PAPUA NEW GUINEA
EXPEDITION
AN UNMOTORISED CROSSING
21st July 2013
Launching PNG Expedition
Now we don’t want to become the team with ‘all the gear and no idea’ so have been researching like mad men on all things PNG. Advice from all sources, contacts, friends of friends have been so helpful. First hand experience in the country which is so hard to research about has been invaluable. So from both of us a huge thank you to Jocelyn Murgatroyd, Justin Hall, Mark Antice, Tanya Zeriga-Alone and Hugh Collins for all your help and words of wisdom. It really makes the planning stage a lot easier. These guys have helped with advice on day to day PNG life, jungle survival tips, filming and production suggestions, connected us with people in the know and generally been awesome.
You may have got the impression from this upbeat article me and Patch are ready to go! Not quite….Our next main objective is sorting out visas. We are still in contact with some other outdoor companies in the hope of expanding our product support partners for the rest of our vital kit. For further updates ‘like’ us on Facebook under PNG Expedition and follow us on Twitter at @png_expedition.
Thanks for following,
Richard Johnson
Welcome to PNG Expedition’s first blog update. With a year already in the planning the past 6 weeks have been by far the busiest – and most productive!
The expedition was officially launched with the new website. Friends, family members and potential sponsors could for the first time read about this crazy idea two friends would be undertaking. No chance of backing out now I guess! Huge credit to Patch for designing the website, pretty sure we can all agree he did an awesome job.
The first task for us was to start securing product support for the expedition. Going through jungle, mountain and river the amount of kit needed is quite extensive. The fact we will be away for up to 6 months in areas with no potential to replace kit means quality can not be compromised. So we went on the hunt for the best kit available. From previous expeditions we knew which companies made reliable, rugged and practical kit and our goal was to get them on board.
Amazingly the response from the companies we contacted has been great. They have been so keen to help and become part of this great historical first expedition. First to commit was Osprey. Having both used Osprey bergens on previous expeditions we knew the ‘bombproof ability’ of these packs and were delighted they will be supplying their latest kit for us. Soon to follow was Craghoppers offering their line of mosquito resistant clothing designed for tough jungle wear. Papua New Guinea is reported to be the wettest place on earth, so ensuring all out kit stays dry is vital. Having Overboard supply us with a great selection of high quality dry bags for our clothes, electronics and documents is immense.
Another British company joining the British expedition was machete company Ralph Martindale. Providing the team with three top of the range stainless steel machetes –safe to say we’re both really looking forward to testing these! Finally outdoor company Rab have supplied the team with two alpine bivy bags and a huge tarp. During the mountain stages it will keep us dry and warm but without putting too much load into our packs, a great combination.
