Oh, Possums -

I’m back! 240km, eight blisters and two completely discoloured toes later. The hike was amazing, and the sense of achievement when we scaled Mount Kosciuszko (covered in snow) was huge. It was tough (particularly the fourth day, when I walked 40km and thought that was me finished … but I kept going) and there were plenty of challenges (camping in a raging thunderstorm, anyone?). But there were also incredible compensations: seeing kangaroos (and joeys!), wild brumbies at dawn, wading through the Snowy River, tobogganing down Mount Kosi on our coattails.

I’m sorry not to get back to blogging sooner but I had to go to Adelaide yesterday and between that and the humongous pile of laundry, have had only limited time to sort through the photos and stories from last week.

I will be posting lots more about the hike but I just wanted to say, first, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. Anyone who hasn’t, it’s an excellent cause: the money is going (via the Hunger Project) to finance seed projects in Malawi.

From hike4hunger.org:

Money raised under the hike4hunger name in 2010 will be used by The Hunger Project to provide food security to existing epicentre’s in Malawi, a densely populated and rural country in Southeast Africa.


Your funds will go towards:

- Food Banks: ensuring access to staple foods year-round and providing stores for dry season, famine or droughts. Food banks also stabilize day-to-day food prices in local markets during times of crisis.

- Agricultural Innovations and New Technologies: providing improved seed and fertilizer as well as innovative and low cost technologies such as drip irrigation, the use of micro-dose fertilizer and new food storage technologies.

- Community Farms: enabling people to work together as a community and learning sustainable methods of composting, intercropping and restoration of soil fertility.


- Agricultural Diversification: improving nutrition, economic stability and soil health through diversification strategies such as off-season gardening, crop rotation, income source diversification and local organic fertilizations.


- Microfinance Programs: providing women farmers with easy access to credit allowing for family health care and education and an improved standard of living.

Doesn’t that sound worthwhile? Please help me to reach my fundraising target and sponsor me at www.everydayhero.com.au/eithne