Mary! I'm going to Australia!

G'Day Mates!

It has now been six days since the first five members of the UKZN Solar car team set foot on Australian soil. We are, however, beginning to have major doubts as to whether or not we have landed in the correct country. Yes, the signs at the airport said "Welcome to Adelaide" and everyone keeps referring to us as their "mates", but we have not yet managed to spot a single kangaroo or koala bear. Neither have any of our team members been eaten by a Great White Shark or suffered paralysis from the infamous Brown Snake - rather disappointing if you ask me. Nonetheless, we have arrived in the delightfully beautiful land 'down under' where the only thing more appealing than the scenery are the Tim Tams - a delicious chocolate wafer biscuit of goodness.

In case you do not know this yet, we, the UKZN Solar car project, have entered our new solar car, Hulamin, into the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (WSC) which is a grueling race from Darwin to Adelaide starting on the 18th of October. I'd like to take this opportunity, though, to back up a few notches and describe a few of our experiences so far.

Our adventure started on the 25th of September when we enjoyed our last South African snacks accompanied by a round of Black Label beers before embarking on our 23 hour long journey to Australia. I know what you are thinking, but no, we did not travel by row boat, the preposterous amount of travel time was a result of a series of connection flights between Durban and the city of Adelaide, where we started our Aussie adventures.

For the majority of us, Adelaide was our first Australian experience which meant performing typical "South Africans abroad" behavior was absolutely essential. One of these actions involved the classic GASP! when realising that no, that can of coke is not four rand but instead, FORTY! Another included a dismal attempt at buying tram tickets. I mean, we did manage to buy tickets, but whether or not they were the correct ones, or whether or not we were supposed to validate them, or whether or not we were even meant to buy tickets in the first place are probably questions that will never be answered. Crikey mate!

A large proportion of the three full days that we had in Adelaide were spent recovering from the seven and a half hours that were brutally snatched from us by the demon commonly known as 'time difference'. By the way, you can undoubtedly add "complaining about jet lag" to the list of typical South Africans abroad behavior.

As surprising as it may sound, our "holiday" in Australia hasn't been all fun and games. Funnily enough, the reason we have found ourselves at the finish line of the WSC a full month before the race starts is that an adventure like this takes an unbelievable amount of planning - a fact that I think any other team participating in the WSC will confirm. In fact, I would like to try and put it into context for you. Try to imagine how many hours went into planning your last holiday, now take that number, add three hours and then multiply that result by infinity. The number of hours that you have arrived at is the amount of time each of the members of our logistics team have spent in preparation for the race.

After much preparation and buying and hiring of gear needed for the race, the five of us left Adelaide and started the 'Great Trek" to Darwin where we will meet the rest of our team, the starting line of the challenge and most importantly, our baby, Hulamin. You may be wondering why we didn't just fly straight to Darwin in the beginning, which does seem like the logical option. The reason for this is not because the plane took a 3000 kilometer wrong turn but instead it gives us a chance to drive the race in reverse. This trip is vital in achieving a finalised and reliable race strategy which is arguably the greatest difference between a good team and a great one. Not only does it give us a feel for the road and the race ahead but it also provides invaluable route data, altitude, weather and many other forms of data, vital in creating the best strategy possible.

Ultimately, we are having a great time and welcome this team building opportunity with open arms. We have, however, had a few small, lets say, squabbles. Without a doubt the greatest of these being at the realisation that Tim Tams comes in a pack of eleven. That's right, ELEVEN! At present, our road tripping squad is made up of five young men in our twenties - you do the math.

I think it is time I stopped boring you with my stories, my mom is insisting all the way from South Africa that I get some rest before our next drive to Devil's Marbles tomorrow. Stay tuned for updates of our trip through the outback. Let's hope that my future posts are shorter and more informative, unfortunately I cannot make any promises though. Cya!

P.S. In contrast to popular belief, everything in Australia is actually the right way up. I will understand if you don't believe me, I was as surprised as you are.