Day: 6, 195km covered, status: Well rested and raring to go (sick of protein bars)! Location: Nelson Bay.

CLOSING IN ON 20% completion of the journey!

FIRST of all I just really want to say what an amazing experience this has been to see such generosity and kindness from absolute strangers. It has been such an eye opener and we have a new found respect for mankind! (very dramatic hahaha)

It's been really rough the last couple of days but we've held together. Physically and mentally challenged to the enth degree. With our walking taking longer than expected we have ended up sleeping in some bizarre / beautiful places. On Day 4 we arrived in Newcastle at 11:30pm at night to sleep on a hill beside a railway track in what is apparently an unwaterproofed tent in the pouring rain HA! As you can imagine the moral wasn't the best. In the morning things changed with an awesome interview with Newcastle's ABC radio and an easy day off from marathon walking efforts.

We crossed the beautiful Hunter River to spend an afternoon in Stockton looking out over the ocean and recharging our walking batteries.

Day 5 took us on a mission to Nelson Bay that included a $2 feast for lunch at the NAIDOC Week Celebratory Festival that we passed on the way. We were farewelled by the local Indigenous elders and had blessings thrown at us for the rest of the journey.

I said I would speak about the personal journey more in this blog so I'll let you know where things are at. It has really been go go go on this expedition so far and we haven't had much time for reflection. It was in the nights before we left that I realised that the sole reason for me doing this was mum's passing, and I would be in a completely different part of life if it hadn't happened. This gave me clarity for the purpose on this journey which is to heal and help heal the community affected by similar situations and do our best to raise awareness for prevention of suicide to the best of our abilities i.e. Reach Out. So far it has been amazing the stories people have been sharing with about what this journey means for them. That part of it has been amazing, also speaking for myself but I can imagine the other boys are the same, there has been a lot of personal development happening. You can't walk 45km in a day without discipline and you can't sit down and take time to heal without peace, so this juggling act is slowly becoming an artform and becoming one of the most effective ways I have dealt with my grief. ANYWHO...

SHOUT OUTS:

Eddie and gang - Bateau Bay

Chemist Crew - Bateau Bay

MACCA - Tourkey

Mcdonalds Crew - Swansea

Monica - Belmont

Ben - Belmont

Testy the trolly

Sofie - ABC radio

Brooks - Stockton :D

Kate - Stockton

EMMA D - Brissy!

Sharee - PCYC Nelson Bay

You guys have made this experience amazing and have saved our skin on more than one occasion :D - APPRECIATE IT!

MAKE SURE YOU SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BLOG! Keep posted for the next one! For more information and to DONATE!!! to our cause go to www.reachout.com and check out www.inspire.org.au

Pete, Matt & Jack

Day 1&2, 75 km covered, status: blistered broken and ready for bed. So yesterday we left the Sydney Opera House - the journey has begun! Just want to give a big shout out to the Inspire / Reach Out crew for a their support! And Mari and Eric for being so supportive and housing us for the last couple of days. So yesterday we started walking at 8:30am ish.. And arrived in Palm Beach at 8:30pm... We did stop for an hour or two during the day but... It was a massive day!!! I hit the wall 3/4 through the day... Ouch... Matt was pumping through it along with Jack but by the time we finished we were all hurting... Anyone got a new pair of feet I can borrow!!! The best thing out of the day was finding out our efforts had not gone unrewarded, the media picked up the story and ran with it. Channel 9, 10 in NSW, front page BrisbaneTimes and Page 5 of the Sun-Herald QLD edition. So that shows us that it's all worth while... Check out www.reachout.com for info on the awesome program we are promoting with this walk. So today we got up and surprisingly feeling good.. Except I was feeling pretty ill - slightly dehydrated... Learnt valuable lesson.. Drink water even when your not thirsty.. Set up camp in Terrigan, better morale today and this is an awesome spot so tomorrow should be a breeze. We have had great support from people along the way, like the guys from Outdoor Shack, Camping Gear, Coralong - Mark & Katrina for lunch! - the servo guy, newport ish - woody, Newport - Jenny & the birthday girl and customers from The Award winning Kincumber Bakery - and everone else who smiled and waved/honked! If any one want to make us a steps for survival flag or sydney to Brisbane flag that'd be awesome!!! You can send it to us at the closest post office.... So I'll be in touch and next time I will talk more about our personal jouney on this trip. For more info of our trip and to support or donate our cause, visit the Inspire's website. Take care, Pete Matt & Jack

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