Near Collision, Night Recon and Snake Rescue Plan

It was dark and he was coming at me fast. There was much room to move. Anticipating, I start veering right to avoid a collision. He keeps coming both of us angling to the right. There isn’t going to be any room to get by.  My brow narrows, senses heightened, we come in close on each other, at the last second I determine he’s not going to give me space. I swerve hard left careening of the hallway wall as my head spins right. Our eyes lock. His look says,  you’re an odd bloke. Apparently, Tasmanians walk on the left hand side of the hallway of the hotel as well as drive on the left.

We are still hold up in the hotel, well for at least 5-6hrs of sleep each night. The camera team is gelling well as we have already had about a 5 day adventure ourselves. We look forward to shooting in the bush, the actual race. We have one more day in town and then the race start. The teams get the maps tomorrow. Our camera team has already been over the course, by car, helicopter and on foot. The teams are in for likely the most amazing race produced in many years.

Erik's reaction to the course during a night recon.

The original plan for later in the race. “Erik. We’re going to drop you on the road at 5AM. Head into the bush on this section. It’s a really rugged section. When we flew over it looked epic mate. You're probably going to be in there 10hrs or more filming. Look for teams, travel with them, film the story, pop off, wait, find another team and we will pick you up at the end of the end of your excursion. Make sure you have all of your safety gear. If your bitten by a snake, apply a soft tourniquet, set off your SOS rescue beacon, don’t move to keep the venom from circulating and we’ll come get you, well eventually. Don’t worry mate, you have about 12-24hrs before you're dead.” Tasmania has three snakes. All three deadly.  The only snakes in Tasmania are deadly. It happens to be the beginning of snake season. Perfect.

Erik, Mike and Tim on a day time recon.

That was the plan a day ago. The new plan. “Erik, mate. We just talked to one of the guys who created the course. No way you are going in there alone. It’s to dodgy and dense. We decided you're are not allowed to enter the bush in that section without a team. Stay with them until you know where you are. Wait for another team and travel with them. If your alone out there, we will never get you back out. So, keep moving at a forward pace filming, and you must get out of there by dark. You must. Snakes are the least of your worries mate. Perfect.

Tasmanian Devil Ginger Beer!

I’m 30% excited, 70% scared. Getting lost or bitten by a deadly snake, both happen to be my primary concern. I love Tasmania. I am about to find out if I am as tough as I think I am.