It’s been three months since our incredible expedition to Northern Canada, so much has happened in that time…. Dave is back in shape and has further tuned and adjusted the kitesled, he just got back from testing it in 40+ knot winds in the icy Australian snow;

Ben has made great progress in the organisation of our Antarctic goal;

While I have lately been distracted somewhat by the arrival of our first child.

Looking back on those cold, cold days on the ice of James Bay, I’m amazed that we accomplished anything at all, such was the ghastly nature of our shocking vehicle accident * on the third day in country. We should really have sustained much greater injuries, disablement, or worse… but amazingly, after almost three weeks of recovery time, we were able to gingerly take on almost 500km of frozen ocean and succeed.

I think that some of the things that helped us come through were:

A high level of physical fitness meant that not only were we able to absorb the impact of the crash without suffering greater injuries, but we also healed quicker.

A well designed kitesled and top-notch clothing  and equipment took the strain off our battered bodies. Essentially the sled looked after us, it handled some heavy abuse and allowed one of us to rest while the other controlled the kite.

A strong partnership that saw us work well together and effectively manage all risks. (Daves’ high pain threshold helped too!), In our weakened states, I’m not sure either of us would have been game to take on 100’s of km of bumpy ice if we hadn’t known the other guy would be there for support and problem solving.

The support and encouragement we received from the the Eeyou  people of Eastern James Bay. Most of these amazing people we met in the villages of Chissibi and Waskaganish, we met a couple of hunters out on the ice, and one friendly family invited us to tea in their little cabin south of the mouth of the frozen Eastmain river. It was interesting to hear their tales of living in that wild landscape and learn of the great challenges they face as a nation. (I think they were just as interested in why two Australians would spend so much energy and come so far to challenge themselves in a cold, windy wilderness)

Here is Amanda Tomatuk, (seven years old), one of the next generation of Eeyou jetting around on her snowmobile.

From Bits and pieces for kitesled.com

There is a lot more cooking at present, much of it to do with planning and bureaucracy for our Antarctic plans, but there is still plenty of testing and fine tuning of hardware to do…. in between learning about being a Dad!

* For those who came in late: We were headed North to undertake a 1500km expedition, we were driving on a wilderness highway when we lost control and had a head on collision with a semi-trailer at a closing speed of over 120 kph. It was the rear wheels that slid on a patch of ice, and the fact that the hire company had neglected to fit winter tyres to those rear wheels meant there was no chance of recovering control before we hit, we spent almost a week in hospital, and, among quite a few other injuries Dave broke 8 ribs and his sternum. Ouch!