Aunties Tri Adventure - Hells Bells 2009

What a weekend with about 60 teams lining up for the 6th year of this event. Mooloolaba Primary School was the Race HQ this year – but we didn’t spend much time there…. We were bussed out to the start in Nambour…and had an enjoyable 13hrs getting ourselves back to the coast – well, mostly enjoyable….. The race started on the Mtb and we had a punishing uphill climb to the first TA (we were feeling sorry for Jo already, having really done no Mtb riding except riding kids to school …) Here we left the bikes and did some spectacular trekking and an amazing swim through the canyons in the upper reaches of the Maroochy River…We opted to take the scenic route up the creek for the first CP (you know we like scenic routing…!) We made our way back to the bikes… and rode on towards our next adventure which was the archery…With a backlog of teams waiting to shoot, we decided to leave after the obligatory 36 minutes and head out to Pt Glorious where Jo did an abseil while the Aunties ran off to find some hidden pieces of map that would help us get to the next stage. We stuck the map together (with the sticky tape in Aunty Jan’s pack – you never know when you need sticky tape and lacker bands…) and rode off to find CP8 which was (mostly) a lovely flowing downhill ride…. (Nice reward for all that uphill slog earlier….) Using Map 4 (as per course notes) we took the easy route to the next TA which was a Camp near Wappa Dam. As Jo did the abseil earlier, she was able to sit out while the Aunties negotiated the High Ropes course with an exciting exit via Flying Fox…and whilst up there got the clues for the next 2 CP’s which we would go to on foot. So, along the creek we went and found the first CP in another rock-pool. Jo, being the best swimmer amongst us, stripped off and in she went… the other one was on a high point up the road….All was good except for a blow-out in the laces on Aunty Jan’s shoes…thought the laces on these shoes were stronger than steel…guess not…so we tied them up all over the shop, just so we could get back… and luckily the shoes weren’t needed anymore as we had some spares in our next box for the last paddle and run legs….

So, back on the bikes and out to Parklands (great Mtb area near Nambour) where we had to find 6 out of 8 marked CP’s and got to ride all that fun single track – in the dark! At our first CP, Jo got a broken chain….which was expertly repaired by Aunty Kim thanks the ‘quick-link’. We were off again…with local knowledge giving us a good advantage here. After exiting Parklands at the other end we had a lovely downhill ride where we witnessed the local teenagers out and about in the company of the local constabulary….Not a nice place at midnight it seems….Down we went and found the next TA right near the infamous Bli Bli bridge (which now has tram tracks removed….) and we got to work on pumping up our yellow boats for the paddle ahead. Later we heard MD’s just picked up their boat and ran with it for the whole paddle leg – not even pumping it up – and interesting way to do it – and great news for the guy at the end of the paddle who was deflating and packing up the boats…. He was probably hoping all the teams did the ‘paddle’ this way…but I think MD’s were the only ones! So, pumped and plugged, we paddled off into the darkness to find 2 CP’s on the way to Cotton Tree in the estuary near the mouth of the river. Aunty Kim was up front doing the Nav and she was going great until we made an error when looking for a 2nd bridge….seems the first one was a cane tramway which no longer exists…..so we did a bit of extra paddle training here until we realised the CP was back at the other bridge…and all along Jo was telling us that the teams following had all turned back….Sorry Jo, we’ll be more aware of that next time, I’m sure! We made our way to the next CP and then settled in for the long paddle down river – luckily with the tide – till we reached the beach at Cotton Tree. Really cold now, we decided to ditch the wet clothing and wear our thermals for the last run to the finish – as the fear of cold from Geoquest was still in our heads….. We enjoyed the last coasteer...and a bit on the pathway…and were amused at the late night partiers being amused at us… We scanned every pandanus tree along the cliffs until we found the ‘lone one’…. Punched the card and ran to the finish….It was just after 3.00am and we were happy to be able to finish, clean up and get a couple of hours sleep before being woken up by the sun beaming into the car and Novak standing there with a bacon & egg burger – no we weren’t hallucinating - he had been around at the start and gave us some good advice when we were planning our course…then took the boys and found us at a couple of places along the way – and then he turns up in the morning with our brekky… how good is that – I’ll keep him in mind for a support crew in another race, I think…

The race was won in record time by MD’s in just under 9 hours… Wow, I bet Craig & Louise couldn’t believe it when they turned up that early!! It was fantastic to see Rob Gowland and his men take out the male team category…after he had just beaten a bout of cancer….In third place overall were our friends Jase, Andy and Tim from ‘Ay-up Lights’ (must have been Andy’s secret yoga training – see pic – that sealed it for them…) and the all girls category was, once again, taken out by the Skirtsports Girls – Narelle, Janie & Wendy - styling around the course in their flashy skirts…yes, they even swam in them…!

In summary, thanks to Craig & Louise and their crew, this was another great event. Something exciting around every corner… not too cold, and not too long….. We thoroughly enjoyed having an event in our own ‘back-yard’……and will be hoping for another one like this next year….

Jan and Kim