in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia.

Sunday 21st September

We will be starting out in the Valley Mall, Brisbane. If you can make it, please come down and speak to us. We will be the three people striping of their work clothes and donning black bin bags waiting for some kind soul to donate us some clothing.

Swapsies
If you see us en route, please swap something you have excess of, that we could use, for something we have excess of.

Website
Do you know how to improve this website? Please help us make improvements, make it more interesting, easier to navigate, add graphics etc. We need to add an interactive map with our destinations. Can you help us with this?

Artists
Please help us develop a brand. We need an identity, a logo or maybe a caricature/cartoon of ourselves so people can easily recognise us on the road.
Develop a design for our vehicle spray work or vehicle wrapping.


Spread the Word!
Help us gain the support we need to complete our challenge. Send a link to our website to all your friends.
Ask your work/friends/family to sponsor us.
Become our Facebook friend and join the Facebook 'As Cheeky As You Can't' group. Send a Facebook friend suggestion to all your friends. Sign up to our weblog and keep a watch over how far we are getting with our cheeky trek. Become a follower. Subscribe to our feeds.
Tell your local papers about us. We could use as much publicity as possible.

Have you met 'As Cheeky As You Can't'?

Do you have a story to tell about a time you spent with us? We want your stories and pictures. Either tags us in public pictures on Facebook and write up your story in the group or our wall, write up an article and post it (tagging us in the post) or share it in the comments box on blogger at the end of one of our articles. Remember, you are an integral part of this adventure, the people we meet are the most important element of the success of our quest.

Please contact us asap or send us something we will need.

Back to Ascheekyasyoucant home Read a cheeky bit more!

Day Two

Sppag Trek -The Next Bifurcation

It is only day two of our trek and there is already $1779 which has gone directly to book aid international.
After a bit of a hungry start to the day we spoke to a few people about Book Aid, hopefully spreading the word about their worthy cause.
We are a little worried about how we are going to make sure we can get a little fuel along the way, as we are working but unable to take money, but I'm sure somehow we will find a way.

Invited to do the Story Bridge Climbing Adventure Climb during the afternoon, we were extremely fortunate to see a birds eye view of the city as the sun quickly changed the sky hues through a gamot of colours then suddenly dropped behind the skyline.

Mel, Rachel and Andrew, supporters of the great work Book Aid International do, took us for a fantastic feed in the evening. What a feast! Thank you! Although it was the only meal we had yesterday it was huge, delicious and made going without during the day worth while! How guilty we felt, as we sat there with our over filled bellies, thinking 'Hmmm surely going without is supposed to be harder than this!' We are very grateful that we have clothes on our back, and nice clothes at that too, and that we are being fed delicious food by supporters.

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

Off With Your Pants! Day 1 of the Cheeky Trip!

Day 1-What a wonderful response! We were out there in the Valley Mall yesterday wearing our bin bags. Before we got there people were waiting around to donate goods to our cause. The Wicked Campers girls brought a custom made van door with our names sprayed on it, nice! I wonder how long it will take using this Fred Flintstone type vehicle without wheels?

We spent the day the whole day under the glaring sun in sweaty plastic (it didn't end up raining like we feared.) We endured all the laughing, pointing, gasps, looks of horror and sympathy but met some wonderful people throughout the day.
The stall holders in Valley Mall kept us in constant supply of refreshment and food and many donated items from their market shops.
People offered us places to stay, jobs to do, many donated items for us to wear and we have a hostel to stay in throughout our time in Brisbane until Wednesday.
We've a bunch of thanks to give Susie Gardiner who made a fantastic banner and some delicious home made biscuits. We'll be using this banner all around Australia Susie! Thanks, thanks and more thanks!

Anne was very surprisingly interviewed for a fashion magazine, which stated her dress sense as "interesting". She described her bin bag/garbage sack look as.... "Street skip rat," or "RUBBISH!" Gareth's mum adds.

Carlie from Nova radio came down to give us a bag of goodies! Thank you lovely.

As you can see from the video, Gareth did try to smuggle some biscuits but he was soon found out during the de-robing session. EVERYTHING was given up to the two beautiful girls at Wicked Campers. Sorry about the low quality of our video, we are waiting for the girls to send us a clearer, more professional link but until then we will have to do with the one my sister took on her little camera.

Please visit the Book Aid News page, where you can see what we are doing for them over the next four months.

Thank you so much to all those great people who have offered beds, food and jobs up the eastern coast of Australia. We will be seeing you soon. We are still looking for a few more jobs and beds between Townsville and Mt. Isa and further west. If anyone has anything to offer we would love to hear from you.

Phil would like to thank Gareth and Gareth would like to thank Phil.

We spent most of the day without footwear but by the middle of the afternoon we could walk home safely. Phil would like to thank the very giving guy who took the shoes off his own feet to give to him on the spot! Wow! That is generous!!!!!

What an inspiring day. The support and encouragement we received was phenomenal and we are so very grateful to everyone who left all the positive comments in our message book. We appreciate everything that people have done for us. We understand that there is a lot being done behind the scenes which we will never know about, such as people spreading the word about our cause and about Book Aid and we thank you all for your had work.

Wow! After a day in the sun clad in black plastic, sweaty and smelling a little stale. We feel great in the knowledge that the world is a great place full of people with a good sense of humour for a great cause. Read a cheeky bit more!

Come See Us De-robe!

Sunday 21st September from 9am.
Fortitude Valley Mall sunken area.
We will have a ceremonial de-robing moment, when we don our fetching black bin bags and give up all our worldly goods. Come and see us, laugh at us, point at our limelighted goose pimples and say to yourself "Mmmm....rather you than me mate. You look like a wally!"

We need all the help we can get so please come down to show your support, leave a donation, bring us some knickers or just give us a supportive word. We are a little nervous but we have full faith in the people of Brisbane and the people of Australia. Read a cheeky bit more!

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.
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Read a cheeky bit more!