Start of the Olympics

Belele Camp — 2000-09-14 – 2000-09-15

The days fly by but are dampened somewhat by phone calls to one of our sponsors. It may not sound very adventurous but it’s extremely important for our existence. Besides all the other work I have to do, I must make contact with the outside world from time to time on such a lengthy project as this. This usually involves changing gears from life in the outback with camels, heat, navigation and the general fight for life, to life in an office on the other side of the world where our sponsors sit and want to speak and negotiate with me. It’s certainly one of the most difficult facets of the expedition and one that I would most like to throw into an Australian bush fire. But there’s a flip side to everything, even to our way of life, and we must try to accept it and live with it.

On the first day of the Olympics in Sydney, our long-awaited shoes and a couple of other items arrive at the Station. It’s like Christmas time, opening all the post, and we’re happy to have received a lot of letters as well as a clipping of an article which I wrote for Magazin Tours. We put our new Meindl shoes on straight away and hope to be able to cover the next 1400 km blister-free. We reorganise all of the equipment in the afternoon and are more than happy to get together 100 kg of stuff which we can leave with Jon for Jo and Tom to pick up later. As of tomorrow Goola will have a minimum of weight to carry and his swollen hips will have a good chance of healing.