We had a lovely dinner last night. During the day Jen had noticed a back area to our hotel. It was kind of like an open carpark with a series of little brick huts for families to dine in, next to a small playground for the kids. We didn’t even know that area was here, great find Jen, another one of nanna’s great ideas. We decided not to sit in the huts because they were made for 5-6 people and we had 9. The staff set up a long table outside for us and we dined under the stars, and the occasional bat flying by. Gus was able to ride his scooter around and we all had a very relaxing evening. Nicola and Mum shared their days with us, they had ventured out to a local community with Gus and were able to see inside a few homes and interact with the people they met. It sounded like they too had a great day.
This morning we have another 20+ kilometre walk ahead of us and the walk team consists of Eibhlin, Maggie India, Popsy and myself. Nicola was still a little sore from her mammoth 26km walk the other day but committed to join in for the last part of our walk today. Again we decided to head off the main road and tried to follow the railway tracks like yesterday. Unfortunately we were not as successful today and despite heading down to the tracks we could not find our parallel road we were searching for, so back to the main road we went. Our second attempt was a little more successful and had us walking through the backstreets, through houses and interacting with kids as they were getting ready for school. Our walk took us through an industrial section where there were large granite factories taking massive chunks of granite, the size of a car and slicing them down to thin bench top size slabs. Maggie was singing her way through the walk much to Indy’s discomfort and Eibh’s amuzement. We ended up walking through a farm area, out to another couple of small towns and eventually finding our way back to the main road.
Indy was a little flat today and I was encouraging her to join Raju on the bus as it went passed to find our night’s accommodation. Just ahead Maggie saw a sign to a McDonalds and this put a spring in her step. Not that the kids go to McDonalds very often but the thought of something familiar was very energising for Mags. She picked up the pace and was ordering her lunch as we walked. The others found us a little way up the road and we decided to do a changeover. Indy and Maggie (very reluctantly I might add) jumped in the bus and Nicola joined the team. The kids headed to Maccas for their fries and we had our vegemite sandwiches for lunch. I was pleased to see Indy relenting and being prepared to manage her self and her limits. The start of the walk saw her quite defiant and stubborn and determined to walk every step. I think my rest day was very good for Indy to see there is no shame in missing some time, you are still here, still part of the team and still undertaking a massive adventure.
The walk was quite uneventful and we covered the full distance and some more by about 1.30pm in the afternoon. We made it to the town of Chanapatna and as the others were finding it hard to locate our accommodation for the evening we decided to press on. The town was quite large and had a big bus station in the middle of it. It was very hot and dusty by this time and it was a great relief when we were able to make it out the other side and once again on to the open road. A few kilometres up the road and Raju managed to find us. We had walked our 20+ kilometres and the sun was starting to get very hot, time to call it a day.
Our accommodation was interesting, the word I use when I am not quite sure what label to apply. I think that 20 years ago this place would have been a mecca but now just looked like a very tired and run down almost ghost resort. There was an unfilled massive swimming pool, various recreation areas, all run down ofcourse, there were rabbits in the gardens, turkeys walking around and a leisure bar and café, both looking like they have not been used in some time. The rooms were large but very uninspiring and every square metre seemed to contain a moth ball. The kids decided to bunk in with Nic and Eibh again so we decided they would take the larger room, Jen and Nick in another and Bec and I with Gus in the third.
After a walk around the grounds we had some dinner, veg ofcourse, and then called it a night. Popsy and Indy are coming down with a cold and we are not sure who will make it for the walk tomorrow. We are 4 days into our 6 day stretch and the physical element to our challenge is starting to kick in.
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