![\"The](\"http:\/\/run.dj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSCN1471.jpg\")
<\/a>The End- \u00a0near the Old Telegraph Station<\/p><\/div>\n
The Plan<\/strong> The Players<\/strong> Jane Trumper<\/a> (Small)- Needs no introduction, but it was Jane who invited a few friends to share the adventure<\/p>\n Andy Bowen<\/a> (Mumbles)- The man in the red lycra did much of the logistics, and photobombed us at every opportunity<\/p>\n Andy Hewat<\/a> (Whippet)- Amongst many records, Andy has the fastest unsupported traverse of the ~1200km Bibbulmun Track<\/a>.<\/p>\n Andy Hooten (Hoots)- Now do you see why we have nicknames? 3 Andy’s became quite confusing. Hoots is a workmate of Jane’s and this was to be his (and my) first expedition of this type. We hope it won’t be our last.<\/p>\n Kieron Blackmore<\/a> (KB)- Another man with impressive running credentials, KB brought a soft Irish lilt to balance the noisy Aussies.<\/p>\n Dave Graham<\/a> (Dark Horse Dave)- A well known ultra runner, adventurer and all round over achiever, DH Dave could tell you what he does for work, but then he’d have to kill you…..<\/p>\n Wayne Gregory<\/a> (Blue Dog)- Blue Dog injects the fun into every situation despite having some seriously impressive running credentials. Believe me, you want this guy on your team every time.<\/p>\n ….. and little old me, so now you can see why I was a bit worried that my middle of the pack, never runs very fast habits might get me into trouble during this trip. I should probably have been more worried about cirrhosis of the liver…….<\/p>\n Kieron, Mumbles, Hoots, Small, Dark Horse, Whippet, Kaos, Blue Dog<\/p><\/div>\n Day Minus 1- (Friday)<\/strong><\/p>\n I arrived at 12:30pm intending to have a look around Alice Springs and sleep in a hotel before meeting the others for Day 1. Instead Jane met me with out host Garry and we went into town to get some supplies, and then out to the Big 4 Caravan Park just outside town. We went out to dinner at the Outback Steakhouse and I met Janet, Garry\u2019s partner and Tia her grand daughter both of whom would be accompanying us on the trip.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 0 (Saturday)<\/strong><\/p>\n The plan was to arrive at the beginning of the trail and go up to Mt Sonder to watch the sunset. Unfortunately the transport gods conspired against us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dark Horse Dave makes ascending mountains look easy<\/p><\/div>\n Dave who was coming from Canberra had joined his flight on time and circled Sydney but unfortunately couldn\u2019t land because of fog. So he landed back in Canberra. So frustrating. The others also joined their flight on time but a piece metal fell from their plane causing them to be stuck on the tarmac for some time while an engineers report was done- very encouraging! It mustn\u2019t have been an important piece of metal because they all landed in Alice Springs an hour late, so we were only ready around 4:30pm. The only takers for the trip up to Mt Sonder were all the fast guys so I declined, particularly as I didn\u2019t think they would make the summit by sundown! This put me 20km behind my expected distance before we even started, so I had to evaluate whether I really wanted to attempt to do 300km in the week as planned\u2026..<\/p>\n I kind of imagined running through the desert to be kind of featureless. And kind of flat. Epic fail on both counts<\/p><\/div>\n Jane couldn\u2019t go as she was suffering from some sort of food poisoning, earning her the nickname Ebola Jane. So for days I had this song<\/a> going through my head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 1 \u2013 Redbank to Ormiston Gorge (Sunday)<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nTo walk\/ run across the 223km (plus some side trips)\u00a0Larapinta Trail<\/a> in the West MacDonnell Ranges, Northern Territory in 6 days. This is normally a 12-24 day walk according to the NT government.<\/p>\n
\nGarry & Janet Tapper and grand daughter Tia- Our hosts for the week. These guys transported our gear, cooked our food and didn’t mention how much we stank.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>