Land Rover's G4 Challenge - Part II

"G'Day, Mates"

Four flights and 36 hours later, the G4 Challenge arrived in Karratha, Western Australia, and was greeted by 100-degree heat and 90-percent humidity. And it's not just the weather that had grown hotter. With half the Challenge completed, the intensity of the competition ratcheted up a notch.

The Belgium/Germany and UK/Italy teams drove into an innocent-looking mud flat. Unbeknownst to them, recent rains had turned it into a bottomless quagmire. It took more than an hour of winching and snatching to recover both vehicles. The long struggle was made worse by the incessant heat and flies.

"We've endured 15 degrees in America and a week in the African Bush, but this is by far the harshest place we've been to. It's hellish. It sucks the energy out of you," summarized one competitor. Today's events were taking place in the Karijini National Park, which protects Mt. Bruce, one of Western Australia's highest peaks. First hunter of the day: run to the top of Mt. Bruce and back. Australia's Guy Andrews set off at a blistering pace and was back at the base in just over an hour. It normally takes 5 to 7 hours to hike to the top and back.

From the exposed mountainsides, the teams next moved to the close quarters of the labyrinth of gorges and canyons that criss-cross the park. It was among the gorges that teams searched for hunters. Two teams arrived simultaneously at one hunter, following another team. The problem: both teams had predicted they would be the third team to visit this hunter. A standoff ensued. With neither team blinking first, a coin toss decided which team would earn full points for matching its prediction.

The next day the G4 convoy packed up and moved 200 miles northeast to the town of Marble Bar, Australia's hottest town. The competitors woke to a balmy 94 degrees and a fierce horde of biting flies. By lunchtime the mercury had risen to 105 degrees. Today's hunters were spread out between the Indian Ocean to the west and the Great Sandy Desert to the east. The most remote hunter was also worth the greatest number of points. Japan/Spain was making good progress when a rock damaged the team's Range Rover's steering. They camped overnight while they carried out repairs. Philosophically, Japan's Shinichi Yoshimoto said, "To camp out on our own under the stars was worth it."

From the harshness and desolation of the Outback, the Challenge moved to the bustle of Sydney. The day of competition began early with the competitors tackling the waves at the world famous Bondi Beach. Then it was a kayak race across Sydney Harbor. The harbor is one of the world's busiest, and the competitors had to contend with the waves created by supertankers and huge container ships. Russia's Sergey Polyanksy had a tough time; he was knocked from his kayak four times.

Taking a clue from the urban 4x4 obstacle course that had started the Challenge in downtown Manhattan, Sydney presented the competitors with a 4x4 driving challenge built on a huge ocean-going barge. In addition to the difficulty of the obstacles, the teams now had to contend with the harbor's violent swells, which tipped and pitched the barge. Italy had a very close call when a rogue wave hit the barge as the car was on a steep sidetilt. "I felt the car tip but luckily the grip was very good and I stopped from going over," said Alberta Chiappa.