Tassie Adventure Days 6,7 & 8

The primary reason for my trip to Tassie was for the Devonport Triathlon - the World Para Triathlon Series and Oceania Championships.  Essentially it is three days of racing, setting up for the next race, racing, setting up for the next race, and so on and so forth.

It was great to catch up with so many of my triathlon family - some whom I had not seen in person since pre-COVID!  Others I keep up with on the socials, but so good to be able to talk to them face to face (although I should have tied down Sue S for more Spanish practice, but she was busy as head referee for a number of the races.  There were almost thirty of us in total I think, and a number of people who I had never met before, but got the chance to get to know - technical officials are some of the funnest people I know - with the best stories to tell!

The days are long, and we are on our feet for most of that time.  This event I was in Transition and also worked the Mount/Dismount Line.  Talk about concentration.  While we video the athletes in this area to ensure we can identify infractions correctly, we actually eyeball every foot as it lands either before or after the line to ensure athletes are following the rules.  It is exhausting, because your brain is in constant analysis mode, and your feet ache at the end of the day after being on them all day.  But it is pretty cool to be involved in such a high-profile event that gets live-streamed across the world.

The final night dinner was held at Valentino’s in town, and was a great chance to chat and share stories and drinks with my like-minded friends.  As exhausting as it is, I do love this particular volunteer gig and am probably 50/50 on attending again next year.  

So at midday today I packed up camp and headed for Cradle Mountain where things could not be any more different.  On the mountain today we’ve had hail, rain, sunshine, wind, more hail, then rain, then sunshine and while it’s 4 degrees outside, apparently it feels like minus 1.  Thankfully the holiday park I’m camping at has a beautiful camp kitchen complete with a huge fireplace that we can eat and play in to keep warm, so I’ve been in there for an hour or so before I head to bed.  The hail has softened up to sleet now, and there’s talk of possible snow overnight - crazy stuff!

I made my way to the Visitor Centre following camp setup, and have got me a shuttle bus pass to the National Park.  First shuttle was to the easy trails at the start of the park, where I had a lovely amble (on my sore feet) around the Enchanted Walk.  No wombat sightings yet, but there were some beautiful wallabies, and the padmelons have been lurking around my campsite as well. 

Tomorrow I’m off to explore the park further, so I’ll keep you in the loop.