Email received from Nikki Monday, 24 May at 09h44 (SA; 17h44 Oz)
At last I have some comms. We have been in the real real real outback. As I sit here we have just said a huge hooray as the truck has eventually arrived with the team’s gear and they are not too far away; we were all having a mild panic! Yay!
So, the news from the last few days…
The paddle was epic, the hike was epic… the bike is epic! The paddle, which was on the Walsh River, took McCain just over 19hrs… epic. For those of you who have paddled the Berg, it was very similar in a way. Low water, with lots of trees and some smallish but technical rapids… challenging when done in the dark! They arrived in second place in incredibly high spirits, which broke a broken Orion even more. You could see the daggers in their eyes as Tatum hopped up and down in true hobbit style saying how they had a fabulous paddle, doddling down the river – he-he!
Nine Mile, which is where the paddle finished was really beautiful. Our campsite was in the river bed and the stream was a great relief from the heat! We fell asleep in the wee hours of sunday morning to the soft sounds of baby crocs! It is a bit bizarre to see a whole heap of little crocs darting off up the bank when we would go for a dip! They are at least small crocs, not like the ones in Africa! Hanno had one try and climb up his leg on one of the portages!
The hike, which all the teams and the organiser anticipated would take around 20hrs turned into an epic 35hr adventure and expedition on its own through the most beautiful terrain I have seen in some while. I can’t really explain what it is like; remote doesn’t really do it justice and neither does breathtaking. They ran out of food 15hrs into the hike and water was pretty scarce! They arrived in the early hours of this morning shattered. Poor Iain was falling asleep whilst eating his tin of food and they were all cold and in desperate need of some shut-eye. They were a fair bit behind the others but did not seem capable of caring too much! After about a 3hr sleep they were up and in a much better state to start their 130km bike.
Mt Mulligan, where the hike finished, is spectacular. It is a million-hectare cattle ranch… real wild country. I hooked up with some
photographers after leaving Nine Mile. Man, what an adventure in itself. Muzza, the photographer who I was with, is what I can only describe as a frustrated rally driver! Man, I had to cling on for dear life. I never knew that a Land Cruiser could go that fast! I managed to get to Mulligan with them and then hooked up with another crew of photographers for a much less stressful drive to Lake Tinnaroo, which is kinda West of Cairns.
It is really beautiful here and I am now sitting wrapped up in a sleeping bag waiting for McCain to arrive. They have been on the bikes for around 12hrs! Looong. They don’t have much food left, if any so hopefully they would have stopped at one of the many little cafes en route.
Anyway, have to go now. Going to go to Cairns after they arrive and get everything ready for them. And to get Tatum a welcome home birthday cake! [it is Tatum’s birthday on Tuesday]
Nikki