10/30/2005 - Day 7: Noosa to Brisbane

Hard to believe its almost over. It was back to Brisbane today. I kept the Softail for one more day because the riding wasn't going to be very interesting, and I did enjoy the break and ability to stretch out. And of course, Rhonda didn't mind having Bob for an extra day either!

We were joined on part of the ride by Raylene Boyle – an Australian Olympic medalist and fellow survivor – who rode part of the day on the back of Meredith’s bike. After dropping her off, we went off to the beach to meet up with the Dragon’s Abreast Dragon boaters who let a number of the girls see what it’s like to paddle in those huge gorgeous dragon boats. The rest of us just had a rest and tried to rehydrate – a couple of the girls were suffering from heat exhaustsion, so by this time the hydrating was crucial!

Then it was off to the hotel (yes, a real hotel!). Greta had asked me earlier in the day if I’d like to room with her that last night. We had hit it off so well and wanted to spend some time getting to know each other better since time was getting short. When you're on the bikes all day and have so little down time, it's tough to really spend quality time with everyone the way we'd like.

We had a great dinner at the hotel – with lots of emotional speeches, then to the bar to finish the evening. Greta and I stayed up til 2:00am talking, laughing and, of course, crying. She is such an amazing woman and such an inspiration. I was so grateful for that time together and it was worth the scant several hours of sleep we both got.