A Big Decision

Fear of failure is a powerful card in the deck. It trumps the fear of public speaking, fear of spiders, fear of the dark, fear of being alone and probably even the fear of crocodiles. There is one joker in the pack though, that trumps all others and that is the fear of death. Fear of failure can drive people to their demise if they don't constantly evaluate their decisions. We've reevaluated ours.

To embark on a journey of this nature Lain and I have accepted that we are placing ourselves in an elevated level of risk to what you might experience sitting on the couch watching re-runs of Bear Grylls. Risk, and uncertainty of all the outcomes and variables is what makes this an adventure. With careful planning, the likelihood of our untimely death or some other equally tragic event interrupting our happy lives has been significantly reduced. However this careful planning involves an awareness and constant analysis of the information that becomes available to us about our travel plans and the areas we intend to paddle.

The internet has it's limitations. Google Earth can provide a view of the coastline, Wikipedia can tell you about a place but no amount of download speed can fill in the gaps in the information about a destination that can only be glued together with local knowledge.

Over the last few days, while organising our departure from Thursday Island, we have been told in no uncertain terms of the danger and riskiness of our plans. Paddling across the Torres Strait is not the issue as careful measurement of the tides, currents and weather would provide us with suitable paddling conditions to make the distance. The problem is that we would be entering a different world, a lawless society. Desperate people take desperate measures and this is a risk to our safety, and to the safety of Lain's parents who would have sailed with us to Daru, that we simply cannot justify.

While the odd warning could be considered scaremongering, even a power trip, we have received stern and dire warnings from the local police, customs, local fishermen, PNG locals, long term residents, the reef pilots and other people we have spoken with in recent days. Basically we have been instructed that unless we are chaperoned through Daru, the Fly River delta and the Gulf of Papua by a local guide with a fast boat and an automatic weapon then we are simply asking for trouble. We have had generous offers to help organise these measures but this is not the sort of adventure Lain and I are seeking.

To travel in an adventurous way, to see remote areas of the world, to go places most people don't, these are motivating factors for the Archipaddlo Expedition. The purist might argue that we have failed to achieve our objectives, however we have other ideas.

To avoid the risks of entering PNG at Daru and the Gulf of Papua we have shifted the goalposts, just a little. We are already on our way back to Cairns as this is the closest city from which we can arrange to ship our kayaks to PNG. Our plan now is to slice off the Gulf of Papua and restart our paddling journey from Port Moresby. In total we'll slice off about 400-500km from our 9000km journey, while greatly increasing the safety of our expedition.

Having just paddled up from Cairns it makes sense to see some different country on the way south so while we won't be paddling this stretch, the adventure continues. With just a little more room than sardines squished into a can we are now crammed in as crew onto Ma & Pa's 25 foot megayacht, Trivial Pursuit, for a speedy (we hope) reach down through the Gulf of Carpentaria to Karumba.

Whichever way we play our cards, Lain and I are happy to keep playing safely even if we occasionally are served a small helping of humble pie. We'd like to thank all those who have helped shape this decision, and for the support of those who continue to encourage our crazy dreams.

Picture: The straw breaking the camel's back. Lain seeking information about our paddling plans from a helpful and realistic contact in Daru.