The kayakers with their driver and local friends (above), Young ran a first descent of Kick Right Falls in 2011 (left). After running it, a local kid came up to say, “I have followed you down the river, you are now my friend, please don’t die.”
on Facebook prior to their first trip, Searle and Young were able to hook up with some well-connected locals who set them up with reliable drivers and safe accommodation once in-country.
« »
Rivers are the lifeblood for the remote communities, who use the water for drink- ing, cooking and cleaning. Even in remote jungle, the group drew crowds to the river- bank everywhere they went. “People genuinely thought we were going
to die,” says Searle. “It was always a good indication that we were coming up to a big rapid when locals started yelling and wav- ing their arms from the riverbank.” Searle and Young had been warned that
PNG was not a place where they could walk around freely. Acquaintances, who flew he- licopters for the mining industry, the big- gest industry in the country, said that they were picked up at the airport by guards and stayed in barbwire-enclosed compounds they didn’t leave on foot. At a take-out along the Mai River, a lo-
cal kid explained that several weeks prior the bodies of two women who had been drowned for practicing witchcraft had washed into that very eddy. According to the United Nations, sorcery-
related killings in PNG have been on the rise. The grisly murders gained worldwide atten- tion last year when a 20-year-old mother was burned alive in front of hundreds of onlookers. “A lot of bad stuff does happen in PNG,” admits Searle. “But I have this idea that peo- ple are inherently good and you just have to find that common ground.” By randomly messaging people in PNG
32 | RAPID
THE 2013 RETURN TRIP to PNG had one specific goal: The Chimbu. “It was unfin- ished business,” says Young. “The Chimbu was the river that beat us and that’s why we were so keen to get back.” Its class V waters are in the heart of the
country’s rugged highland region where the river carves its way from the base of Mount Wilhelm (4,500 meters) through 100-meter deep gorges to the mighty Wahgi River be- low. Getting there meant two days of bounc- ing around in the back of a pickup. The aim of the trip was to travel a rough
dirt road that paralleled the river to its highest navigable source, then negotiate the challenging rapids and canyons of the Chimbu to the town of Kundiawa, 50 kilo- meters distant. Aided by a Sport New Zealand grant,
awarded to Kiwis pushing the boundaries of sport, and with the contacts garnered from the first trip, Young and Searle were also ac- companied by two new Kiwi trip mates, Ari Walker and Matt Coles.
« »
ON A HOT AND HUMID April morning, the group put in a kilometer below the source lake of the Chimbu. It took them most of the day to get to Gembogl Station four kilometers away, paddling burly waves and perfecting their limbo technique under low-hanging bamboo branches. It was there
they were greeted by the highland’s version of a stadium audience. They spent the night in the Gembogl
Station Resource Centre for Orphans, a home for children whose parents had died of HIV/AIDS. The next morning the group followed the sound of singing to the local elementary school. After the song finished, the teacher translated as hundreds of kids and adults gathered around in the steamy morning air to listen to the paddlers’ stories. “We told them how lucky they were to live
in such a pristine environment and why it’s important to take care of it for future gen- erations,” says Young. As for the 100-child game of Duck, Duck, Goose that came next, “that’s just Barny, random shit turns up,” says Searle, laughing. The group approached the crux of their
route two days later. Home to a series of in- creasingly difficult rapids, Sikewage Gorge was the site of Young’s trip-ending swim in 2011. It’s a sacred site to locals, and it’s easy to
see why. Cascading water, class V rapids and mist reflecting in beams of light give the gorge a surreal and mystical feel. They spent the day battling its monster holes and ferocious waves, dwarfed by the 100-meter rock walls on either side. Nearing the final destination of Kun-
diawa, the gorge receded and the river slowed. Two young boys came to the river’s edge, running to keep pace with the kayaks. Young and Searle knew they’d succeeded when they reached a crowded riverbank. The people began to cheer, stunned to see the group emerge from the walls of the dark Chimbu canyon—a first descent through the last frontier of Papua New Guinea. «•» For more whitewater adventures, check out the
group’s blog at
www.gradientandwater.blogspot. com
PHOTO: COURTESY BARNY YOUNG
PHOTO: JORDY SEARLE
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