The consumption of breakfast, and preparation of lunch are two of our first priorities every day ...
... with slightly less distance to cover today, we hit the road a little later than usual.
As it’s Sunday we have no school ceremonies and only 48 km to cover for the girls team, so no pressure ...
The red earth is dominant now, sometimes with trees ...
... sometimes scrub, and sometimes not much at all ...
While we love to visit the schools, we also enjoy the days of pure running in the unique Australian terrain. We are loving the vast expanse of rich red soil, and with such flat ground ...
... and no tall buildings (except in termite terms) or even trees ...
... the sky seems incredibly vast in all directions.
Wildlife abounds and today we spotted eagles, goats, many cows and three kangaroos ...
... and always, if you look, sheer beauty ...
There are so many kinds of tropical fruit gowing in this area ...
Having only seen fruit like bananas, oranges and grapefruit imported from other countries, it‘s very interesting to see how they are growing here in huge plantations ...
Helena, Oyungerel and Emily have never seen bananas growing on a tree before! ...
Trivia fact: did you know bananas actually don't grow on trees at all? ...
"Well what do you call those large plants there with bananas growing on them?"
... the banana plant is botanically neither a bush nor a tree, but rather the world's largest grass!
Bayarkhuu is probably our most photographed team member, not only because he loves to run the most km ...
... also because he just can't resist expressing his exuberance. Without speaking English, this is his universal language which we all understand, appreciate and love!
He is almost never still. Here he is not looking inside an ant's nest ...
... just going through some stretches before his next run ...
Every passing motorist is ready to acknowledge us, with either a wave out the window, or a hoot from the horn. Of course it helps having the radio exposure from Anubha's radio interviews and the fact that we had 3 teams on the road in fairly close proximity today.
On the way to our next destination of Coral Bay, we met a lot of nice people like the staff at Minilya Roadhouse; Mark, Alex and Wayne. They were so happy to hold the Peace Torch and gave us the best smiles!
It is noticeably warmer now as we proceed further north. Some of the runners are relishing the warmer conditions whilst others wonder how hard it will be when it is 10 degrees warmer still!
We also met Cedric ...
... and Claire from France who are travelling around Australia, just like us!
Our second boys team managed our 58 km quite comfortably and headed in to Coral Bay shortly after lunch. It did not take us long to find our way down to the beach in front of Ningaloo Resort and meet up with the others who had already arrived ...
... they wised us up on where to swim to see the best coral and multitudes of fish. I love being in water and while not having actual snorkelling equipment had a fantastic time swimming around, diving, and observing the incredible coral formations. Wending their way through the intricate coral were brightly coloured fish which I unfortunately cannot name. Alas, I had to leave the water as I was becoming too cold. Steve was happy to help me warm up again ...
We were fortunate to witness a fish-feeding very close to where we were sitting. Many tourists gathered in knee deep water where a man was handing out fish food to the children. We were then surrounded by Spangled Emperor fish, varying from 40 to 50 cm in length. They would swim between our legs, tickling us with their tails. Everyone was delighted by the experience ...
... the perfect place to relax and imbibe peace from Nature ...
We eventually made our way to Ningaloo Club Backpackers Hostel, where the staff issued us with our sheets and made us feel most welcome. As we have a rest day tomorrow, we shall be staying here for two nights ...
The Czech boys have been a revelation in the cooking department, and once again prepared a gourmet feast for the whole team ...
