Well it’s been our first week on our big adventure and so far - so good. Only 1 injury- DB caught his little toe on a hinge and ripped half the nail and a chunk of toe away with it. Dr Lance fixed him up - thank goodness, my stomach is not good with that sort of thing.

Our trip began with a weekend away with DB’s siblings and partners. We stayed at Rosby Guesthouse in Mudgee. Wow what a magnificent place. 4 double bedrooms all with ensuites and a seperate self contained studio apartment. I’d highly recommend this place for any group getaways. Food and company was excellent and we had many laughs. Then for us it was time to escape. Overnighted at Lance and Johanna’s at Mudgee then Monday we drove 211km to The Warrumbungles. Camped at Camp Blackmans with a view to Grand High Tops and The Breadknife - our destination there t day. We rode our bikes 2.5kmto the start of the walk and stepped off at 7.30 am. A warm day was expected and its roughly 12km return trip. The climb was steep and stretched the lung capacity to its limit. My foot was giving me a little grief so I waited at The Bread Knife while DB, Lance and Johanna scrambled the final 300 metres to the top. Magnificent view - I saw the photos - ha ha. After a lunch break we headed back down and returned to our bikes at 1.15 pm. Walk was graded Grade 4 (hard hike) and it was challenging at times due to the steepness of the track but it was great. Lance and Johanna left us Tuesday for home and we did a short walk that afternoon just to loosen the tired muscles.

Wednesday was a 349km drive to Tia Falls (40 km east of Walcha) in a National Park. Bush camping at its finest. We were the only ones there. A lovely night sitting around the fire until a moth about the size of a dinner plate (well a bread and butter plate at least) decided to use my head as target practice. Time to read inside.

Heading towards the coast now.