16 October - Grand finale

When things come to an end it's always sad, especially after the magic experienced on the road for a whole week. But the final day of this fabulous week of creating awareness and touching so many people's lives, the last day was magic in itself, even if it was an emotional goodbye for everyone.

The girls departed early from Montagu for a breakfast stop at Rooiberg Farm where the flamboyant Piper James escorted them to another suprise.

The popular Afrikaans singer, Danie Niehaus, who was elevated up in the sky with a forklift, sang his famous song, "Jy is vrou" (translated, You are a woman) who had all the girls (even those who don't understand Afrikaans!) in tears. When hoards of pink helium filled balloons were launched up in the sky, the emotions ran even higher.

After the fry-up the ladies made a few stops en route to Tyger Valley, and all along the way other Harley enthusiasts and riders joined the procession. An estimated 250 other bikers escorted them all the way to the end!

At the Harley shop in Tyger Valley (the generous sponsors of the bikes for the trip) loads of people eagerly awaited their arrival in and around a big pink bedouin tent, festivally decorated with even more pink balloons and flowers! Pink definately was the colour of the day! Local Drummies entertained the crowd, and a big cheer went up when the roar of the big machines momentarily drained the festive atmosphere.

The ladies were treated like true hero's, which is exactly what they are. Survivors and warriors of an illness that, if you detect it early and get the proper treatment, doesn't necessarily mean a death sentence. Whilst having lunch and some icy bubbly, a children's choir sang a few songs, after which the singer Lize Beekman treated them with her talent. Another surprise was the two birthday cakes presented to the birthday girls, Frieda and Theresa.What a special way for them to celebrate another year of survival.

Shimmy gave her last Hoezit my Bra!show for the tour, and all the Survivors had her in tears when they chorused the words with her. Just before the final goodbyes all the survivors went on stage for the last time to sing the Journey of Hope anthem with the Claude Pretorius, one of the very special crew members for the week. No one could hold back the tears at that stage, and emotions went through the roof.

No words can describe what a week like this evoke in one's heart. The ladies and crew alike where touched by all the beauty and magic on the 2233km they covered in 8 short days. And hopefully the over 10 000 people they shared their stories with will feel exactly the same way.

Thanks to everyone who made this experience a life changing one.

(Photo's and words for the blogs: Nadine Petrick)

Day 7 - Almost time to round things up

The girls spent a lovely evening at the Garden Route Game Lodge close to Albertinia in the Western Cape, and it was from there that they departed this morning. But first they had to make a few stops in the vicinity to spread their message of hope and encouragement. At this day, day 7, they had spoken face to face to approximately 8 000 people! What an amazing achievment, and the Journey isn't over yet!

Petro van Staden organised an amazing breakfast for the team at the Kraaines Restaurant in Albertinia, along with some other breast cancer survivors from the small town. Petro makes prosteses for underpriveleged women,and the Journey of Hope team decided that they will sponsor this angel for one year with funds they have collected.

At the Albertinia High School the kids and other visitors dressed in pink waited in anticipation for the arrival of the Harleys. But besides the impression the bikes made on young and old, the message came accross very strongly. Shimmy was also having the time of her life on stage in front of the very big bra that Petro made in support of one of her friends.  Elize inspired them further with her story of survival.

Albertinia is Aloe country, and because everyone received some lovely gifts from  Alcare Aloe, they decided to pop in and give personal thanks. Little did they know that another big bra awaited them. This enormous brassiere was handed over to the Journey team on behalf of everyone at Alcare Aloe.

Langeberg Foods is one of the largest canning factories in South Africa, and when the team wheeled through Ashton they simply had to stop to talk to the factory workers. After Shimmy had the men and women rolling on the floor with laughter, Elize did her second talk for the morning.

At that time they were running behind schedule a bit, because of the terrible riding conditions. Road works and patches of heavy rain slowed them down tremendously, but like the Road Captain Petto said numerous times during the Journey: Safety first. The delay on the road made all the girls rather hungry, but our fabulous organisers made sure of a late lunch they would never forget. Bon Courage in Bonnievale did not only feed the hungry survivors,but also spoiled them with a couple of cases of their famous pink bubbly called Blush.

The weather suddenly cleared up which made the ride through the winelands an awesome experience. The mountains and lush green vineyards made a great backdrop for the camera crew following them to Montagu, but the hole in the wall just before this lovely town also caught their fancy!

The last event for the night was held in the NG Church School Hall beforethe girls booked in at the Montagu Country Lodge for the last official night of the Journey.

Tomorrow, Saturday 16 October, is the big day - if you are curious to hear and see what happened during the grand finale, please come and read the blog.

Day 6 - Winding down

Thursday was not a very eventful day, but a necessary one. The survivors had sheets of rain to deal with for the better part of the day's ride, but luckily everyone arrived safely at the Garden Route Lodge in Albertinia late in the afternoon for some much needed rest.

They had made a few stops a along the way though, starting at the Mug & Bean in Knysna for a generous free coffee.

In George the group split up in two sections. Porters Auto is the sponsorafthe support vehicles that the crew is driving,and the ladies popped in at the George branch to say thanks! A few of the other girls went to Eden FM for a live radio interview. Much fun was had before they departed for the Kalahari Theatre Restaurant for the one and only Shimmy show for the day.

Ther kykNET crew, who is shooting a documentary, made use of the this free time to shoot some interviews with the girls.

Come read later today to see what this day had in store for the ladies!

Day 5 - It's raining, it's pouring!

It was a tough ride for the girls yesterday. It started raining early morning, and with only a dry patch here and there, it was slippery slope all the way to Tsitsikamma. But all the lovely things that happened en route to the little Storms River village made this difficult and wet stretch of the journey a worthwhile experience.

The first official stop was at the Netcare Greenacres in windy city, Port Elizabeth, which lived up to its name yesterday morning. Adele Kennedy, the marketing manager of Netcare and Tertia King from the finances department pulled their weight from the word go when they heard about the Journey of Hope, and on their own initiative organized a “bra raising”. The Survivors were escorted by other Harley riders to Netcare, where they were handed the almost 800 bra's that were collected over a relatively short period of time. These bra's will now be distributed to less fortunate women who can’t always afford the proper support. Shimmy’s big promotional bra that is being used to advertise the Hoezit my Bra! show also made an appearance and had the traffic moving very slow. Everyone is still wondering where the woman is that can fill up that tremendous cup size!!

After the handover of the bra's everyone moved to the GVI Oncology clinic for what can only be explained as crazy fun and laughter, for the first part of the proceedings, at least. Not scared off by the miserable weather, lots of locals showed up for the much advertised high heel race and even the SABC News crew couldn’t resist to see what will happen at this sure spectacle! Even some men braved the cold and wet weather (and the possibility of scarring their egos for life) to come and the run the 50m in high heels. But the current mister South Africa, Denver Burns took this race very seriously and decided to strip down to only a Speedo that looks like the South African flag. He decided to run the race with our Survivors (unfortunately for some of the male onlookers they decided to stay dressed!), but alas, Frieda literally made mincemeat of him and her other contenders. She won by a long shot, showing them the back of her heels at the finish line! 

After the fun and games in the parking lot the Journey girls went to the chemo and radiology rooms to talk to the cancer patients and encourage them on their own Journey. This was an emotional experience for a lot of the patients and the survivors - memories of their own treatment and heartache flared up again as soon as they saw the vulnerable people with needles in their arms and looks of despair on their faces. To lighten things up a bit the organisers of this event decided to let Shimmy perform in the chemo room. The recognition and understanding was tangible - this moment will definately be remembered by all who attended.

Another breast cancer survivor, Rhodes student Christin Page, drove all the way to PE to come and share her story. Her double mastectomy at the age of 18 was moving and heartrendering, but at the same time a big inspiration and story of hope. Her awereness of her own body saved her life, and now she can help to educate others. Welldone girl, you made us proud!

It was a draining day, but still not over! They saddled up and took off to Storms River where two pink cadillacs and singing women welcomed them to the village. The Cadillac Shack was the venue of choice for the last event for the evening. 

Soaking wet and tired, but full of spirit the girls retired for the night. We'll keep you posted on the blog as to what happened today!