Day 10 - Tuesday 21 September - Blacktown to North Ryde

We woke this morning to thick fog which made us all think it was going to be a cooler day today. However after a well earned, greatly appreciated and generously donated breakfast at Blacktown Macdonald’s (we tried to order the healthy things – well, OK, we didn’t) the sun broke through the clouds and we began our walk in 22 degrees heat.

We were farewelled by the Mayor of Blacktown and presented with a very generous donation by the Blacktown Workers Sports Club. We were very grateful to the Club for its kind welcome and its donation was a wonderful gesture by a very generous club. We would certainly recommend any visitors to the area to drop in to the Club for a drink or a meal in its very welcoming bars and restaurant.Not very long into the day’s walking, we had one of the very few hitches of the journey – one of our support cars got a flat tyre, in the back blocks of Blacktown. One of our walkers, John, came back to help. So, in the spirit of “the show must go on,” Amara took the other support car and looked after the Walkers while Mandy stayed with the disabled car and John and Mike went looking for a spare. As it turned out, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles sent out a new wheel and tyre with a technician. So, while it took a little time, we got back on the road to support the Walkers.

Our track this morning took us towards Northmead and Winston Hills where we met Liz’s sister and mother who had been waiting by the side of the road for us.

Barry “The Rocket” blazed a trail along the shady pavements of Pennant Hills and Epping which were a welcome change after the hot hard pavements of this morning’s walk. Most of the way it was hard slog- with heads down, iPods in our ears and one blistered foot after the other. Just before 4 o’clock we turned onto Epping Road, and the Stamford Grand Hotel was in our sights. What a relief to reach this hotel with its cool, welcoming gardens and bar! Champagne and cocktails were calling, swiftly followed by hot baths, Epsom salts and blister packs.

A quick drink at the bar and it was off to The Ranch pub across the road for dinner and more celebrations. Friends, family and work colleagues were all there to share in our final night together and Debbie was made an honorary Ravenswood old girl. She fitted perfectly into Denise’s old school uniform, making the old straw hat, white summer gloves, and blue ribbons look almost fashionable (in a 40 year old school girl kind of way).
After dinner it was back to the bar at the Stamford Grand. Some of the girls were on a roll and boldly continued fundraising for an hour or so in the foyer - successfully filling our M2S bucket almost to the brim. Others couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a cocktail or two, while the more sensible amongst us tried to get a good night’s sleep before the last day’s walking tomorrow. At 15 km it the Walkers were thinking that it should be an easy hop, skip and jump. And we were expecting a good crowd to join us for the last day of what had been an incredible adventure.