Not long ago, I wrote about the expedition that Lara Jaillon and Ben Guesney were preparing.
They now have compiled a website (in English): www.terraincognitatrek.com with beautiful pictures of previous treks.

They are looking for sponsors. They need: 1 camera; 2 HDV video camcorder; 1 Satellite mobile phone; 1 EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons); Solar panels.

Specially designed carts to carry their gear across Australia.

A couple of French Architects, Sébastien Guesney and Lara Jaillon will start an adventure in November on the footsteps of the Burke & Wills expedition, who were the first explorers to cross Australia from South to North in 1860. It will be the first time someone attempts to complete this trip on foot and unsupported since then. They plan to walk the 4500 kilometres of this expedition in 280 days, from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. They will cross the central desert area during the austral winter, from June to August 2010 to take advantage of the lower temperature. They will arrive in the mangroves of the tropical north Queensland on September 1st 2010, just before the crocodiles mating season. “Because they are much more aggressive and dangerous during this period”.

Sébastien and Lara are already experienced travellers, after leaving for several years in the Arabian Gulf and in Canada, they live for 12 years in China, in Hong Kong. They since extensively travelled in most Asian and Oceania countries.

As they explain: “Our goal is neither to establish a record nor perform a sport performance. We simply aim to experience Australia’s outback with humility and meet its population”. In fact, their project is to explore the climate change issue, the reduction of natural resources and particularly water and its impact on populations. Australia is particularly affected by these problems in recent years.

Their walk will lead them to cross different regions and climates. “Our itinerary is very diverse, we will traverse green mountain ranges, arid deserts and tropical mangroves. This great variety is challenging for our bodies, as well as for the preparation of our equipment”. Their trekking will pass through the gold rush region of the old Colony of Victoria and its town build last century at the centre of the “Great Dividing Range” mountains. They will later follow the luxuriant Murray River banks, the agriculture basin of the country. They will later cross the great salt lakes of the worldwide heritage area of the Willandra Lakes and will discover more about the aboriginal culture through the rock carvings in the Mutawintji National Park. From one farm to another, they will soon reach the desert and cross the Sturt National Park and the infamous Strzelecki Desert reaching Birdsville, the most isolated town in Australia, if not in the whole world. Nearby, they will pay a tribute to Burke and Wills at the Dig Tree, where the two explorers passed away on their way back from the Gulf of Carpentaria. They will later follow the border of the Simpson Desert and will cross the Diamantina National Park. Finally, they will walk from a cattle station to another until they reach the sea, after completing 280 days of travel.

Sébastien and Lara aim to produce a book including texts, photos and sketches. They will film their adventures and encounters to produce a documentary. “Our walk will allow us to meet and interview locals all along our path to dress up a very diverse portrait of the different communities, their culture, their history and their life”.

Travelling in complete autonomy, they will need to carry all their gear, which represents approximately 35 kg of equipment and sometime up to 180 litres of water with a specially designed cart equipped with mountain bike wheels they specially designed and built for this expedition.

When asked if this adventure is not scaring them, they answer “we cannot exclude risk exists, but risk is everywhere if we want to see it everywhere. Fear is a greater barrier than real danger. During our numerous previous travels in sometimes extremely remote places, we took risks most people consider insane. Nevertheless, nothing serious happened to us because the most important is to be well prepared, physically, logistically, medically and most important mentally”.