Team A

Last night, the team ran into the tiny settlement of Victoria River in the shadow of mighty red cliffs. This morning, in the silent pre-dawn, about half the team climbed to the top of the escarpment by moonlight for a some quiet reflective moments appreciating the dawn over this vast majestic Victoria River valley.

Today was a lighter running day, through varied terrain, but unvarying heat.

Upon arrival in Katherine, it was soon clear most of the town were at a special event – the annual Katherine Show and Rodeo.

The organisers invited our team in for free, an offer we were quick to accept. For the remainder of the afternoon we were absorbed in a world of extraordinary skills and commitment. We arrived as the first bull riders tied in, risking serious injury for the thrill and satisfaction of taking on the challenge of riding a muscle-packed bucking animal for a full eight seconds without tumbling or flying off!

Most of the riders were rather unlucky and didn't quite make the eight seconds ... after getting tossed to the ground the rodeo clowns were invaluable to keep the thrown rider from getting trampled or gored by the angry bull.

Next up were the steer wrestlers who chased down and wrestled the cattle to the ground by the horns after jumping on top of them at full speed from a galloping horse!

The bucking broncoes were next up – though horses are not as huge they are definitely higher from the ground.

We enjoyed a few other events and took this afternoon in Katherine as another sample of the infinite variety of flavours Australia offers.

Several of the participants took time out to hold the Torch and exchange stories with us. Michael Barklay had come down from the Gulf country with his friends to ride the bulls, as they do each year.

– Prabhakar Street (Canada)

Team B

Yippee! – we are really out in nature now...

Fantastic rest at the campsite of Victoria River Roadhouse: we slept under the open sky with the moon so deep and so clear like a spotlight.

Unreal, when you awake in the middle of the night and are looking straight into this unique formation of cloud and stars plunged into silver white moonlight.

This morning we started with an 'Escarpment Walk' to a sunrise point.

When the sun was rising the moon was still up on the other side.

Dreamtime stories were in the air, from two ancient Aborigine tribes – from python-snakes that formed the riverbed; boomerangs thrown into the clouds to send rain; 'Lightning' the chief, and rolling rainbows shaping the landscape.

Later on, on the road we met Jean-Pierre and Marie-Agnes Huet from France: ”We admire greatly these beautiful runners.”

Paul and Chantal Heulin, also from France commented: ”You are very brave to run all along Australia. Bravo!”

It’s a pity that I could not take a picture of the nice people who used to live in Alice Springs and are now moving back to Spain. Greetings and thanks for the water!

In the afternoon we had some free time that we used for a refreshing swim in the turbulent waters of the river close-by our caravan park in Katherine.

Afterwards we visited a rodeo in the centre of Katherine, where we met some of our other team members, who seemed pretty excited.

– Angela Muhs (Germany) and Elke Lindner (Germany)

Team C

Today we had only a small distance (65 km) to cover. Working together, we broke our runs into six and seven kilometre segments, giving each runner a chance to recover from the intense sun and rising humidity.

Heading northeast along the Victoria Highway towards the town of Katherine, the surrounding country continues to change: our ‘running course’ has become more undulating, tree-lined and quieter due to a significantly lesser number of vehicles on the road.

Nevertheless the passing motorists are still continuing to give us a friendly wave and toot.

Arriving into Katherine gave us a new lease of life, especially when we heard that our accommodation was near to a swimming hole.

Having a good part of the afternoon left, we decided to investigate Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk), which is about 25 km east of the town. This has been a major tourist draw for many decades because of its spectacular beauty and cooling waters.

Activities include river cruises, canoeing, swimming, bushwalking or just relaxing on the grassy banks of the river. Our team enjoyed a refreshing swim followed by a scenic walk along one of the shorter trails with stunning views from the gorge cliff-tops. A beautiful sunset entertained us as we returned to Katherine.

– Prabuddha Nicol (Australia)

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Team Members:
Nigel Webber (Australia), Prabhakar Street (Canada), Elke Lindner (Germany), Dima Lehonkov (Ukraine), Nataliya Lehonkova (Ukraine), Prachar Stegemann Australia), Misha Kulagin (Russia), Runar Gigja (Iceland), Prabuddha Nicol (Australia), Nishima Knowsley (New Zealand), Iva Nemcova (Czech Republic), Miro Pospisek (Czech Republic), Sandro Zincarini (Italy), Angela Muhs (Germany), Edi Serban (Romania), Standa Zubaty (Czech Republic), Veeraja Uppal (Australia)

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