Race Day 2 - Monday

Ah nothing like some Johnny Clegg to wake up to in the morning! At 5 am our ‘alarm’ starting blasting (yay for Bluetooth car speakers) and woke most of us up with a smile. You would think that 3 hours to break camp is reasonable, but everyone could have done with more time – and a shower! Many people were stumbling around in the predawn darkness, heading off to find a suitable bush with the morning paper to take care of business. Part of the team lent a hand to get the many tents down, cars packed, waterbottles filled, while others were dealing with getting the car into a prime sunning spot, and other car related activities. Since we stopped at 17h03 last night we had a time penalty and were only allowed to leave at 08h03, but as there was the last minute run around back and forth trying to finalise the car for day 2 of the race.

Sunning the car this morning.

Once again on the road, we silently cruised along varying speeds between 60 and 80 km/h. We went through 2 mandatory control stops, the first at Dunmarra which was 663 km into the race, and the second at Tennant Creek which was 988 km into the race. After going through the second control stop time was steadily marching to the 5 pm pull off, when something went wrong with the solar car. Although it was, thankfully, a short and easy repair it was enough time for North West University to pass us. UKZN and NWU have been jostling back and forth for position ever since the race started, but there are many more days to final reckoning!

Cruising along in the heat of the day!

Getting ready to lie the car on its side.

Cooling the panels.

Emergency pull over for repairs.

Once again with 5 pm approaching we needed to find a campsite. Most fortuitously there was a rest stop ahead which we pulled into at exactly 5 pm. This definitely raised everyone’s spirits as there was (most importantly to some) a good sunny spot to sun the car to recharge the batteries and (most importantly to others) a borehole water tank for a semblance of a shower, a good camping spot, and a braai place! Win all round! Again we split into groups, some dealing with the car and others dealing with setting up the campsite.

Sunset over our campsite.

With the light receding everyone turned on their headlamps, and we made a discovery. All over the ground there were tiny reflective eyes looking back at us – spiders! We also caught a fairly large individual stealthily creeping its way up one of the storage crate. Being in Australia where most species are poisonous everyone was suddenly spurred to keep their eyes open and to be careful opening and closing the tent.

Hopefully we all wake up hale and hearty tomorrow! Minke