Raised $7,620 for Pregnancy Loss Australia
Thanks to Kylie, Pete, Colin, Kate and Liz for their donations in the last week.
I've shut down the donations page now so that the final funds can be transferred from Everyday Hero to PLA. If you haven't got around to donating yet you can do so directly through the Pregnancy Loss Australia website.
In total we received 63 donations over a 6 month period and absolutely shattered the original aim of $4,000.
And thank you again to everyone for your donations, shout outs, following the journey etc.
It's hard to believe it was 2 weeks ago already. I've had 4 flights since then too.
Detox has commenced.
I can't rule out that my brain will concoct an equally quirky marker for a future birthday, we'll see.
Now that the fundraiser is officially over I'll begin the process of thanking everyone individually. With 63+ of you, it'll take a little time.
Cheers
13 May 2013
05 May 2013
Terrafirmaustralis
Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
And the thanks continue to Camille, Alissa, KB, Wayne and Mossy.
Just before I complete the tale from last week (we got up to Adelaide) I should mention about this morning.
Today was/is International Bereaved Mothers Day. Pregnancy Loss Australia held their annual walkathon in SA and invited us down to come say 'hi'. So we did. There were hundreds of people there and it's nice to know that our fundraiser is going to such a worthwhile cause.
Just before the walkathon got underway we were introduced to the crowd and got to say a few words. Once again Jo stole the microphone. Not really. Jo handed over a symbolic cheque which was actually a legitimate cheque complete with signature. So she needed to grab that one back... From what I understand Everyday Hero send funds across on a fortnightly basis while the fundraiser is in progress.
The weather was kind to everyone, not bad for late autumn.
Now, back to the mission re-cap...
Because we had a number of visitors and not much time in Adelaide I had to upload photos and publish my blog post in the short dash from the bar to the gate for our flight which was already in final boarding. 60 seconds well spent there...
So it was off to Perth on one of the three long flights on the mission. We had exit row for this flight - or at least we hoped we did. Some of our other flights had a change of aircraft between the time we selected our seats and the actual flight meaning that our exit row seats were no longer. Thankfully the Perth flight was okay.
When we were in Melbourne we checked in with a couple (Dal & Marianne) that we were meeting to let them know we were still good to catch up and head out of the airport. However, once we got to Perth that's when Jo hit the wall. We exited the aircraft and went straight to the bar for the final mainland beer (so that we could finish the day 1 mission). On the way to the bar we had a quick chat with a nice couple from our flight and they kicked in $20!
While we were handling the logistics I got a text from someone else (Shadi) who just realised that today was the day! So we finished our beer & blog updates and headed out of the secure area to grab a coffee for Jo and meet Shadi. We were soon joined by Peter and then Dal & Marianne.
Jo made the call that we'd stay put in the airport so we all cleared security and there were no surprises as to who was pulled aside for the explosives test.
For the next couple hours we had a few drinks and a catch up in the airport bar and it was a nice (almost) end to the day. With about two hours to go until our flight we parted with our company and headed into the Qantas Club.
Jo was trying to rest but there were some loud conversations around us. Including one bloke who was complaining to his mate because a job that he was going for was only paying $1,647 per day, no negotiation and only on the days he worked. Yep, welcome to mining country. Before I get accused of eves dropping this was the kind of person/conversation that was deliberately projected to be overheard.
Because of our status credit chasing the remaining for flights were booked with points and in business class. We knew we were on an A330 for the Perth Melbourne flight but didn't realise it had skybeds. Best. Thing. Ever. As soon as the seatbelt sign went off we pressed the buttons to get the seats into their sleeping position and I was asleep within minutes. Jo wasn't as lucky sleep wise but we still got some good quality rest.
Some people have asked if I had a beer on the two extra transits through Melbourne. No is the answer to that. There was a fair distance between gates for our Melbourne - Hobart flight so it was nice to stretch the legs a bit.
Hobart was probably the biggest mystery as far as getting a beer was concerned but it was actually pretty easy, with a twist...
When you disembark at Hobart you effectively exit the secure area straight away. In other words, you're not in the terminal. Even if transiting you need to clear security again. Although we were on the same aircraft back to Melbourne this made it a little more interesting. Fortunately we had plenty of time and I enjoyed a breakfast Boags.
The home stretch was ahead of us. Jo had her first bite to eat in 68 hours on the Hobart-Melbourne flight. We had about 2 hours in Melbourne and then it was off to Adelaide. We were met at Adelaide airport by my mum and eldest sister and Jordan the real estate guy! Our arm was twisted into a celebratory beverage (it was 1pm by this time) and the mission was finally over, 37 hours after leaving the hotel in Darwin.
Oh, and we've been asked to keep the fundraising open a few more days...
And the thanks continue to Camille, Alissa, KB, Wayne and Mossy.
Just before I complete the tale from last week (we got up to Adelaide) I should mention about this morning.
Today was/is International Bereaved Mothers Day. Pregnancy Loss Australia held their annual walkathon in SA and invited us down to come say 'hi'. So we did. There were hundreds of people there and it's nice to know that our fundraiser is going to such a worthwhile cause.
Just before the walkathon got underway we were introduced to the crowd and got to say a few words. Once again Jo stole the microphone. Not really. Jo handed over a symbolic cheque which was actually a legitimate cheque complete with signature. So she needed to grab that one back... From what I understand Everyday Hero send funds across on a fortnightly basis while the fundraiser is in progress.
The weather was kind to everyone, not bad for late autumn.
Now, back to the mission re-cap...
Because we had a number of visitors and not much time in Adelaide I had to upload photos and publish my blog post in the short dash from the bar to the gate for our flight which was already in final boarding. 60 seconds well spent there...
So it was off to Perth on one of the three long flights on the mission. We had exit row for this flight - or at least we hoped we did. Some of our other flights had a change of aircraft between the time we selected our seats and the actual flight meaning that our exit row seats were no longer. Thankfully the Perth flight was okay.
When we were in Melbourne we checked in with a couple (Dal & Marianne) that we were meeting to let them know we were still good to catch up and head out of the airport. However, once we got to Perth that's when Jo hit the wall. We exited the aircraft and went straight to the bar for the final mainland beer (so that we could finish the day 1 mission). On the way to the bar we had a quick chat with a nice couple from our flight and they kicked in $20!
While we were handling the logistics I got a text from someone else (Shadi) who just realised that today was the day! So we finished our beer & blog updates and headed out of the secure area to grab a coffee for Jo and meet Shadi. We were soon joined by Peter and then Dal & Marianne.
Jo made the call that we'd stay put in the airport so we all cleared security and there were no surprises as to who was pulled aside for the explosives test.
For the next couple hours we had a few drinks and a catch up in the airport bar and it was a nice (almost) end to the day. With about two hours to go until our flight we parted with our company and headed into the Qantas Club.
Jo was trying to rest but there were some loud conversations around us. Including one bloke who was complaining to his mate because a job that he was going for was only paying $1,647 per day, no negotiation and only on the days he worked. Yep, welcome to mining country. Before I get accused of eves dropping this was the kind of person/conversation that was deliberately projected to be overheard.
Because of our status credit chasing the remaining for flights were booked with points and in business class. We knew we were on an A330 for the Perth Melbourne flight but didn't realise it had skybeds. Best. Thing. Ever. As soon as the seatbelt sign went off we pressed the buttons to get the seats into their sleeping position and I was asleep within minutes. Jo wasn't as lucky sleep wise but we still got some good quality rest.
Some people have asked if I had a beer on the two extra transits through Melbourne. No is the answer to that. There was a fair distance between gates for our Melbourne - Hobart flight so it was nice to stretch the legs a bit.
Hobart was probably the biggest mystery as far as getting a beer was concerned but it was actually pretty easy, with a twist...
When you disembark at Hobart you effectively exit the secure area straight away. In other words, you're not in the terminal. Even if transiting you need to clear security again. Although we were on the same aircraft back to Melbourne this made it a little more interesting. Fortunately we had plenty of time and I enjoyed a breakfast Boags.
The home stretch was ahead of us. Jo had her first bite to eat in 68 hours on the Hobart-Melbourne flight. We had about 2 hours in Melbourne and then it was off to Adelaide. We were met at Adelaide airport by my mum and eldest sister and Jordan the real estate guy! Our arm was twisted into a celebratory beverage (it was 1pm by this time) and the mission was finally over, 37 hours after leaving the hotel in Darwin.
Oh, and we've been asked to keep the fundraising open a few more days...
02 May 2013
Donations closing Saturday...
Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
Belated thanks to In2 Solutions, Chris and Lauren. And timely thanks to the Sybiz crew and Candy who I met this morning at a Commonwealth Bank SME Forum. We are now at $6,590 would you believe?
PLA have their annual memorial walk-a-thon on Sunday morning and I am going to head on down to say g'day.
I'm going to close off the Everyday Hero page on Saturday night so that I can let PLA know the final tally on Sunday morning.
I haven't really reflected on the mission as yet and my city by city blog posts were a little pre-fabricated as I have mentioned previously. So here's a brief run down of the experience...
We headed to Darwin on the Saturday morning (rather than Sunday) to increase the chances of being better rested for the mission. That was a mistake. A night club in very close proximity to the hotel made for an interrupted night's sleep on the Saturday. We probably would have been better staying at home! I should clarify that I'm not complaining about the club or the noise - not everyone is 40!
Then we had this misfortune of the morning WWII tour not happening (we've been refunded already). So we got up early for no good reason. We tried to sleep a bit on Sunday afternoon and maybe did a little but not a lot.
We got organised to head to the airport around midnight and checked out of our hotel. Darwin airport was pretty busy at that time of night. I had kept an eye on the on time performance of the in-bound flight and all was looking good. It got close to boarding time and the staff announced there would be a delay of around 10 minutes for catering issues! We ended up leaving 9 minutes late - Brisbane was one of our tightest connections so any delay was potentially threatening. However, we were 2 minutes early into Brisbane.
As I've also mentioned previously I wasn't overly familiar with Brisbane airport but was pretty confident I could find a breakfast beer with my name on it. Speaking of beer, this is an interesting documentary on the subject.
The downer was that I couldn't get a local beer in Brisbane.
We had a comfortable amount of time in Brisbane without having to rush too much.
Our next flight to Canberra was one of the few paid flights - most the flights we got with frequent flyer points. We used points to upgrade this one though as our original itinerary had a 30 minute stopover in Canberra and a change of airline back to Virgin. In some respects it was lucky that Virgin changed their schedule as we were 10 minutes late into Canberra so that would have left us with 20 minutes. In other words we would have been disembarking at the same time our next flight was departing. Hence the business class upgrade - one or two minutes earlier off the plane was essential.
I did manage to sample a local brew in Canberra.
It was economy class for the next couple flights and when I had booked the flights I was able to select exit row. Unfortunately there was a change in aircraft and on the mammoth 25 minute Canberra-Sydney flight we didn't have exit row.
We had a bit more time in Sydney than forecast so that was nice. Knowing the airport quite well there was no problem finding a place for a quick drink.
Then it was off to Melbourne and a surprise visit from my sister Jane and her other half Rob/Bob/Bobbie. They're both lawyers and spent a couple hours with us in the Qantas Club. I had to check to make sure they weren't on the clock! That would have been expensive. They bought me a Carlton Draught to ensure I had a local brew in Melbourne. Nice.
It was nice to have a decent amount of time in Melbourne to recharge (us and our phones).
Next stop was Adelaide - we'd upgraded this one to business as well to get an extra couple minutes at home base. We were met there by John, Toni & Eli as well as Grant, Shane and Matt. Alison rocked up too. As with all visitors we had at the airports they all generously donated as well!
It was a little funny having a chat at the gate and then having to re-focus on getting a beer and the other little rituals at the airport such as completing the blog post and updating photos. So we were having a nice chat over a drink and then we realised it was time to go so Jo and I finished our drinks and bid our visitors adieu.
So, Jo has just told me this post is too long and I should split it into two. At this stage we're 5 flights down so maybe she has a point... Stay tuned.
Belated thanks to In2 Solutions, Chris and Lauren. And timely thanks to the Sybiz crew and Candy who I met this morning at a Commonwealth Bank SME Forum. We are now at $6,590 would you believe?
PLA have their annual memorial walk-a-thon on Sunday morning and I am going to head on down to say g'day.
I'm going to close off the Everyday Hero page on Saturday night so that I can let PLA know the final tally on Sunday morning.
I haven't really reflected on the mission as yet and my city by city blog posts were a little pre-fabricated as I have mentioned previously. So here's a brief run down of the experience...
We headed to Darwin on the Saturday morning (rather than Sunday) to increase the chances of being better rested for the mission. That was a mistake. A night club in very close proximity to the hotel made for an interrupted night's sleep on the Saturday. We probably would have been better staying at home! I should clarify that I'm not complaining about the club or the noise - not everyone is 40!
Then we had this misfortune of the morning WWII tour not happening (we've been refunded already). So we got up early for no good reason. We tried to sleep a bit on Sunday afternoon and maybe did a little but not a lot.
We got organised to head to the airport around midnight and checked out of our hotel. Darwin airport was pretty busy at that time of night. I had kept an eye on the on time performance of the in-bound flight and all was looking good. It got close to boarding time and the staff announced there would be a delay of around 10 minutes for catering issues! We ended up leaving 9 minutes late - Brisbane was one of our tightest connections so any delay was potentially threatening. However, we were 2 minutes early into Brisbane.
As I've also mentioned previously I wasn't overly familiar with Brisbane airport but was pretty confident I could find a breakfast beer with my name on it. Speaking of beer, this is an interesting documentary on the subject.
The downer was that I couldn't get a local beer in Brisbane.
We had a comfortable amount of time in Brisbane without having to rush too much.
Our next flight to Canberra was one of the few paid flights - most the flights we got with frequent flyer points. We used points to upgrade this one though as our original itinerary had a 30 minute stopover in Canberra and a change of airline back to Virgin. In some respects it was lucky that Virgin changed their schedule as we were 10 minutes late into Canberra so that would have left us with 20 minutes. In other words we would have been disembarking at the same time our next flight was departing. Hence the business class upgrade - one or two minutes earlier off the plane was essential.
I did manage to sample a local brew in Canberra.
It was economy class for the next couple flights and when I had booked the flights I was able to select exit row. Unfortunately there was a change in aircraft and on the mammoth 25 minute Canberra-Sydney flight we didn't have exit row.
We had a bit more time in Sydney than forecast so that was nice. Knowing the airport quite well there was no problem finding a place for a quick drink.
Then it was off to Melbourne and a surprise visit from my sister Jane and her other half Rob/Bob/Bobbie. They're both lawyers and spent a couple hours with us in the Qantas Club. I had to check to make sure they weren't on the clock! That would have been expensive. They bought me a Carlton Draught to ensure I had a local brew in Melbourne. Nice.
It was nice to have a decent amount of time in Melbourne to recharge (us and our phones).
Next stop was Adelaide - we'd upgraded this one to business as well to get an extra couple minutes at home base. We were met there by John, Toni & Eli as well as Grant, Shane and Matt. Alison rocked up too. As with all visitors we had at the airports they all generously donated as well!
It was a little funny having a chat at the gate and then having to re-focus on getting a beer and the other little rituals at the airport such as completing the blog post and updating photos. So we were having a nice chat over a drink and then we realised it was time to go so Jo and I finished our drinks and bid our visitors adieu.
So, Jo has just told me this post is too long and I should split it into two. At this stage we're 5 flights down so maybe she has a point... Stay tuned.
30 April 2013
And... relax...
Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
Not only have we made it home we have accomplished what we set out to do.
And we've raised $6,320! We'll keep the kitty running for a few more days because some people were wanting to work out how much to donate based on the relative success of the mission - and because we were 100% successful that makes it easy to decide how much to donate.
Big congrats to Jo for not only backing my crazy idea (she backs all my crazy ideas) but for actually coming along for the not so easy ride.
It was my birthday but I think she may be getting a present!
Here we are toasting the end of the mission:
If you have been following this blog the posts have got a little out of sequence but I have resequenced them now. The iPhone app used the post creation date as the default post date. That meant the 'cooking show' (prepared earlier) posts that I set up about 10 days ago posted as 20 April as the date. Happy to be back on the PC.
I know there are plenty of people to thank and I will get around to doing it - just not tonight - I want an early night and there's no way that'll happen if I thank everyone individually tonight.
Not only have we made it home we have accomplished what we set out to do.
And we've raised $6,320! We'll keep the kitty running for a few more days because some people were wanting to work out how much to donate based on the relative success of the mission - and because we were 100% successful that makes it easy to decide how much to donate.
Big congrats to Jo for not only backing my crazy idea (she backs all my crazy ideas) but for actually coming along for the not so easy ride.
It was my birthday but I think she may be getting a present!
Here we are toasting the end of the mission:
If you have been following this blog the posts have got a little out of sequence but I have resequenced them now. The iPhone app used the post creation date as the default post date. That meant the 'cooking show' (prepared earlier) posts that I set up about 10 days ago posted as 20 April as the date. Happy to be back on the PC.
I know there are plenty of people to thank and I will get around to doing it - just not tonight - I want an early night and there's no way that'll happen if I thank everyone individually tonight.
Hip hop hurray Hobart
Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
Next flight: QF1012 from Hobart to Melbourne 8:55am to 10:10am
Then: QF683 from Melbourne to Adelaide 12:10pm to 1:00pm
Status: On time, 2 more flights
Again, another city I've visited for work but not had a chance to spend some time here. Jo spent a week here over 10 years ago and we've had numerous attempts to organise a trip down here. It just hasn't happened yet.
Soon Tasmania, soon. The Skybed in the A330 from Perth to Melbourne was great.
Hobart beer: James Boags Premium Lager
Hobart photo:
29 April 2013
Perth - one day I will properly visit thee
Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
Next flight: QF648 from Perth to Melbourne 12:35am to 6:15am
Then: QF1011 from Melbourne to Hobart 7:00am to 8:15am
Status: ample time
I'm beginning to sound quite whiny now about only visiting certain cities for work. I think I've only been 3 times.
I find it to be a fantastic city that doesn't like to boast much because everyone would want to live there.
We had to rejig a couple flights with the mission so we've got a credit to use and I think Perth will be the destination.
So the mainland is conquered. One beer in every state and territory capital of mainland Australia in one day. Would I recommend it? No...
5 hours in Perth then back across to the other side of the country.
Stay tuned for Hobart.
Perth beer: little creatures pale ale. And yes I realise I misspelt draught in the Melbourne post. Oops.
Perth photo:
Adelaidelicious beer
Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
Next flight: QF595 from Adelaide to Perth 5:15pm to 7:05pm
Status:
So here we are in our home town. I know exactly where to get a beer in this airport. I think it's best that we don't have a lengthy transit here because the distraction of the next flight will keep our minds away from the thoughts of wanting to finish the mission here and now... We'll be back within 24 hours, just...
Adelaide beer: Coopers Celebration Ale
Adelaide photo:
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