"Wall to wall mangroves have forced me into offshore exile. It's less an island than a glorified sandbar," reports Andrew with this live pic attached.
"I searched in the mangroves but only found fish. I looked on the reef, but again, no luck. Just when I thought my quest fruitless, I ate a paw paw. KAZAM. A luxury cruiser, Triton, appeared behind an island. Jim and Nancy welcomed me aboard for lunch and a wash."
Image from Andrew Hughes (insert) 2006 expedition: Mt Strzlecki on Flinders Island, Bass Strait. All images courtesy of the expedition website.
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Tasmanian teacher second month out on Fly River kayak trip around Papua New Guinea
Posted: Jun 24, 2008 01:40 am EDT
(TheOceans.net) Beyond the northern tip of Australia, across Torres Strait, lies the second largest island on earth.
Remember Andrew Hughes? Launching from hundreds of kilometres up the remote Fly River, he is currently paddling around Papua New Guinea until the northern border with Irian Jaya.
Andrew has already done 2 of the 6 months (and 4000 km) the expedition will span. Here goes the latest report:
Location: 149-30-00E, 9-35-40S, PNG
Time: 6.30pm, 23rd June
"Wall to wall mangroves have forced me into offshore exile. It's less an island than a glorified sandbar. It's low tide now but tonight I'll be less than a metre above sea level, and within 5 metres of salty ocean each side... if I'm reading the tide marks correctly."
"There are villages on the other side of the mangroves but I didn't spot any passages through. It's been an uneventful day of sailing and paddling with a fluctuating ESE wind."
"I missed lunch because the two times I went ashore to buy bananas, the villagers had none to sell. This seemed very unusual but apparently it had something to do with a school market at Mukawa. Lucky I had a big plate full of steak, prawns, fish, potato and salad with the Triton gang last night. I'll try and hunt them down again further up the coast!"
Tasmanian teacher Andrew Hughes kayak expedition of Papua New Guinea's Fly River is expected to take up to six months to complete and, after nearly 4000kms, will finish at the northern border with West Papua. Students from around Australia will watch the expedition unfold through a website.
“Jumping straight into that tropical river environment is hard. It’s full of mosquitoes, not many people, not knowing the language. It will be all the usual stuff you might expect in a foreign country but I’ll be sea kayak instead of a tour bus,” Andrew Hughes said.
The expedition is supported by Australian Geographic and UTAS SET.
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