Whereas many younger boys develop up admiring their fathers, Dwight O’Connell had one thing massive to brag about when it got here to his dad.
Gordon O’Connell was the winner of the one and solely Nice Australian Camel Race, which happened in 1988.
The now-76-year-old performed a pivotal position in what is likely to be thought-about the best take a look at of endurance in Australian historical past.
He joined a gaggle of rivals who efficiently accomplished a gruelling 3,300-kilometre competitors that twisted by way of the cruel outback.
Rivals within the Nice Australian Camel Race in 1988. (ABC Information)
It was a take a look at of each bravery and stamina with rivals battling torrential rain, fatigue, and outbreaks of sickness to succeed in the end line.
“These guys achieved a hell of quite a bit again within the day and it is by no means actually been showcased or introduced up once more,” Dwight O’Connell mentioned.
And now, nearly 40 years later, he’s working to protect the legacy of the occasion, bringing collectively the unique rivals, and seeking to develop an on-farm attraction devoted to educating future generations.
Jill Colwell’s borrowed camel Tiki in the course of the race. (Provided: Jill Colwell)
As soon as-in-a-lifetime expertise
The 69 rivals who took off from Uluru on April 23, 1988 had little concept what they had been in for.
Competitor Jill Colwell, who got here in sixth, mentioned she might by no means have imagined what the journey forward would contain.
Ms Colwell says competing within the race gave her the abilities to face troublesome challenges in life. (ABC Information: Ashleigh Bagshaw)
“I assumed it seemed like a very nice vacation, very peaceable and pleasing, simply seeing the Australian countryside,” she mentioned.
“Little did I realise how powerful it was going to be.”
Like many different rivals, she turned critically sick after there was an outbreak of Shigella dysentery among the many group within the Simpson desert, distant from any medical services.
She additionally endured “flies, fatigue, warmth and dirt”, in addition to a way of isolation that she had by no means skilled earlier than.
Ms Colwell and her camel Tiki in the course of the race. (Provided)
“If I slipped again within the race you had nobody to name on, it was simply you and your camel. So there have been quite a lot of issues that you simply needed to work by way of,” she mentioned.
Ms Colwell additionally famously misplaced her camel Tiki who briefly deserted her in the midst of desert, however returned shortly after.
However she believed each competitor who efficiently accomplished the race discovered an interior power they didn’t know they’d previous to the occasion.
“You simply gave up, like lots of people needed to, otherwise you stored going and I used to be one of many ones that determined I would just maintain going,” she mentioned.
“It was lesson in life, that you will come throughout issues which are very troublesome to do and there is methods to realize them.”
The camel riders journeyed from Uluru to the Gold Coast. (ABC Information)
Ms Colwell was amongst simply 41 rivals who crossed the end line, and of these solely 28 had accomplished all the race.
ABC Information reported on the time that “World Safari adventurer” Alby Mangels was amongst those that dropped out.
However those that did make it throughout the road share a particular bond that also exists 36 years later.
Rivals from throughout Australia had been invited to the reunion. (ABC Information: Ashleigh Bagshaw)
Preserving the legacy
Dwight O’Connell’s want to protect the legacy of the Nice Australian Camel Race initially sprung from a dream to reunite the rivals from the bicentennial occasion.
He reached out to rivals from throughout Australia to ask them to attend, discovering himself intrigued by the fascinating tales he was listening to.
The competitors happened over 3,300 kilometres within the outback. (ABC Information)
“When folks got here to me and informed me their tales and began speaking a few reunion I assumed, effectively, my camel farm wants to inform the story of everybody,” he mentioned.
He has been gathering data within the hopes of building a museum, based mostly on his farm within the Whitsundays, that may inform the story of the race.
“Quite a lot of these rivals are telling me ‘I’ve acquired all this data, however after I move my kids aren’t actually occupied with it, so you possibly can have it’,” he mentioned.
He hosted an on-farm reunion in early October, inviting rivals from throughout Australia to carry alongside any previous objects from the race and share their recollections from it.
“There’s so many wonderful tales and so they’re hilarious, and the characters are wonderful,” he mentioned.
Ms Colwell and Gordon O’Connell on the reunion nearly 40 years after the race. (ABC Information)
Peter Cape, who was the runner-up to winner Gordon O’Connell, mentioned on the finish of the day what made the occasion particular was the folks concerned.
“It was a tough previous slog, however I do keep in mind the characters, keep in mind the folks,” he mentioned.
He hoped the tales of those folks would even be remembered.
“Historical past is price preserving and this was vital, it was a one-off occasion,” he mentioned.
“There are a couple of fellas which have gone over the nice divide. It is nice that they are often remembered.”
The winner’s sons Dwight and Quin O’Connell wish to protect the tales of the rivals. (ABC Information: Ashleigh Bagshaw)
Dwight O’Connell mentioned he needed to maintain the tales alive for future generations.
“That is our heritage and this one-off occasion actually showcased the toughness of those folks, and likewise gave us all somebody to look as much as and folks to aspire to [be],” he mentioned.
“It reveals that anybody can obtain something when you put your thoughts to it.”
