Preparation is a key aspect to any journey no matter how big or small, or how remote it is. “To survive in the bush, even where water is plentiful, you need to develop skills that are suited to Australia, and unfortunately it’s the people that are born here that are most likely not to realise the danger.” This can make it very difficult to navigate without a GPS or at least a map and compass. “Australia is a very big country, and while there are subtle changes in the landscape, you can travel for hundreds of kilometres without seeing any major difference. During the wet season they may run into an inland sea or floodwaters, but won’t lead you to much else.”Īs a European, Delafosse-Guiramand says he is generally more used to the northern hemisphere, but that Australia’s landscapes are unique compared with other southern hemisphere countries he’s visited. “Many creeks and rivers in Australia run inland and meander for kilometres before petering out. “This method of following watercourses is sound in most places, I wouldn’t recommend it in Australia,” he cautions. During a dry spell he found himself sucking on a pebble to keep his mouth moist, while navigating downhill along dry stream beds in the hope of coming across a village of some kind. In the second scenario, Delafosse-Guiramand found himself in trouble while hiking through the Himalayas towards Afghanistan. Luckily my GPS unit was still running otherwise I’d have no idea how I’d gotten there.” “The next memory I had was of someone picking me up off the side of the road. Due to a combination of dehydration and lack of sustenance his memory seems to have been offline for a period of some 24 hours. All I knew was there was a road some 30-40 kilometres to the east and at some point my survival instinct must have kicked in because I made a sharp, 90-degree turn in that direction and began heading for the road.”Īt least, that’s what the French-born, Canberra-based survival expert thinks happened. I was beginning to drift in and out of consciousness. “It was extremely cold and I’d been pushing hard to reach Mongolian/China border. “The first situation occurred while trekking alone in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia,” he says. He’s even been in several close-call, arid-environment situations himself, although both were in Asia, rather than in Australia. Photo: Supplied.īut Cyril Delafosse-Guiramand, a survival expert and operator of Survival Encyclopedia & Training and No Limit Journeys, believes that good preparation, experience and a touch of common sense can go a long way in helping to preserve lives in these situations. Survival expert Cyril Delafosse-Guiramand has direct experience of getting into trouble in arid environments. Each uniquely beautiful in their own right, and each positively fatal when visitors fail to respect them.Īll told, our country’s deserts and arid regions make up nearly 35 percent of the landmass and are so sparsely populated that the many people who go missing in them perish long before catching sight of another person. Great Victoria, Great Sandy, Tanami, Simpson, Gibson – the list of Australian deserts goes on. You have enough water in the jerry cans to last a few days at least – maybe a week if you’re lucky – but then what? Suddenly the enormity of the situation begins to rise in your chest. ![]() That is, you managed to keep it going until it dies once more and no amount of tinkering gets the engine to turn over. Unfortunately, a few breakdowns have since led to delays of about one day, but you’ve managed to keep the old workhorse going. Packed into your old four-wheel-drive, you thought you were well supplied for the most dangerous leg of the journey – a long-haul drive on a barren desert road. You’ve got a broad experience base in the outdoors, so it seemed a foregone conclusion that you and your best mate would take a few months to travel the country, trying to fit in as much as possible before the cash runs out. The Great Australian Roadtrip is considered a rite of passage.
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