Tanami Trek.

Just had me first bite of toast this morning while listenin' to Macca, (You know, Australia all Over, ABC Radio every Sunday morning), when suddenly he says - 'here's a little poem written by Jim Spain" - then he read it.
Lucky I was up in time because the programme starts real early and it was around seven thirty then.

Blimey, I've got a real big head now and a puffed out chest.

It's just a simple little piece, but topical to Maccas interests -

Tanami Trek.

Trekin’ across the Tanami, hundreds of kilometres to go,
trundle ‘n along in me wheelchair,
crikey the time passes slow.

Hardly stirrin’ the red dust, tyre tracks left far behind,
can’t see sign of a next bend, watchin’ the scenery unwind.
Amblin’ along towards Alice, that dusty desert town,
starin’ into the sunset sets me face in a frown

Spinifex keepin’ me company all alongside the track,
but lookin’ ahead to the horizon
makes me stop lookin’ back.
©. Rimeriter.
4/6/11.

Wheelchair trek begins across Tanami Desert.
Thursday, 26/05/2011
A quadriplegic cattleman has begun driving his motorised wheelchair over 700 kilometres through the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory.

Thirty-year-old Rob Cook from Suplejack Station was left a quadriplegic after a mustering helicopter crash three years ago.

By being the first person to cross the Tanami Desert in a powered chair, Rob hopes to raise money for his own study in agriculture and lift the profile of other injured bush workers.

Travelling with his mate Luke Bevan, the duo will experience some of the harshest conditions in Australia.
"The only problem is the suspension," he said.
"Anybody who's been out along the Tanami, they know the corrugations are pretty bad. I mean, it bounces me around a bit.
"We've just got to stop a bit more often to reposition me and then we're right to go again.

Rob plans to arrive in Alice Springs in 20 days' time.

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