Stage 3 of the Coast Raid
Started on boats again. We chose a longer, more scenic route over the direct line that involved a 500M portage, and it was one of the best paddle sections with narrow passages and tidal rips on a perfect day. All the teams that did the portage were long gone, and I just boiled in my dry suit. We had a 1km road portage which went quickly, then more paddling. At the end I dumped probably 1/2L of sweat out of the dry suit!
In Middle Bay we changed onto the bikes for a long hilly ride to a second lengthy trek on a flatter island. The soft ground sapped our energy, but the spectacular beach scenery and crashing waves made up for it. Found a whale skull and bones on the beach too. Again, we had moved up ahead of the usual teams even though we took tons of pictures and ate tons of berries.
We returned to Middle Bay, only to find the entire town welcoming us. They were all wearing "Middle Bay Welcomes the Coast Raid" shirts, which they had us sign. They waved flags of each team's nation, decorated their houses, and again fed us with home cooked salmon pie, 3 kinds of chowder and more seafood than even I could eat.
Wow, we felt like Olympians!
Here's our campsite, inside the local church: