Day Eight: Australia
We’re firmly into the journey now and have moved into the second week of the challenge. After a quieter weekend, Monday proved a busy day for the team, with 8 members of the team travelling over 100km and another 4 more doing 80km plus.
Another day of running, cycling and rowing took us a grand distance of 2,233km and onto the glistening shores of Australia. To think in just 8 days we have reached the other side of the world! There is still some way to go until the halfway point, but we’ve made amazing progress.
Everyone knows Australia, famous for its love of sport and barbecuing, sheer size, exceptional wildlife and heavenly beaches. Australia boasts some of the most successful sporting histories of all nations, in all different sports. From Rugby, Cricket and Aussie rules, the Australians go absolutely mad for sport, and why not? It’s a great way to stay fit, enjoy yourself and it turns out they are pretty good at it.
Cricket
It’s nearly impossible to think about cricket, or Australia, without thinking of the Ashes! The Ashes is a famous test cricket series played between England and Australia, roughly every 2 years. Its a historic series, starting as far back as 1882, when Australia beat England on their home turf for the first time. The victory shocked the sporting world, with English newspapers printing an ironic obituary of English cricket, saying the ‘body’ has been burnt and Australia had taken the ‘ashes’ with them. When England next toured Australia they vowed to regain the ‘ashes’, taking a terracotta urn containing a pair of burnt bails, creating the Ashes trophy and series. Since then 70 editions of the series have been played, with Australia edging England 33 to 32 (5 draws).
Australian Rules Football (Aussie Rules)
One of Australia’s most popular past times is the homegrown sport of Australian Rules Football, usually simply known as just Aussie rules. Its a contact sport played on an oval field between two teams of 18 players, scoring goals by shooting between posts. A kind of mix of football and rugby, its fast paced and full contact.
No one knows exactly how it started but at 200 years old its nearly as old as the country itself and a truly unique sport. Likened to Gaelic football, its not even really the same as that! Its hugely popular, especially in Melbourne and confusingly often called footy. With the cardio and physical demands of the game, the players are some of the fittest in the world.
Team sports are a great way to stay fit, same as any exercise that you do as a group it helps motivate and drive you to achieve your best. The health benefits of team sports include:
- Stronger relationship building skills
- Teamwork
- Leadership skills
- Regular exercise
- Builds Self-Esteem
- Time management
- Communication
- And all other physical benefits from the sport
If you’d like to be in a team-based environment, working with others to improve your mental and physical health, our classes are a great way to do that. Why not consider joining us on one of our livestreams, or get in contact about the plans for our future classes.
Keep updated with us at Elevate by visiting our Facebook and Instagram.
Key statistics
Distance Travelled: 14,525km
Journey Finished: 35.36%
Money Raised: £3,981
Countries Visited: 16 Countries
Day 8 Leader Board
- Steve Smith – 144.1km
- Darren Fox – 137.09km
- Jason Jibb – 131.05km
Find out more
Do you think we can do it? Please support us and donate to the Just Giving page here.
Keep updated along the way with Instagram here and track our daily progress on our map below too.
