The CrossingSpringwood To South Bank

We Made It To Brisbane

Abdul appeared at the campervan, friends joined the final walk from Holland Park, and after 125 days we reached Brisbane's South Bank.

Date17 September 2015

Journey dayDay 125

View Day 125 on the map

Gary seated on the steps at South Bank after reaching the parkrun start area in Brisbane. — Taking a moment on the South Bank steps after reaching the parkrun start area.

Before setting off from Springwood, I was trying to get my head around what it meant to walk into Brisbane that day. This was what I wrote:

so here it is. yes I know the official finish line is on Saturday, but reality is that today sees the completion of “Perth to Brisbane” and Saturday is a celebration of that.

So definitely a finish line of some sort today, and one that is a part of my reality because of that first marathon finishing line in June 2013.

To say that these things are life changing is an understatement, and every finish line leads you to the next start line, the next chapter.

At the same time, they aren’t even really start or finish points, they are simply places you go through as part of the overall journey, and if you step back you really do start to see it all as one flowing story line.

Yesterday was an emotional day, I did a lot of processing around how it will feel for this chapter to end. I’m sure it’s similar for Ben and Ols too - this has been their life, their point of focus, for 18 weeks too!

But today is a happy day, the start of a celebration that will continue on Saturday. The internal changes and introspection will begin in earnest after that for sure.

But if I can say just one thing here, it’s this - the way to “success”, to fulfilment, to happiness, to creating the life and the experiences that you want, is to listen to your heart and then put all of your passion and energy into doing exactly what it is telling you.

right now my heart is telling me it’s time to start getting ready. around 8am I will set off from Springtime Gardens caravan park in Springwood, walking a fairly direct route to Deedot cafe in Holland Park, where we will have lunch around 12:30 and hopefully meet a few people who want to be part of that final walk in.

From there the plan is to walk the final 6km or so to South Bank, finishing at River Quay Green - which is where we will meet for parkrun on Saturday morning.

hope to see some of you during the course of the day and/or Saturday!

#HAA2015 #SmallSteps2GreatAchievements

Then there was a knock on the campervan door. It was Abdul, my mate from Canning River parkrun in Perth. He’d been there on Day 1 and had come all this way to spend Day 125 with me. With photos of him at both ends, he could claim he’d been with us for all 125 days! I was so glad he was there.

We set off from Springtime Gardens Caravan Park and made our way through Brisbane’s southern suburbs towards Holland Park. Katherine, who had been following HAA, got in touch and we caught up with her over morning tea at a servo. Then it was on to Deedot Coffee House for lunch before the last stretch.

From Deedot, we had 6.5 kilometres to South Bank. This really is it! #omg #omg

Abdul, Ben, Ols, Wayne, Anita, Nic (Running GIRL) and Karen (The Chocoholic Runner) all walked into South Bank with me. Renee and Gareth were waiting for us. Renee filmed our arrival, and Gareth, the South Bank parkrun event director, showed me where Saturday’s start line would be. We reached River Quay Green together, 125 days after setting out from Canning River parkrun. Perth to Brisbane. Done.

From our room at Rydges South Bank, I tried to put the arrival and my thanks to everyone into words:

I have no doubt this will capture about 0.01% of what is being felt at the moment - but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has played a part in this journey - watching, supporting, being part of the team, donating, sharing, liking and posting…

Particular thanks go to the two young lads who provided everything I needed to keep going across the country - Ben and Ols. Could not have done it without you, very proud of what you have done, and I hope your families are proud, and you are proud of yourselves too!

Was absolutely flipping amazing walking into South Bank today, surrounded by friends, sharing the moment with people who have supported and encouraged me…

You will honestly have to wait a while before the long essay is written - but if you have watched this journey unfold, then I hope you will now know without doubt that anyone and everyone can try achieve anything they truly desire, as long as it is backed by passion for the cause, belief in what you are doing, and faith in your ability to do it.

Hearts Across Australia started as a vision, a clear sense of how it would feel to reach Brisbane, and an absolute belief that it would happen. And that is what it still is today - the details of how it happened took care of themselves.

Thank you everyone who helped those details to fall into place. I wanted to change lives, inspire others, but along the way you have all changed my life in ways that I am still getting my head around :)

See some of you at South Bank parkrun on Saturday :)

#HAA2015 #ThisIsJustTheBeginning

I had wanted the lads to have a hotel treat after all that time in the campervan. Rydges helped with substantial discounts on two rooms for two nights, and even found somewhere to park the van. That evening the three of us went to Ahmet’s in South Bank for a Turkish king’s feast. That’ll do nicely :)