Last night we said farewell to our favourite doctor friend a.k.a. Robin as he assured us he needed to get home as some medical students required his tutoring, his dogs were missing him and maybe Ruth (wife) was missing him just a little bit also. ( Really I think he was missing Ruth). But as a parting gesture he gave his analysis of the the 'riding circus' with some funny and poignant moments enlightened on. His last farewell speech was directed at 'cowboy' Robert jamming as much Aussie lingo into his speech as is humanly possible. Poor old Robert sat there mesmerised, or maybe he was hypnotised as Robin 'swapped' voice for something resembling either 'Kenny' or Paul Hogan and gabled on for at least 20 minutes (we had to keep switching the light on at the BBQ area at least twice during the speech), using every Aussie slang word he could find. Even admitting he googled some of them! We all thought when he wasn't with us, he must have been reading but think secretly he was rehearsing this speech. It was truly hilarious and I still don't know if Robert understands any of it, especially about 'shouting' drinks at the pub! (Ask Frank about his 'shout').
This morning 'Doc' actually made it up for breakfast (first for the whole trip), which makes you think - was he trying to make sure we were really going, or was he going to miss us and needed to see our cheery faces one more time? Either way - safe travelling Doc, see you when we get home. Thanks for the time you spent with us, you will be missed. 'Lande will never forgive you though for the 'bird-bath' a.k.a. The Observatory!
Now this morning the day took another turn as we headed east again following the Murray upstream. I had the honour of driving today - a lovely Mazda, with warm seats and cosy heater on my side as well as the privilege of Simone accompanying me as she decided to skip today's ride due to increasing unwellness and her chest cold. (Doc would be most pleased with this decision).
All the remaining riders continued, even David did a few legs racking up over the 1000 kms in his personal tally today! Congratulations David this is a huge effort for a man of his age.
The wind most of time was to the riders advantage but occasionally a side wind made it uncomfortable and very cold, only reaching 15 C at 3:00pm this afternoon. The rest day is tomorrow and will be very welcome as the bodies and minds recuperate for our last week. All the group are tired and weary, including support persons, so home is looking better everyday. Just hope the weather holds out.
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