The preparation for this trip has been outstanding fun, trying to source the right equipment and correct advise has proved to be a journey of discovery in its own rite. Tracking down and talking to experts in their respective fields and testing my/our thoughts and ideas against their experience and knowledge has been really enjoyable. You simply cannot get the information you need from the internet – we have seen some great UTube videos of people doing sea kayak trips which have been interesting, somewhat reassuring and in some cases downright scary but you are only a spectator online.
The lessons gained from talking one on one with Craig McSween from Adventure Outlet (our kayaking guru) have been invaluable. Sheldon off the tv show The Bing Bang Theory has a doppelganger in the Johny Appleseed store in Brisbane, we purchased our GPS tracker from him – he really is the splitting image of Sheldon even down to the intelligent, dismissive and well educated advise he gave about how to use the GPS tracker, I thought I had stepped onto the set of the show, he was a real character.
I sent and email to Sharkshield on a Sunday morning asking if their shark shield worked on Crocodiles – half an hour later the Managing Director emailed me back with a clear “No – great on Sharks,but not Croc’s” he wished us well, he did this on a Sunday morning. We met Tony at Whitworths Marine in Southport (a shop with everything you could want or need for going to sea ), Tony is a fellow sea kayaker with amazing insights and stories to tell – he was awesome, some of the things he has done makes our trip look like a paddle in a bath tub.
The Manager at the Kathmandu store in Springwood was a wealth of knowledge and gave fantastic advise around the clothing we should wear – he has a close family member who paddles sea kayaks and was genuinely interested in making sure we had exactly the right things we needed. Rodney from Bentleys Camera House in Pacific Fair was great, he is a passionate photographer and gave the best advise and support, he gave me a great deal on a replacement part for my waterproof video camera…
There have been so many people who through sharing their knowledge, experience and opinions have helped us get together everything we need for this trip, I have mentioned only a few of the incredible people who have helped us to date. Over the coming weeks I will introduce you to the equipment we have with us – it has been great fun getting everything together, it feels like we have enough gadgets to mount an Apollo space mission.
My advise to anyone looking to do a trip like this is to get off the internet and seek the experts. Share your ideas and listen to their advise, it comes free! Then support your local suppliers by buying your equipment off them. In this age of internet purchasing it has been fantastic to find so many expert suppliers still trading, still smiling, who are prepared to share their knowledge so freely. Our thanks to you all, our first red wine toast on the trip will be to you. Only 11 sleeps left in a comfortable bed. DT.
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