Saturday, July 29, 2017
Beyond Morgan
I have arrived in Morgan, a small picturesque town, en route to Renmark. After that it's Mildura. It was a tough three days pushing Karma, my cart. Not sure if I am out of shape after three and a half month rest from her. I felt the effort in my 32,31 22 kilometre days from Burra. Five hours today, a short one. Just had a huge burger. Thanks to Heather and Dave, owners of the campsite for a complimentary stay.
Due to lack of power my updates will be sporadic
Later...
Then a late start after a huge fry up
An early finish due to rain
Camping 24 km east of Morgan
I had a great chat with two Aussie cyclists called Chris and Jo
They mentioned that in many rural areas the government doesn't build expensive bridges. They say it's cheaper to provide a 24 hour free ferry service. I took an alternative road east.
The women went on to say that a new law where motorists must provide (one metre for cars and one and a half for trucks) a clearing space when overtaking. It is seriously enforced and they said is making a huge difference.
There is a complaint phone line to report bad drivers. I love it 😂😅
When I was returning to Melbourne with Michael Gillan after he got ill; I dropped some food and water off at a few km posts. The one pictured was put in a hedge at Km 18 beyond Morgan. I took what I needed and left the rest for the next walker, runner or cyclist.
Saturday, July 22, 2017
There's no towbar on a hearse... You can't take it with you
There's no towbar on a hearse; You can't take it with you.
Those were the wise words of Mathew Reilly, owner of Reilly's Irish pub in Burra, South Australia state.
"My great-granddad was from Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, Ireland." So said Mathew. He seemed like an interesting character and even called himself 'One of the last pioneers' I had two further questions..
"What do you think of Australia, your country?" I asked him.
" I love it because it's all I know"
Fair enough.. I thought, I couldn't expect more. Then, I was curious to know more..
"How would you change your country?" That was a loaded question, for I knew he was not a fan of politicians, but still Mathews answer was interesting.
"There is nothing more dangerous to society than an educated nitwit , that's right... I can teach a parrot to talk, but at the end of the day it's still a parrot... I'm 73, a hardworking man, still out drilling minerals, and believe me that's hard work.
I wish the younger generation would want to learn how to work harder. And why should I pay taxes to keep fools going?
I sent my boy Jimmy to a Protestant school to kill the hate; hate towards the Brits. Because I did not want him to grow up with the same hate that I did."
I asked him what did he mean and was told that he spent too many days sitting around a dinner table with his folks who talked about their hatred for the Brits..
"That hate, for Cromwell, and all that followed was in our blood.
"My Irish Catholic family had acreage of 30,000."
I wondered how it was that during famine times in Ireland why that land would have been taken from them. I had many more questions to ask, including.. If he was sure that his family weren't Protestant, perhaps through marriage that their thread changed?"
Next day, I had planned to walk on from Burra towards Morgan. However, when Mathew offered me and another man called Andrew a chance to visit his farm. It was an offer I jumped at. So, I took another rest day, I am getting so lazy 😅
First he treated us to breakfast in the St. Just Cafe. Burra is a small historic copper mining town for it once boasted Australia's largest mine and produced 5% of the worlds copper. Now with a population of 1,000, it's a shadow of its former glory.
After breakfast we experienced just a sliver of the tough life of a rancher. Armed with a shotgun Mathew drove us out his 10,000 acre farm in his pickup truck.
That morning a cow had given birth to a calf. Unfortunately, the calf didn't make it and the cow was suffering badly. The technique farmers use to save cows from dying is to encourage it away from lying down on the ground. For the cold surface would paralyze the animal. Straps dangling from the raised fork lifts extended forks and wrapped around the stressed cows body. Mathew had been prepared to give the cow a humane end with a bullet but was impressed as it seemed to be a fighter. Instead, he would check on it during the day before deciding if he needed to put it out of its misery.
As we looked on at the poor animal we were told that:
"Normally when they put their head to ground they are throwing
In the towel.. That would be the end for its hind legs would soon paralyses."
Other sad-faced cows looked on in sympathy and then Mathew went on to say.
" Sheep would just keep on grazing totally unaware of any distress. Whereas, cows realize what's happening. That horned cow over there also made it through after a recent miscarriage. And just to prove that cows do have emotions.. It sat in a depressed state and barely moved for two weeks."
On the way to the farmhouse I asked a bit about the economics and was told that the current market rate for a cow is in the region of 1,500 Australian dollars, about a thousand Euro; or 2,000 dollars with the calf. Stressed cows aren't sold on for meat, as apparently its too tough to eat, more suited for mince meat. Mathew said that he would give it away to anyone that wanted it for free, but most people would be to lazy.
The market value of sheep is only 200 dollars.
Those were the wise words of Mathew Reilly, owner of Reilly's Irish pub in Burra, South Australia state.
"My great-granddad was from Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, Ireland." So said Mathew. He seemed like an interesting character and even called himself 'One of the last pioneers' I had two further questions..
"What do you think of Australia, your country?" I asked him.
" I love it because it's all I know"
Fair enough.. I thought, I couldn't expect more. Then, I was curious to know more..
"How would you change your country?" That was a loaded question, for I knew he was not a fan of politicians, but still Mathews answer was interesting.
"There is nothing more dangerous to society than an educated nitwit , that's right... I can teach a parrot to talk, but at the end of the day it's still a parrot... I'm 73, a hardworking man, still out drilling minerals, and believe me that's hard work.
I wish the younger generation would want to learn how to work harder. And why should I pay taxes to keep fools going?
I sent my boy Jimmy to a Protestant school to kill the hate; hate towards the Brits. Because I did not want him to grow up with the same hate that I did."
I asked him what did he mean and was told that he spent too many days sitting around a dinner table with his folks who talked about their hatred for the Brits..
"That hate, for Cromwell, and all that followed was in our blood.
"My Irish Catholic family had acreage of 30,000."
I wondered how it was that during famine times in Ireland why that land would have been taken from them. I had many more questions to ask, including.. If he was sure that his family weren't Protestant, perhaps through marriage that their thread changed?"
Next day, I had planned to walk on from Burra towards Morgan. However, when Mathew offered me and another man called Andrew a chance to visit his farm. It was an offer I jumped at. So, I took another rest day, I am getting so lazy 😅
First he treated us to breakfast in the St. Just Cafe. Burra is a small historic copper mining town for it once boasted Australia's largest mine and produced 5% of the worlds copper. Now with a population of 1,000, it's a shadow of its former glory.
After breakfast we experienced just a sliver of the tough life of a rancher. Armed with a shotgun Mathew drove us out his 10,000 acre farm in his pickup truck.
That morning a cow had given birth to a calf. Unfortunately, the calf didn't make it and the cow was suffering badly. The technique farmers use to save cows from dying is to encourage it away from lying down on the ground. For the cold surface would paralyze the animal. Straps dangling from the raised fork lifts extended forks and wrapped around the stressed cows body. Mathew had been prepared to give the cow a humane end with a bullet but was impressed as it seemed to be a fighter. Instead, he would check on it during the day before deciding if he needed to put it out of its misery.
As we looked on at the poor animal we were told that:
"Normally when they put their head to ground they are throwing
In the towel.. That would be the end for its hind legs would soon paralyses."
Other sad-faced cows looked on in sympathy and then Mathew went on to say.
" Sheep would just keep on grazing totally unaware of any distress. Whereas, cows realize what's happening. That horned cow over there also made it through after a recent miscarriage. And just to prove that cows do have emotions.. It sat in a depressed state and barely moved for two weeks."
On the way to the farmhouse I asked a bit about the economics and was told that the current market rate for a cow is in the region of 1,500 Australian dollars, about a thousand Euro; or 2,000 dollars with the calf. Stressed cows aren't sold on for meat, as apparently its too tough to eat, more suited for mince meat. Mathew said that he would give it away to anyone that wanted it for free, but most people would be to lazy.
The market value of sheep is only 200 dollars.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been partly lazy and have other had other issues to deal with..
For those that don't know.. I paused my walk last week as Michael Gillan, my great crewman across Australia picked up hernia problems. Because of this we drove the 700 kms back to his home in Melbourne so as he could see a specialist. Muscle damage was diagnosed and he has to wait three months for an operation.
He was so disappointed at having to finish our road trip and tells me he misses the road already and that he hopes to fly to Sydney for my Australian finish. Previously, I mentioned that I was considering an extension in Australia, i.e.: up the east coast to Cairns. Now, I think I will revert to my old plan and finish in Sydney, whenever that is! I thank Michael from the bottom of my heart. He has done a fabulous crew job for me and I will miss him badly.
Because of this I had to fly to Auckland, New Zealand - whereI had previously sent on Karma, my cart. Thanks to my great mates Sue and Alan Knox (pic 1) for minding it and also for great hospitality there. My cart is wrapped up for the airport in pic 2.)
I left the rest of my baggage, ie: tent, sleeping bag etc at the St. Just Cafe in Burra. It was the nearest town to my route and there was no point in me taking it all when I went to pick up my cart. Thanks to Sandra the kind cafe owner for minding this stuff for me.
Tonight, Wednesday I am back in Burra and am staying in the towns campground. It's about 30kms up the road towards Booborowie to the location where I paused my walk, at km post 15. See my usual marking technique in Photo 11, A plastic bottle taped to the post, hi-tech, lol
😀Tomorrow I will hitch a ride back to my route: at km 15, where I finished last week and walk to Burra town and spend another night in the campsite. Then on Friday morning I will get my cart and walk on, on my own.
Mega, Mega thanks to Sputnik Sputnik - Pic 4 for reaching out to solve a huge problem that I had: getting back to my route from Adelaide airport. as it was 160 km off of my route. He kindly picked me up from airport and brought me and Karma back to Burra ..
It turned out that Sputnik is also the marketing director for Australia's finest running and outdoor apparel, a brand called ioMerino as modeled by yours truly
@ http://iomerino.com/ 
😂Merino is a wool from a breed of sheep of the same name and is super warm. Other Merino qualities are that the material doesn't stink or collect bacteria as it pretty much wicks odour and bacteria away! This is important for me as on a walk like this I am often obliged to sleep in the clothes I walk in as in some locations showers are a rarity!
Amazingly, I was only looking at this Merino stuff the previous day but it was way out of my price range! So I was over the moon when Sputnik asked ioMerino for a sample for me! What can I say... Thanks so, so much, I am delighted.
😀People are so good. Get well Michael Gillan (Pictured 7-10) and thanks everyone. Special thanks to Patrick Mc Donnell for also reaching out to me too; as he also offered to pick me up from the airport and drop me back to my route!
See all the pictures here... https://www.facebook.com/tony.mangan.14/posts/10155687745154642
Sending healing thoughts to Michael Gillan
Taken from my Facebook page. Hi everyone, The following is a Facebook post. For technical reasons I apologies that I can't post photos here. So, as text is better than nothing I will persevere with this blog. Continued thanks to Scott Richards for setting this blog up for me 😀
Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been partly lazy and have other had other issues to deal with..
For those that don't know.. I paused my walk last week as Michael Gillan, my great crewman across Australia picked up hernia problems. Because of this we drove the 700 kms back to his home in Melbourne so as he could see a specialist. Muscle damage was diagnosed and he has to wait three months for an operation.
He was so disappointed at having to finish our road trip and tells me he misses the road already and that he hopes to fly to Sydney for my Australian finish. Previously, I mentioned that I was considering an extension in Australia, i.e.: up the east coast to Cairns. Now, I think I will revert to my old plan and finish in Sydney, whenever that is! I thank Michael from the bottom of my heart. He has done a fabulous crew job for me and I will miss him badly.
Because of this I had to fly to Auckland, New Zealand - whereI had previously sent on Karma, my cart. Thanks to my great mates Sue and Alan Knox (pic 1) for minding it and also for great hospitality there. My cart is wrapped up for the airport in pic 2.)
I left the rest of my baggage, ie: tent, sleeping bag etc at the St. Just Cafe in Burra. It was the nearest town to my route and there was no point in me taking it all when I went to pick up my cart. Thanks to Sandra the kind cafe owner for minding this stuff for me.
Tonight, Wednesday I am back in Burra and am staying in the towns campground. It's about 30kms up the road towards Booborowie to the location where I paused my walk, at km post 15. See my usual marking technique in Photo 11, A plastic bottle taped to the post, hi-tech, lol 😀
Tomorrow I will hitch a ride back to my route: at km 15, where I finished last week and walk to Burra town and spend another night in the campsite. Then on Friday morning I will get my cart and walk on, on my own.
Mega, Mega thanks to Sputnik Sputnik - Pic 4 for reaching out to solve a huge problem that I had: getting back to my route from Adelaide airport. as it was 160 km off of my route. He kindly picked me up from airport and brought me and Karma back to Burra ..
It turned out that Sputnik is also the marketing director for Australia's finest running and outdoor apparel, a brand called ioMerino as modeled by yours truly 😂
Merino is a wool from a breed of sheep of the same name and is super warm. Other Merino qualities are that the material doesn't stink or collect bacteria as it pretty much wicks odour and bacteria away! This is important for me as on a walk like this I am often obliged to sleep in the clothes I walk in as in some locations showers are a rarity!
Amazingly, I was only looking at this Merino stuff the previous day but it was way out of my price range! So I was over the moon when Sputnik asked ioMerino for a sample for me! What can I say... Thanks so, so much, I am delighted. 😀
People are so good. Get well Michael Gillan (Pictured 7-10) and thanks everyone. Special thanks to Patrick Mc Donnell for also reaching out to me too; as he also offered to pick me up from the airport and drop me back to my route!
Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been partly lazy and have other had other issues to deal with..
For those that don't know.. I paused my walk last week as Michael Gillan, my great crewman across Australia picked up hernia problems. Because of this we drove the 700 kms back to his home in Melbourne so as he could see a specialist. Muscle damage was diagnosed and he has to wait three months for an operation.
He was so disappointed at having to finish our road trip and tells me he misses the road already and that he hopes to fly to Sydney for my Australian finish. Previously, I mentioned that I was considering an extension in Australia, i.e.: up the east coast to Cairns. Now, I think I will revert to my old plan and finish in Sydney, whenever that is! I thank Michael from the bottom of my heart. He has done a fabulous crew job for me and I will miss him badly.
Because of this I had to fly to Auckland, New Zealand - whereI had previously sent on Karma, my cart. Thanks to my great mates Sue and Alan Knox (pic 1) for minding it and also for great hospitality there. My cart is wrapped up for the airport in pic 2.)
I left the rest of my baggage, ie: tent, sleeping bag etc at the St. Just Cafe in Burra. It was the nearest town to my route and there was no point in me taking it all when I went to pick up my cart. Thanks to Sandra the kind cafe owner for minding this stuff for me.
Tonight, Wednesday I am back in Burra and am staying in the towns campground. It's about 30kms up the road towards Booborowie to the location where I paused my walk, at km post 15. See my usual marking technique in Photo 11, A plastic bottle taped to the post, hi-tech, lol 😀
Tomorrow I will hitch a ride back to my route: at km 15, where I finished last week and walk to Burra town and spend another night in the campsite. Then on Friday morning I will get my cart and walk on, on my own.
Mega, Mega thanks to Sputnik Sputnik - Pic 4 for reaching out to solve a huge problem that I had: getting back to my route from Adelaide airport. as it was 160 km off of my route. He kindly picked me up from airport and brought me and Karma back to Burra ..
It turned out that Sputnik is also the marketing director for Australia's finest running and outdoor apparel, a brand called ioMerino as modeled by yours truly 😂
Merino is a wool from a breed of sheep of the same name and is super warm. Other Merino qualities are that the material doesn't stink or collect bacteria as it pretty much wicks odour and bacteria away! This is important for me as on a walk like this I am often obliged to sleep in the clothes I walk in as in some locations showers are a rarity!
Amazingly, I was only looking at this Merino stuff the previous day but it was way out of my price range! So I was over the moon when Sputnik asked ioMerino for a sample for me! What can I say... Thanks so, so much, I am delighted. 😀
People are so good. Get well Michael Gillan (Pictured 7-10) and thanks everyone. Special thanks to Patrick Mc Donnell for also reaching out to me too; as he also offered to pick me up from the airport and drop me back to my route!
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Thanks to Laarni, Mads and co for this interview. Please click on the link. I had difficulty in the Australian outback getting photos to him. However, as you can see they have gone through my websites and pulled out a good selection
1 July 2017
Tony Mangan is extreme. Not only have he cycled around the world. He has also run around the world – and now he is walking around the world!
In this interview he shares why he is finally living his dream, so let’s find out more about Tony and learn from his tips on how to run and walk around the world.
Click Here to read the rest of the article
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