Day 8

NEWS UPDATE - HOT OFF THE WIRE FROM BORNEO

Well tonight its Ali here, Donna's apprentice. Our fearless leader is tucked up in bed with feet that have the most excruciating, painful blisters that anyone has ever seen. So please bear with me...

To summarise the day before going back to continue on from yesterday's blog..... We have just completed a day of 12 hours of trekking covering 27 kms and 37324 steps. To say we are all in pain is an understatement. More of that to come later...

When we woke this morning we all knew we had the 27km walk ahead of us however we were on cloud 9 as last night we presented a brand new generator to our lead guide, Jerome.

Why a generator you may ask? Jerome's livelihood has been dependent on him guiding treks along the Sandakan Death March and the regularity of the treks is not sufficient to pay for schooling and necessities for his two young sons, pay mortgage payments on his modest home and at the same time support his sister and other family members for them to be able to gain an education. It was only a matter of months ago he nearly lost his home through lack of pay. No such thing as Centrelink benefits here in Borneo!

The generator will now allow Jerome to have another income stream as him and Uncle will be starting a mobile car wash business. If we hadn't of done this it would have taken Jerome 6 months to save the money and in that time there could have again been the threat of losing his house. The emotion he shared when we surprised him with our gift is something we will never ever forget.

Now back to today.....the 27 kms started with a morning of trekking uphill before descending and joining a 4 km walk down and through a creek that the POW's had trekked all those years ago.

Following a short lunch break the enormous challenge of today hit us smack bang in the face (and legs!). Following a further 5 kms of up and down hills we then stopped at the bottom of Botterill Hill where some of the boys on tour packed their backpacks with 20kg weight to reflect the same weight Keith Botterill carried 6 times over across 26 miles so that he could maintain a level of fitness that would give him the strength and stamina to escape from the Japanese. In the midst of the pain and suffering that had been inflicted on him as a POW he chose to volunteer to carry the weight as it would also give him the opportunity to steal some rice from each bag so that he could feed himself when he got the opportunity to escape. He would hide the rice in his pocket on each trip. The challenging, constant uphill of 4km at Botterill Hill was painful on every level.... steamy hot, massively humid and never ending. Poor Donna's feet were nothing short of excruciating pain. The comparison she gave was it was like walking on broken glass. But this remarkable lady went on through tears on her way up. She inspires us every day.

Following our decent off the mountain into Ranau in the pitch black dark over a very slippery gravel track we walked another 7 kms to the monument that has been erected by the Australian Government. Following the elation of US ALL making it to the end of the 100km journey we held a very emotional and touching remembrance service where we spoke of the courage and love we have for our loved ones; those that were up above watching over us every step of the way and the amazing kids of Camp Quality that continue their flight and challenge every day. My beautiful nephew in heaven, Harry, inspired me every step of the way and it is because of him that I embark on these challenges.

It is way too difficult to deliver on this blog the feeling we all have tonight. Our bodies are tired beyond belief, our personal satisfaction for making it is high and our hearts are full of love for you all back home who have supported us to be able to come here to Borneo and walk in the footsteps of the men who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. And at this point we have raised over 110K  to be able to continue putting laughter into the lives of our Camp Quality kids who inspire us. All 13 of us cannot thank you enough for your support and are looking forward to seeing you all very soon.

So for now I will finish my Tiger beer and my great friend Donna will be back with you tomorrow.

Kisses and hugs from us all xxxxoooo