Walking Man now in Victoria

Australia 2008 Weeks 19-21

Submitted by: www.tonymangan.com
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Walkingman’s 19th Week Across AustraliaGerrindong to Moruya, 9-22-2008 to 9-28, 124 miles, 19,460 Total World Walk Miles.
Into Gerrindong at the start of 7 mile beach where I saw a flyer for Surf Camp Australia surfing lessons. So I called them up and booked a lesson for 11.30am. Stopped in the local post office/general store and the owner Wendy was real nice. She said she saw me twice on her daily walk and wondered what I was doing. We chatted a bit as she sorted the mail and rang up customers. Then she said to go through to her kitchen and make my self some coffee and have some cookies. Her apartment was in the back of the store and after coffee she told me to go ahead and take a hot shower and the bathroom was right next to the kitchen. All the while she was telling all the customers coming in about my world walk and that she did not really know me at all and I could be a crazy person or a mass murderer. I think she was just kidding though.
Down to the beach parking lot to wait for the surf camp truck to come with the wetsuits, surfboards and instructors. About 40 people with wetsuits came walking across the road from the surf camp compound and I was able to get a wetsuit and surfboard from the truck. They divided us into groups of 8 with one instructor per group. First Mitch our instructor went over the basics of laying on the board and how to paddle to catch a wave. Then we practiced pushing up with our hands in front of chest on board and arching our back. Out into the cold surf to practice catching waves laying prone with our back arched first. Nice 1 to 2 foot waves to learn on. I caught 8 or 9 waves and got the hang of paddling and arching my back, nice ride in to the beach. Then back to the beach to go over how to stand up. First you lie prone on the board with feet just over the tail, then paddle hard in front of the wave, push up with your hands and arch your back, then rotate you right hip out, pull you!
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r right knee and foot up to left knee, then pull your left foot up and through to between your hands, then slowly rise to a crouch and try to keep your balance, then either stand up and use your hands to balance or wipe out. I wiped out a lot, got up to a crouch 3 or 4 times. After 2 hours My arms were pretty tired and my back was pretty sore from arching. Clouds were getting pretty black and a storm was rolling in, and the lesson was just about over, so we all went in. Lots of fun and I learned a lot, will have to take another lesson or two further down the road, but I think I got the basics. Everybody walked across the road to the surf camp compound and I followed over just to see what it looked like. They bring down lots of backpackers from Sydney hostels every week to stay in dorms and take a week long surf camp course. They were having lunch and the head man Guy invited me join them and have a sandwich and some coffee. He was loading all the photos he took onto the comput!
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er with a projection screen and trying to put a name to e
very fac
e. He said he would email me a couple photos that I could use in one of my weekly articles.
Passing lots of wineries and vineyards. Vines are all pruned and a couple leaves are just starting to sprout out. Had some real nice fresh peach’s at a small fruit stand. The vendor said they were from an orchard about 200 kilometers north where spring starts a lot earlier. Lots of fruit trees blooming with flowers and lots of beautiful flowers on the roadside.
As I was going through Milton I was hailed by a man in front of the Commercial Pub. Danny Thompson the owner stopped me to chat and invited me in for lunch on the house. So I had a nice cider and some Chicken with honey sauce and fried rice. Danny called a friend at the local Newspaper and set up a interview at the Ulladulla-Milton Times.
Stopped at noon Saturday and got out my radio so I could listen to the McCain vs Obama debate on BBC radio. Lots of interest here with the election and the economic troubles as they both effect everybody around the world. I listen to the local ABC radio station here and they sometimes have on BBC programs and also NPR programs from the USA. They are a Government sponsored station like BBC , so no commercials, just news, talk shows, weather, and sometimes a little music.
Getting hotter every day. I do not need a fire every morning, and usually warm enough to start with just shorts and t-shirt. Usually by 9 or 10 am it is hot and sunny enough to switch to my white bed sheet robe in order to keep cool and from getting sunstroke. Light from 5.30am to 6.30pm, so 13 hours of daylight now. Taking lots of breaks in the shade during the ho test part of the day to read, write, snack, and sometimes take a siesta nap. A few flies and mosquitoes now so I have been wearing my black sketter net over my sun hat to keep the flies away and it also cuts down on the glare from the sun. I imagine people must think I look pretty funny with my bed sheet and skeeter net on.
As I go by fields with cows and horses in them I usually ding my bell, beep my horn and either moo or whinny at them. They usually come over to check me out and I usually share an apple with the horses if they come right over to the fence.
One man stopped to chat and gave me half of his Dominoes Supreme Pizza. Eagle Boys is the local Aussie pizza chain and Dominoes the USA chain. They seem to be having a price war for market share and I usually have a cheap pizza for lunch once or twice a week. One man stopped to chat and gave me his whole lunch, sandwich, apple, oranges, and a cold soda. I stopped at one servo and Harry the clerk said to help myself to a drink and sausage roll on the house. I must be losing more weight and getting thinner as lots of people seem to want to give me food and fatten me up. Will have to weigh myself again and see how much I have lost.
As I was walking in to Moruya a girl on a mt. bike stopped to chat and rode along with me for 30 minutes and asked lots of questions about my world walk. Jess Thomas was still in high school but wanted to travel the world and wanted to get as much advice from me on how I travel. She was training for the Duke of Edinbough program. I think they do a 2 week trek from mountain to beach by foot, bike, and kayak for leadership and learning skills.
Headed south for Cape Howe for the next 2 weeks, then turn the corner and head west along the south coast for 2 or 3 more weeks to Melbourne. Email me with questions and comments by clicking on reply, or from my website at www.walkingman.org .
Keep on Walking, Life is Amazing, Singing Zippity Do Dah All Day Long.Gary “Walkingman” Hause
Walkingman’s 20th Week Across AustraliaMaruya to Eden, 9-28-2008 to 10-4, 121 miles, 19,581 Total World Walk Miles.
I was attacked by a Magpie as I walked along a quiet wooded area. The sun was behind me, so I saw his shadow swooping down at me and turned around to wave him off just before he would have clawed my head. Magpies are crow sized black and white birds common through out the whole east coast I have been walking. It is spring now so he must have had a nest in his tree with eggs or baby birds. They are very territorial and often attack walkers and bicyclists passing close by. I had seen quite a few bikers with spikes sticking out of their helmets and was wondering what they were. One biker told me they were plastic lock ties to prevent Magpies from attacking. You put 4 or 5 ties sticking up from the top of your helmet and keeps the Magpies off. Sort of like those plastic spikes you see on top of street lights, signs, statues, and other places pigeons like to sit and defaecate on. The Magpies would not really hurt you, but can startle you and cause you to fall off your bicycle! One !
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biker that stopped to talk to me said he had been attacked several times in the last week. Kieran was from Ireland and said he had heard about my world walk from a friend that had invited me in for coffee and lunch last year when I was walking across Ireland.
Still seeing lots of interesting roadkill. Mostly Kangaroos, but now starting to see lots of small 1 foot long Goanas {lizards}. Biggest one I saw was a 6 foot long Goana. Saw my first Wombat roadkill. Looked like a cross between a pig and a rat. About 3 foot long, grayish brown fur, and sharp 5 fingered claws on front and back feet. Seeing a few big black snakes squashed on the road also. Only have seen one big black snake alive on the roadside and he slithered off fast when he saw me. Mostly beef cattle and dairy cow pastures in the area I am going through. Still drought conditions and dire predictions for farmers and ranchers throughout Australia. They are cutting back on water use everywhere and trying to cut carbon emissions also. They say Australia will be hit worse by global warming.
My new running shoes were working out fine, but I was still looking for sandals for hot days. Sandals tend to keep your feet cooler and prevent swelling after walking all day. Still no blisters after 5 months walking almost 2400 miles thanks to my using “Udderly Smooth Udder Cream” every morning on my feet. Could not find any Teva sandals I liked, but I did find a pair of Crocs sandals I liked. They were reinforced with leather and Velcro straps on top, and had the normal soft Crocs rubber insole and a harder rubber outsole. Somebody told me Crocs were made from ground up recycled tires. So I bought them for $80 and used my credit card and got a 20% discount with the exchange rate. The Aussie dollar has been in free fall over the last couple months to the USA dollar. I have been wearing them for 5 days now and they seem to be comfy and holding up better then I expected.
Stopped one noon to get out my radio and listen to the Palin vs Biden Vice Presidential debate on ABC radio. They only summarized it though, instead of having it on live.
One lady with her 2 kids stopped to chat and gave me a package of biscuits {cookies} and $5. Two hours later she stopped again and gave me a big bag lunch with a sandwich, oranges, bananas, hot tea, and some fruit punch. Always great when somebody stops to give me food. I gave her my website card and she emailed me a couple days later saying how she enjoyed reading my articles and looking at my website with her kids.
I am almost at the end of the east coast and will be turning west and walking along the south coast for the next 4 weeks. A little ahead of time for my flight home from Melbourne, so I will probably walk past Melbourne and loop back around in time for my November 10Th flight to USA.
Email me by clicking on reply, from my website at www.walkingman.org , or at walking_man_50{atsign}pocketmail{dotcom} .
Keep on Walking, Life is Amazing, Singing Zippity Do Dah All Day Long.GARY “WALKINGMAN” HAUSE
Walkingman’s 21st Week Across AustraliaEden to Bruthen, 10-6-2008 to 10-12, 156 miles, 19,737 Total World Walk Miles.
A fellow walker joined me for a couple days on the rail trail from Orbost to Bairnsdale that goes for 100k(62 miles). Nice quiet dirt and gravel path through woods and farm fields with lots of shade and wildlife. He has been walking point 100 or 200 feet ahead of me looking for snakes, rabbits, kangaroos, trolls, orcs, and other wildlife. I hooked him up to the front of my baby jogger with a piece of webbing to see if he would help pull. He took right to it and was pulling pretty hard and a little too fast for me, so I unhooked him. He only had a single leather collar, and you really need a double chest and shoulder harness to pull with or you tend to choke off the oxygen and blood supply. I think he is half German Shepard and maybe some sled dog in him. Must be a farm or ranch dog out on a walkabout. I have been calling him Red Dog after the radio program I have been listening to on ABC radio about a Aussie dogs adventures. Red Dog has been sleeping outside my tent and eating!
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some of my biscuits and I give him some of my oatmeal and eggs in the morning. Every time I stop to take a break I fill up a water bowl for him, but he keeps drinking out of dirty puddles when he sees them. When I got in to Bairnsdale I stopped at the police station and they called the Shire council and checked his dog tag numbers , called the owner, and his son who lives in town said he would come over and pick him up shortly. Tin Can was his name and he was a good walking partner on the rail trail, but I did not want him to follow me on the main road.
Rail trail is cooler than the road and nice and quiet. Only saw 2 dog walkers and about 6 bicyclists in the last three days though. I talked to one couple that was planting native trees and they said it gets a lot busier in the summer. Lots of big Wombat holes dug into the side of the railroad embankment. Biggest holes for an underground creature I have ever seen. About 2 foot wide and big enough for me to crawl down into.
As I was sitting by the roadside taking a break a Kangaroo hopped out into the road and ran right into the side of a car. He bounced off and hopped back into the bush, and then hopped out of the bushes and almost ran into me. Most of the trucks, SUV,s and other ranch vehicles have big pull bars on the front to protect the bumper and grill from all the kangaroos they hit. I usually see 5 to 10 roo road kills a day.
Stopped at Cabbage Tree Creek store for a sausage roll and to trade a book for another. Owners came out to talk and took some photos and gave me 6 fresh eggs. She said her hens were laying like crazy. They had a bunch of Bushwear Volcano Tea Kettles hanging up on the porch for sale. Similar to the Kelly Kettle I was given in Ireland last summer. He said his grandfather started making them 80 years ago. Designed for just setting on top of hot coals of a fire instead of starting a fire in the base stand. It has a internal hole for the fire to go up and heat the water in the sleeve surrounding it.
Into Orbost where I camped next to the Snowy River. Up north about 150k(90miles) is the Australian Alps where they get all their snow and have all the ski resorts. The river is dammed up north and all the snow melt gets used for irrigation and drinking water for the cities.
Nice couple from Russia(Natasha) and Serbia(Marco) stopped to chat and gave me a big bag of fruit and nuts and some chocolate. They seemed to be pretty impressed by my walk and had lots of questions. Some people think I must be very courageous, in excellent shape, and admire my freedom. I always tell them how easy it is to walk around the world. I say walking is the easiest thing you can do and you do not have to be in really excellent shape. It does not cost very much either, I tell them that I usually only spend about $5 a day on food and camp out every night. Lots of nice people out there and I hardly ever get in any trouble.
Two men stopped to chat and said a friend of theirs was walking to Tasmania with her 6 year old daughter to protest the pulp mill they are planning on building down there. They had just taken a break for a couple days back in the rain-forest so I guess I missed them.
Had a nice break at the Bellbird Hotel and Pub. Nice wood-fire stove burning inside on a cold late afternoon. The owners came out to talk to me as I was leaving and said I could camp out back in the free camping area. Lots of small town pubs have free camping behind them and they sometimes just charge a couple of bucks if you want to take a shower. Lots of nice fruit trees in bloom and a couple big Paulownia (Japanese Emperor trees) with big pink blossoms.
Headed west along the south coast now for Melbourne.

Walkingman’s 22nd Week Across Australia‏

Bruthen to Foster, 10-13-2008 to 10-19, 153 miles, 19,890 Total World Walk Miles.

I stopped under a shade tree to take a break in front of a house outside Sale. The owner drove into the driveway and walked over to talk to me and invited me in for coffee. Daniel Phelps was a teacher at the Woodside Primary school down the road a ways. He invited me to give a talk to his 7 to 9 year old students the next day. So the next day I stopped in at his school and was greeted by all the students outside playing in the playground for recess. They all had on their wide brim hats and school uniforms on. All the schools in Australia wear uniforms and they have a Sun Safe program where everybody has to wear wide brimmed hats outside to protect against skin cancer. Into the class room to give my talk about my world walk where they had a computer and a projection screen so I could show them some of the stuff on my  website. Lots of good questions from the students and the teacher took some photos with the students, me, and my baby jogger. Hopefully he will email some ph!
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otos to me and I will include then with a future article. I always enjoy giving talks to students and other groups. They always seem to be quite fascinated by the idea of walking around the world and how I go about it. Feel free to email me if you want me to give a free talk about my world walk when I get back to the USA next month. I will be in the Newfane New York area from November 11Th till the 17Th. Then driving down to Virgina to visit my brother in Newport News, and down to Key Largo Florida to work the winter from December 1st to May 1st at the Ocean Reef Club (www.oceanreef.com) .
As I was walking through Sale I saw the local ABC radio station. So I stopped in to ask what time Macca has his radio show on Sundays. Brendan King looked it up for me and said it was on from 5.30 am till 10.00 am on Sundays. He also said Macca(a well known national ABC radio personality) will be here at the Sale radio station to host his show. Macca travels around the country in a caravan and does a call in show on local and national news. Brenden gave me the radio station phone number and said to call Macca on Sunday and talk to him. A lot of people have been stopping to talk and saying they heard about me on Maccas Sunday program. I found out that John Olson is walking from Perth to Sydney and calls Macca every Sunday with updates. So I guess people have been thinking I was him. Brenden invited me into his studio room and interviewed me for about 15 minutes about my walk across Australia. The next couple days I had quite a few people stop to chat and said they heard m!
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y interview on ABC. One police officer stopped and said he heard me on the radio and just wanted to meet me and make sure everything was going okay for me. Lots of nice people in Australia. I also got an email from a lady that said she was the neighbor of the dog that walked with me for 3 days on the rail trail from Orbost to Bairnsdale. I was calling him Red Dog, and the guy that picked him up said his name was Tin Can. I must of misunderstood him, as his real name was Tim Tam, named after the Arnotts biscuits(cookies) that he must like. She said she heard me talking about Tim Tam on the radio and called up her neighbor to tell her they were talking about her dog on the radio. That must have sounded funny. She said they were glad to get their dog back.
I have been attacked by a couple more Magpies as I walk down the road. Usually the sun is behind me so I can see their shadow as they fly up behind me and I whirl around and wave them off. I also have a feather sword (bamboo stick with eagle feather taped on end) that I pull out when I see Magpies and set on end on my handlebars, rest on my shoulder and have feather sticking up above my head. It works like the bicycle helmet plastic ties that stick up to scare off the birds. When they swoop down I try and tickle their feet with the feather. I imagine that must really annoy them. I saw one article in the news that a 6 year old girl riding her bicycle in Western Australia was attacked by a Magpie and got her eye pecked. They say she will probably lose her sight in that eye.
Talked to one man that worked for the Victoria Roads Department. He invited me to stop in at the Vic Roads office in Bairnsdale and have some coffee and take a shower. So a couple days later I stopped in just as the whole crew was coming back from their lunch break and they all had coffee and biscuits with me in the break room and asked questions about my walk.
One family stopped to chat and a small boy gave me a coke and a honey and butter sandwich. They had heard about me and wanted to give me something nice to eat. I can never drink a soda straight though,  I have to mix it half and half with water to cut the carbonation and sugar down to reasonable levels.
Found another nice rail trail to walk on between Buffalo and Foster. Always nice to get off the main road when I can for a little quiet shady trail. Always easy to find a nice camping spot on the side of the trail.
Only three weeks left before I have to end my adventure in Australia and fly back to the USA and work. I was planning on walking past Melbourne on the coast and then looping back up in time for my flight. But I got an email from a lady organizing a walk for organ donation awareness in Melbourne on October 25Th.  Sophie wants me to come up and visit and do the walk with her. So I am headed up to the city now. Info on the walk is at her website www.worldsbiggestwalk.org . They are having simultaneous walks in 109 cities all over the world to raise awareness about the need for people to make their wishs known to family about donating your organs. The London UK walk will be at 12.00 GMT(Greenwich Mean Time), and all the walks will be at the same time all over the world. The walk here in Melbourne will be at 11pm. I am going to have to take a long nap during the day to stay up that late, I am usually asleep by 8pm.
I plan on checking some of the backpackers hostels in the city for a bus tour trip through the outback to Ayers Rock and Alice Springs that stops at some hot springs and some Aboriginal communities. I would also like to see if I can go to a surf camp for a couple days and take some more surf lessons. Most of the hostels have hundreds of ad flyers on activities you can do all over Australia.
Email me with any questions or comments by clicking on reply, or from my website at www.walkingman.org , or at walking_man_50(atsign)pocketmail(dotcom) .

Keep on Walking, Life is Amazing, Singing Zippity Do Dah All Day Long.

Gary “Walkingman” Hause.

ps, I included that pest service ad flyer with the photos of all the dangerous spiders here in Australia as an attachment.

Walking Man – Nambucca Heads to Taree

Submitted by: www.tonymangan.com

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Nambucca Heads to Taree, 8-24-2008 to 8-31, 138 miles, 18,978 Total World Walk Miles. First day of spring is here in New South Wales, Australia. Been seeing a few non native deciduous trees and fruit trees budding out new leaves and flowers. All the native trees and bushes are evergreen year round, except for the snow gums up in the alps. I think I am out of the tropics and sub tropics and into the temperate zone of Australia. No more sugar cane, pineapples, or bananas. Mostly cattle, dairy cows, fruit trees, and hay fields. I saw 2 white birds with double yellow beaks, I will have to look up their names. They were making quite a lot of noise and I saw that they had three baby chicks in the short grass just hatched. So I walked over to take a look. The baby chicks hunkered down and stayed still in the grass. They had dark black and brown spots on their back and blended right in with the dead grass. Mornings are not quite as cold, and days are getting a little longer, so I am not getting a fire going every morning. The Kookaburra birds usually wake me up every morning. They have this crazy maniac laughing call that makes you think they are monkeys. I think quite a few jungle movies use their call as a typical jungle sound. Lots of towns are having spring garden expos and nursery’s are advertising all their specials. Australians are big on gardens like the English it seems. Another man on a red Honda postie motorbike (mailman bike) stopped to chat. His friend had stopped last week and invited me to visit him down in Laurieton. So I stopped at the New Tribes Mission Training School to spend the night and have a nice home cooked meal with them. Scott Rohdich took me on a tour of the area, down to the beach to check out the surf, and then up to a nice viewpoint on top of the local mountain. Lots of motorcycles out riding in groups on the weekends. One group of Harley’s went by and I tried to count them, over 100 I think. Little to loud for my liking. I guess the Harley company even has that loud sound patented so nobody else copies it. One man I talked to at a servo was testing all his gear on a test run for a around the world motorcycle ride. He had a heads up display helmet, sat phone, website, and you can contact him from his website to his sat phone as he is riding. I think his website is www.twistybitz.net . A little too much tech gear for my taste. He probably spends more money in one day than I spend in 2 or 3 months. But I guess some people have so much money they can spend it on all kinds of expensive stuff. At about 400 miles a day, say 25,000 miles around the earth, it would take him about 62 days to ride around the world. At my 20 miles a day pace it would take me 4 years. So far in about 3.5 to 4 years of walking over the last 12 years I have walked almost 19,000 miles. Stopped at a servo and ate my sausage roll on the sidewalk outside. One mom and her daughter gave me $2.50 as they came out the store. Lots of people I guess when they first see me think I am a homeless bum down on my luck. But if they take the time to talk to me they realize I have a website, a plan to walk around the world, computer, top of the line camping gear, and everything else I need to have an fun and enjoyable world walk. After talking to me lots of people say they wish they could do what I am doing, but have jobs, family, debts, responsibilities, and other things holding them down. I like to keep life as simple as possible, too many material possessions just complicates your life and limits your freedom. As long as I have my good health, camping gear, common sense and a good chunk of money saved up and invested wisely, I can do anything I want and go anywhere I want to. Looking forward to retiring next year from working half the year and walk full time. Planning on how to build my mini Conestoga Wagon/Sheep Camp and walk across Canada next summer. Would like to brush up on my wilderness survival skills and learn better how to forage for wild bush foods, small game, and fish. I think with my wagon as a base camp and a backpack I could get my daily food costs down to about a dollar a day for a few basics and forage the rest. Lots of great national forests and BLM land in the western USA where you can camp and wonder with out seeing anybody for a long time. Headed south for Sydney and Melbourne. Email me with questions and comments by clicking on reply or from my website at www.walkingman.org . Keep on Walking, Life is Amazing, Singing Zippity Do Dah All Day Long. Gary “Walkingman” Hause.

Walking Man – Grafton to Nambucca Heads

Submitted by: www.tonymangan.com

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Grafton to Nambucca Heads, 8-18-2008 to 8-24, 92 miles, 18,840 Total World Walk Miles. Out of Grafton after a very nice stay with the Bloomer family. Always nice when a local invites me to stay and shares their home and friendship with me. Stopped at the Police station and then Library to see if I could print out the law on walking here in Australia. The police did not have it, but they gave me a website address where  I could look it up. So now I have something printed up that I can show the police when they hassle me for walking on the road. Not as good as the South Carolina law, it tends to tell more about what you can not do, as opposed to what rights you have. Now I can quote section 14, paragraph 238 to the next cop. Nice little tree park by the bus stop as I left Grafton. They had an info board on the timber industry in the local area with all the different trees planted in the park with info boards on each variety. They also had a section of a100 year old railway bridge made out of local timbers. Almost all the trees in Australia are in the Eucalyptus family, but the common name seems to be gum trees. They are all evergreen trees as opposed to losing their leaves every fall. The only exception is the snow gun tree up in the Australian Alps where they get all their snow. Got an email from a guy that did a video interview of me a month ago. He put it on You Tube, but the library did not have any earphones, so I have not heard it yet. Here is a link to it, http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gary+walkingman+hause&search_type=&aq=fv=3DNTl1milD_fQ . I guess you have to search for Gary Walkingman Hause to find my you tube video, not sure why my link will not bring it up. My left shoulder has been sore for 2 days now. I can see something in the mirror that looks like a pimple, scab, or a tick. Right in the middle of my back, so hard to reach. I can just barely touch it with the back of my thumbnail. Gives me a shot of pain when I touch it, so I think it is a tick. Got my tweezers, neosporin, and a bandage out so I will be ready when I find someone to help take it off. Ran into 3 road workers fixing the road. The first man said “yep, that’s a tick, have that other guy take it off, I do not have my glasses with me”. Second took one look and started gagging. He said he still had a big hole in his back from a tick and to talk to the third guy. The third man said he would pull it off. So I gave him my tweezers and he slowly twisted and pulled it off. Boy that hurt, when you pull on them they bite in hard and release some more toxin I think. The road worker said it was a “white paralysis tick”, and that I was lucky I got it off, as they can paralyze you. He said 3 or 4 of those ticks will take a dog or calf down. Shoulder feels a lot better now. As I was getting ready to leave one of the men went over to the ditch with his pickax and but an injured Kangaroo out of his misery. Just before I got there a car hit a Kangaroo and it was lying in the ditch dying. I asked them if they were going to take it home for bush meat, but they said no, too bruised up. I just had stopped for lunch 15 minutes earlier, so I was not really hungry enough to skin it and roast it up. Kind of a hot day anyway, and I just had some Kangaroo stew last week. Stopped at the Glenreagh General Store for some groceries and 2 Lady’s stopped me to chat. They said they saw me on TV and that I should come over and join them for lunch at the Community Hall where all their fellow quiltters were eating. So I had a nice lunch of meat pie, coffee, and cakes for dessert. They all had their quilts laying out on the table, and just got a mail package from the USA with some new patch’s in it. Stopped at one small servo out in the bush and bought some groceries. I asked the lady if I could fill up a water bottle in the rest room. She said no, they were all out of water. No rain for 3 months she said. They had two 5000 gallon rainwater tanks hooked up to their gutters and no town water or well water. She said they were waiting for a tanker truck to fill them up. I stopped a little later and filled up my water bottles at a house that was selling eggs. As I was walking into Coffs Harbor a couple on a motorcycle stopped to chat. The man had actually talked to me 3 months ago up in Townsville. Dale and Maree Purcell invited me to stay with their family and have a home cooked dinner. Had a nice hot shower when I got there, and then had a nice soak in their jacuzzi hot tub. Just what I needed for my sore shoulder and back. Maree was a Teacher at the local Bishop Druit School, so she called her Principal and asked is she could bring me in to talk to some of the students about my World Walk. He was glad to have me come. So the next morning I drove in with the whole family and gave 4 or 5 talks to something like 300 students from grade 1 up to 9 or 10 I think. They had computers, Internet connection and a projection screen in the classrooms. So I was able to show the students stuff from my website as I gave the talk.The students seemed to be quite interested and had lots of questions for me. Not used to talking that much and had to keep on drinking my sun tea to keep my throat moist. Already I have gotten a few emails from students that liked my talk and had more questions to ask me. Another home cooked dinner and another soak in the Jacuzzi hot tub finished off a great day. Amazing that every where I go people are always inviting me into their home and being so nice to me. One more hot shower when I got up and off walking out of the Purcell home with the whole family(Dale, Maree, and the daughters Kylani and Shanae) walking with me for about 3 miles showing me the way out of town and taking turns pushing my baby jogger to see how easy it was. Headed south for Sydney, email me with questions and comments by clicking on reply or from my website at www.walkingman.org . Having problems with my pocketmail computer, so if you have not heard back from me try emailing me from my other address. Keep on Walking, Life is Amazing, Singing Zippity Do Dah All Day Long. Gary “Walkingman” Hause.

Walking Man – Now in New South Wales

Submitted by: www.tonymangan.com

Week 11. Brisbane to Tweed Heads, 7-28-2008 to 8-3, 92 miles, 18,566 Total World Walk Miles.

Wore out my Teva Wraptor running sandals after 1400 miles. The new heel the cobbler put on 400 miles back was still good, but I could feel the foam rubber breaking down as my feet were getting a little sore after walking all day. Found a nice pair of Teva Dozer Walking sandals at a Athletes Foot store just outside Brisbane for half price.
Stayed on the north side of Brisbane with somebody I met 2 months ago up near the Townsville motorcycle rally. Maddy stopped her motor scooter to chat and invited me to visit her when I passed through Brisbane. Nice hot dinner, hot shower, and warm bed. She printed out some nice google maps to help me get through the city that were a lot of help.
Long walk through the big city of Brisbane. Cracked sidewalks, angled curb ramps, traffic lights, pollution, noise, and all the people overwhelm me after a while.  Real nice to find a nice quiet bike path on the south side of the city and get a little way from all the traffic and noise.
Really glad once I got on to the bike path/sidewalk all along the Gold Coast beachfront. Lots of walkers, bikers, dog, ladies with 3 wheel baby joggers, but only one person rollerblading. I guess rollerblading never caught on here like in the USA. Kind of built up with high rise condos like Florida, but a few small towns as you go further south. Lots of surfers carving up the waves, with one real long break at Surfers Paradise. Surfers were all spread out instead of being crowded together at separate breaks.  Each town has a Surf Club that has a restaurant and bar to make money to support the lifeguard and lifesaving activities. They also get a subsidy from the government for there work.  All the beach side parks have public toilets, picnic bench’s, cold water showers, and electric BBQ grills to cook on. Quite a few families have invited me to join them for a sausage, onion,  and BBQ sauce sandwich.
One man invited me into his home for coffee and also a big plate of roast beef, tomatoes, cole slaw, and pasta salad. He had a mobile BBQ business, with a whole yard full of portable chuck wagons to cater picnics, weddings, and parties. Got a nice photo of me in front of and old style chuck wagon, kind of like what I would like to build next year. He asked me if I had heard that the USA was going to combine with Mexico and Canada to form one big country, The United North American States. Been listening to the BBC News  every night and have not heard anything yet. Must be one of those wild conspiracy theories. We already have free trade agreements with both countries, and lots of Mexicans already live and work up here anyway. Canadians are pretty similar to us anyway, and they have lots of oil, gas, timber, and other natural resources. So it would actually work out pretty good. Of course all the Mexicans would probably move to the USA right away, but we need them to pick all are fruit, vegetables, build are houses, cut the grass, and all the other jobs Americans do not want to do anymore.

WEEK 12. Tweed Heads to Brunswick Heads, 8-4-2008 to 8-10, 53 miles, 18,619 Total World Walk Miles. Woke up with a muscle spasm is my lower back just outside Kingscliff. Hard to straighten up and do my normal morning routine of cooking brekky, starting campfire, and breaking down camp. Must have slept on a pine cone or just the combined sidewalk cracks, potholes, and other jolts coming through the handlebars, my arms, and down my back. The hot fire helped warm up my back, and I had a slow walk into town to find a Chiropractor. Waited outside till he opened, and the receptionist gave me a hot wheat pack to put on my back while I waited. Full schedule, but the first two patients called in to cancel, so the Doctor saw me right away. Nice spine adjustment, massage on my sore muscle, and advice on stretching exercises to get the sore muscle healthy again. Bought some “Goana Heat” muscle cream to rub on my back 4 or 5 times a day. Kingscliff is a nice quiet beach town so I stayed 4 days to take it easy and let my back heal completely. One long green strip along the beach with picnic tables, psycho path(cycle path, some people seem to have a hard time understanding my accent), public toilets, beach access paths, and nice strip of woods and grass between the park and beach to protect the dunes. Lots of woods to camp in and one local family invited me to join them for dinner and a stay over. Kevin and Jenny Bourke stopped to talk to me as they were doing their morning beach walk. They pick up beach trash every morning and have a website www.beachtrash.com.au with photos of the trash they have collected and emails from others that collect beach trash. Nice hot shower, dinner of BBQ of steak, with potatoes, veggies, and wine. Nothing like a hot shower and a warm bed to help make a sore back feel better. Nice cup of coffee with real cream in the morning, and then an early morning beach walk. No trash this morning, but lots of walkers, dogs, fishermen, and two sets of horse tracks. Height limit of 3 stories on most of this area so lots of new 3 stories houses and condos mixed in with a few old cottages. Took it easy for a couple days and read a lot, took a long siesta nap, fixed a few things, swam in the ocean, and talked to a lot of local people. Back felt a lot better after a while so I moseyed on down south along the coast. Days are nice and sunny at around 60 to 70F, with nights cold at around 32 to 50F. Just got my first freeze on August 9Th. Nice and warm inside my sleeping bag and tent, but a little ice on the outside of my tent when I got up. Nothing like a nice hot fire in the morning to warm up to and watch the sky light up and the sun rise. Headed south for Sydney and Melbourne. Email me at walking_man_50(at sign)pocketmail(dot)com with questions and comments about my walk. Keep on Walking, Life is Amazing, Singing Zippity Do Dah All Day Long. Gary “Walkingman” Hause.

Jean Beliveau walking in India

Submitted by www.tonymangan.com

Dearest friends!

In our latest newsletter, we left our walker crossing the border of India for the second time. He plans about 40 days of walking in the country to make it to the closest possible spot to the border of China, in the State of Arunachal Pradesh, situated at the limit of eastern India.

After 7 days without news from him, he emails me:

“I got into Assam without trouble. Just before coming here, I really thought that I would be turned back at the border thus having to go back to Katmandu to fly to China. But I was welcomed with much benevolence. The authorities decided to take complete charge of my security for the duration of the crossing of their State. Four heavily armed policemen accompany me at all time. Furthermore, they are very nice and happy to guarantee my security!”

Assam is a region that is not visited by tourists. A lot of people have never even seen a foreigner. As soon as he arrives in a city or a village, people gather up to welcome him and all these shows of friendship are deeply moving but sometimes keep the walker so busy that he moves ahead for only some 20 km a day.

He walks in tropical weather and his feet, locked into the walking boots I had brought him on our latest meeting, are suffering from the heat and the humidity. Fortunately, he finds the unique pair of sandals of his size and this brings his toes to happiness again!

In Bokakhat, a small town situated neat Kaziranga National Park, Jean is welcomed with great pomp and received a donation of 1,000 rupees to encourage him on his journey. He is also invited to visit the Park, site of conservation of the “one-horn Asian rhinoceros”.

After some attempts to obtain the necessary license to enter the State of Arunachal Pradesh, that one is refused to him for security reasons and in Dum Doma, last city before the border, he turns back. Not easy to enter China on foot these days… Back in Tinsukia in Assam, on May 7^th, he boards the train that will bring him back to the border of Nepal where he take a bus to Katmandu.

Having no alternative but fly over Tibet, on May 10^th, he buys his plane ticket to Chengdu in China and the departure is set for Tuesday, May 13^th… The whole world was sorry to learn of the horrifying earthquake that occurred on May 12^th in the Chinese province of Sichuan and the epicenter of which was only about a hundred kilometer from Chengdu. More than 80,000 deaths and missing persons, uncountable wounded people, hundreds of orphans… may our noblest thoughts be with them.

The flight was delayed to the following Saturday, on May 17^th, because the Chengdu airport had been requisitioned for emergencies and humanitarian aid. The supplementary stay in Katmandu as well as meals are assumed by Air China and Jean takes advantage of this stay to continue the exploration of the city and also to find suitable shoes as he doubts very much to find shoes big enough for him in China… after close to 8 years of walking, it seems that his feet have grown longer…

On the evening of May 17^th, China time, he emails me that the flight had been good, that they stopped in Lhasa for a complete check that the overworked airport agents in Chengdu would be exempted from carrying out. On the following day, he goes to the Police Station to enquire about his projected route towards Xi’an and they strongly advise him to avoid this road as the earthquake seriously damaged it and there are shortages of food and drinking water.

His route is thus diverted towards Shanghai where he plans to arrive in three months… just in time to cover his 30-day visa and the two renewals that will probably be granted to him.

The very first days of his walk in China are close to the event of the earthquake and seismic shocks are still felt. On May 23^rd, he emails me:

“In spite of a National Mourning period and the numerous worries for the Chinese people following this terrible cataclysm, the inhabitants are incredible. They want to help me in any way possible and they are very happy to meet this foreigner. Please do not worry, nothing bad can happen to me here. I have never seen so respectful and well-mannered people! Their attitude is not dramatic; they love fun and wittiness and have a very lively mind! The worst problem is communication, but I manage… I am getting used to eat with chopsticks!”

And on the 25^th, he writes from Suining:

“All is well! The Chinese are admirable! They hurry to help me at the slightest wish from my part. When they first see me, they watch me with an expressionless face. Then I exclaim: Nihao! Which means hello and they then smile hugely. They say that I have large eyes and I answer that we consider that their eyes are small… this inevitably starts an explosion of laughter!!! Children are adorable and they cannot refrain from touching the hairs on my arms! All the cities are under construction; the boulevards are as landing strips and a city as Montreal would look like a village here! Everywhere it is very clean. In the country, the rows of culture are planted in perfect order!”

Once again, the legs of the walker are put to hard work as he crosses a mountainous region. The landscapes are magnificent but it is exerting to get ahead. On June 10^th, he arrives in Lichuan where Jeff and Charlene, normally living in Shenzhen in Eastern China but on a visit to family, greatly assist him with the renewal of his visa and the promotion of his walk.

On June 15^th, a generous Chinese family presents him with the gift of a phone call to Montreal! It seems to me that I had not heard the voice of my hero for centuries… In the background, I could hear the excited talks of the family… in Mandarin!

Jean is amazed to see how much the Chinese parents love their children. They are supreme treasures for the family and parents look after them with immense love and care!

When he nears Yichang, the terrain finally become smoother, and Jean crosses the YANG-TSE for the second time.

On July 3^rd, he arrives in Wuhan, the capital of the province of Hubei. He is in the second third of his total itinerary in China, so his rhythm is adequate and he should get to Shanghai in time. One of the main subject of our emails is the “when and where “ of our next meeting… It is not easy to estimate a time and place that are compatible to the activities of both of us… But after a few attempts, we indeed feel that a meeting in Taiwan between December 15 and January 7 would be ideal for both of us!

Quite a few times, Jean heard that the figure 8 is a lucky number and somewhat beneficial in the Chinese culture. He was told that the Olympic Games of Beijing would begin officially on August 8, 2008 (8/8/2008) at 8:08:08 p.m. exactly. Strangely, this figure also presents some coincidences with Jean’s walk this year: on 08/18/2008, Jean will celebrate the 8^th anniversary of his wwwalk and his 53^rd (5+3=8) birthday. If we include Canada when he left, Jean is now walking in the 53^rd country and when he arrives in Shanghai, he will be close to having walked 53,000 km.

Coincidences are sometimes peculiar… May the Olympic spirit prevail! May it raise our consciousness! Peace and Love to all!

Till next time…

Luce

www.wwwalk.org

Note 1: Do not forget to click on the links (text underlined and/or of a different colour). You will find photos there!

Note 2: If you prefer to discontinue receiving this newsletter, please write me an email saying so and I will take you off the list immediately. On the other hand, if you do want to receive it and if you change your email address, again, write me an email giving me your new address.

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WalkingMan – Bundaberg to Hervey Bay

Submitted by: www.tonymangan.com

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Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:37:03 -0700
From: walkngaryhause@yahoo.com
Subject: Walkingman’s 8th Week Across OZ
To: walkngaryhause@yahoo.com

Bundaberg to Hervey Bay, 7-7-2008 to 7-13, 101 miles, 18,281 Total World Walk Miles. Crashed my baby jogger. I stopped by a bridge to read a plaque and parked my jogger on the grass at a slight angle. Walked down a grassy mowed hill to “water the bushes”. I heard a whooshing jangling noise behind me and saw my jogger fly by on it’s own {9.3mph or 15kph, my bike computer has a max speed save function}. I ran after it as it careened down a 100 foot grassy hill {maybe 15 degree slope}. Luckily it missed a tree by about 10 feet and came to a soft stop in some tall grass and reeds bordering the river. No damage, but with a full load of water and food it weighed maybe 100 pounds. Would have bent frame, shattered plastic foot locker maybe. I did see two kids ride by on their bikes as I went down to bushes, so either they gave it a shove, or my mistake for parking it on a slight incline. Into Bundaberg on a cool rainy day. Not cold enough for my Gore-Tex suit, so I had on my lightweight Tyvek coveralls. Should have taken off my sandals and switched to leather walking shoes. Feet and sandals all wet and cold. So in front of store under awning I switched to warm wool, Gore-Tex, and leather shoes. Nice to be warm and dry after being cold and wet. Peter Linney came up to ask questions about my walk and asked me to come over to the local radio station for an interview the next day. Told him I would if I decided to stay around for an extra day. Walked around town a bit in the rain, checked my email at internet cafe, shopped for groceries, and stopped at city jail backpackers hostel to take a look. Nice hot large Hawaiian Pizza at Dominoes {$3.95 on Sundays} Ate the whole thing out front on a bench under the awning watching the rain come down. Headed out of town, but still rainy and cold so I stopped early at 4pm when I saw a soccer field with a porch on one end of a locker room. Right next to the West Suburbs League Club parking lot, so I sat there for a while and set my tent up when it got dark at 5.30pm. Nobody said anything, although cars were coming and going, so I figured it would be okay. I have a good tent, but just nicer to sleep under a porch or picnic shelter when it is raining all day. Back into the city in the morning, stopped outside Bundy Email Center by Heather. She asked me about my walk and invited me in for free coffee and internet time. So I sat down and wrote my 7th week article and emailed it out. Around town to do a few things and then over to the Coral Coast Radio Station for the interview. Peter called the local channel 7 TV station , and they came over and did an interview too. Off to the Sugarland Mall where I talked to Steve Foster, the local Cobbler about putting a new heel on my Teva Wraptor Sandals. I was wearing through the rubber sole to the foam. He said he should be able to fix them by tomorrow noon. I usually get 1200 to 1500 miles out of them before I wear through the rubber heels. Peter Linney, the radio announcer invited me to a home cooked dinner, hot shower, and stay over at his place with his wife and him. So he met me at the mall and gave me a lift to his home. Great dinner with nice people. Up a little later then usual, nice breky{breakfast}, then Peter walked me over to community center for an interview for a local newsletter. Stopped in at the mall on my way out of town and Steve Foster the the Cobbler had my sandals all fixed and ready to go. Nice hard plastic or composite heel. Had the letters TOBY on it. Either company name or acronym for the material, forgot to ask. Looks like they should last a good long time. The foam rubber underneath will probably break down first. Stopped at the Pumpkin Hut for some onions and avocados and the man said no charge, have a good walk around Australia. Filled up some of my water bottles at a picnic area. Even some picnic shelters have rain water storage tanks for drinking water. I still put 2 drops of bleach per liter or quart of water to purify and be sure the water is safe enough to drink. As I came into Apple Creek a lady stopped to invite me to her home for a dinner and stay over with her family. Nice stay with the Seymour family, great dinner, laundered clothes, and another hot shower. Breky in the morning and a big bag of food to take with me. Into Childers where several people stopped to chat and said they saw me on TV. Jan from Rudz Cafe gave me some nice scones {biscuits}, and told me to stop by her cafe in town for a free lunch on her. So a little later I found her Cafe and had the special lunch, chicken pasta, salad, fries, cole slaw, with a chocolate milkshake and a chocolate chip muffin for dessert. With all this food people are giving me you would think I should be gaining weight. But I am down 13 pounds from 180 to 167 pounds {12 stone or 76 kilograms} in 2 months. I guess people must think I am skinny and starving and they need to fatten me up. Local journalist caught me as I was leaving town for another interview.  As I was walking towards Hervey Bay a lady stopped to chat and give me a big bag of fruit. She had looked up my diet page on my website and brought 6 bananas, 3 oranges, 2 apples, and a carrot. A rough estimate of the fruit and veg I eat during the day. I have since added, 1 tomato, 1 onion, and sometimes a cantaloupe, besides the other stuff I eat. She had also emailed me earlier to stop and visit her in Hervey Bay. So just as the sun was setting I met her as she walked down the street near her home. Nice stay with Merike Johnson and her husband. Pizza party with a couple of her friends, ice cream for dessert, hot shower, warm bed and some computer time. Nice breky of hot leftover pizza, and coffee with full cream {heavy cream}. Much better than weak milk, half and half, or artificial stuff in coffee. She had a bookshelf full of adventure travel books, so I wrote down a bunch of titles for future reading. Big bag of leftover pizza and one book for the road, “Into the Wild” by John Krakuer. Great stay with a real nice couple. Amazing all the thousands of people that pass me every day, a few take the time to stop, chat, give me advice, food, drink, invite me into their home for coffee or a home cooked meal. Really great when you are traveling to meet locals, chat, and learn about their area. Lots of signs and public anger about the Queensland State Government wanting to dam the Mary River and send the water down to Brisbane. Big problem with the Murray River dying from overuse of water down in southeast Australia. Because of climate change Australia is getting dryer with a big drought going on for quite a while now. So lots of fighting for water and higher prices for everything. I guess most people are in a hurry and do not have time to stop and chat so they just wave and beep. Other people are unsure of me, maybe I am a crazy escaped homeless person, a bum, or maybe a criminal so they are to afraid to stop. I have had a few people email me and say they wish they would have stopped to chat but took down my website address and looked me up. Lots of nice people out there, so feel free to stop and talk, if you feel they are to strange you can always just say bye and move on. Headed south for Brisbane now. Email me with questions and comments at walking_man_50{at sign}pocketmail{dot}com . Keep on Walking, Life is Amazing, Singing Zippity Do Dah All Day Long. PS. thanks for all the song lyrics people have sent me, feel free to send any of your favorite road songs for me to sing. GARY “WALKINGMAN” HAUSE

Trans USA Updates

Another dose of Trans-USA Updates

Quite a few new walks added. Some updated running info. Follow along any ones that interest you! Pass along info/links to any new ones you hear about.

John

jhwiii@trizera.com

http://www.seejohnrun.com

Completed recently:

Nation Run

Andrew Wahila, Matthew Durkin, Ken Stannard

2/1/08-5/26/08 2,788 miles Tybee Island, GA – La Jolla, CA http://nationrun.com/Home_Page.html

A Journey for 9/11

George Martin

9/16/07-6/21/08 3,003 miles New York City, NY – San Diego, CA http://www.ajourneyfor911.info/

Freedom Run Across America

Tom & Warren Knoll

3/1/08-7/4/08 3,360 miles San Diego, CA =AD Washington, DC http://www.usathleticevents.org/

Currently running or walking:

SUNwalk 2008

Martin Vosseler

1/1/08 =AD 9/1/08 3,600 miles LA, CA =AD Washington, DC =AD NYC, NY http://www.martinvosseler.ch/sites/sunwalk/s1e.htm

The Longest Walk 2

100 core walkers, 3000+ participants overall

2/11/08 =AD 4,400 miles San Francisco, CA =AD Washington, DC http://www.longestwalk.org/

Walk America 2008

BJ Hill

3/1/08 =AD 11/1/08 3,000+ miles SF, CA =AD Boston, MA http://walkamerica2008.blogspot.com/

Walk for Freedom

Athein & Zaw Min Htwe

3/1/08 =AD 8/8/08 3,000 Miles Portland, OR =AD NYC, NY http://88portland.wordpress.com/

Rick Walks America

Rick Hammersley

4/1/08 =AD 10/1/08 3,700 miles Bodega Bay, CA =AD Coney Island, NY http://www.rickwalksamerica.com/

Run 3200

Elena Helmerick

4/1/08 =AD TBD 3,200 miles Virginia Beach, VA =AD Orick, CA http://www.run3200.com/

Elias Tembenis Walk for Autism

Robert Williams & Bobby Genese

5/13/08 =AD TBD =8C09 3,000 miles San Francisco, CA =AD Washington, DC http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/eliaswalk/

A Thousand Thanks

Keela Carr

5/28/08 =AD TBD 2,700 miles Ft. Irwin, CA =AD Washington, DC http://www.athousandthanks.us/

Nick Walks America

Nick Moffatt

6/17/08 =AD 1/2/09 3,000 miles NYC, NY =AD Los Angeles, CA http://www.nickwalksamerica.org/

Run To Vote

Jonathan Williams

6/14/08 =AD TBD 48 continental states

http://www.aokassociates.com/runtovote/

Run for the Fallen

Team of Runners

6/14/08 =AD 8/23/08 3,000+ miles Fort Irwin, CA =AD Washington, DC http://www.runforthefallen.org/

Upcoming:

Where=B9s Karkl?

Karl Meltzer

8/5/08 =AD 9/21/08 2,147 miles Appalachian Trail http://www.whereskarl.com/

Four Million Steps

Tommy Neeson

8/28/08 =AD 11/11/08 2,300 miles Bangor, ME =AD Miami, FL http://runnerssociety.com/4millionsteps.html

Running America

Charlie Engle & Marshall Ulrich

8/8/08 (9/11/08?) – 9/22/08 (10/26/08)? 3,200 miles SF, CA =AD NYC, NY http://www.runningamerica08.com/

Million Dollar Run

Rick Singer

2/20/09 =AD 4/6/09 2,800 miles LA, CA =AD NYC, NY http://ricksinger.org/blog/

Walking Man – week 6 and 7 in Australia

Submitted by www.tonymangan.com

Yaamba to Gladstone via Rockhampton, 6-23-2008 to 6-29, 122 miles, 18,060 Total World Walk Miles. Solstice has passed and days are supposed to get longer, but because I am headed south 20 miles {32 kilometers} per day, days are still 11.5 hours {6.20am till 5.40pm} of light. The sun also moves south about 20 miles a day. That’s good for me though, as I only walk 6 or 7 hours and take lots of breaks. Plus I need a good 8 hours sleep and it takes me 2 hours to cook, eat, and set or break camp. Days are still hot and sunny enough for bed sheet robe, but mornings are getting colder. I have started getting firewood in the evening and preparing a campfire to light in the morning about 3 feet in front of my tent. Up at 4am, I usually cook my oats, 2 eggs, and half teaspoon of instant coffee in a single steel sugar pot. I bring my black plastic foot locker inside my tent as a table, and place all my bottles of water, sugar, denatured alcohol fuel, tuna can stove and other stuff on top. My dome tent {North Face Rock 22} is 7′ by 4′, so the foot locker takes up half and my foam pad and sleeping bag take up the other half. I made a tuna can stove {google tuna can stove to see plans} by drilling two rows of holes beneath the rim, and placing a piece of s shaped wire on top to support my pot. You fill it with one ounce of denatured alcohol which gives you a burn time of 6 minutes, just right for oats. Then I swivel around, open tent door and light campfire outside my tent. I have been using my Kelly Kettle {www.kellykettle.com} that I was given by Patrick Kelly in Ballina Ireland last year to boil hot water over the fire for a cup of coffee while I give my oats 3 or 4 minutes to set. Nice to sit by the fire and watch the morning sky slowly light up in a variety of beautiful colors as the stars wink out and the birds and insects start waking up. I stopped in Rockhampton at the Post Office to pick up my replacement Pocketmail Computer. Not here yet, but they called Mackay where I had left a forward order to find out it had been sent. So I stayed an extra day and wandered around. Showed up the next day and I called the company in Sydney to get it activated. Nice to be able to check my email almost everyday now from a payphone. So try and use walking_man_50{at sign}pocketmail{dot}com , instead of clicking on reply to email me. Walked over to the Rockhampton Zoo and Botanical Gardens to see a lot of neat Aussie animals. Koalas, dingos, kangaroos, crocs, snakes, lizards, birds, insects, spiders, and butterflies. Also walked around the gardens a little to see some interesting local and foreign plants. Talked to some local homeless people in a park by the public toilets. They invited me to join them for dinner over at the Coast Guard station on the river. Every night at 6pm a local charity drives a food van over and unloads tables, folding stools, and thermos coolers of food for dinner. I had chili over rice, bread, milk, and rice pudding for desert. Nice dinner, and they also had Swags {canvas cover, foam pad, sheet, and blanket} for anyone that needed a warm place to sleep in the bush. I walked down along the river to camp in the trees just outside of town. About midnight I was woken by two drunken homeless people having a screaming fight about something. I was hidden pretty good in the woods so I just went back to sleep. In the morning I noticed just across the way some big concrete pipes and a fire pit where some of the homeless had a camp. Hailed in the morning as I was going past ABC Radio building {abc.net.au/capricornia}. The morning show guy invited me in for coffee and a interview. Lots of beeps, waves, and people stopping to chat for the next couple days that heard me on the radio. Stopped at the supermarket as I was leaving town to stock up on food. Talked to one man smoking a cigarette that said he just got his weekly check {maybe pension, welfare, unemployment, or disability} and spent it all in one day on cigs, beer, and taxi rides to the store.    I think he must have bought some stupid pills also. He said he was not sure how he was going to eat now. I told him about free dinner at the Coast Guard Station and I think St Vincent de Paul also had free meals. Saw very beautiful Rainbow Lorikeets and Sulphur Crested Cocketils at the Yaamba rest area. Local lady comes every morning to clean bathrooms and brings old bread for a bird feeding station. The lorikeets were mostly green with blue, yellow, orange and red on their head and neck. One lady stopped to chat and gave me 6 lemons. So I cut one up and put in my sun tea, very good. As I sat at a pullout cutting my lemons, I thought somebody was going to pull over and ask me if I was selling lemonade. I have been thinking of ways to make money on the road walking as I think I will retire next year from working 6 months a year in resorts and National parks. I could put up a sign “Financial Advice $5″ like “Calvin and Hobbes” { my favorite comic strip} and tell people not to give money to strangers for advice. I have a Harmonica and an info book on how to play, and another man gave me another Harmonica when I said I was trying to learn. Still can only toot on it and not play any tunes, will keep trying though, even if it takes me the rest of my life. You can accomplish anything if you try hard enough and long enough. I did have the lyrics to a bunch of road songs, but when my computer died I lost them. So email me some. I was thinking I could sing in front of grocery stores and village squares for change. Without music, I think they call it diddly wap or barbershop style, or something like that. I could print up a sign with “throw change at me if you think I am a terrible singer and want me to stop so I can buy food and continue walking around the world”. Also was thinking of printing up the last 6 weeks of this walk and staple them together as a small book and try selling them for a $2 to $5 suggested donation to people that stop to talk to me. Maybe draw some simple comic strip illustrations of my journey on the front and back cover. I ran into a guy on his bike in Florida that did that and also just saw Dan Prices website {www.moonlightchronicles.com} and a You Tube video of him at {www.terratrike.com/pots.php}. He also writes articles about his travels and self published them as a small book and got Simple Shoes to use his writings in their catalog. Still thinking of other ideas, like getting my book published, “How to Retire Early, Live on $5 a Day, and Walk Around The World”. Hopefully I will get motivated this winter while working in Key Largo and get a book together to place on a POD {print on demand} website at www.booklocker.com . Headed south for Bundaberg on route A1, the Bruce Highway. Email me with questions and comments at walking_man_50{atsign}pocketmail {dot}com , or click on reply and my brother will forward emails when he has time. Keep on Walking, Life is Amazing. Singing Zippity Do Dah all Day Long. Gary “Walkingman” Hause. PS. I lost lyrics to my road songs, when my computer died, so if anybody wants to look up a song and email one to me I will practice my singing. I like “Walkingman” by James Taylor, “On The Road Again” by Willie Nelson, “Here Comes The Sun”, “Walk 500 Miles” by The Proclaimers” “Pissin in The Wind”, “Take This Paycheck and Shove It” for when I retire next year , “Ramblin Man”, and any other good road songs you can think of. Thanks. I also found some better sheep camp photos on these websites of people that still build them for sale. www.idahosheepcamp.com/index.html www.appleking.net/greyfeather.html www.okwagon.org/index.html <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Cambria Math”; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Tahoma; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1627400839 -2147483648 8 0 66047 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”,”serif”; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Gladstone to Bundaberg, 6-30-2008 to 7-6, 120 miles, 18,180 Total World Walk Miles. Nicest old man stopped to chat just south of Gladstone. Jim Cole wanted to give me a cup of hot chips (fries) he had just bought at a servo (service station) down the road. Talked a bit about the local area and wanted to give me a lift to his house for a home cooked meal and a shower. His car was a little small though and he told me he might go home, hook up his trailer and come back to pick me up. He told me of a good place to camp where the school buses turn around just down the road at his turnoff. Early next morning just after the sun rose he pulled over again and laid out a tea towel on the trunk of his car. Thermos of hot water , instant  coffee, sugar, milk, Ned Kelly pie (egg, bacon, cheese, and pie crust) and a nice box of Earl Grey tea, packets of cappuccino, granola bars, crisps (chips) and a few other things for me. He also gave me a nice photo of his view from his home on the ridge looking out at the ocean and a photo of him and a friend. Wanted to give me his thermos too,  but I told him I did not really need it. Hope I am as nice as him to travelers when I settle down on a piece of land and grow some vegetable’s and fruit trees. I will put up a sign saying “free camping for walkers, bicyclists, and tent campers. I will provide free showers, water, and fresh veg and fruit to all travelers. Lots of strange mailboxes in the rural areas. Microwave ovens, toaster ovens, hollow logs, tuba, old refrigerators with no door, 50 gallon drums, old toilet, simple plastic grocery bag, and always a metal pole with reflective address numbers. Not like the USA where they have to be stamped “approved by the postmaster general”. Almost every house has a rainwater collector tank (1000 to 2000 gallons I think) hooked up to their roof and gutter system. They use rainwater for drinking and sometimes have a separate bore (well) water system also for washing, toilet, garden, etc. They are starting to harvest sugar cane now. Big harvesting machine that looks a little like corn harvesters that cut the cane into about foot long pieces to be taken to the mill either in narrow gauge trains or big trucks. They have a local Bundaberg Rum Distillery that turns the sugar cane into famous Bundaberg Rum with a big white polar bear on the label. One trucker went by hauling cane waving wildly at me with his arms at me to get off the road I think. I was on the outside of the white line walking on the 2 foot wide shoulder, so I am not sure what his problem was. Some truckers feel they own the road and that walkers and bikers should not be allowed. Of course jumping up and down and wildly waving his arms just might be the way he waves to everybody, maybe to much coffee. I made up a cardboard sign with “WATER PLEASE” to hang on my back for some of the long stretches of rural road I have been walking. Have not needed to use it yet, have capacity to carry 14 liters (3 and a half gallons) right now. Might just try it to see how it works. Next I think I will make a sign saying “PIZZA PLEASE”. ” Ask and you shall receive” I think it is in the Bible. Maybe some big motor home will be going by and just pulling a hot pizza out of the oven as they go by me. Man walking his dog stopped to chat with me and ended up walking for about an hour with me, in flip flops no less. They have that toe piece and make that annoying flip flop noise, very uncomfy if you ask me. I like my Teva Road Wraptor Sandals with Velcro and the strap running through the sole for a tight fit. Mark Thatcher the founder of Teva added a velcro strap to flip flops and started selling them out of the back of his pickup to river runners at Lees Ferry, Arizona where they put in from Colorado River raft trips through the Grand Canyon back in the 1970’s. His dog was half dingo (wild Aussie dogs) and half cattle dog. I think he said they were a registered breed now called Bluies maybe. I once knew a friend in Page, Arizona that had a Dingo. Not sure how she got it in the USA though. Anybody that lives in Page and knows Kelly Foster tell her I said hello and that I am seeing a few wild dingoes over here in Australia. Dingo (as he was named) always barked at me when I had my hat on, but not after I took it off. Tell Kelly to email me, I lost touch with her and her kids, her email address no longer works. One night as I set up my tent in the woods between the road and a fence the dogs started barking wildly at me from a small farmhouse. A man, 2 kids, goat, and two dogs came over to check me out. No worries mate, just wondering what the dogs were barking at. I gave him my website card and told him a little about my walk. They barked a little more in the morning while I was breaking camp and starting my campfire. Camping in some mango trees by a pond one morning I was spotlighted by a man living about 100 yards away. I was just taking down my tent and starting my campfire so I walked over to talk to him and let him know what I was up to. He had this million power spotlight, and I had my little 6 LED CAPLIGHT.  No worries mate, just saw your light and wondered what you were up to. Nobody has kicked me out or got mad at me for camping on the roadside or in a farm field. Usually try to stay hidden behind some bushes or trees, but sometimes with dogs barking or if people see my flashlight or fire I get discovered. The travelers rule is that you can camp where ever you want on the roadside as long as you clean up after wards and leave no trace. I even dowse my fire with water, cover with dirt, cover with hay or grass and completely disguise that I was there. Two men were pulled over in a dirt layabout waiting for me by their pickup truck. Doug and Gordon had a teapot and a extra mug for me to join them with some of their own locally grown tea. Nice chat about life and the local area. People always seem to want to give me stuff they grow themselves, tea, honey, lemons, oranges, bananas, or stuff they baked like biscuits (cookies), pies, cakes, or whatever. People all over the world are real nice if you stop to talk and wave and smile. Headed south for Hervey Bay on A1 the Bruce Highway. Email me with questions or comments about my walk at walking_man_50(at sign)pocketmail(dot)com . Or click on reply and when my brother has time he will forward them to my pocketmail address. Or from my website at www.walkingman.org . Keep on Walking, Life is Amazing, Singing Zippity Do Dah all day long. (that’s my motto anyway) Gary “Walkingman” Hause.

Walking Man – week 4 and 5 in Australia

Submitted by: Tony Mangan
www.tonymangan.com
Week 4….Airlie Beach to Iibibie, 6-9-2008 to 6-15, 146 miles, 17,785 Total World Walk Miles.

Days are getting shorter and cooler now , light at 6.30 and dark at 5.40 , so about 11 hours of daylight. One more week till the winter solstice on June 21st and then the days start getting longer.
Couple cold mornings where I had to start with wool pants, light jacket, ski mask, and gloves. Once the sun comes out it warms up fast. One hour later I am usually down to shorts and short sleeve shirt, then by 10 or 11am hot enough for white bed-sheet sun poncho.
The McPhearson family stopped to chat and gave me a bottle of coke and invited me to visit them in Mackay for a home cooked meal. A couple days later I called them up from the local shopping center and they came and picked me up to take me to their home. Nice hot shower, computer time, and a home cooked dinner of spaghetti bolonaise with papaya for dessert. Nice breakfast of fresh eggs from their chicken coop in back and I walked the kids to school. They usually ride their bikes so I wrote a note for them to the teacher on why they were a little late.
Channel 7 TV news stopped me on the road into Mackay and interviewed me for their news show. Couple days later as I was coming into the city all kinds of cars were beeping and waving at me. One truck behind me beeped and I just causally waved. One second later he roared past me about 6 inches away. He was passing another truck and was warning me, forgot to look in my rear view mirror, closest I have came to getting hit. Big trucks here with 2 trailers behind and 34 wheels. The rear trailer kind of sways out wide too. Lots of people stopping to offer me food and water and a couple autograph seekers and photo takers.
As I passed the Hampden State School in Kutinbul I noticed about 60 school kids in green and blue shirts lined up at the fence waving at me. So I went over and gave a short talk about my world walk and answered questions for a little while. Some of the teachers took photos and said they would email them. So maybe I will include one in a future article. The principal said all the students had seen the TV news about me and wanted to see me pass, so he let them outside. The principal gave me a school pen and when I told the students that the New Zealand students sang a song for me they sang the school fight song. I read in one book that 50 to 100 years ago students had to pedal a bicycle electrical generator to power a radio to listen to school lessons when they lived on a ranch in the outback. That would work good for American kids that watch to much TV, video games, and computer time if they had to pedal a generator to power up.
As I came out of the library in Mackay my baby jogger was surrounded by 20 students from the Marian State School on a field trip. So I gave another short talk and answered questions about my walk.
My Pocketmail computer broke, and the company is mailing me another one down the road a week or so. So I will be a little behind on returning email for a while. In a very rural part of Oz with 60 miles between some small towns with no libraries.
One month so far from Cairns to just past Mackay, second month to Brisbane, third month to Sydney, fourth month to Melbourne, fifth month to Aidalade, then sixth month either west to Ceduna or maybe take the ferry to Tasmania and walk there for a couple weeks before I fly home to USA from Melbourne.

Week 5….Iibibieto to Yaamba, 5-16-2008 to 5-22, 153 miles, 17,938 Total World Walk Miles.
Amazing how time flies when you are having fun, getting lots of physical exercise, mental exercise, fresh air, and an adventure. 717 miles walked across Oz in 5 weeks so far and 5 more months to go. Every morning I wake up after 8 hours sleep invigorated and raring to  walk another 20 to 25 miles. Everyday I am seeing amazing animals, birds, (live and roadkill) insects, people, trees, mountains, flowers, rivers, stars, and the moon. I see lots of cars, trucks, and lots of people still waving , beeping and stopping to chat and give me food and drink. They say the radio and TV are still replaying my interviews for two or three weeks now.
Nice full moon came right into my tent for the last couple nights through the mosquito netting roof. Once I am done cooking and eating my dinner I pull the rain fly over my tent and go to sleep. One night when I was camped right next to a fence a couple horses came by around midnight to check me out. I heard some snorting and thought it was cows at first so I mooed a couple times to say hi. Then I heard hooves stamping and whinnying like horses , so I whinnied back. When I unzipped my tent flap to take a look they stampeded away. Passed a tree full of big bats near Marlbough. Two or three feet wing span fruit eating bats that roost during the day in trees and then eat fruit at night.
Ran into Mushgang (http://www3.telus.net/public/robgwen/BNT/Ravenswood.html ) and his two horses Felix and Oscar. He is riding a horse and leading a packhorse on a trek across Oz on the Great Dividing Range trail. He said he averaged about 30 kilometer (18.6 miles) a day, close to what I do.
Hailed by some campers at a picnic table to join them for a cuppa. Nice chat with cakes, coffee, pancakes with lemon juice and sugar. Then 2 days later I ran into them again at another campground. They took some photos and said they would email them so that I could include them in a future article. They also helped me out with some food for the long stretch to the next town.
Passed through a controlled burn grass fire on one stretch of road . Blowing away from me till I was halfway through when the wind shifted and temp soared to about 120F with blowing smoke for about 30 seconds till I was past it.
Two long stretches between Mackay and Rockhampton over 60 to 70 miles between towns. So I loaded up with 3 gallons (12 liters) of water and food for 3 days. Couple people stopped and gave me some food and water so that helped out. Two men in pickups have stopped so far to offer me rides. I just say no thanks.
Nice museum in Marlborough where they had some old tractors, horse wagons, and a billy goat wagon like what I have been wanting to build. I would like to build something bigger then my 3 wheel baby jogger so I can carry more food and water for some desert stretches. Something like a Conestoga Wagon or a Sheep Camp Wagon. I would make it half size so it is light enough for me to pull instead of a horse. Thinking of selling my car, my cabin and land in Brian Head Utah, and try walking full time and not work half the year anymore. If you eliminate rent or home payments, gas for car, property and school taxes, utilities, and other bills I could live on just $5 to $10 a day. Pulling my Sheep Camp (http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3F_adv_prop%3Dimage%26ni%3D20%26va%3Dsheep%2Bcamp%26fr%3Dush1-mail%26xargs%3D0%26pstart%3D1%26b%3D1&w=500&h=334&imgurl=static.flickr.com%2F2343%2F2173464077_a4149da2c2.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flick r.com%2Fphotos%2Fhiker56%2F2173464077%2F&size=112kB&name=Sheep+camp&p=sheep+camp&type=JPG&oid=a1521240c983e59c&fusr=hiker56&tit=Sheep+camp&hurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fhiker56%2F&no=3&sigr=11gl51k29&sigi=11gq0984s&sigb=13ibf06h7&sigh=11562lujb&tt=9945) around the USA and exploring all the National Forests where you can park a trailer for up to 2 weeks before you have to move. I could use it as a base camp and have a backpack with tent, sleeping bag, and other gear to explore with and forage for wild plants, fish, and hunt small game.
Headed south for Brisbane, email me with questions and comments by clicking on reply. Pocketmail Computer still has not arrived so I will be looking for libraries and I-cafes to check my email. I left another forwarding address at the post office and hopefully it will catch up with me some day.

Keep on Walking, Life is Amazing, Singing Zippity Do Dah All Day Long.

Gary “Walkingman” Hause.

Walking Man – Week 2 and 3 in Australia

Walkingman’s 2nd week in Australia.
Hinchinbrook Island to Ayr, 5-26-2008 to 6-1, 147 miles, 17,508 Total World Walk Miles.

Over a small pass only 1.5 miles long through the Great Dividing Range, just north of
Ingham. Now I am in a much drier area with bush for Kangeroo and grazing for cattle.
They still grow sugar cane, but they have to irrigate it with water from a series of
dams on the Burdiken river.

One night as I camped in the bush between the railroad tracks and a dirt road I was
spotlighted by a passing truck with 4 big bull boer dogs behind him. He stopped and
called the dogs to the truck so they would not bother me. The first train that went by
was kind of loud, but sent a nice cool breeze through my tent.

Into Townsville where I stopped in a mall to wait for the library to open up. Helen and
Carol invited me over to their coffe stand for a free cafe latte and asked me about my
walk. Up to the library, but $8 an hour for internet for non-members was a bit steep,
so I found a place accross the street for $4 an hour. Just picked up my new Pocketmail
computer at the post office. So you can email me at walking_man_50(at
sign)pocketmail(dot)com . I spelled out the @ and . so that I might get less spammers
stealing my address and sending me spam. So please do not send me any jokes, petitions,
chain letters, or other bulk mail that spammers like to steal addresses from. You can
still click on reply to this article or email me from my website, but that goes to my
yahoo address, and I will only be checking that once a week or so.

Quite a few people said they heard about me on the ABC Radio News, so I stopped by the
station in Townsville and asked if they wanted to interview me. The link to that is on the
first week interview.

Camped one night behind a bus stop and 3 kids on bikes stopped to talk to me. One kid
asked if I were not afraid of dingoes. So I howled out to warn the dingos that I was
here and that was my territory. Almost all animals know that humans are the most
dangerous animals and they will stay away and leave you alone unless you harass them or
leave food out.

Two cops stopped by one hour later to check me out and ask a few
questions. They said one of the parents of the kids I talked to called them up about
the stranger at the bus stop. Must of been becauce of my wolf howl. Cops said no
worries mate, a very commom expresion here.

Stopped at the Aligator creek servo for some water. Looked pretty familar, I think I
stopped here 15 years ago on a short bike tour. Some smoke coming out of the hills in 7
or 8 places. Looks like an underground coal seam fire.

Finding lots of sunglasses, tools, an Ipod, and other stuff the bikers have been
dropping. I usually leave them on a picnic table if I do not need them. Something like
6000 bikers are here for a rally at townsville. Quite a few have been stopping to chat
and giving me their address to visit down south.

Real nice mural painting of Earth, wind, fire, and water with local kids, farmers and
aboriginals on the bridge supports at Rollingstone. The old bridge runs to one side and
below the new bridge So you can get a good view. No graffiti yet in this small town.

Headed south for Bowen and Mackay on the coast road. Email me at walking_man_50(at
sign)pocketmail(dot)com with questions and comments. If you click on reply or from my
website it will go to my yahoo address and it might take me a week or two to get back
to you. I-cafes and librarys are few and far between.

Walkingman’s 3rd Week in OZ‏

Good Day from Oz, Ayr to Airlie Beach, 6-2-2008 to 6-8, 131 miles, 17639 Total World Walk Miles.

Walking south out of Ayr I had to cross the Burdikan River bridge. Pretty narrow 2 lane with a sidewalk 5 feet below and off to one side. So I lowered my jogger down 10 steps to the metal walkway with railing on both sides. Four feet wide walkway with spiderwebs and big St. Johns Cross Spiders completely covering every inch of the railings ;and bridge supports. Normally spiders do not bother me, but these spiders were giving me the heebie-jeebies. I must have passed thousands of them just 1 foot on both sides of me. I was hoping they were not poisonous or jumpers. A couple scurried away as I approached, but most just stayed in the center of their web. Some of the biggest had grape sized abdomens with 2 to 3 inch legs. Two legs appeared over the brim of my hat and I flicked it away with my long wide sun poncho sleeves. I just kept looking straight ahead and thinking positive loving thoughts. Halfway across the bridge there was a work scaffold blocking my way, so I had to push backwards and then lug my jogger up 10 steps. Up on the main bridge road I made my way slowly across with most cars and trucks slowing down and giving me room. Millions of spiders covered the whole steel bridge structure.

Nice Lions Club picnic area and Diorama right after the bridge about the Sugar Cane fields, cane cutters, dam, river, irrigation system, and bridge. I took off my hat and sun poncho to check for spiders and cool down using the water in the fake waterfall, river, and lake built into the exhibit.

Just as the sun was setting I noticed a sign for free coffee and tea at the Inkerman Servo (gas station-store). So I stopped and had a tea and talked to a bunch of locals drinking tea and beer and chatting. Camped just across the road among a pile of gravel and sand for local road repairs. Stopped back in the morning for a free cup of coffee. The sign said free coffee if you drink it here, and $3 for take away. $3 is about the normal price for coffee and candy bars are $2.50. So I make my own instant coffee in the morning for about 5 cents and and eat lots of Chocolate Hazelnut Spread at about $4 for .750 kilogram (about 24 ounces) jar. I like it on my Ginger Nut Biscuits (ginger snap cookies) and on my Bananas.

Saw my first 2 live Kangaroos hopping off into the bush. Lots of roadkill roos, wombats, hawks, eagles, owls, and other assorted animals. Still looking for a warm fresh roadkill roo I can skin and roast over a fire.

Man in a pickup truck stopped to offer me a ride to the next town, I said no thanks. He probably wondered what I was doing out in the middle of nowhere. Lots of long stretches between towns of 40 or 50 miles with nothing but a few ranch houses. I have been carrying 9 liters of water and food for 3 days. I have gone a couple days spending no money at all, and then buying 2 or 3 days of food to last me to the next town.

One morning I woke up with ants all over my black footlocker that I bring inside my tent as my table. I left out my stove, cook pot, spoon, and some food. So I broke camp, wiped down my footlocker with bleach water and cooked outside. Later on when I dryed my tent at noon I got out the duct tape and sealed all the little holes in the floor.

Met a bunch of backpackers camped at a picnic area waiting for the harvest season to start. They were making palm frond baskets, hats, and jewelry to sell to tide them over till they could work picking fruit. Played some dice and listened to some music for a while before hitting the sack early. They all stayed up and drank till midnight. The sign said no overnight stays, but there were about 20 vans and 10 tents and maybe 50 backpackers staying there till harvest season started. Big industry over here is tourism for backpackers wanting to travel the country and work part time. All kinds of tours you can go on, backpacker hostels to stay in, and farms advertising for workers. The pay is pretty good, about $20 an hour for inside work packing fruit and a little more or less out in the fields depending on how fast you are.

While I was taking a break along the roadside a car stopped and Joe Pearce got out to video interview me for a You Tube piece. Hopefully he will send me a link for next weeks article if he gets it on You Tube. He invited me to visit him in Airlie Beach and get a home cooked meal. I think I might take a day off and go for a snorkel trip on the reef.

Headed south for Mackay on the coast road. email me at walking_man_50 (at sign) pocketmail(dot) com , if you have any questions or comments. You can also click on reply or from my website www.walkingman.org , but it might take me a week or two to get back to you depending on when I can find another I-Cafe or library.

Keep on Walking, Life is Amazing, Singing Zippity Do Dah all day long.

Gary “Walkingman” Hause.