Victoria, Australia
7 - 12 April, 2008
Traveling to our next overseas adventure involved only a short flight across the Tasman and a drive up into the mountains of Victoria. We stayed in Falls Creek, a small village which in winter is an alpine ski resort. The first thing that struck me was the ghost forest of dead trees covering the landscape, showing the devastation from a large bushfire which surprisingly happened more than a decade ago.
We spent a few days resting in a ski lodge, entertaining ourselves by making whirlpools in the spa pool and exploring the surrounding area. We also had a few close encounters with the Australian wildlife, especially the brightly coloured parrots cheekily eyeing us up from the balcony of our lodge.
Stuart Lynch and I were in Australia with our support crew to compete in the mixed category of the Keen Adventure Race. Our teammates from the OrionHealth adventure racing team, Wayne Oxenham and Brent Edwards were also here to compete in the men’s section.
Day one
The race started with a short prologue and we enjoyed the novelty of riding in comfort to the start on a ski chairlift. There was excitement in the air with helicopters buzzing overhead and everyone began with a fast sprint down into the gully. We carried on with a short bike ride, kayak in the lake and another trek. We found ourselves racing together with Brent and Wayne for most of the time which was a pleasant surprise as we did not plan to do so. After finishing we rushed back to our lodge to prepare maps and organize our gear for the next day. We went to bed feeling more tired than we would have liked after only the first day of competition.
Day two
Up early in the dark with our bikes and we were soon in the lead with Wayne and Brent. We headed into the hills and kiwi legends Gorden Walker and Chris Forne soon joined us. We came across a tricky descent with sticks and rocks everywhere. Halfway down I punctured and teams began to pass us as we struggled to fit the tire and an unruly brake pad back into place. Finally back on track and we found ourselves trekking up onto a spectacular ridgeline. We admired the amazing views and caught up with Wayne and Brent again. Together we headed into a gully where
we endured a painful bush-bash before hitting the river (*note to oneself-always wear gators trekking in Aussie).
After biking along an old railway line we were into the next trek. This contained a high ropes course which added excitement and a welcome rest from the intense racing. We edged across ropes and wooden beams high in the treetops and came back to earth via a speedy flying fox.
The last leg included a long, long, uphill bike. At the top was a bushfire tower and as I looked across the hills I could see the smoke of a fire billowing into the sky not too far away. From here on it was all a fun downhill to the finish and we were stoked to place second overall after Gordon and Chris.
Day three and four
This was the longest and most difficult of all the days. First we kayaked in the lake at Falls Creek and teams were allowed to split apart, with Stu running to the check points as I kayaked around to pick him up. A run was next and to my joy this turned out to be mostly downhill. A few nearly twisted ankles later we arrived at transition in first place. We received a two hour penalty during this section as we had unknowingly used an out of bounds road, whoops! However seven of the top ten teams made the same mistake so it did not matter as much. Another bike took us up into the mountains and eucalypt forests. During this we came to a steep and technical downhill section which, with a lot of frustrated words from me and encouragement from the ever patient Stu, I managed to arrive at the bottom miraculously unharmed!
Next was a kayak section that we had been waiting for with our slow but strong plastic boat and the teams in their fast but weaker surf skis had been dreading. A river section in drought stricken Australia with rocky rapids barely covered with water. For us it was full steam ahead and we had fun tackling the rapids by getting as much speed as possible and ploughing straight into the rocks. However teams with the weaker boats had a nightmare with kayaks receiving multiple holes.
As night came on we headed into the mountains for long trek with extremely tricky navigation. Stu did an amazing job in the dark and we managed to get through without getting lost. This was one of the most painful bush bashing experience I have ever had and it was made even worse as I didn’t wear gators (did I mention to ALWAYS wear gators while trekking in Aussie). By the end of it I was battered, bleeding and bruised. I also began to have some breathing difficulties in the cold air which hampered our progress. However we managed to carry on slowly and finish the last bike ride of this stage. At the end we found that Brent had withdrawn from the race due to sickness and that Wayne had carried on with another team. We hit the bakery delighting in pies, chips, ice cream and milkshakes and then drove to our next campsite for some sleep and a bit of entertainment from the local kangaroo population.
Day five
Into the final day and first we had to navigate through a short trekking section. My breathing was still not great but we managed to get on all right. Dawn arrived with the most amazing blood-red sunrise glowing through the black skeleton forest of burnt trees. Next we hit some caves with a spectacular network of caverns inside and the map given to us for this was a bit confusing. Halfway through we saw the two leading teams heading in the opposite direction, however we managed to get it right and exited the cave leading the race. Next came another hilly bike ride with our legs feeling tired and sore and then it was down to the final kayak.
We paddled out through a system of lakes and watched the unusual looking pelicans on the shoreline. We portaged over a row of sand dunes and then got hammered in the breaking waves. At one point Stu was engulfed in a wall of white water while battling with the heavy boat. We finally entered the ocean for the last few kilometers knowing that the teams in fast surf skis must be close behind. A playful seal took my mind off the race as it lazed on the sea surface with its flippers in the air. A final tussle with the shore break and we were onto the beach to run down the finishers chute. We were very happy to be first team of the final day. We also placed first in the mixed category and second overall. After thanking John Jacoby for a great race we joined up with Wayne and Brent and our brilliant support crew to indulge in another café meal. The next day it was back to New Zealand with some new scars added to the ever-growing collection on my legs and the satisfaction of knowing that we had had a great adventure.
As a member of team OrionHealth.com I am continuing a busy year of competing all over the world with the next event being the Turas Mor Expedition Race in Ireland. If you would like to check out our team website go to www.orionadventure.com. See you out there!