As we head for bed, sunrise is on its way. McCain spent two nights out on this 60km trekking stage! They have completed that long 60km trek, finishing at CP17, Mt Mulligan. They seem to have decided to sleep there – a good decent sleep of a few hours – waiting to take off at first light.
It’s now 01h40 and McCain are still trekking – in the dark again. Good news is that they’re on what looks like easier terrain and they should be at CP17, the end of the hike, within the next hour or two. Merrell has slipped ahead of them – not much ahead.
McCain have been on foot since around 15h15 on Saturday, 22 May. Their latest tracking dot shows 14h26 (just over an hour ago) on Sunday, 23 May – and they’ve still got a stretch to go.
As I type now, on Sat at12h50 (20h40 Oz time), McCain appear to be in the lead. Their tracking dot (grey) is ahead of Orion’s (navy). Merrell is in beige (the cluster of beige – outlying on is City Bike Depot team). The orienteering flag is CP15 (end of paddle). They’re heading to the top right of our screen.
At CP15 after the paddle, McCain are in second place. According to the CP split on the Team McCain Adventure Addicts page on the event website, they completed the river paddle faster than anyone else thus far (and likely to remain the fastest split; average time will probbaly increase as the slower teams come in).
Just arrived at Dimbula, which is the finish of the bike leg and is also the midcamp. Got there in time to see the McCain boys and girls head off on their 20km hike with their wheel barrow. This area has an annual wheelbarrow festival to celebrate the early pioneers.
All I can say is OMG! The last half hour has been undescribably frantic. The teams came in after trekking for almost 10Hrs. They have been stung shitless by a really nasty stinging tree. Treatment is hydrochloric acid and waxing. Our transition point resembled a hospital.
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