These Two Cairns Women Summited Mt Kilimanjaro With a Wheelbarrow

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is tough. Now, imagine doing it while lugging a bright-red wheelbarrow in tow. That’s exactly what two women from Cairns just did.

If hauling a wheelbarrow to the summit of Africa’s highest mountain sounds like something you’d only attempt in a fever dream, then you haven’t met Tabitha Knox-Carlson and Lisa Conyers. These two Cairns locals recently returned from Tanzania after pushing, pulling, and shouldering their way to the top of Kilimanjaro. The kicker? It wasn’t just for bragging rights – they did it to raise money for a Tanzanian primary school.

Fresh off competing in the Atherton Tablelands’ quirky Great Wheelbarrow Race, the duo decided to take things up a notch – or 5,895 metres, to be exact. 

‘We thought it was a good idea at the time, high on endorphins after the race’, Conyers told ABC News. But the reality? Not so easy. Knox-Carlson called the climb ‘the most gruelling thing I’ve ever done’, battling dizziness, vomiting, and more than a little self-doubt along the way.

Thankfully, they weren’t alone. With three local Tanzanian porters on their team, the load was shared – sometimes literally – with the porters hoisting the barrow onto their backs and singing as they tackled the steep, rocky terrain. As Conyers put it, ‘It was definitely a team of five that made it happen’.

When they finally reached the summit, it felt less like a victory lap and more like something out of a dream.

‘The white glaciers, the black dust—it was otherworldly’, Knox-Carlson said.

The pair raised over $4,300 to support the Ikirwa School, and the school’s principal is hoping the unconventional fundraiser could inspire an annual challenge.

Not a bad way to round out an adventure that started with a wheelbarrow and ended on top of the world.

Read more about this amazing feat in the original ABC News article.