The lure of television reception to watch last night’s State of Origin was enough to propel Rob Cook forward at full speed last night, conquering 40 kilometres by wheelchair yesterday to reach the Tanami Mine.
It just goes to show the things a man will do for footy… but being a Queenslander, Rob’s sure to be on a high as he officially begins the Tanami leg of his 730 kilometre challenge today.
Rob’s sister Lilly Pugh checked in with the travellers before kick off last night. She says they were happy to have completed their first milestone, the Lajamanu Road (pictured above), and Rob was settling into the pace of things, with 87 kilometres now under his belt. “He’s running on track… but with each day he’ll be altering their game plan to fit in with the goals that they’ve set for the entire trip. So if you plan for 30 kilometres a day and only get 20, the next day he does more,” she says.
While there have been no major hiccoughs so far, the rough corrugations of the road have forced Rob’s support crew to get creative and develop a way to cushion the journey. “The corrugated road has been quite harsh, and it was knocking him around a bit, and as you can imagine there’s some health issues like getting pressure sores…” Lilly says.
“So Jake, one of his carers, and my dad, they whipped up a bar to pull behind one of the support vehicles to knock the top off the corrugation, so it was a bit easier to go along.”
Officially travelling on the Tanami track today, Rob’s next major pit stop is the Granites mine, and if all goes to plan he should be there by Sunday. “He’s got 50 kilometres to Rabbits Flat and then another 50 to the Granites. He’ll be pulling up overnight at the Granites and they’re setting up an area in the wet mess where he’ll speak to all the people,” Lilly says.
And with just 640 kilometres and 20 days to go, here’s to hoping he’ll make it to Alice Springs in time to catch the coverage of the second Origin clash! “He’s very passionate about football. When we were children, State of Origin was such a production, everything stopped in the Cook household when State of Origin was on… so for him to actually make it to an area where he could watch it on TV is pretty cool.”
Keep up to date with Rob's journey at www.robcook.com.au
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Rob with his best mate and trek buddy, Luke Bevan.
