Arduous adventure race staged on north coast
From the Spring 2007 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.
Forests NSW GeoQuest team at the
beginning of the first day, from left,
Rob Kirwood, Shelley Rowe, Dean
Kearney and Tim Parkes. They did not
look like this at the end of the event.
Photo by Adrien Thompson
It sounds like something out of a commando training manual: a perilous sea kayak paddle in huge waves, hotfooting back through forests and along beaches, night swims in shark infested waters, mountain bike rides in the dark and paddles in the fog down tidal rivers.
It was no such thing. It was a typical 48 hours without sleep for the entrants in this year’s GeoQuest race, held on the June long weekend near Coffs Harbour. Teams navigated an unmarked course of 260 kilometres and 33 hidden checkpoints with only map and compass to guide them.
Three of the fittest men in Forests NSW, and one of their wives who might be even fitter, battled all these conditions in weather that further south saw devastation in the Hunter Valley and seas that led to the grounding of the bulk carrier Pasha Bulker.
“Some of the bike legs were too steep to ride up, so we had to do a fair bit of pushing,” said Forests NSW entrant Tim Parkes.
Fellow team members were Rob Kirwood and Dean Kearney, and Dean’s wife Shelley Rowe.
This was the second attempt for Rob and Tim. The team finished 14th in a field where only 26 out of the 47 teams were able to complete the full course.
Team members battled hypothermia, fatigue, hallucinations and knee pain, but managed to cross the finish line at 5am on Monday morning, a mere 45 hours after the start.
Organisers were provided with special purpose permits as the route passed through several areas of State forest including, aptly enough, Diehappy, and then Scotchmans, Pine Creek, Orara West and Tuckers Nob.
For further details of the harrowing event go and look at the website www.gar.com.au
Public Affairs & Media, Coffs Harbour
