BoardFree 101 - Class of '06

Today is my last day in Australia. So I thought now would be a good time to write a blog! The journey has been over for nearly 2 weeks now and the time since has been spent relaxing at kind friends houses. I would like to thank the Cleator family for looking after us in Hope Island and for making us feel at home. Thanks also to Alex and Connor Gardiner for housing us in Sydney.

This trip has been a great experience and one which I have learnt many lessons. It has shown us that there are still people in the world who will go out of their way to help others. The hospitality and generosity of the Australian people has been unbounded. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this journey an amazing one for everyone of the team.

No one has taught me more on this trip than my fellow team members. We have spent the last 6 months together, in close confinement and still managed to come out friends at the end! I think this an achievement in itself! From each of these special people I have learnt valuable lessons for life.

Dim: Dim taught me not to judge a book by it’s cover. He is the perfect example of this, although he may look like a hobo he’s actually not that bad! He has many philosophies, some I agree with and some I don’t, but I respect his strong principles.

Si: Simon has taught me to always think positively and see the best in everyone and every situation. Simon is one of the nicest guys around and treats everyone in the manner he would like to be treated. No one can find a bad word to say about Simon.

Holly: Holly has shown throughout this trip, do what you feel like, don’t worry about what other people think (if you feel like dancing like a lunatic, then do it!!). You shouldn’t let other people’s opinions hold you back. Before I was guilty of caring to much about other peoples views about me but now I feel less confined. Holly may be only 20 but she can talk some sense!

Kate: Kate is the opitimy of the saying blondes have more fun. I now count Kate as one of my closest friends, someone who I can continuously joke around with. She has taught me that making people laugh is a valuable tool, especially in difficult times, and she isn’t afraid to do so often at her own expense!

Becki: Becki has taught me to have enough courage to stand up to your beliefs. During this trip she showed enormous strength of character in the face of adversity and this is something I truly admire. She has also shown me that some people are so focused on helping everyone else that they often forget to look after themselves. Look after number one!

Bev: Good things can come in small packages! I love Bev’s spirit and drive to see the lighter side of situations. Her determination and dedication to whatever she focuses on is second to none and I’m sure this will bring her great success. I think we both share similar outlooks on life and how to live it.

Laura: Laura has shown us that everything is worthy of its own theme tune! From Garfield the cat to hamsters, nothing is too small and insignificant! In BoardFree, Laura has found a passion which she has been able to totally immerse herself in. It has changed her life and given her a new direction.

Pete: Pete has taught me how to spin a cricket ball, although I’m not very good at it! He has a spooky (almost geeky) knowledge of films that no one I know can rival. Dimitri comes close but will never deny that Pete is the king! Pete is good at what he does and enjoys his work. I hope to be as lucky as he is in the future.

And last but not least;
Dave: Dave has shown me, and everyone else that anything is possible if you just put your mind to it. If you really want something, if you have a dream, then all it takes is some determination and a little hard work. Pain is just a figment of the imagination, a feeling, not a state of mind. It is something you can conquer and not something which should rule over you.
I can’t thank Dave enough for giving me this opportunity.

So this is my last blog in Australia. It has been a wonderful adventure, one which I will never forget. I hope that I can improve and grow as a person through the lessons I have been shown. Some of the team are already back in the UK and I will miss everyone after I fly home today. Never has a better group of people travelled behind a guy on a skateboard across a continent!
Thank you guys!!!!

Melbourne!!!!!

We are in Melbourne! We rolled into town yesterday and are staying at some kind peoples house who stopped and donated on the road. Thank you Jon and Jo!! You know what else is in Melbourne!! Neighbours! The most exciting thing happened yesterday, Dave got a txt from an unknown number saying "please call Alan Fletcher" so he rang back the number and it was his own personal mobile!! He had just flown back in from the UK and is trying to sort out an appearance for dave on neighbours! I hope he can get us all on as extras!! That would be amazing. We are hopefully going to meet him on Monday or Tuesday.

Since Adelaide, a new part of boardfree has started. The surfing side. We picked up 2 mini-mal boards kindly given to us by real wiiings (http://www.realwiiings.com/) and since then have been surfing our way round the south coast! It has been awesome fun and a great way to wind down after a day on the road.

Here in Melbourne, there is no surf but there are alot of people and that means more oppurtunities for fundraising. We will be picking up a new team member at the airport, Laura, tonight. She will be helping us fundraise at the skate comp we are going to tomorrow, sponsored by quicksilver.

Fingers crossed we can raise our total significantly in Melbourne (and get on neighbours of course!)

Adelaide – The Beginning of the End?

A lot has happened since my last blog. We have crossed the Nullarbor in a faster than anticipated 18 days, seen some amazing views and wildlife, met some amazing people (and monkey’s!) and had more than a couple of dilemmas along the way.

We had an amazing time across the Nullarbor, not many people get to stop at every single roadhouse on the Eyre highway, and not many people get to see the Nullarbor at the speed at which we travelled. Before we started this journey so many people commented on how boring the Nullarbor was and how much of a challenge it would be. On the contrary, the whole team were amazed at the beautiful views offered by the ever changing scenery as we whizzed by at 15km/ph. Another thing we were told about the Nullarbor is that at this time of year there should be prevailing winds blowing Dave along. We were lucky to get a couple of days with a tailwind but apart from those the majority of the time there were strong headwinds forcing Dave to shelter behind the vehicle! Despite this, Dave still managed to finish ahead of schedule and break his record for the longest day of skating, twice!! On two occasions Dave managed to surpass the unthinkable 100km in a day milestone, starting from Eucla and Wudinna respectively.

We met many kind and generous people during our time on the Nullarbor, some stopping to chat and donate, others offering us accommodation along the way. Ken and Yvonne from Clare stopped us, bought BoardFree T-shirts and invited us to a sausage sizzle at their home, near Port Wakefield. They showed incredible generosity and hospitality by inviting eight complete strangers to their home and feeding and watering us. Many people have made similar offers of accommodation and BBQ’s so we can only hope that the rest of the journey can live up to the amazing generosity shown to us by the people of West and Southern Australia.

The reason I have named this blog as I have is down to the fact that we have reached Adelaide. It was sad to come to the end of the Nullarbor, knowing that we would not be experiencing the vast expanses again. Ever since Dave first began planning this trip, I had always looked at the map of Australia and mentally split it into two parts, the first containing Perth and the Nullarbor and the final part being the big cities. Now we have reached Adelaide, it is almost as if half the journey is finished and now we are on the home stretch. Of course Dave must be feeling a little different with 2700km down and 3300km to go!!

Since rolling into Adelaide we haven’t had the best of luck to say the least. On the day we arrived in the northern suburbs, two of our three support vehicles broke down within metres of each other. One had to be towed, one was jump started and hopefully by the time we leave Adelaide they should be fixed!
This appeared to be only the tip of the iceberg because the very next day, Dave finished skating through the city centre and we stopped en-route to take a photo next to a road sign. This was no ordinary road sign however as it was the sign for Thorpe road. Now as you must know, one of our camera men here is named Simon Thorpe, so we naturally we had to get a photo. Dim, Dave and myself got out and Dim and me climbed onto a wall to jump off behind the sign. “Get up on the wall with us and we’ll jump” we said to Dave. “No no, I’ve only got my socks on, I’ll hurt myself” replied Dave. So he stood next to the signpost. We all jumped in the air, Dim and myself landing safely. Unfortunately, Dave’s left foot came down onto a sharp piece of metal and this resulted in a large gash. Subsequently a visit to the Royal Adelaide hospital was required and seven stitches soon followed.
So to cut a long story short, we are delayed in Adelaide for about a week, until next Sunday. This could possibly be a blessing in disguise though. Dave needs a rest, we are in a major city and the press are all over the freak accident story. It’s funny how the press of any country love stories of people’s misfortunes. Dave has been interviewed more than 10 times today in the wake of the accident press release which just goes to show what people are really interested in!

We are looking at four extra rest days in Adelaide now and we are being taken care of by Bob and Deirdre of the Adelaide Sailability club. The team cannot be more grateful to them both for taking us in and showing us so much kindness.

Finally, I would like to say well done and thank you to Laura Hatwell, a true BoardFree-er!! http://www.boardfreelaura.co.uk/ Soon she will be joining us on the raod to Brisbane and we can't wait to get her over here!! Welcome to the team Laura!!

-D-

Here comes the Desert

BoardFree Oz has been very random and brilliant so far! Over the past few days we have slept in a school, been hosted by nickel miners, camped in the bush and tonight we have accommodation in a 4 star hotel, for free!
The generosity of the Australian public so far has been astonishing. So many people have been pulling over to hand Dave money. Everyone has been so friendly too and many hostels and campsites allow us to stay for free. The thing that really hit me most though was after we stayed a night in Kambalda West high school (in the Home economics room). The headteacher, Russel, allowed us pretty much free reign of the school, even all the sports equipment in the gym! The next morning, Dave gave a talk to the pupils of the school, first to the older children in the high school, then to the junior school which was adjacent to it. After the talk to the juniors, a girl from the high school chased after Dave and promtly handed him a $50 note saying, "I didn't have my purse on me earlier, I've only got $50 so here you are!" $50 AUS dollars is about 20GBP and for a girl that young to be handing over so much money really blew us all away.
The next day we were invited to stay for free at a local mine site! They provided us with beds, free food and also had a whip round for us, raising over $200 in a bucket! The next morning we were treated to a tour of the nickel mine (the 1st people to ever be given a tour) and it was absolutely amazing. We went down over 500m below the ground and saw a few of the guys working. This was all set up by a guy called Paul who passed Dave skating the day before. He, and all at the mining facility were so hospitable and he even gave us a new battery for our vehicle after it failed to start.
Dave was on the front page of a county-wide paper the other day as well as featuring regularly on radio stations. This publicity has opened peoples eyes to what we are trying to acheive and the majority of them have been bending over backwards to help us in any way they can. It really restores your faith in mankind!
We in Norseman until sunday morning now. A rest day here is scheduled before we hit the nullabor plain! Norseman is the start of the desert and it is very exciting to be here after staring at it on a map in Dave's study.
We are off to do another talk in Norseman High school, then its off to our 4 star accommodation! Today it was raining and I think we deserve some creature comforts every now and then!

Signing out for now....
D

Day 3 of BoardFree Australia!!!

Hello everyone!
Greetings from Oz. It has been wicked mad over here since we landed, pretty much non-stop all the time. The good news is I didnt really get effected by jet lag. Perth is really nice but also really quite weird. It is like a cross between the U.S.A and europe, with bits of cardiff mixed in!
So far we have looked at 3 campervans for sale, 1 of which was suitable! We are waiting to hear if we will get sponsorship for campervans but it is looking less likely. We have also been out yachting on the river swan, and also participated in a race! We came 2nd apparently! Not too shabby!
There has been loads of media interest so far which is great. BoardFree has been featured in international papers and we have been on the radio all over oz on the ABC network. Hopefully we will get a spot on TV before we leave but there will also be all the local TV channels at the launch on Sunday.
My Clic sunglasses (http://www.clicextreme.com/) have been very useful so far in this sunny climate! The weather here is weird, there is a chill in the air because it's winter but the sun is very warm. Clic are also kind enough to be donating 10AUS$ from every pair of glasses sold between now and december! So if anyone needs a new pair of sunglasses you know where to go! The people at the sailing club loved them because they dont fall off your face/head when your sailing!
Thats all for now folks, its time for some din-dins!!

3 Weeks to Oz

Ok, everyone else seemed to be doing a countdown so I thought I had better do one too. 1 Week of work left, 1 game of old man football, 1 medical care course where we will learn to sew up oranges and 1 week with my family before we fly to the other side of the world for half a year!
Ok so a few weeks ago I started thinking about things I would need to pack and also things I would need but would buy out there.
I thought it would be a good idea to have a brainstorm on here from everybody about important things we should pack, because I am bound to forget something!

Here's what I have so far:
Hair Clippers - pack
Travel sleeping bag - buy in oz
Travel Towel - buy in oz
Torch - buy in oz
Lantern - buy in oz
Wet wipes - prob buy in oz
Talcum powder - same!

You may be wondering about the randomness of the items but each has a good reason. Torches and lanterns will be useful, obviously at night but especially when camping. We will need something to light the campsite. Wet wipes are great to refresh yourself in humidity and clean the grime of your face. Talcum powder can be used as a dry shampoo for when we are not near showers or running water.

Can anyone else think of important things which we should pack which we should take with us? All suggestions are welcome, so long as they aren't silly!

One big happy family

The BoardFree Family has 2 new members and I would like to welcome aboard Kate and Bev! These latest additions are not here just to make up the numbers, their commitment to BoardFree has been outstanding and both will no doubt prove to be valuable additions to the BoardFree team.
Less than 2 months now to the start, I can't belive how quickly it has gone. I expect the next couple of months to also disappear! Soon we will be gathering in Perth, hopefully kitting out our supprt vehicles and preparing for the trip of a lifetime!!
Here's to new team members, new adventures anda truely unforgetable exerience!