2008 Outdoor Recreation Industry Awards Dinner

7pm Saturday, 23 August

Recognising those who have made a difference

Be enthralled with the story of how two mid-twenty year old Aussie mates
achieved one of the last great firsts of Australian adventure.

"Crossing the Ditch"
After-dinner speakers,
James Castrission and Justin Jones

 



Sponsored for a fourth
year in a row by
.


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James, Justin and their kayak, Lot 41, left Forster, NSW, on November 13 2007.
62 days and 3318 km later they arrived in New Plymouth New Zealand.

The pair braved ten-metre swells, faced howling winds of more than 50 knots, endured severe food and sleep deprivation, wasting muscles and adverse winds and currents to become the first kayak expedition across the Tasman sea, as well as become the longest trans-oceanic kayaking expedition undertaken by two expeditioners.

They had kayaked the length of the murray river, all 2560kms, and the treacherous Bass Strait as virtual training runs. They had run the Sydney marathon; they had achieved their yachting crew qualifications and dueled with the open waters under sail.

It is human nature to, at times, think of what we could have done with our lives, to what boundaries we could have pushed ourselves, what achievements we may have dared to have believed in and what mental and physical capacity was within us. To go beyond such thoughts, however, rarely happens.

James and Justin will share their secrets of survival, of taking control of life, challenging yourself mentally and physically, facing adversity and the strategic planning and contingency of such a mammoth task.

Find out how they accomplished this incredible feat at the
2008 Outdoor Recreation Industry Awards Dinner

Along with presentation of the Industry Awards