Sepik River Expedition 2010

Home and Hosed

2010-10-23T16:12:00.001+11:00

Well its taken a few days, but we're starting to feel vaguely human again. We got home on Monday and have since spent our time eating, sleeping, eating, unpacking gear and sleeping. We had an incredible time in PNG and were touched by the countless people who helped us unconditionally throughout our journey. So we'd just like to say a big THANK YOU to all those who helped us, big or small. The expedition would not have been possible without your support. We'd also like to say a big HIGH FIVE to all our sponsors. You have helped us more than you can imagine. Please take a look at our sponsor page and have a look at some of the amazing companies that support adventure in Australia.

So now, the plan is to get down to business with writing the book and making a documentary about the expedition. Keep an eye on this website for updates on these. There are also some pics uploaded to the gallery section if you'd like to take a peek.

Time for second lunch now...

Clark and Johnno

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2010-10-15T20:05:00.001+11:00

To join our mailing list contact us through the website and we will advise you when we post photos and trip report in coming weeks

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2010-10-15T20:00:00.001+11:00

All the stars aligned today and we have made it from the ocean to Wewak in one day. About to have a beer and a steak to celebrate.

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2010-10-14T19:35:00.001+11:00

FINISHED! After 5 gruelling weeks we have reached the ocean and our amazing journey has come to an end. We are two very happy lads

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2010-10-13T18:09:00.001+11:00

Both struck down with stomach bugs up all night and paddling like 90 yr olds today. Finish in sights for tomorrow... a limping end

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2010-10-12T20:06:00.001+11:00

Another tough day with endurance and patience running low. The Bill Murray 2 is also leaking but the friendly locals are fixing it

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2010-10-11T19:24:00.001+11:00

Mammoth day eating up the kms. Getting really fatigued and in need of some serious rest and eating. Finish in 3 days... maybe.

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2010-10-10T18:57:00.001+11:00

Long tough day.Fought headwind, chop and whirlpools. Have been warned not to get complacent about crocs. Big salties.

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2010-10-09T19:00:00.001+11:00

Stocked up on food at Ambunti which should last us until the finish. A few bum and skin issues from paddling all day. Both skinny.

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2010-10-08T19:19:00.001+11:00

Another milestone, have reached Ambunti! Over half way now around 450km to go. Hope to knock it over in a week. Tired but well.

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2010-10-07T18:52:00.001+11:00

Good days progress. Made 36km as crow flies. Got surrounded by several canoes of women who forced coconuts on us. We obliged.

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2010-10-07T08:21:00.001+11:00

The Bill Murray has been turned into fire wood due to leakage. New dugout acquired for 50 dollars. Clarks stomach still in turmoil

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2010-10-05T21:39:00.001+11:00

10 hours on the water today. Tough but made good distance. Clark is slightly better but Bill Murray is leaking badly.

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2010-10-04T19:34:00.001+11:00

Full day on the water. 30km made as the crow flies. Very muddy camp. Clark feeling sick again. overcast but at least its cool.

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2010-10-03T19:00:00.001+11:00

RAAF airdrop of food went perfectly. Thanks guys. Resuming paddling tomorrow after our break in Sinow village. Lost about 8kg each

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2010-10-02T19:02:00.001+10:00

Saw first white folk in 2 weeks today. 4 missionaries at remote outpost. They offered lunch shower and bed so we stayed! Paradise

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2010-10-01T18:46:00.001+10:00

First full day paddling the Sepik in our dugout. Bought some smoked fish, chunk of pig, coconuts and sago for 2 bucks... bargain.

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2010-09-30T18:20:00.001+10:00

Stalks, if heli approved can you include Clozole anti fumgal cream and metho?

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2010-09-30T18:14:00.001+10:00

Back on the Sepik! it is now flat brown and wide. Acquired a dugout for 30 dollars. Called it Bill Murray. Slept with a croc last

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2010-09-29T18:36:00.001+10:00

First day paddling up Yapsei river today. No luck getting dugout yet. Clark got a handcarved replacment paddle though. 50km today!

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2010-09-28T17:00:00.001+10:00

We have finally arrived in Yapsiei after what seems like a lifetime of walking the jungle. Negotiating the purchase of dugout.

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2010-09-27T15:36:00.001+10:00

Short walk down to the Sepik and a very quick paddle down fast river with good rapids. Yapsiei tomorrow to buy dugout. Health back

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2010-09-26T17:01:00.001+10:00

Camping at a hunting rest house overlooking the Sepik. Looks good to paddle tomorrow. Johnno still bit sick but spirits are high.

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2010-09-25T17:03:00.001+10:00

Another rest day today. Half day hike to river tomorrow to try our luck kayaking again. Feet bit better. Dreaming of steak n beer.

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2010-09-24T16:57:00.001+10:00

Under doctors orders to rest so had a day lying under a mango tree. Will start kayaking the Sepik on Sunday. Feet improving.

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2010-09-23T18:45:00.001+10:00

Måde Moonbill,just. Clark was sick all night and morning. Is coming good slowly. Foot rot is spreading so will ring doc tonight

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2010-09-22T19:04:00.001+10:00

12 Hrs walking today. Clark is sick from fatigue and Johnno has rotting foot infection. Will reach Moonbill and Sepik tomorrow.

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2010-09-21T19:07:00.001+10:00

Started walking before dawn and hiked for 11 hours making good ground in steep terrain. Moonble friday.

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2010-09-20T10:32:00.001+10:00

Still a few days walk until we can start kayaking the Sepik. Tough walking and very remote. Tracker still broken. All is well.

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2010-09-18T21:12:00.001+10:00

Made a late start out of Tele after sorting gear and getting camera working. Short days walk to village best described as paradise

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2010-09-16T15:24:00.001+10:00

So far broken items: Camera and tracker. Damaged: Pants, shirt,bags,shoes. Hope to fix tracker and camera tomorrow.

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2010-09-16T15:02:00.001+10:00

In Telefomin now. Doing a stocktake after yesterdays unscheduled swim. So far lost a paddle, sunnies, hat and some food.

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2010-09-15T19:32:00.001+10:00

Fire going, dinner on the boil, still alive life is good. Tele tomorrow

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2010-09-15T19:21:00.001+10:00

What a day. We got hammered by the sepik. Lost a paddle, almost drowned, left the kayak in the gorge so we could hike to camp.

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2010-09-14T21:00:00.001+10:00

Long day today,got lost twice. Much slipping in the mud. First test for kayaking on the Sepik tomorrow to get back to Telefomin.

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2010-09-14T08:07:00.001+10:00

We are about to set off on the long muddy slog back to Faromin to hop in the kayak. Will be babk in Tele by tomorrow.

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2010-09-13T07:41:00.003+10:00

After 3 days bashing through the jungle we have reached the source of the sepik. You bloody ripper! Now the long hike back

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2010-09-13T07:41:00.001+10:00

After 3 days bashing through the jungle we have reached the source of the sepik. You bloody ripper! Now the long hike back

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2010-09-11T19:09:00.001+10:00

Long and tough day today,lots of hills. Hope to reach the Sepik source tomorrow. Camped in bush hut with a warm fire.Very peaceful

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2010-09-10T19:05:00.001+10:00

Our first day on the trail was wet,tiring and awesome! We wdre going to camp but impending storm and awesome hut in village won.

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2010-09-09T19:49:00.001+10:00

After 5 seperate unscheduled flights ive finaly met Johnno at Telefomin. Plan to start walkin to source of Sepik tomorrow.

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2010-09-06T17:27:00.001+10:00

Hi from png! Clark and i have landed in heat soaked Moresby safe and sound.A big food shop is planned followed by a big dinner!

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2010-09-02T09:14:00.001+10:00

Test message from sat phone...

The 11th Hour...

2010-09-02T07:44:00.002+10:00

As usual, we've been pretty slack with our blog updates... but that doesn't mean we've been sitting on our hands.

Since the last update, we've been trawling through the to-do list.

We've just about collected all of the gear we'll need. This includes our tent, sleeping bags, clothing, first aid kit, solar panel, sat phone, GPS, EPIRB, tracking device, maps, food, video cameras etc...

Everything is yet to be piled in the one room, so we still don't know if it'll all fit in out 55L backpacks. Johnno is also devising a tricky system to split our inflatable kayak in two and strap it to our packs. The reason we're taking such small packs (relatively speaking) is because we know that no matter how big your pack, you always manage to fill it up. If we limit ourselves to the 55L packs, we'll be forced to bring only the bare essentials (and camera equipment). The last thing we want is to be lugging 90L packs through the jungle. The other reason for the small packs, is that we simply don't have the space for them on our inflatable kayak. Johnno is 6'7" and I'm 6'2" so between the two of us, there isn't exactly a lot of room. My pack already sits wedged at the very front of the kayak and Johnno's teeters precariously at the back. With some luck, we'll be able to get ourselves a dugout canoe with some more space to travel the remaining length of the river once the rapids in the headwaters ease.

Since we're making a documentary on the expedition, I've been slowly collecting all the gadgets needed to document the trip properly. I've decided to dive into the world of DSLR filming for this trip and boy oh boy is it a steep learning curve! Using a DSLR (Canon 7D) for video has its positives and negatives. You can get amazing images with a super-shallow depth of field, they perform brilliantly in low light situations and take amazing photographs. The downside though, is that the sound recording capabilities are crap and they are a big more awkward to handle than a regular video camera. To allow for the bad sound performance of the DSLR, I'll bring along a separate sound recording device (Zoom H4n). This little device will record high quality sound (in stereo). I'll also bring a Rode Videomic to use with the Zoom H4n when I need to eliminate some ambient noise for video diaries etc...

The plan is to then use a tricky little program to sync the video and sound up when I get back to Australia and begin the post-production process. All of this is a little more tedious than simply whipping out the handy-cam, but with a little luck (and a lot of effort) we'll come back with some amazing images.

Penrith white-water opens up again this week, so with only a few days to go before we fly to PNG, we'll finally get to test out our kayak in some rapids. Hopefully it goes off without a hitch!

So... on Monday, we'll fly to Port Moresby, where we'll meet up with my friend Meg. She's generously put her hand up to be our personal guide and driver and has even let us sleep at her place for the two days we're in Port Moresby. Whilst there, we'll need to stock up on last minute supplies and sort out the last of our ever growing to-do list. We'll fly from Port Moresby to Mt Hagen, where we'll stay the night before flying to Telefomin, and the start of our adventure. From Telefomin we'll hike to the source of the Sepik and well... PNG can decide the rest.

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Training Weekend

2010-08-11T12:58:00.004+10:00

Its been a while since our last update, so we'll fill you in on whats been happening over the last month.

It's all systems go here at Sepik2010 headquarters, with only four weeks to go and a whole bunch of To-Do's still left to tick off. We've had a fantastic response from sponsors thus far and are pleased to welcome Australian Geographic and Trek and Travel to the team. Australian Geographic have helped out Aussie adventurers since the dawn of time and its great to be associated with them on this expedition. Trek and Travel are a Sydney based outdoor equipment and clothing store. If you're planning a trip and you want the right equipment, go have a chat with any of the guys (and girls) there. They know their stuff!!!

Last weekend, we headed out to the Colo river valley in the Blue Mountains on the hunt for some rapids to test out our lime green rapid machine (inflatable kayak). We plan on taking it down the first section of the Sepik where rapids will most likely be in abundance. The aim was to get dropped in near the river, at the end of a fire trail and make our way down some 40km or so of rapids to where our pickup awaited the next day. This was the plan anway, and as always, the best laid plans can come unstuck.

In reality, we got dropped off half way down the fire trail because the road was getting too much for the car... and after a solid hike in carrying all our gear (including kayak)... the fire trail abruptly ended. From here it was a bush bash down to the canyon wall where we struggled to find a path leading into the canyon. As darkness fell the trail became harder and harder to spot and with our water supply running out we decided to back track and camp for the night at the end of the fire trail. With only one day left to get on the water... we decided to hike back out to the highway and hitch a ride back to the river to maximise the time spent paddling and testing our gear. Being two such good looking and trustworthy roosters we were picked up almost immediately by a great bloke called Peter who dropped us on the river at midday. The afternoon was spent paddling the beautiful Colo river which was more like fun than training!

All in all a successful hit out although we were disappointed not to get into the canyon and rapids, but unfortunately time didn't allow a re-attack... maybe next weekend. Over the next month we still need to find some whitewater to train on, practise our abseiling (for when any cliffs we come across in PNG), get the remainder of our gear and see if we can fit it all into our packs. Then theres still the matter of flights, accommodation in Port Moresby, insurance, visas, food and all sorts of necessary evils to attend to. As always its going to be a hectic last few weeks.

Also, here's some pics from the weekend.

We'll keep you posted on our progress over the coming days and weeks.

Clark and Johnno.

Welcome Dirty Dog

2010-06-29T09:38:00.000+10:00

Word is spreading of our Sepik mission and I'm pleased to announce we'll be the proud owners of some brand spanking new Dirty Dog sunglasses as we make our way down the river. Thanks Dirty Dog!

In other news.. we're currently looking at our options for a tracking device so that you can follow our progress through our 'tracker' page.

It really isn't very long until we leave now (about 2 1/2 months) and we're busy ticking off the various to-do's such as getting equipment, visas, vaccinations, training etc...

First Sponsor!

2010-06-27T15:10:00.003+10:00

Woohoo! We've just got our first (and not last) sponsor. Please welcome... *drum roll*... EPIRBHIRE.com.au to our team.

These guys are an awesome company that hire our EPIRB's, Sat Phones, GPS, VHF's, Liferafts etc...

They've supported me on all of my expeditions over the years and have been an invaluable source of information and support.

Once again, they've generously offered to support us on our Sepik River mission with an EPIRB and GPS for the expedition.

If you ever need an EPIRB for the weekend, or a Sat Phone for some crazy trip... you should take a look at www.epirbhire.com.au

Thanks Pete and Caroline!

Gear gear gear..

2010-06-22T17:18:00.000+10:00

Johnno and I met up yesterday to have a look at Trek and Travel for most of our equipment needs. We pondered over tents, packs, clothing, ropes, sleeping bags, shoes and all sorts of fun toys. We've now got our selves a mighty big wish list of gear we need to get our hands on. We've also got some training weekends coming up in the next month or so to test our gear, our systems, and learn some news skills such as abseiling and white-water kayaking.
It's less than three months until we leave for PNG and we've got a LOT to do in the mean time. As usual, it's going to be a hectic couple of months leading up. It's going to be epic!
We'll keep you posted on our progress...

First Post!

2010-06-16T13:58:00.000+10:00

This is the first post of many for the 'Sepik2010' expedition. Johnno and Clark will be updating this blog live from the expedition and, if possible, will be sending pics as well. So stay tuned, more to come!