Indonesian Digital News Archive

Well heeled travelers looking for an amazing adventure next year need look no further than the new whitewater rafting excursion from Mountain Travel Sobek. Their new Six Continent Whitewater Adventure, which was announced yesterday, promises to take travelers to the ends of the Earth to quench their thirst for adrenaline.

The 25-day, round-the-world expedition runs from May 9 through June 2 of 2013 and begins in California. The 8-12 participants on the trip will get their feet wet, literally and figuratively, with three days of rafting in the Sierra Mountains. From there they'll jet off to Ecuador for two days of rafting before proceed on to Spain to take on the Noguera Pallaresa in the high Pyrenees. Nairobi, Kenya is the next stop on the journey for three days of rafting on the Athi River, which mixes in great wildlife viewing along with Class II and III whitewater. The Tons River in India is the next stop as the lucky travelers take to the water in the Himalaya, not far from the spectacular peak Nanda Devi. Finally, the trip will wrap up on North Johnston river in Australia, one of the more remote and challenging whitewater runs on that continent.

Whew! Sounds like quite a trip and after reading the press release on it yesterday I immediately wished I were going. At $8695 (without airfare!) this is a bit pricey for my blood, but it was too good of an adventure travel opportunity to not share. And if the itinerary wasn't enticing enough on its own, co-founder of Mountain Travel Sobek John Yost, who has led plenty of river expeditions, will be the personal guide on this adventure. Sounds absolutely fantastic and I'm very jealous of those who get to go on this trip.

Way back in February I shared an early look at an ambitious and potentially awesome new television show called Run The Planet. The premise of the show is that New Zealand ultra-running legend Lisa Tamati would take Australian ultra-running newbie Chris Ord under her wing and show him the ropes of long distance running. The two would then visit some of the most iconic places on Earth and run across them.

At the time of that story, Lisa and Chris were preparing to run a famous route across Australia that was followed by an indigenous stockman named Hezekiel Malbunka back in 1922 in order to deliver a telegram. The route is more than 125km (77.6  miles) in length and runs through some of the hottest environments on the continent. The two runners took on that very route and as a result we now have a pilot video of what the show would be all about. You can watch that video below and judge for yourself.

Lisa and Chris a now hoping to take the show into full production and as such they're hoping to connect with some partners and television networks who may be interested in helping get Run The Planet off the ground.  For those interested, full details, including production notes, are available at RunThePlanetTV.com.

Judging from what I've seen in the video here, this looks like it would be a fantastic show. If you don't think running across remote landscapes can be a compelling television show, just watch the fourteen and a half minute screener below. Excellent work by all involved.

Australia's Blue Mountains are a beautiful piece of land that has been designated as a World Heritage Site. Located just outside Sydney, the region is made up of towering sandstone plateaus and deep gorges that have to be seen to be believed. Fortunately for us filmmaker Konstantin Basov has visited the Blue Mountains and spectacularly captured their beauty in the short film below. It seems a fitting start to a new week.


Blue Mountains, Australia (timelapse) from konstantin basov on Vimeo.

Two of my friends from Down Under have launched a pair of new online magazines that will likely be of interest to outdoor enthusiasts everywhere. Both e-zines cater to the Southern Hemisphere, but fans of paddling and climbing will likely find them to be a great resource no matter where you live.

The first of these magazines is called Paddlemag and it is dedicated to all kinds of waterborne adventures. Whether you paddle a long sea kayak, a nimble whitewater boat, a canoe or a stand-up board, you'll find something to love here. With great photos, fantastic profiles (they have one of Freya Hoffmeister here) and awesome trip reports the e-zine promises to be a source of inspiration to paddlers everywhere.

The other new online magazine is called Vertical Life, and as the name implies it focuses squarely on rock climbing. VL hopes to be a great source of news, reviews and insights on the climbing scene and like it's sister publication, the e-zine will feature plenty of images and stories from the field.

The first two issues of both magazines are available for free and they are packed wit great content. I've been checking them out on my new iPad and with the Retina Display the photos look fantastic. Check them both out and I don't think you'll be disappointed. The Fall Issue (remember this is the Southern Hemisphere) of Vertical Life can be found by clicking here and for Paddlemag click here.