Recovery

So the last few days we have been recovering... and seeing the sights of Brisbane at the same time.

On Sunday we had a gentle wander around Roma Street Park, taking full advantage of the facilities for disabled people!

On Monday we took the hop-on hop-off 'City Sights' bus tour around the city. We stopped at Mount Coot-tha and the Botanic Gardens. Our tickets gave us access to the City Cat ferries for the day, so in the late afternoon we jumped on one to have a bit of a ride up and down the river.

On Tuesday (today) we found our way to a bike hire place and rode around across the Story Bridge, down to the City Botanic Gardens, across to South Bank, and around Kangaroo Point. We both really enjoyed it, as it allowed us to see more of the city than we would have by walking, and at our own pace. Later in the afternoon we went to the science museum, until we got kicked out at 5 pm because they were closing. We are still moving slowly, but definitely on the mend!

Marathon day!

So you're reading this, which means we survived the Bridge of Hope marathon walk today!

At the start line, bright and early. Kick-off: 7 am.

The task: 218 walkers, 42 km. The weather: perfect.

During leg 1, the path went through picturesque parks and followed the canal.

Arriving at pit stop 1. Leg 1: 13.5 km, 2h:21m.

20 minutes later, we were off again, through the Boondall Wetlands. This was time to practice our cyclist avoidance tactics!

Leg 2: 13.5 km, 2h:24m

Just about to cross the bridge! - the feature of the third and final leg. It's 3 km long but didn't feel as long and demoralising as we were expecting!

Arriving at the finish! Leg 3: 15 km, 3h:13m

The consequences of our madness!

Pfft... girls and shoes!! (Honestly, we needed them all...)

Reconnaissance

We arrived in Brisbane yesterday for our marathon walk tomorrow - eventually (our flight was a little delayed leaving Wellington). Surprisingly the quarantine people in Brisbane didn't bother checking our boots etc. when we went through - we had washed them, but you would still expect them to check.

We have an apartment booked while in Brisbane, it's about 15 minutes away from the start point for tomorrow, and not far away from the city either. It also has scenic views over the river and the city:

Yesterday after we arrived and had dinner, we went to the supermarket to stock up on breakfast supplies and food etc. for the walk. We even found a 'New Zealand' section, which had items such as various Griffins' biscuits, Twisties, L&P, Raro, Maggi soup, chocolate fish... and ironically, it was located in the 'health food' section!


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Today we decided to go for a drive to find the start point and various pitstops along the route. We found our way around without too many problems, and had lunch at a cafe near the finishing point. After that it was back to the apartment to rest up before tomorrow!

Crossing the Hornibrook highway bridge - 3 km long, right at the end of the walk

Lunch stop with Steph the kiwi, our mascot

Hopefully we will look this happy at the finish line tomorrow!