Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tim, the worse they became. It was as if every mozzie within a range of several
kilometres had smelt the blood of a fresh young Australian and come tearing over
to get some.
Tim was only a few minutes behind, but by the time he came into view I'd man-
aged to quickly pull on my waterproof pants, fleece jacket and mozzienet hat - my
insect armour - and set up the video camera. I was ready and waiting for what I
figured would be a good show.
I zoomed in first on Tim's face. Framed by matted hair and a bushy beard, it
was a picture of consternation verging on panic. All around him a buzzing, moving
cloud darkened the air and I had to zoom out quickly as he raced towards me, his
legs whirring in a blur of speed. He'd come 100 metres in less than fifteen seconds
and almost reached me when it became clear that the onslaught was too much for
him. He dismounted quickly, foregoing the usual routine of applying the brakes and
simply vaulted off the seat and over the handlebars. The bike crashed behind him,
and he hit the ground running.
Tim raced towards me. 'FUUUUUuuucckkk!' His wail switched in tone like the
siren of a passing ambulance as I panned around with the camera, and his flailing
legs sent him shooting up the road. '
HELP CHRIS!
'
It was a plea of desperation and I stood uncertainly for a moment wondering if
he was expecting me to go tearing after him. But, in the next instant everything be-
came clear. Tim performed a sliding turn at full sprint, then sidestepped quickly to
dodge the cloud of mosquitoes that were zooming after him. He sprinted back to-
wards me - a good five metres clear of the bulk of his attackers now - and barged a
rapid path down the hill through the stragglers. I quickly ripped his pants and jack-
et out from underneath the lid of his pack and we performed a neat relay handover
as he streaked past me once again. His head was back, his arms pumping, determ-
ination showing in the whites of his eyes.
I ran back to the camera just in time to see Tim leap nimbly into the air. His
body crouched over and his knees rose to his chest to gain plenty of vertical eleva-
tion. I realised that he was going to try to pull on his trousers in mid-air. He got one
leg through then leapt again. His second leg was through now too, but I cringed as
I saw that he was about to land at full tilt with his pants round his ankles.
He sprawled face first onto the ground as I'd feared, but even as I was focusing
the camera, I could see that he was still working to a plan. Harnessing his mo-
mentum, Tim flipped deftly over onto his back. Still sliding, he hitched his pants
