23. June 2010 06:01
by Rene Pallesen
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I think it is about time that I introduce myself. It has afterall been two weeks since I was born...but my parents didn't have a name ready for me when the Stork arrived....typical!!
They have now finally named me...took them long enough. They had a shortlist of names, but they weren't sure which one I would prefer. I was trying to tell them but there is an interpretation problem, they don't understand Baby and I am still unable to speak English. Fortunately they chose the name that I like as well. For the first couple of weeks they just called me 'Baby'.
So here I go....Hello everyone. My name is AIDEN LEE PALLESEN....and I am pleased to meet you!
The first two weeks of my life has been busy. I arrived to this world on the 7th June 2010. Suddenly I was removed from my mums comfortable belly and was expected to take my first breath. Yeah right...I'd like to see you guys have your head put under water and see how quickly you adjust!! I was worried that they would slap me in the bum like I have seen on some of the movies.
Anyway, only took a couple of hours before I got the idea. It is really not that hard, you just move your chest up and down and the rest takes care of itself.
One thing though...for the past two weeks I've felt sooo sleepy and really hungry. I know I am giving my mum a really hard time wanting food every couple of hours but at least she has my dad there to help her out a bit and take care of my night feeds.
Last week I was introduced to my new home. My dad carried me around the house and told me where everything was. I must say that my mum and dad has done a fantastic job decorating the room I will be living in when I get a bit older.
I feel that I am very lucky that I have two very loving and caring parents. It is a new experience to them as well as to me, so a bit of a learning curve ahead.
For example the first few days after I arrived home they kwidth="50%">
On the third night after the race started, one of the repeaters went dead.
I had to hike up the mountain on the previous day as the generator had died.
I did not leave the mountain until it was dark, so I had to climb down through the jungle in the dark!
Fortunately I had my torch with me!
Paul later gave me strict instructions to make sure that I leave the mountain so that I could be back at HQ while there was still light!
I found out that I did not have any problems navigating at night... I even offered Paul to go back up when the repeater died!
Anyhow, we ended up having to send the airborne repeater up!
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Created: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:41
by Rene Pallesen
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Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )The Competitors . . .The competitors did not rest... three of the teams were half way through the 600 kilometre course after only three days... pretty amazing!
Two of the teams were Australian. 18 teams were out of the race. At least 10 of these were due to medical problems.
Hardly any people around here get enough sleep... the place is active 24 hours per day because there are always competitors coming in!
I was keen to find out how the Danish team would turn out. At the beginning of the race, they were not very sociable. But by the end of the race, I think the tension of the race had gone, and I managed to have a chat with them. By the third day, the Danes are doing pretty well... they had a 22nd place!
This was the mountain-bike leg of the race.
The guy you see being transported to hospital in the helicopter (photos below), was doing this part of the race. He was rounding a corner on his bike and rode straight into a large branch.
We had a lot of medical urgencies... we almost lost a guy with a punctured lung !
I got some great photos and helped getting the guy into the mobile hospital. There was a lot publicity on the website and through the media about it.
Fortunately, he was only 15 minutes away from HQ, so it was possible for us to get him to the helicopter very quickly, and to the nearest hospital.
Another leg of the race involved rowing in these “sampans”, a Malay term for “boat”. At some point, the teams in the race had to also split up - some of them swimming, some of them rowing, to complete the water leg of the race.
Below, the competitors had to use a flying fox to cross the canyons. I managed to have a go at it - compared to rock-climbing... well, I found it pretty boring *smile*. I imagine most people would find it quite fun though.
There are no places to climb here.
I had hoped to take one of the helicopters to Madai Caves to check out the 200 metre abseil. The road to the Madai Caves lead directly through the tiny village of Gua Madai - a small cluster of homes, their wood bleached grey.
The town’s main sources of income are tourism and birds’ nests. The nests are found high up the walls of the cave, tucked away in cracks and crevasses, and can command thousands of dollars. They are harvested about three times a year.
My girlfriend mentioned trying "bird's nest soup" whilst I was there. She said normally the bird's nest they use belong to the swallow. It is a delicacy to many Asians, and similar to shark's fin soup - that is if you have tried it. Normally the nests are made out of the birds' saliva.
There was so much rain at Silam that HQ was often flooded.
Many of the competitors took the opportunity to get some sleep and the slept on whatever they could find.
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Created: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:40
by Rene Pallesen
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Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )Silam and Jungle Ops . . .It is so bloody hot in Silam! It must have been at least 40 degrees and 100% humidity!
Silam was the overall headquarters, and Danum Valley Field Centre (DVFC) was referred to as Jungle Ops. Jungle Ops controlled all radio communications and conducted the race through the the jungle.
From Kota Kinabalu, we flew to Lahad Datu and drove the rest of the way to Silam. Silam was the site of one of the repeater stations. We had to set up a HQ a few kilometres from this station... heaps of opportunities for a few walks in the jungle.
The operation at Silam was huge!... I had never seen such a busy place before. The place was crawling with energy. It was bigger than any military operation I had ever seen! You would be amazed to see the logistics involved in this project ! At the time I did not have the time to take a lot of photos.
We had many army trucks transporting the competitors' equipment - very good cooperation from the military. They helped out with the preparation and set-up of HQ, and with the transportation of fuel.
This is the headquarters on the left.
The whole Ecochallenge race is governed from this office.
The map in the background contains the position of all the checkpoints at which the competitors have to go through.
Both of the above photos are aerial shots of HQ and were taken from a helicopter.
I managed to get a nice aerial shot of Silam HQ. The big white patch in the middle is where the competitors stored all their equipment. Just to the left are the containers from where the race is controlled. The 4 'finger-like' white pads on the right are the heli-pads. The long rectangle to the left is the eating area, and just above it is the hospital.
Approaching DVFC in helicopter.
This is actually a research centre in the middle of the jungle - commonly known as DVFC (Danum Valley Field Centre).
DVFC is not normally accessible the tourists and the general public, only to researchers.
DVFC is concerned about contamination into the jungle.
Outside Jungle Ops HQ.
The green boxes contain bottled drinking water.
By the time the race was over, most of this had been consumed - quite amazing really, considering there were really only 10 people at Jungle Ops.
During the competitors were not allowed any help from us, and that included the provision of drinking water.
Paul with some of the radio equipment at Silam.
He is standing next to the HQ matrix, which contained all the communications equipment for headquarters.
Paul is also standing next to the only 2 beds in the HQ building. These were used by the radio operators to nap in between shifts.
Below, you see me sitting in the catering tent at Silam.
I think it must have been a good day, to have been sitting there, smiling... I am just guessing here, because obviously I did not take the photo, and IButton">