Starter - on the right track?

Hi there,

You have all been so helpful to each other, I wonder if someone could help me.
I stumbled across a sourdough starter recipe by pure chance a week ago and I thought I might give it a try. On a whim.

So anyway, this recipe suggested I mix 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of water and leave it for 24 hours. After which, it said to discard half and then mix in 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup flour. Repeat every 24 hours for 4 days, by which time the starter would be ready.

OK, so I have since discovered that they can take a lot longer than that. Fair enough.

I have also read about someone feeding every 12 hours. So I started doing that.

Now I am reading about people leaving it for 72 hours inititally. So my first question is: have I been feeding it too regularly, and was initially leaving it for only 24 hours not enough?

My results have been some what promising, but I still don't think I have a mature starter.
There is a very thin foam on top and some tiny bubbles in underneath. No threatening to spew up over the edges of the jar.

This morning I discarded nearly the whole lot, save for about a tablespoon and added a mix of 30gr organic rye flour, 70gr Coles Organic white flour and 100gr water (all weighed out on electric scales, previously I had only used the Coles Organic white and measured it and the water in a measuring cup).

Anyway, this rye/white/water combo was very thick and sticky, where my previous feeds of 1/2 cup white with 1/2 cup water was very wet. Should the feed be so solid, almost not pourable???

Now, about an hour and a half later there are some tiny bubbles beneath the surface and about 10 bubbles on top (about 3mm).

Oy yeah, back on about day 2 or 3 a lot of brown liquid formed on top and was a bit stinky I poured some off and stirred a litte in. By now, day 7, it is not at all stinky, just a very, very mild, sour, doughy smell.

Am I on the right track?