Hello, Solar Friends!

The race may have finished yesterday, but we couldn’t leave WSC-mode just yet. Today’s main task was to clean out the vehicles and repack all of our tools, gear, and equipment in the crate. Simultaneously, we had contingents writing postcards to our top donors and handing out info cards down at Victoria Square, where the car remained on display for the public.

The whole team returned to the square in the afternoon to show off the car to visitors and chat with members of the others teams that we had not seen all week. We also lined up our car with the University of Michigan’s for a photo shoot in front of the fountain. (We tried to include MIT and Stanford also, all of the teams from the U.S., but they had already left for the day.) Our shared elation at having finished the challenge heightened the camaraderie among all of the teams, and it was fun to share stories of our challenges and victories along the route.

The final official WSC event was the awards ceremony this evening. The ceremony opened with a traditional Aboriginal performance – song and dance celebrating the land and its animals. The goals of the Global Green Challenge complement the values expressed by Aborigines about the environment, so the juxtaposition was fitting. In addition to seventh place, Principia walked away with an arguably higher honor: the Safety Award. Race officials have long praised Principia’s dedication to safety, and it was gratifying to have that recognized one more time.

At the end of the night, the team celebrated Halloween here in Australia by dressing up – like other solar car teams, that is! At the reception after the awards ceremony, the long-awaited team shirt swap took place. No one wants to go home with a week’s worth of their own team’s shirts at the end of a race, so we trade with the other teams to remember new friends and snag the coolest uniforms. By the end of the evening, it’s impossible to tell who’s on which team! Principia team members came away with t-shirts, polos, baseball caps, and even team pants from all of our favorite competitors. We all felt like kids who’d gone trick-or-treating as we compared our spoils on the way home to Adelaide Shores.

The last chore for the night was to figure out how to stow our new treasures into our luggage and finish packing things up with the car. Most of the team is heading back to the states early tomorrow morning – in time for classes on Monday. A small group of graduates and faculty (Tom Brownell, Peter Chaney, David Crabill, Steve Shedd, and I) will remain in Australia for a few more days to ship off the crate and then visit Huntingtower, a school for Christian Scientists in Melbourne. All of us have enjoyed our time in Australia immensely, and I think I can speak for the whole team when I say we’re really not ready to leave!

Before we do leave, I want to take this final opportunity to thank all of the supporters whose donations helped us get here in the first place. I’m not exaggerating when I say we couldn’t have done it without you. I hope you’ve all enjoyed keeping up with our progress and that you’ll continue to monitor our website for future updates and even more photos. We’re grateful for your ongoing support.

Over and out,
Karen

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