We were all pretty tired after a second day, so we were happy to have a bit of a more relaxed day on the road.
The first stop after we left Bendigo was at the Mulwala Water Ski Club for lunch, which was prepared for us by the good folk from the Yarrawonga/Mulwala Rotary Club.
The self-proclaimed ‘King of Yarrawonga’, Doc Reid also came by to have a chat with us all and catch up with the Danihers. It was a perfect day to just sit by the water there, enjoy the sun and just relax.
The BBQ skills were on show.
We set off after lunch to head towards Albury for the final check in of the trip.
I wouldn’t be able to tell you much of what happened along the way. I moved to the backseat of the Kia and had a decent snooze while the drive team took care of getting us there.
With no stops along the way, we managed to get to Albury a bit earlier and catch a bit of downtime before the night’s activities. I got to have a bit of a wander around the city there and see a little bit of what Albury has to offer. One part of the drive that I have really enjoyed is just seeing all the little country towns along the way. You sometimes forget that there are people spread out right across the country.
Feeling refreshed and ready to go, I threw on my finest flanny and some boots for the the specially themed ‘Country Night’ dinner. There were some fine costumes floating around including a set of 80s Danihers, a cow, a jockey complete with inflatable horse and of course plenty of flannies.
His wife paid $2000 to do this last night!
This was less formal than most of the other nights and gave me a chance to catch up with a few of the other Daniher boys including Harvey and Ned.
Everyone let their hair down after a long couple of days and gave the last night together a real crack. There was plenty of dancing, singing and laughing throughout the night. I looked over at one stage and caught Neale in the corner of my eye standing by himself just looking over the whole crowd taking it all in with the biggest smile on his face. If anything were to perfectly encapsulate the whole trip, it was that moment.
It’s been a real pleasure and honour to spend time on the drive and get to learn people’s stories along the way. There are so many people who have either been directly touched by MND or know someone who has. To have them all come together and be able to find support in each other is just as important as all the money we have been raising.
The work that Ian, Neale and everyone else at the Cure For MND foundation are doing is nothing short of incredible and truly inspirational. Even though Ian and Neale know they won’t reap the benefits of the work they’re doing, but they know that -hopefully, if they are able to get enough money and awareness that one day they will be able to beat MND.
Neale likes to call MND ‘The Beast’ and I think that is the best way to describe it. It’s a terrible disease with a devastating reality. The fact that the conversation is now well underway and at the forefront of everyone’s minds is a testament to all the work that the foundation does. We say it a lot but every dollar does really count. If there is anyway you can help out, make sure you get in touch with Cure For MND and have a chat.
