For his 30th birthday Mark wanted to climb Mt Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mountain (2228m). And as if that wasn't challenging enough he had entered us both into the Sydney Harbour Bridge 9km run taking place 2 days before his birthday.
Might have beaten 40 minutes if it wasn't for hat-drag
The bridge run took in some spectacular scenery, starting in North Sydney, crossing the Harbour Bridge, going around the Botanic Gardens and finishing in front of the Opera House. Meg had only ever once run as far as 9km, and this was in Bali when we were lost for an hour and a half on an early morning jog and later worked out we'd covered 13km!
"How far?! I thought you said it was 7 kilometres?"
Nonetheless we both enjoyed the Bridge Run completing it in times of 40:45 (Mark) and 52mins (Meg), and then refueling with 3 big breakfasts between the 2 of us in a nearby cafe!
The next morning we were back on the road again in a camper van, this time heading South towards the Snowy Mountains and unfortunately leaving the sun behind in Sydney. By the time we entered the mountain range, night had fallen and we spent a stressful couple of hours dodging the wildlife on the roads.
We saw rabbits, wombats, kangaroos, a possum, an emu, an echidna and a stag, many of which were wandering on the roads. And we had to perform an emergency stop when one 'roo bounced across the road in front of us. Having decided not to pay for additional insurance on the van, the last few miles of our journey were undertaken at such a slow pace that when we had to swerve to avoid a wombat it was difficult to say who was moving slower! In the end we decided enough was enough and stopped for the night in an isolated picnic area.
A new Super Mariusz t-shirt to replace the "well-loved" (i.e. ripped, stained & smelly) old one
The next morning, the climb to the summit was a huge success and we were able to fly Meg's hand-made flag before sheltering from the wind and popping open a celebratory bottle of champagne.
Fully-prepared with snow-shoes, hiking boots, gators, ski poles ... and a dodgy bandana
Mark as a speck in the snow
The summit - trying not to be blown away as the strong winds turned the flag into a kite
This would be much easier with skis!
We made it back down the mountain safely but envied all the skiers gliding past us and so decided to swap the snow shoes for skis the next morning.
Mark trying to defy gravity and his age!
Meg swears that the colour-coordination of hat, neck-warmer, jacket, gloves and ski poles was pure coincidence
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