A blessing in disguise...

I'm at a loss to describe how I'm feeling at the moment. Completely exhausted after a barrage of new challenges to contend with this week, this last week in the city has meant an adjustment of body clocks as we've gone back to latish nights and comparably lazy lie-ins. And by that I mean 8am!

Two months on the road living in each others pockets has driven us all stir crazy. Today, for the first time since Perth, I spent the afternoon away from the rest of the team working on new designs for t-shirts, updating the website, clearing my inbox and planning the route from Adelaide around to Brisbane. The frustration at not being able to get back on the road is tempered by an unsurprising relief at just being able to take things easy. I'm looking forward to getting back on the road but am struggling with the concept of not knowing when that day will come. The stitches and bruising around the gash in my heel is looking messy at the moment - I can only be sensible and make sure there is no threat of reopening the wound before I make the call to skate again.

In the meantime, Brit hurts his foot and everyone wants to talk. I was probably the most bemused out of everybody when the ABC primetime Australia-wide news covered my foot early this week. 20 interviews later I'm delighted at the medica coverage we've received, and slowly but surely as the team swarms through Adelaide with collecting buckets the BoardFree brand is pulling in more donations. Just yesterday we raised over $AUS700, not much in a big city you might think, but try handing out leaflets and asking for donations in a constantly-moving crowd and you realise that it takes a bit of tactical nouse to make city dwellers dip into their pockets.

The rest we're all experiencing has been made all the more pleasurable because of the hospitality of Deirdre and Bob Schahinger, who have made an awkward start in this city a thing of the past. Then there's Chris Riordan, whose cerebal palsy hasn't diminished a quick wit and humble, realistic nature which is going to send him through to the next Paralympic Games as a shining example of exactly what Sailability is capable of achieving. Chris is an inspiration. Sitting with him the other day in Mitcham, Adelaide, he asked me what kept me going when my legs were tired and the sun was beating down and the road was rough. And I struggled to tell him. Drive can't always be explained. Chris is focusing on the mental challenge that lies ahead as he prepares to go for gold. He says, "if we walked down the road and back again I would use ten times the energy that you would, I need to find out what I need to do, how I need to think." He isn't the type of guy who enters for the sake of entering, I'll be watching him all the way to Kuala Lumpur and I wouldn't be surprised if he comes away with a medal.

So, because of Chris, Deirdre, Bob and the countless other people who have appeared in Adelaide to support us, we'll soon be pushing on towards the coast and then around it. The delay means some long long days of catch-up are ahead of us. We're talking weeks of 80km plus days, roads littered with traffic which is now going to be heavy and viscous. They said the Nullarbor was impossible, rubbish. We've done the easy part, luckily we've been given the chance to rest before the hard graft kicks in.