The big news so far this year is that the favourite contenders Nuna have had an accident that severely damaged their ($1.8 million) solar array and are having to use their backup.

Meanwhile Western Australian High School team Leeming and their car Hammerhead have arrived in Darwin and are preparing for scrutineering and the race.

The big news so far this year is that the favourite contenders Nuna have had an accident that severely damaged their ($1.8 million) solar array and are having to use their backup.

Meanwhile Western Australian High School team Leeming and their car Hammerhead have arrived in Darwin and are preparing for scrutineering and the race.

The big news so far this year is that the favourite contenders Nuna have had an accident that severely damaged their ($1.8 million) solar array and are having to use their backup.

Meanwhile Western Australian High School team Leeming and their car Hammerhead have arrived in Darwin and are preparing for scrutineering and the race.

1. Heard a kookaburra in person (had one steal my meat pie from my hand. Beware the ones at UWA!)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Seen a koala.
4. Visited Melbourne
5. Watched a summer thunderstorm
6. Worn a pair of thongs
7. Been to Uluru (Been past the turn off at least during the World Solar Challenge, twice
8. Visited Cape York
9. Held a snake
10. Sang along with Khe San
11. Drank VB
12. Visited Sydney
13. Have seen a shark
14. Have used Aussie slang naturally in a conversation
15. Had an actual conversation with an indigenous Australian
16. Eaten hot chips from the bag at the beach
17. Walked/climbed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
18. Used an outside dunny, and checked under the seat before sitting down
19. Seen Chloe in Young & Jackson’s.
20. Slept on an overnight train or bus
21. Been to Sydney’s Mardi Gras
22. Have gone bush-bashing
23. Taken a sickie
24. Been to see a game of Aussie Rules football
25. Have seen wild camels (assuming dead ones count)
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Had a Tim Tam Slam
28. Ridden in a tram in Melbourne
29. Been at an ANZAC day Dawn Service.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Held a wombat
32. Been on a roadtrip of 800km or more
33. Seen the Great Australian Bight in person
34. Had a really bad sunburn
35. Visited an aboriginal community
36. Seen a redback spider
37. Have watched Paul Hogan
38. Seen Blue Poles in person
39. Wandered barefoot in the bush/outback
40. Eaten Vegemite
41. Thrown a boomerang
42. Seen the Kimberlies
43. Given a hitch-hiker a lift
44. Been to Perth
45. Have tried Lemon, Lime and Bitters
46. Tried playing a didgeridoo
47. Seen dinosaur footprints
48. Eaten Tim Tams
49. Been to Darwin
50. Touched a kangaroo
51. Visited the Great Barrier Reef
52. Listened to Kevin Bloody Wilson
53. Killed a Cane Toad
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre
55. Have read and own books by Australian authors
56. Visited Adelaide
57. Know the story behind “Eternity”
58. Been camping
59. Visited Brisbane
60. Been in an outback pub
61. Know what the term “Waltzing Matilda” actually means
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Listened to Slim Dusty
64. Own five or more Australian movies or TV series
65. Sang along to Down Under
66. Have stopped specifically to look at an historic marker by the side of the road.
67. Eaten a 4′n’20 pie
68. Surfed at Bondi
69. Watched the cricket on Boxing Day
70. Visited Hobart
71. Eaten kangaroo (Mmm… bolognaise
72. Seen a quokka
73. Visited Canberra
74. Visited rainforests
75. Used a Victa lawnmower
76. Travelled on a tram in Adelaide
77. Watch canefields burning.
78. Used a Hills hoist
79. Visited the Olgas
80. Used native Australian plants in cooking
81. Visited the snow
82. Chosen a side in Holden VS Ford
83. Visited the desert
84. Been water skiing
85. Read The Phantom
86. Visited Parliament House
87. Gone spotlighting or pig-shooting
88. Crossed the Nullarbor
89. Avoided swimming in areas because of crocodiles
90. Listened to AC/DC.
91. Called someone a dag
92. Voted in a Federal Election
93. Have been swimming and stayed between the flags
94. Had a possum in your roof
95. Visited the outback
96. Travelled over corrugated roads.
97. Hit a kangaroo while driving
98. Been well outside any mobile phone coverage
99. Seen an emu.
100. Have woken to the smell of bushfires.

Things I’d add that I think of as Australian
101. Visited every state and territory
102. Eaten a lamington
103. Eaten pavlova
104. Caught a ferry on Sydney Harbour
105. Backpacked overseas and met other Aussies doing the same
106. Stood on ground that’s too hot to stand on
107. Cooked in a billy
108. Eaten damper
109. Deliberately moved into the shade
110. Left the farm gate as you found it
111. Flown Qantas
112. Performed the Aussie salute

Anyway, happy Australia Day wherever you are in the world!

Here are some of the posts from Doug on Leeming Sungroper’s 2005 expedition.

This year is likely to see a lot more interest in the contest that’s been running since the first WSC 20 years ago, now that more attention is focused on the environment.

Although the official announcment hasn’t been made, it looks like the teams will at least comprise:

Adventure class:

• Stanford Solar Car Project
• UNSW Solar Racing Team (Sunswift)

Challenge Class:

• Fachhochschule Bochum SolarCar Team
• Houston Solar Race Team (High School entry)
• Kansas State University Solar Racing Team (I note they’re using a CSIRO motor
• University of Waterloo

I’m also expecting a Sungroper 3 entry from Leeming Senior High School and Willeton Senior High School with Sungroper 1, assuming all the relevant hurdles can be overcome to get the staff, students and cars to the starting line in Darwin.

Having been on two World Solar Challenges, if you can get a chance to compete in it, go (even if it involves building your own car . The experience of being amongst teams of very smart people from all over the world all competing against (and at the same time helping) each other in the midst of the relative nowhere of Australia is incomparable.