Jay's Tour De Cure Queensland

"JAY'S mail bag"

P.O. BOX 2075

Fountain Gate 3805

Melbourne-Victoria-Australia

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"G'day it's JAY"
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TUESDAY 12th June: It is with lots of tears I have to tell of another Neuroblastoma friend has been taken away from me. My friend ^WHITNEY FERRELL^ had a long battle and she was the same age as me. She fought so hard, she was the strongest, toughest girl but she could not hold on any longer. Whitney you have no more pain - you don't have to suffer any more. I miss you and this has made me more determined to find a cure for this horrible cancer Neuroblastoma. Please visit here site and leave a supportive message for her parents. Just click the bold name above.

G'day to all my friends and supporters, I am back from my trip away to Queensland where I did many great things, met many great people, was part of the Tour De Cure , and had so much fun and now back in (Freezing Melbourne). My journal today is going to be a long one because I have so many things to share with everyone. I have spend most of this week just trying to select the photo's to put up, because darsly mum took about 300 and they are all fantastic but of course I can't put them all up. I think I have chosen 20, so please make sure you just keep on scrolling down the page so you can read about my wonderful time in Queensland and see all the great photo's. I have decided to start "backwards" - yep I am starting with the last day of my trip first (does that make sense), so I am starting from day 7 at the top of the page and will take you down to day 1 the day I came to Queensland. Please take the time to click the following link which is an article done on Jay whilst at Sea world Miracle Survives 12 years (Brisbane Times) this article is "2" pages long so make sure when you get to the end of page one to click to the next page.

My Wristbands

ABOVE: These are my wrist bands, I sold a lot of them whilst I was in Queensland which was fantastic. Everyone from the hotel staff, to the them park people and just the everyday person on the street bought my wrist band helping me to try and find a cure to Neuroblastoma. My wrist bands are $5.00 (AUS) dollars - Plus $5.00 (AUS) dollars - Postage (this is for people in Australia only) you can send a Money order made out to "JAY" - Wristbands and send to my mailing address which is at the top of this page. The bands which I have been selling for a couple of years say: NEVER GIVE UP - they also say "I have Neuroblastoma it dosn't have me" along with my website. All money goes to Neuroblastoma Research & to raise awareness of Neuroblastoma.

Jay & Duncan Armstrong

Day 7: This was a very hectic day for all the guys riding in the Tour De Cure. It was early morning and we all met at the Queens Street Mall in Brisbane - the starting point for all the riders to head off to Sydney. ABOVE: I'm shaking hands with one of Australia's top Champion Swimmers Duncan Armstrong who was the official MC for the morning as well as one of the riders. Duncan is a wonderful man with a wonderful heart and very funny as well - so we got along well us two seeing I like to joke around as well. The car we are standing in front of is a LEXUS one of the sponsors of Tour De cure, which I got to ride around in the entire time I was up in Queensland. The car has all the sponsors pasted all over it and was great to get the opportunity to ride around in.

My wonderful friends

Day 7: What a great moment this was - to meet two great road cyclists. The girl in the Yellow Camp Quality jersey her name is Lorian Graham and the Australian Road Cycling Champion not only is Louan a great champion she is also a SURVIVOR. Lorian was one of the cyclist involved in that horrific cycling accident which claimed the life of Amy Gillet. Lorian had horrific injuries, but with great strength and determination she got herself back to top fitness and decided to join in the Tour De Cure after she had read my web site. She said she was in tears and felt she just had to do something to help kids battling cancer and she said it was a great thrill to meet ME, wow, I think it is the other way around, it was a great thrill to meet her. Lorian would have to be one of the nicest, sweetest, most genuine person I have ever met, she really took the time to talk to me and my darsly mum and was genuinely interested in knowing about Neuroblastoma.

Relaxing

Day 7: Well, look at this great bunch of specimens - having a bit of a chill out before the big ride to Sydney. Some of the guys, myself and Lorian had just filled our stomach with a great breakfast and we needed a sit down.

The "TOUR DE CURE" team

Day 7: This is the entire Tour De Cure Team which consists of: The Great creator of Tour De Cure - Geoff Coombes - Craig Cairduff - Denver Bevan - Martin Pearce - Martin Dunkerley - Malcolm Heath - Con Athans - Ian Hogbin - Peter Rosengren - Rick Horvat - Steven Johnson - Andrew Lemon - Alex Malone - David Cottee - Gary Bertwistle - Mark Star - Andrew Walker - Joshua McBride - Andrew Walker - David Lo - Adam Elias - Felicity Dale - Jacinta Worland - Kate Cosgrove - (Support) - David Kethel - Eric Cairduff - Leesa Hammond - Sam Hollier-James -OH yea and ME in the middle.

Ready to Ride

Day 7: Geoff - Gary and myself moments from the firing the gun to send them on their way.

Day 7: I had just finished an interview on the Kerry Anne Show - Dave with the microphone is the reporter (funny guy). I was given the starting gun - I put on my ear protectors, then count down - 5.4.3.2 - and fired the gun and they were on their way to help raise money to find a cure for cancer.

Jay & Lorian

Day 7: There was a pit stop up ahead - what is going on I had no idea. Then Lorian Graham got off her bike and she presented me with her "AUSTRALIAN JERSEY" the one she won the Australian Championships in. WOW - she said to me that she would never part with this jersey and would never give it to anyone, but after me being an inspiration to her to NEVER GIVE UP, she signed the shirt and presented it to me. This is what Lorian wrote on the shirt - Lorian Graham Australian Road Cycling Champion & Survivor - Jay - Tough times don't last but tough people do. This jersey I will treasure and put in a frame, it is very special and from a very special friend.

Jay & Andrew

Day 7: This is me & Andrew Lemon with the shirt Lorian just gave to me. Andrew is a great guy, he is one of the funny ones on the ride and we had lots of fun the last 2 days. Thanks Andrew for being such a great person.

Darlsy mum & Jay

Day 6: We all arrived at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane (this is the home of the Bronco's) rugby team. All the Tour De Cure Team and darsly and myself go to see a Rugby match. NOW we are from Melbourne, we don't have rugby, we have the AFL which is completely different and we did not have a clue about the rules (but) doesn't matter we had lots of fun and it was the most beautiful sunny day. We ate lots of hot dogs, sausage rolls, chips and lollies - we did watch the match as well but had no idea as to what was going on. In the end the Bronco's won the match.

Andrew - Malcolm - Sam - Jay

Day 5: We had to all go to a dinner in Brisbane at "PIER 9" a posh expensive restaurant, but it was great. We all had a wonderful meal, I had steak which was yummy and darsly mum had some vegetarian thing. All they guys were buying me drinks (RED LEMONADE), think I had a bit much of it by the end of the night. The photo above is of from "Left to Right" - Andrew Lemon - Malcolm Heath - Sam Hollier-James and me Jay, having lots of laughs and fun.

Andrew & Jay

Day 5: There is always one silly photo - well this is it - yep me at the bar after about 10 Raspberry cordials being silly with Andrew Lemon. NOTE - they all have my wristbands on. It was a long night, time to go back to the motel.

(left) Dickie & Jay (right) Lee & Jo

Day 5: It was WET & WILD day, time to get wet and it was so much fun. You need to have 2 or 4 people on a ride and because of darsly mums back she was not aloud to go on any of the rides so we teamed up with these three great people for the day and they went on all the rides with me and made my day even more special.

Dickie - Jay - Lee - Jo

Day 5: Me at Wet & Wild with my new friends who let me hang around with them all day. They came on every ride with me and they were all so very funny. It was great to hang around with them, we all had a wonderful day going on all the water slides and having races. They really made my day at wet and wild the best day ever (I could not have met more nicer people to hang out with) We were all exhausted by 4pm in the afternoon and a bit water logged. Thanks Dickie - Lee & Jo for having a great heart and allowing me to hang out with you guys (you are all so cool).

Cam - Jay - Shannon

Day 5: The two wonderful people above opened their home to us, allowed me to swim in their pool, played with their dog Bundy (who is a great dog), played pool and just shared their home. And on this day Cam drove me and darsly to Wet and Wild in his huge car. Below you will see the wonderful home Cam built and shared with us. Thanks guys, you were so very nice to us and we miss you.

The home

Day 4: Above is the home we were lucky enough to go to and have some fun. It is huge and a bit much for me and darsly mum. It is amazing and Cam built it. It has a beautiful built in pool in the garden - a games room - bar - theatre - built in fish tank - 7 bedrooms and much more, it was amazing and something we have never experienced before. (We go from this back home to our tiny little home) I think just one of the bedrooms was the size of our house (lol). It was great though and we appreciated that we were so very welcome into the home.

Happy Birthday to me

Day 3: Its my 12th Birthday and I woke up in my hotel bed (Quality Hotel Mermaid Waters) to balloons and streamers on me. We had a wonderful room in the hotel - it had a huge spa and I had a spa every night, it also had a big in ground pool which I had a swim in. I got up out of bed on my birthday and had a long spa and then we went down to have breakfast. Darsly had organised with the Chef for a Birthday cake (not just a cake) because I don't eat cake, this was a HUGE Ice cream cake for breakfast. The cake was so big, it took me 2 days to eat. Thank you to Chef Shannon for making my wonderful birthday cake, all of you at Mermaid Waters were my mates and I miss you all and can't wait to come back to see you all. You made my birthday a great on and I loved my Ice - Cream cake. After a big breakfast we had to get ready because my Birthday is going to be spent at SEA WORLD.

Jay & Darlsy mum at Sea World

Day 3: We arrived at Sea World - Sam has been our wonderful shaparone for the entire trip and she came along with us to Sea World (driven in the Lexus support vehicle). It was a beautiful sunny day and looked forward to having a wonderful birthday at Sea World, not knowing what we were going to experience, we thought we were just going to walk around and look at everything and go on some rides, but something amazing happened and you will see below:

Darlsy mum meeting Sirus the Dolphin

Day 3: This was the most amazing moment, we had no idea we were going to get to meet and dolphin and pat a dolphin. Dolphins are my darsly mums favorite animal, she has dolphins everywhere she even has two tatoos of dolphins, she just loves them and when we were told we were going to meet one my darsly could not believe it. This is Sirus a most amazing dolphin who is giving darsly mum a big kiss.

Jay & Darlsy mum with Sirus the Dolphin

This was so cool, I got to hug sirus, he loved it and he posed for the photo with a big smile. He feels like hard rubber. He was talking, making little dolphin noises and he started to splash water on darsly and me - he wanted to play. This is the coolest thing I have ever done.

Jay - Darlsy mum - Sirus the Dolphin

Meeting Sirus was the highlight of the entire trip to Sea World (well apart from meeting all the wonderful Tour De Cure Guys). To be able to touch a dolphin is a rare thing, I could not get darsly away, she just wanted to stay and she wanted to take him home. He was the coolest dolphin and when we had to go we just waved to him and he turned on his side and he waved back at us and off he went. Thanks Sirus for making my birthday a great one and thanks for meeting me and darsly mum you are the greatest Dolphin.

Batman - Jay - Robin - Sam

Day 2: Off to Movie World and what a great time we had. Again Sam Hollier-James took us to Movie Wold in the Lexus and Sam's nephew - SAM he came along to keep me company on the rides because darsly mum could not go on any because of her spinal surgery. So darsly for the entire trip was allocated official photographer (poor darsly) but she had lots of fun anyway. I got to meet Batman and Robin and after some official photographs which I will tell you about next - Batman and Robin came on the BATWING SPACE SHOT and wow what a ride. This thing goes straight up verticle at 4 half G's - it was scary but I survived - so did Batman & Robin.

Batman - Jay - Robin

Day 2: I had to do an Interview for the NEW IDEA Magazine (which I believe is not released until July 6th) but I will let you know exactly when it will be. I had to have lots of photo's taken and the first lots of photo's was with Batman & Robin - this took up a bit of time and it was very warm standing in the sun, but eventually the photographer got the photo's he wanted with Batman and Robin and also photo's were taken of us on the BATWING.

Shrek - Darlsy mum - Jay - Princess Fiona

Day 2: When we arrived at Movie World we had to first wait around a bit for Shrek & Princess Fiona for official photo's for the New Idea Magazine. Then from know where Shrek cam out - he was huge and he hugged darsly mum and squashed me (he was really funny). See the flowers behind us in the photo - well Shrek was very naughty and he started to pull the flowers out and they had just been planted - it was funny. We had lots of photo's taken, some from out the front of Movie World and the rest inside near the fountain. I have so many photo's to show but I can't put them all up so I just picked these one's to show. After doing all the official stuff with Shrek we then went and had some lunch because we were all a bit hungry and then see than big RED rollercoaster thing behind us in this photo, well that is the new SUPERMAN ESCAPE and oh my god it was the scariest thing I have ever been on. This thing goes from Zero to 100 in only 2 seconds and I could not wait to get off it. When I did get off I was shaking so much and my heart was beating a million miles an hour. Darsly mum and Sam had to settle me down, my body was shaking all over. The funniest things was the photo - on all the rides at Movie World they take photos and the photo of Sam and I on the Supermam Escape is hillarious, my face tells it all and I will try to put it up on my next journal (so funny). I dare anyone to go on this thing, I did not want to go on it again, that is how scary it was. After that experience we walked around Movie World all day and went on many rides and then had to do an Interview with the editor of New Idea Magazine. It was such a fun day.

Jay & Cynthia

Day 1: After a long flight from Melbourne, Sam took us to our wonderful Hotel which was "QUALITY HOTEL" Mermaid Warters, where we were welcomed by the wonderful staff who for 4 days had lots and lots of fun with. Above is a photo of me Jay and one of the wonderful Reception staff (Peanut) Cynthia - Notice I am taller than she is (now is she short or am I tall)? I think I'm tall, poor little Cynthia she is only tiny but sweet and I had lots of great laughs with her.

Malcom - Jay - Mark

Day 1: Now these two are funny - I hung out with the reception staff at the hotel, these two funny guys are Malcom on the left and Mark on the right - a laugh a minute. You had to be there to appreciate what we were laughing at - but to put it in short, there were each day bus loads of Chinese and I mean bus loads and the majority NOT speak English (right), well anyway it was a very funny experience a laugh a minute and the staff of the Quality Hotel made my stay the best ever and I miss them all very much. One of the staff PAUL, who is not in the photo he presented me with his bracelet, this is a bracelet that Paul wears each and everyday, it is a very special bracelet that means alot to Paul and when I was down at reception one night Paul came to me and handed me his bracelet and told me that each link in the chain I should engrave something special on . Wow, this was a very special gift and I was hesitant in taking it because it meant so much to Paul but he wanted me to have it. Thank you so much Paul, I will take care of the bracelet and will have the links engraved.

On the way up, on our wonderful Qantas flight I got to do some really cool stuff with the Pilot, I have some great photo's which I am not allowed to display on my sight (wish I could but can't). I just want to say a big thank you to the pilots on the way up to Queensland and also to the wonderful pilots on the way back to Melbourne. The pilot on the way home aloud me also to do some wonderful things and I have another great thing going to happen regarding Qantas, all a big thanks to the wonderful pilot and staff on the plane. In my next journal I might be able to tell you about what I did and might be able to display some photo's but will have to ask. To: PAUL - CYBTHIA - MARK - MALCOM - NIC - JEREMY - SHANNON - JESS - CHELSEA - NICOLA & KIT at Quality Hotel Mermaid Waters you are the best.

"THANK YOU"

There are so many people I would like to thank I really hope I don't miss anyone and if I do please know that I do thank you all:

* QANTAS - staff and crew you were so kind to me and darsly and I know you are my friends.

* SAM HOLLIER-JAMES - What would we do without you, you have a heart of gold and you took care of darsly and me and you made us feel so very welcome and we had lots of fun.

* GEOFF COOMBES - For doing such a wonderful thing creating Tour De Cure & including kids with cancer.

* TOUR DE CURE CYCLIST - All of you are inspirations to me, you all keps saying I am an inspiration to you, but you guys are the inspiration because you have given up your time, your families and your work to get out there and ride from Brisbane to Sydney to raise money to find a cure for cancer and for me as a cancer kid that means alot. NEVER GIVE UP GUYS.

* CHOICE HOTELS - What can I say, they put us up in the most wonderful hotels the Quality Hotel Mermaid Waters and Comfort Inn Northgate Brisbane. They all made us feel so very welcome and took us in like family.

* LEXUS - For allowing darsly mum to drive such a wonderful car and for me to be able to ride in such a wonderful car - a car I would never get the chance to ever go in.

* CAM & SHANNON - For welcoming us into their beautiful home.

* WARNER BROTHERS - Movie World-Sea World-Wet & Wild for giving me such a fun time.

* MATT - For Driving us to Brisbane and for being so funny.

* BUNDY - The dog for being so much fun to play with.

* TRAVEL FORCE - For organising our flights.

* TO EVERYONE WHO WAS INVOLVED IN THE TOUR DE CURE & MY TRIP I LOVE YOU ALL AND CAN'T WAIT TO MEET UP WITH YOU ALL AGAIN SOON.

* Since coming home I have not been that well, maybe it is because of the cold weather we had to come back to I have picked up a flu bug I hope that is what it is, I am not feeling that well at all, but you know me, I will bounce back and not let anything get me down. Thank you also to all the wonderful people who wished me a Happy Birthday, thank you everyone for thinking of me.

"JAY"

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