I
t is said that there are three
types of fun: Type I is fun at
the time, while you are do-
ing it, Type II is not fun at all
whilst you are engaged in it,
only after, in retrospect. And
Type III fun is fun only for those who
are watching the fools doing it. Well,
The L2H Expedition had all three
types of fun in equal measure.
We were attempting the first tra-
verse, under purely human power,
from the geographical lowest to the
highest points in Australia. However,
this expedition was going to be a little
more challenging than your average
expedition; for the fact that the five
members of the team have significant
disabilities. Walter Van Praag has cys-
tic fibrosis and only thirty-eight per-
cent lung function, Duncan Meerding
is blind, Daniel Kojta can’t use his legs
and so pedals with his hands, Conrad
Wansborough can’t bend after a spinal
injury. I am paralysed down one side
of my body and have sensory process-
ing issues.
One early spring day in 2017 we
loaded an assortment of trikes and
bikes onto the roof of the troopie on
the Greenspeed factory forecourt on
the edge of Melbourne. From here it
would take four days to arrive at Kati
Thanda - Lake Eyre, which at 15.2
metres below sea level is the lowest
point on the Australian continent.
The drive up was going smoothly un-
til I fell out of the back of the troopie,
in the carpark I hasten to add. We had
the generous support of World Expe-
ditions who had supplied the troopie
and a tattooed driver, Ed Homan, who
wasted no time in driving me to Port
Augusta Hospital. I was having trou-
ble breathing X-rays revealed that I
had cracked a couple of ribs.
The expedition tagline was “What
could possibly go wrong?” and when
the troopie hit an underpass with the
tandem on top disaster truly struck.
The question was beginning to come
true. It seemed everything was go-
TRAVERSE 88
ing wrong even though the expedi-
tion hadn’t started yet. The trike was
wrecked - the frame was snapped in
three places, the handlebar broken
off and the luggage rack smashed. As
the tandem was the only vehicle that
Duncan could ride, being blind, and
coupled together with my ribs, it was
looking like the team was already re-
duced from five to three.
This shakey start to the expedition
was all being filmed by Rummin, a Tas-
manian productions company, who
were documenting the journey - I had
previously worked with Rummin on
the film Doing It Scared (2016) about
my return to the Totem Pole after an
accident there in 1998 left me with my
disability. They were delighted (if a lit-
tle worried) when we found Torsten, a
bush welder, to mend the tandem in
a firework display of sparks. In fact,
so strong was his job that the tandem
lasted the duration of the 2152km tra-
verse without any more problems.
There is a spot on Kati Thanda that