Following the Finke River

Bob Carr

Robert, better known as Bob has always had a burning desire for travel, with a particular interest in experiencing the lesser-travelled paths of the world. Though home has always been NSW, Australia, there aren’t many places both here and abroad he hasn’t yet explored – from the deserts of outback Australia to Lapland in northern Finland, Cape York to The Great Wall of China. This list is forever growing, and these experiences keep making his life richer and more fulfilled. With particular reference to the deserts of outback Australia, 4×4 driving and camping are a profound hobby.

Accompanied by his family and Australian Geographic, Bob has travelled on the Lasseter’s Reef expedition following the story of Harold Lasseter’s gold reef, Gunbarrel Highway Expedition following the roads surveyed and constructed by the Gunbarrel Road Construction Party led by Len Beadell, and also the Captain Starlight Expedition, following the story of the infamous stockman, drover and cattle thief named Henry Arthur Readford. These are only a number of outback trips Bob has extensively travelled, with the Canning Stock Route, Simpson’s Desert, conquering “Big Red”, numerous 4wd trips with friends also adding to his life’s travel record.

Though the outback trips are not as frequent on the calendar as they used to be, whenever the opportunity arises or is “too good to pass up” low and behold the bags will be packed and he’ll be off on his next adventure. For the near future, Greece & China and on home soil the Finke Expedition are on the cards. As to where he’ll be and what he’ll be experiencing next year? Only time will tell!

Brian Cohen

An accomplished Content Producer & Director with more than 10 years experience in every angle of media production from creative development, pre and post production through distribution. Brian regularly produces and directs documentaries with the University of Melbourne showcasing emerging research. Last year he received the Silver Effie & Tangram awards for his commercial work with IBM, and his award-winning short film “Still” was recently screened at the Miami Film Festival, SOMA, the Berlin International and NY Film Week.

Kate Leeming

As an explorer/adventurer, Kate has cycled the equivalent of twice around the world at the Equator (85,000km). Kate first began travelling by bicycle in the early ’90s when she rode a total of 15,000km as her way of experiencing Europe. During these journeys, from Ireland and Spain, through the Mediterranean region to Turkey, central Europe and to the Nord Kapp Norway, Kate developed her passion for travelling by bicycle.

Kate loves to explore by bike because of the close connection she makes with the people and land; she loves bringing a line on a map to life, and travelling by bike she finds gives a great sense of place, a realistic perspective of how the world fits together.

Since then, Kate has stepped it up, performing three major expeditions; the 13,400km Trans-Siberian Cycle Expedition from St Petersburg to Vladivostok (with Greg Yeoman), the 25,000km Great Australian Cycle Expedition (7000km off road on remote tracks) and the 22,000km Breaking the Cycle in Africa expedition from Senegal to Somalia.

For several years now, Kate has been working towards her next venture, Breaking the Cycle South Pole, which will be the first bicycle crossing the Antarctic continent via the South Pole. From 2018-2020, she plans to complete a preparatory expedition (polar, sand, altitude) on six continents before she crosses Antarctica starting from mid-November 2020.