Expeditioners cycle from Hobart to Davis Station to raise funds to fight children's cancer
In late September, the Davis 79th ANARE expeditioners boarded RSV Nuyina in Hobart, bound for Davis Station, Antarctica. A 4383km sail across one of the most notoriously rough seas, the Southern Ocean. The ship was set to arrive at Davis Station on the 29th of October, which aligned perfectly with the Great Cycle Challenge raising funds for the Children's Medical Research Institute.
The Great Cycle Challenge encourages us to ride in October to raise awareness and funds to end childhood cancer and save little lives. My inspiration to ride was my cousin Ollie, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma on his 5th Birthday in 2013. Ollie battled through his protocol only to be in remission for a month before relapsing. Ollie grew his wings in May 2015, just a few weeks before his 7th birthday.
The strength, courage, and positive attitude Ollie and his family showed throughout were an inspiration, and so I pledged to ride 1000kms whilst at sea over the next 4 weeks to help raise funds and awareness.
I mentioned my goal to some of my shipmates, and they decided to join the ride, and so we took on the challenge of riding 4838 km to our new home in Antarctica. With a team of 12 dedicated expeditioners who cycled through all hours of the day through swells that peaked at around 9 metres, we finally made it below 60 degrees south, where the seas calmed and our views outside now included icebergs, seals, penguins and sub-Antarctic seabirds. We arrived at our new home late on the 28th of October and had well and truly smashed our goal of 4838kms, achieving 5182.5kms.
Thank you to all those who contributed to the team, either by lacing up their sneakers and accumulating the kms, or by donating, which well and truly surpassed our initial goal of $1000 and raised $5060.
Special shout out to Chef John, who rode the furthest 1145kms, 120kms of those completed on one day and to Steve, who gained the most donations of $654.
Ashley Edmonds - Chef
