What a feeling, Team Captain Westy, Mills & James gave us huge support as we came through the final stages of the river run but the quirk of this race is that it is so darn long! It definitely helps to have that support and we put a big effort in as we went under the bridg
e, the last time we would our teammates and the other crews until we got across the line. The other thing adding to our momentum was that we wanted to be able to see the bay before it went completely dark, in the end something we failed to do. This led to a slightly fraught run across the bay (which when viewed by day is MASSIVE) but we had a GPS and I was paddling with the whistle and distress flares tied to my vest… It also occured to us that it might be an idea to practice fitting the spray sheet beforehand too, we ended up doing it for the first time & in the dark as our headlamps had gone walkabout. The final section, 6 miles or so before the bay was one of our favorite sections, the sun was setting and it wound through a flood plain where people were going about their lives, having barbecues and most of them gave us shouts of encouragement as well. In truth, the scenery for a lot of the race is pretty linited, the power of the river in recent years has cut away huge chunks of the river bank leaving a sheer channel most of the way down – we would often think what might be on the other side but we could never tell. Anyhow, job done and it was a wonderful feeling getting to the finish.
e, the last time we would our teammates and the other crews until we got across the line. The other thing adding to our momentum was that we wanted to be able to see the bay before it went completely dark, in the end something we failed to do. This led to a slightly fraught run across the bay (which when viewed by day is MASSIVE) but we had a GPS and I was paddling with the whistle and distress flares tied to my vest… It also occured to us that it might be an idea to practice fitting the spray sheet beforehand too, we ended up doing it for the first time & in the dark as our headlamps had gone walkabout. The final section, 6 miles or so before the bay was one of our favorite sections, the sun was setting and it wound through a flood plain where people were going about their lives, having barbecues and most of them gave us shouts of encouragement as well. In truth, the scenery for a lot of the race is pretty linited, the power of the river in recent years has cut away huge chunks of the river bank leaving a sheer channel most of the way down – we would often think what might be on the other side but we could never tell. Anyhow, job done and it was a wonderful feeling getting to the finish.
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