I sprung out of my sleeping bag at 5 am, ready for another round of more array standing, because IT’S THE LAST DAY! I was pretty tired after 4 full days of solar car racing, but I was prepared to keep on truckin’ because we were only 420 km from the finish! We had a very short tramp to the last control stop at Port Augusta (the last control stop!) where we cleaned the array for the last time (the last array cleaning!)

We went real fast on a real windy day between Port Augusta and the finish. I couldn’t sleep in the car at all because I was so nervous that something bad might happen. But we made it through the end of timing and into Adelaide (traffic!) and to the escort point, where we parked all our convoy vehicles and hopped into WSC vehicles that would escort the solar car across the ceremonial finish. It was a huge relief to make it across the line with everyone safe.

From there, we celebrated with donuts and beer and hopped in the Victoria Square fountain as tradition required. Dripping wet, I lay on the grass and let my shirt dry next to me. It was over, and I was exhausted. Eventually, everyone trudged to the hostel and I took a much-needed hot shower. Hayden and I got ramen and ice cream (Movenpick, we’re back!) for dinner and turned in early in REAL BEDS! Even though I was stuffed in a cramped hostel room of 8 people, I was so happy to have a bed and a place to put my stuff! The endurance race was over. Wow.