Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
november 9
Today I ran past one of the wonders of the world: the Nazca Lines, in
southern Peru's Nazca desert, 400 kilometres south of Lima.
It's been an interesting week. I've received some fantastic sup-
portive emails, including some photos and a video from a young
primary school student in Sydney who went to a celebrity dress-up
day at school dressed as me. She had bought a Pole to Pole T-shirt from
the website and on big posters had traced my run. I was very chuffed.
the nazca lines
Createdaround2000yearsago,theNazcaLinesare
collections of geoglyphs extending over almost 500 square
kilometres. They range from geometric designs to depictions
of animals and birds—including a pelican, spiders, lizards, fish,
sharks and monkeys—as well as trees and flowers. They are so big
(the pelican is 285 metres wide) that the only way you can see them
properly is from the air.
Goodness knows how the Nazca people created the images
so accurately. It was an enormous logistical exercise to make the
pictures, done by removing the red pebbles that cover the desert
to expose the white sandy earth beneath. The legend, propounded
by people who believe that the markings could not have been made
without someone directing proceedings from the air, is that aliens
made the markings. I thought as I ran that, if it's true, and they're
still lurking around up there, it would be nice if they'd drop a couple
of cool drinks down my way. It was bloody hot today.
I've been in Peru for 17 days, and just recently I've been knock-
ing over 100 kilometres a day. I'm feeling and looking healthier and
stronger. It must be that second wind. The last time Karl Stefanovic
interviewed me, he said I was looking a whole lot better than I had
been two weeks earlier, when he and his co-host Lisa Wilkinson had
feared for my health. Perhaps that Bembo's burger had something to
do with it. Someone from the Peruvian Red Cross dared me to stop at
this famous fast food chain and try one of their 'Extreme' hamburgers,
