B
ounding over rock and moss, duck- ing beneath low hanging branches, children ran along the riverbank.
“White man! White man!” they yelled, pointing at the kayakers as they ran along side them, trying to keep up. Paddling into the tiny village of Gembogl
Station was like entering an arena filled with bewildered spectators. Everyone, from those in the huts and schools high on the steep hillsides, to those along the riverbank, turned to look. “It was the most people I’d ever paddled
in front of,” says Barny Young. Hamming it up for the unexpected audi-
ence, Jordy Searle eyed the town’s log bridge hanging mere feet above the fast-flowing riv- er and, reaching it, rolled to slide his kayak under. Young followed suit. “It was ridicu- lous. It felt like thousands of people scream- ing and cheering,” Searle says. “I think they were just stoked to see us survive.”
30 | RAPID
As the first whitewater paddlers in remote
Papua New Guinea (PNG), the entire expe- dition was a spectacle. With 4,500-meter-tall peaks and exceptional rainfall, Papua New Guinea has enough gradient and water to keep a skirt on any kayaker. On an island off the north coast of Australia, PNG is a coun- try virtually untouched by tourists. With a reputation for virgin jungle, deadly wildlife and modern-day cannibalism, it’s a destina- tion for only the heartiest of paddlers.
« »
THE FIRST TIME Barny Young and Jordy Searle took on the wild rivers of PNG was in May 2011, six years after they met on the west coast of New Zealand through a mu- tual love of paddling and partying. Together they hatched a plan to paddle the unknown rivers of PNG, a country untraveled by raf- ters and kayakers.
With a third team member, Shannon
Mast, the group successfully paddled eight rivers in 2011, notching seven first descents, including the Bosu, Koningi and Mai rivers. After almost a month of successful pad- dling—overlooking a few bouts of food poisoning—what ended the 2011 trip was a nasty swim. On the Chimbu River, the last of the expedition, Young got caught in a big hydraulic. “It was one of the scariest swims I’ve ever
had,” says Young of the 30-second beat- down. Knowing the river disappeared un- derground just downstream, he saved him- self by grabbing onto a protruding rock on shore. Young had only a few scratches and bruises to show for his misadventure, but his boat was gone, sucked into the undercut he’d narrowly avoided. After waiting fruitlessly for hours for the
boat to be flushed out of the underground cavern, the group found a coffee trail and
PHOTO: JORDY SEARLE
PHOTO: ARI WALKER PHOTO: MATT COLES
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56