AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

18^TH ANNUAL AWARDS

Federation Square, Melbourne

12.15pm Wednesday June 9

Embargoed until 9 June 2004

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WIN GOLD MEDALS FOR THEIR EXCELLENT ADVENTURE

Two adventurous Sydney youths have taken out the Australian Geographic Society’s Young Adventurer of the Year award, presented in Melbourne at the Society’s 18^th Annual Awards ceremony.

Christopher Bray and Jasper Timm were 20 and 19 respectively when they planned and executed a daring 300 km off-track walk through some of the wildest part of the country – south-west Tasmania.

To their knowledge, they are only the second party ever to accomplish this challenging coastal route between Port Davey and Strahan, where there are no walking tracks or campsites. They traversed around loose cliff faces, above crashing waves, and at times ploughed through vegetation so thick that they travelled less than a kilometre forward after 10 exhausting hours.

In an era when adventurers are constantly criticised for daring to step outside ‘normal’ behavioural constraints, Australian Geographic was impressed that Chris and Jasper had planned the expedition so well. They’d planned food drops in advance, chose and researched the route well, and carried a satellite phone and EPIRB.

“This was their first adventure, and yet they planned everything to the nth degree,” said Australian Geographic Society trustee Rory Scott. “It’s the sort of responsible adventuring that should be encouraged by the adventure naysayers out there. In our book, these blokes are heroes.”

During their adventure, the pair may have also recorded the most southerly breeding colony of the Australian fur seal, at Point Hibbs. This information was conveyed to the csiro, which has incorporated it in a scientific report on Australian fur seals.

Jasper and Chris each received an Australian Geographic Society gold medallion.

PICS AND WINNERS’ DETAILS ON CD