That Mad Belgian

[Warin]

Those other electronic gears are all replaceable and can be kissed goodbye.

Could have travel insurance, might cover the cost of replacements?
Of course the photos and videos are beyond price as you cannot replace them.

-------------
Unfortunately advertising the reward may attract some inexperienced people who may end up in difficulties themselves.

[ribuck]

Well! I've just found this thread, and it was so gripping that I read it compulsively from start to end, missing out on sleep.

I cannot imagine doing a trip like this without food resupply. I cannot imagine doing it in winter. I cannot imagine doing so much of it at night. I cannot imagine carrying 30kg of gear in addition to food and fuel. Any one of those things would have stopped me, and yet he overcame all of them. What an achievement!

As I was reading through this thread, I really enjoyed everyone's comments, especially those from people who knew the obstacles of the areas he was in. It's normally hard to get a feel for what an extreme adventure is like, but you guys brought it to life with your comments.

I thought the debate over semantics was worthwhile too. He did what he did, and the actual achievement is all his. But how that achievement is categorised by others, well that's not for him to decide.

I once led a ten day trek in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, with zero outside support. However we did trade with the indigenous people, so it wouldn't have met anyone else's definition of "unsupported". But I wouldn't have had it any other way. It would have been a lesser experience without interacting with the local people.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who - through their posts - created this amazing thread.

[bogholesbuckethats]

Next trip - Winter trip up the New River to Fed, out the Old. Only at night time?

[north-north-west]

Next trip - Winter trip up the New River to Fed, out the Old. Only at night time?

You've been reading the Breminator's thread, haven't you?

Last edited by north-north-west on Tue 02 Oct, 2018 1:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[stepbystep]

Terrible news re SD card, giving a journo that without backing up is even sillier than jumping in the Derwent late in the day!!!

I've recovered 8 of his original GoPro files from what he supplied to the ABC. I hope Louis has sourced any other files he gave to the media???

For anyone that missed the ABC piece the day he walked out, here 'tis...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q3hk1gxfb7xb0 ... e.mp4?dl=0

Last edited by stepbystep on Tue 02 Oct, 2018 10:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

[bogholesbuckethats]

You've been the the Breminator's thread, haven't you?

It made for an interesting read last night, I wondering if he is still looking for volunteers for round two?

[Nuts]

c'mon louphi, pics or it didn't happen, feed the hungry beast..!

hey, have you met les fou Suisses?
http://sarah-marquis.squarespace.com/blog/

[north-north-west]

You've been reading the Breminator's thread, haven't you?

It made for an interesting read last night, I wondering if he is still looking for volunteers for round two?

Round two finished the same way as round one. The score is currently New River 2, Brem 0. Are you game to be part of round three? It might be possible to persuade him (if he's stopped taking his medication).

[north-north-west]

I've recovered 8 of his original GoPro files from what he supplied to the ABC.

*Loud applause*

[RicktheHuman]

You've been reading the Breminator's thread, haven't you?

It made for an interesting read last night, I wondering if he is still looking for volunteers for round two?

Round two finished the same way as round one. The score is currently New River 2, Brem 0. Are you game to be part of round three? It might be possible to persuade him (if he's stopped taking his medication).

There was a great feature in Wild Magazine a couple of months back on a couple of blokes that were successful at that approach. I can't remember their names but there are some excellent photos in it

[bogholesbuckethats]

You've been reading the Breminator's thread, haven't you?

It made for an interesting read last night, I wondering if he is still looking for volunteers for round two?

Round two finished the same way as round one. The score is currently New River 2, Brem 0. Are you game to be part of round three? It might be possible to persuade him (if he's stopped taking his medication).

Third time lucky perhaps. I think i'll stick to the more common approach, though there is an interesting looking sinkhole at 460458E 5202092N...

[jmac]

[quote="north-north-west"] You've been reading the Breminator's thread, haven't you?

It made for an interesting read last night, I wondering if he is still looking for volunteers for round two?

Round two finished the same way as round one. The score is currently New River 2, Brem 0. Are you game to be part of round three? It might be possible to persuade him (if he's stopped taking his medication).

There was a great feature in Wild Magazine a couple of months back on a couple of blokes that were successful at that approach. I can't remember their names but there are some excellent photos in it[/quote]

Christoph Michel and Andy Ebert. Nice blokes, they reached out to me to share thoughts on the New River valley. They had a lovely trip; although they needed two tries to complete it to their satisfaction. Scrambling up to near Hanging Lake from Lake Geeves must have been an extremely good feeling; so steep and scrub-filled; imagine topping out from that! The New valley contains some very very difficult terrain; I found going downstream hard enough, couldn't contemplate pushing upstream. The Old River valley is easy by comparison, although getting to Gorilla Ridge and then descending it is indeed hard.

The idea of a New/Old double is a scary thought!

[durks]

Christoph Michel and Andy Ebert.

FYI there's a report of that trip at https://www.packrafting.de/2017/04/jung ... anien.html

(In German, but Google translate will work.)

[jmac]

c'mon louphi, pics or it didn't happen, feed the hungry beast..!

hey, have you met les fou Suisses?
http://sarah-marquis.squarespace.com/blog/

I chatted with Lou-Phi about Sarah Marquis. Coincidentally I met her at Melaleuca as she was about to head north on her journey. She said she wanted to do most of it off track, including going on foot up the Davey River Valley, then crossing over the Franklands to Pedder. She clearly had very limited insight into what that would entail. I spent a couple of hours at Melaleuca showing her on maps what lines would go and where to avoid the worst scrub. She had no scrub gloves so I gave her mine. Later from her blog and social media I gleaned that she chose to just walk the Port Davey Track instead. Her images and words appear carefully crafted to entertain her followers but reveal very little detail of her actual journey. If anyone has figured out where she actually went, I'd be very interested. Maybe that's a separate thread though; apologies for drifting off topic.

[Nuts]

I see, yes, had thought there would be more detail somewhere but it doesn't appear that way. So iv'e asked her what routes she took (just out of curiosity).

[jdeks]

I chatted with Lou-Phi about Sarah Marquis. Coincidentally I met her at Melaleuca as she was about to head north on her journey. She said she wanted to do most of it off track, including going on foot up the Davey River Valley, then crossing over the Franklands to Pedder. She clearly had very limited insight into what that would entail. I spent a couple of hours at Melaleuca showing her on maps what lines would go and where to avoid the worst scrub. She had no scrub gloves so I gave her mine. Later from her blog and social media I gleaned that she chose to just walk the Port Davey Track instead. Her images and words appear carefully crafted to entertain her followers but reveal very little detail of her actual journey. If anyone has figured out where she actually went, I'd be very interested. Maybe that's a separate thread though; apologies for drifting off topic.

Very interesting, that you think it's appropriate to make veiled judgements and insinuations about the validity of another trekker's undertaking, but when other folk raise points of fact that challenge the narrative around LouPhi, suddenly there's outrage....

[beardless]

It took him twelve years to work up the strength to tackle Tassie a second time. That puts him in his mid fifties for the next trip . . .

He has not reported getting trench foot this time so he might be able to recover a bit faster.

Hope he can a way to access the footage.

I spoke too soon.

Recent update from his Facebook page (Louis-Philippe Loncke Explorer & Adventurer):

"Doctor said I'm adding up the damage in my toes (already same sort of problem in 2007 in Tasmania, and a few other treks). He said once I start feeling the electrical shocks in my toes (which did start) it means the nerves are slowly getting awake. He said the progress of recovery is about 1mm per day in the toes. I then said oh so my big toe is about 5cm so about 50 days. He said nope, I must take into account the part of the toe in the feet so about 9cm so a goof minimum of 3 months to recover nerve influx. Great just in time for getting cold during my second winter of the year. As for the black reddish color under my toenail, he said that's a diffused hematoma. Mmm so can wait early 2019 to hopefully have my toes back and be able to run properly and jump higher than my current record of 4cm spring (détente). Today I'm able to start to go down stairs without using the handrail. Cool, with 2 hands free I can start carry things."

[louphi]

Hi all, small update here from my (office=in my bed, coz too much stuff/gear around on the floor&desk/table)...

It has been 3 weeks since the end of the expedition.

All TV/News interview of OZ/BE here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... WinterTrek (I discovered searching on a hashtag in Youtube works, so tagging #TasmaniaWinterTrek in my videos)
The last video of the Mercury (NewsCorp) is already uploaded but will probably show up once Google has indexed the video, so about 24h.

BEARD: I shaved. Actually under my chin my beard is ticker so I used a Moroccan technique to create my own wax (sugar+water+lime, and boil until remains a thick black matter that soften in the microwave and hardens when cold=WAX) and waxed this part. Clean now (and yes painful but hey most women do it all their life). OK, the sugar I choose is far less quality than what I see in this video. Mine is very black but it works. Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVKrLumCEpA
Completely natural, super cheap, sugar melts in the sink, so no clogging.

FEET:
Yesterday I went back to RS SCAN, the company that had printed 3D insoles to raise the arch of my feet, hence decreasing pressure points on my middle toes and well with such a weight, on all toes. For the info, after TAS2007 expedition, I lost the sensitivity in my toes for 18 months. First toes were completely alive after 9 months. As I did run on their special floor to measure my feets running/walking way, I felt not only my 2 big thumb-toes were numb but also the tip of the 2 other big ones of my left foot. I have no trench foot disease this time. my swollen calves were normal already since I'm back in Belgium.
The doctor I saw last week said the nerves/sensitivity in the toes would come back at a rate of 1mm per day. I first thought OK, the big one is 4-5cm long but i've to take into account the start of the toe into the foot, so more 9cm so about 90mm so 90 days. HE said that I accumulate the damage over time (bang, i lost sentitivity in TAS2007, Iceland2010, GR20 last year (only 1 month loss of sensitivity) and TAS2018). The doctor I saw in 2007 said the micro-circulation in the foot is completely gone (so not the best idea to trek in Siberia or Antarctica by -40C as I would be permanently very sensitive to frostbite) but the doctor I saw told me microcirculation does come back a bit slowly. So not all is lost to attempt crossing Antarctica in the winter (just kidding, well I hope).
I start to peel some hard skin here and there since yesterday.

HANDS: I feel the skin is very thick and strong, not really soft. At the tip of my fingers I had many cracks (and some bleeding) because of the cold. I did remove the dead skin during the past week. My finger tips are great and fingers are surely warm, no loss of sensitivity or whatever functionality.

KNEES: still weak, often in the morning I need my hands to support going down the stairs as they hurt. So less bodymass I can squeeze a large tendon with my fingers, beurgk.

BODYMASS: 74 kg (from about 67kg/83.3 at the start/normal weight should be or let's say I'd like to be 74-75kg of muscles) but I guess at least 3kg of food in my stomac/intestins. It seems obvious in my weight gain I just filled my belly
I can cycle without a problem
I can start jogging/slow running I'd say 8km/h but for not long. And my left leg (left toes) is not 100% so I am limping while walking and running. On sunday I walked back from the cementary (my aunty died on day 7 of the expedition, my family decided not to tell me, well they didn't have any ways to tell me anyway) 2km and noticed that after a long walk the pain decreases and almost no limping. So I better train by walking.

CLEANING: So used not to shower or brush my teeth I only do it twice a week. But when I'll find a job I guess a routine will come back.

YESTIVAL: I'm going to the Yestival south of London (UK) this weekend, 3 days outdoors, sleeping in my same gear. I have 30 min on the saturday to speak about TWT2018. No slides, the festival is plastic-free and electricity low so it's all oral talking. If you have aussie friends in London, still tickets available. https://sayyesmore.com/yestival/

Tomorrow morning, I meet a Flemish (Belgian) book editor. My aim is to start understanding how they work, I send her already the "structure of the book". I'm pretty sure she knows nothing about TAS and bushwalking. But open to hear. The book fair of belgium is mid-february, by then i hope to have a doc file of my notebook. I wrote every day or 2. Of course, the book will be in English, I wrote in English, I have a bigger "market" in EN but FR and perhaps NL would be also translated quickly. My aim at the fair is to introduce myself to several book editors. Of course an option is to edit the book myself with the help of talented people to review the book. I found someone who did that and she seems successful about it but I'll weight the advantages/drawbacks of doing everything with or without a pro editing company. Perhaps I should find one in AUS (email me for a few ideas of editing companies you think would suit)
PS: On monday I had lost my notebook, got very stressed, calling my sister (she drove me home to my parents last weekend), my parents to ask if they'd seen it...it was in the housing of my laptop. Ouf.

BRAIN: I start to be able to remember things like meetings in a few days, things to do, languages... I hope by end october my brain is back to normal (as if i could measure that)...
Stupid things I did in the past 3 weeks:
* asking my best friend (since kindergarden) if his 2nd daughter was born and if all ok...he said she was born in April
* booking a plane from Launceston to Sydney for the 4th october...instead of 27th of september
* Taking the wrong exit while driving...even with the GPS on!

EYES/EARS: no check up done yet. I currently feel great.
TEETH: did the yearly tartar descaling, dentist said my teeth were doing great even after brushing them 3 times in 3 months. I said, so toothpaste is really useless marketing polluting the planet? He said yes...not sure if he was 100% believing what he said or just to make me feel good.
NOSE: I could smell the weed of a new flatmate the moment I opened the door of the house (i live in a shared house, each of us has a room).

GOPRO memory card: Got a message from my friend in Sydney, the recovery company said the files are damaged so we cannot get back the photos This is like Gopro photos from D1 to D40 or so)
Moreover, I had copied the videos from the memorycard to 2*64gb usbkeys in sydney, copied then on my 5Tera harddrive home...and only 1/4 of the videos could be played. Rest have not even a thumbnail and just don't play. As I got back some gopro clips from the Tassie TVs, I not have 1/3 of the video files
So for now, for sure, a film is not possible. Also a pain as watching the clips would have helped to add content for the book, describe the area traversed etc...
I just keep cool/calm about it because I'm just alive, very ok physically and I compare always to the people on this planet who have nothing or worse at in a country at war.
Yesterday I had a thought of doing this expedition again but I have to forget about it, not a good idea.
So let's hope someone finds the panasonic camera and the files on the SD card are ok, perhaps i can make a small video with it. No film without the start obviously. I only have the end with the 2nd gopro card.

[Warin]

Bugger about the photos/video.

Teeth:
Before toothpaste people had clean teeth!
In Africa you simply pick up a stick and chew on the end to make a brush and use that to clean your teeth.
It works well .. you can see how clean their teeth are just by looking.

[ribuck]

I think it would make an interesting book to combine your own story of the walk, day by day, with the reactions and speculations of all the people who were watching here.

[louphi]

I think it would make an interesting book to combine your own story of the walk, day by day, with the reactions and speculations of all the people who were watching here.

Well, I haven't read the whole thread yet but indeed, I might add in the book without citing who some personal thoughts at the end on the comments I will read.

So, by the way this is what I wrote as structure:

Book title:
An adventurer in Tasmania - 101 days of expeditions

Book structure:
* Thanks / Preface by ??? / Vocabulary special to Australia/Tasmania / Index / Infos about Tasmania, Tasmania Wilderness, world heritage area / Tasmania and Australia's bushwalking rules / Bushwalking tips
* Bio L-Ph Loncke / List expeditions / Published books (& contributions) + Titles other coming books (if we know)
* Log1 : Wild Mountains of Tasmania (2006-2007 expedition, 49 days) / not to forget to explain my adventure rules + the help I got / Preparation / Conclusion
* Log2 : Tasmania Winter Trek (2018 expedition, 52 days) not to forget to explain my adventure rules + the help I got / Preparation / Conclusion
* Maps of 1 & 2 (planned, realized at the end) / kms / days of walking, paddling / food list / equipment list
* List of sponsors
* List of damaged gear, lost gear and explain how to improve
* Lessons Learned
* Research of PhD. Cécile Vallet, conclusion “Decision Taking under Stress in Exteme environment”
* Garmin messages transcript.

[north-north-west]

If you want it proofread by someone who's right up there with Australian - and especially Tasmanian - lingo, I'll be happy to do that. I'm not professional but I've done a fair bit of this stuff for published writers for both bushwalking and technical diving books.

With regards to the lost camera: If it's necessary, I'm prepared to try diving that stretch of the river when the flow is mild enough, provided I can find someone capable of acting as a dive tender for safety reasons. It depends also on what access from the riverbank is like; I'm not going to drag umptydozen kgs of tanks, regs, etc through thick scrub, and diving from the kayak isn't really practical. Fortunately, you've pinpointed the spot where the packraft got upended, so the search area shouldn't be too big.

[stepbystep]

If you want it proofread by someone who's right up there with Australian - and especially Tasmanian - lingo, I'll be happy to do that. I'm not professional but I've done a fair bit of this stuff for published writers for both bushwalking and technical diving books.

With regards to the lost camera: If it's necessary, I'm prepared to try diving that stretch of the river when the flow is mild enough, provided I can find someone capable of acting as a dive tender for safety reasons. It depends also on what access from the riverbank is like; I'm not going to drag umptydozen kgs of tanks, regs, etc through thick scrub, and diving from the kayak isn't really practical. Fortunately, you've pinpointed the spot where the packraft got upended, so the search area shouldn't be too big.

If you do the dive I'll come up and photograph it

[north-north-west]

If you want it proofread by someone who's right up there with Australian - and especially Tasmanian - lingo, I'll be happy to do that. I'm not professional but I've done a fair bit of this stuff for published writers for both bushwalking and technical diving books.

With regards to the lost camera: If it's necessary, I'm prepared to try diving that stretch of the river when the flow is mild enough, provided I can find someone capable of acting as a dive tender for safety reasons. It depends also on what access from the riverbank is like; I'm not going to drag umptydozen kgs of tanks, regs, etc through thick scrub, and diving from the kayak isn't really practical. Fortunately, you've pinpointed the spot where the packraft got upended, so the search area shouldn't be too big.

If you do the dive I'll come up and photograph it

I need a safety tender, not an added nuisance. Just keep well clear and don't fiddle with the equipment.

[ribuck]

Fortunately, you've pinpointed the spot where the packraft got upended, so the search area shouldn't be too big.

Well, the search area is everywhere from that point downstream, so I would call it "big". But in the best case scenario the equipment will be exposed when the water level drops, and a dive may not even be needed.

[north-north-west]

Fortunately, you've pinpointed the spot where the packraft got upended, so the search area shouldn't be too big.

Well, the search area is everywhere from that point downstream, so I would call it "big". But in the best case scenario the equipment will be exposed when the water level drops, and a dive may not even be needed.

The bag was open and/or holed, so it shouldn't have travelled too far. We'll see.

[peregrinator]

I’m probably not the only one here who has thought about this expedition while out on walks of my own recently. The thoughts arise because of the distinct contrast between the circumstances of my trips and the superhuman effort by Louis-Philippe. Fifty-two winter days with, if I recall correctly, a load of something like sixty kilograms. I don’t think I’d get past fifty-two seconds. And even with my load being less than two-thirds of that for a mere four-day walk, I’m thinking as I proceed, “just as well there’s only two more hours until the lunch stop”; and then, “what a relief when I get to my campsite”.

So, I do not know how you managed to assuage or deflect negative thoughts in the conditions you endured but, Louis-Philippe, I believe you are some kind of genius, not mad at all. Perhaps the title of this thread is a little unfortunate. Of course, from the perspective of the following definition, “mad” is an apt word.

“informal: he's mad about jazz: enthusiastic, passionate, impassioned, keen on; ardent, zealous, fervent, avid, eager, fervid, fanatical, addicted to, devoted to, infatuated with, in love with, hot for; informal crazy, potty, dotty, nuts, wild, hooked on, gone on; N. Amer. informal nutso. ANTONYMS indifferent.”

With such an attitude, maybe negativity is almost not possible.

[ribuck]

... sixty kilograms ... even with my load being less than two-thirds of that for a mere four-day walk ...

Don't you mean "less than one third"?

With a load two-thirds of his, you could take an espresso machine and a 240V generator to power it.

[Nuts]

I see, yes, had thought there would be more detail somewhere but it doesn't appear that way. So iv'e asked her what routes she took (just out of curiosity).

No Reply

[jmac]

I see, yes, had thought there would be more detail somewhere but it doesn't appear that way. So iv'e asked her what routes she took (just out of curiosity).

No Reply

In the meantime, I think Lou-Phi has unfinished business in Tasmania. You need to come back and swim around Tassie, Lou-Phi!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-05/ ... er_Organic