Yesterday was the Henley on Todd, it is a dry river bed race
that has been running here in Alice for over 50 years. We actually have pictures of JD at this event
in the early 70’s. I heard on the radio that this event is attended by about
4000 people, that is certainly a large crowd in a town of only 25,000 people. JD was lucky enough to win a VIP pass to the
event through work which meant free beer for the day!
 |
| Bathtub races |
 |
| Only in Australia would this sign be next to a dry river bed |
When we first arrived they were having the ski races, a team
of 4 people walking through the sandy river bed on a set of skis – there were
single kayak races, team kayak races, bathtub races (4 people carrying a bathtub
with someone inside it) and even sled races.
Imagine all of these are run in the dry river bed of the Todd River, the
sand is extremely soft which makes all of these races challenging. So when you
think of a dry river bed race, the best way to describe it would be Flinstone
style. One of my favorite races for the
day was the rolling cage race, it was pretty much like running in a hamster
wheel!
 |
| The prize helmet! |
Halfway through the event it was announced that they would
have a Viking yell contest and the top 12 winners would get free Viking helmets,
Jake and Dillon were desperate for helmets so we entered them in the
contest. As the group gathered for the
yells, Jake, Dillon and JD all gave a good yell and then at the last minute I
was asked to yell as well – we only won 1 helmet and I will let you guess who
the winner was out of our family!
 |
| Aussie vs. America |
One of the last races is the JFDPG American vs. Australia
race. I am sad to report that the
American team lost this year after putting in a great effort. There was a team of Americans in the tug of
war challenge though that took home the medal.
It was fun cheering on teams of our friends!
The big finale was the battle of the boats between the
Vikings, Navy and Pirates. The teams
from each of these boats travel through the crowd during the entire event to
build support for their teams. The last
event is a wild water fight between these three teams, with smoke bombs and
cannons as well until a winner is declared by the audience – the Vikings who
were hilarious all day were the big winners.
 |
| Vikings |
