Day 04 - Back to School ...

If today’s challenge was to see the amazing sunrise, your Loonies would have aced it and bagged all the points given our more youthful competitors took advantage of the hotel nighclub and had a “late one” whilst we tucked in early doors.

A spin on the daily challenge saw the field split into groups. A group leader needed to be chosen, and probably more due to the hazy state of most rather than our management experience and maturity in matters of decision making and leadership, the Loonies were nominated and took charge of the small convoy, navigation and challenges.

We successfully located the four checkpoint references to Sri Lankan cultural diversity in the form of a Church., Mosque, Hindu and Buddhist Temples without issue. The challenge to find 15 locals to sing a traditional local song was proving a tad more tricky until we spied a local school and Dave wandered into the Principals office. Through charm or menace, within minutes the entire school of 600 primary kids were assembled in the playground and the challenge was nailed. A fabulous experience for both the local kids and challenge participants alike. We even managed bonus points which saw us leap a few places in the standings !

A few more hours hugging the coast road and passing numerous memorials to the devastating tsunami saw us cover a total of 142 kms and arrive at another school. An earlier donation from the tour company to the school manifested into a local village party and the Loonies responded by entering the gathering in full regalia. Some of the younger kids may have left thinking they had just met two Kung Fu masters (not sure how they got that info).

Day 5 is a rest day and a chance for the support mechanics to breathe some live back into the tuk-tuk, so evening GnT’s (Empires) in the beach bar saw us kick back a little as the sun set on another fantastic day in Sri Lanka !

(Check out our Facebook page for more of today’s photos)