A long report from a long race

I still stick by my initial 1 word report of 'Brutal', but if you want
a few more details, then grab a long drink and load this whopper up :

http://elsidee.com/_Sport/_Adventure_Racing/index.php?fname=20100519-9-XPDCairns

*

All over!

Well rachel and I are at Cairns airport waiting for NZ172, mark and mike
are already back in NZ.

A fun couple of days relaxing in port douglas and then going round a
crocodile farm (rachel was pleased she did this AFTER she'd spent her time
in the bush) have started the recovery process off, so hopefully we'll be
capable of work tomorrow ... If the temperature shock of going from 27 to 7
deg. C doesn't get us!

Thanks for watching, report should be up in a couple of days.

Sufferage

Well the first night's sleep in a proper bed was interrupted by rowdy
germans and their (often naked) drinking games. Luckily for the one that
wandered into our room at 3am he was light on his feet, as my temper was
shall we say 'short' ;-)

We all woke up and felt massively beaten up - that last 20K of mainly
bitumen walking was equivalent to taking a baseball bat to our feet, a real
shame that the race ended that way and it will take a few days before we
are walking properly, though at least the hobbling is getting better with
practise.

Having just had THE BEST feed at Lilly something cafe, Rach is off to bed
annd Mark and I will try and finish organising stuff, making sure we
haven't lost anything etc. So a slow day leading into the drinks tonight!

BRUTAL!

That's my 1 word report on XPD 5th edition, Cairns. Rachel, Mark and I
hobbled across the finish line at about 12:30 am, apparently in about
11th place!

Almost on the way..

> So prep's all done, boxes in, just got to try and sleep tonight and
> we're on our way at 6am tomorrow ( on the bus!)
>
> Days 1&2 look good, bit of snorkeling and paddling to start, big bike,
> raft and trek, then another big bike to midcamp where we have to stop
> for 6h. After that it gets tough.. 20h or so of remote paddling, a
> nasty 30h or so trek again remote then a mere 130k bike, 15k paddle
> and 47 or so trek to finish...
>
> I'm pretty nervous now, nothing specific just the enormity of it
> all.. Hope i've put everything in the right boxes etc... Hope the
> body (& mind) hold up ;-)

> Look forward to letting you know I'm done!

Learning how to use the spot tracker

Mark & Liam listening intently to instructions.. Spot device on table..

Next up... Maps!

1 day to go

Mon night in cairns... Today was spent meeting the teams, signing in,
competency checking and getting a safety briefing, mixed in with more
packing and sorting..

We're pretty well under control now, and it's time for the nerves to
start kicking in.. Safety briefing didn't help on that front.. Know
how Aussie has all these horrible creatures that want to kill you..
Well sounds like we're likely to find them all.. And to top it off
they also have trees that poison you as well.. At least 10% of us will
come in contact with those apparently...

Wonder how I'm going to sleep now???