A new adventure awaits Cas and Jonesy - tackling Antarctica

When I first started the Fat Paddler journey back in 2009, I read a book titled “Crossing the Ditch“, the story of two young Sydney men who became the first and so far only people to successfully paddle from Australia to New Zealand, a distance of over 3000km. The book resonated with me more than I expected and fired up a desire to not only take on my own demons, but to strive for more adventure in my life.  They were so influential in my own challenge that when it came to writing my book “The Fat Paddler” I asked them if they’d like to read the initial manuscript and perhaps write a Foreward for me, which they did.

Over the past few years they’ve been putting together a plan for their next adventure – an unsupported walk from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back – a feat never before completed. They’ve spent countless hours planning, training, raising money, and more training, to ready themselves for this epic adventure dragging 200kg sleds across the ice in -50C degree temperatures on the Earth’s harshest continent. Today the boys boarded a plane bound for South America, on the first hop in their journey down to the southern ice.

One of the sleds Cas and Jonesy will haul, packed with 200kg of provisions

I was fortunate enough to attend their farewell party last friday night where I got to see their gear first hand. The sleds are massive, looking more like high-tech coffins.  Over 100kg of the packed weight is food, since they’ll have enormous caloric requirements due to the energy required to haul gear over ice for thousands of kilometres. Their personal gear is of the highest quality, since it will make the difference between surviving the harsh conditions or not. And the lads themselves have stacked on close to 20kgs each to give them enough fat stores to get them through the ordeal.

Jonesy's survival gear - hardcore gear for extreme conditions

An expedition like this takes an enormous amount of planning and hard work to get off the ground, something these boys are not afraid to do. It will be an amazing adventure that everyone will be able to follow via their website CasandJonesy.com.au once they commence the journey in a couple of weeks. I for one will be keeping a close eye on their progress. Good luck fellas! Cheers, FP

After a strong campaign to put on weight, Cas and Jonesy almost make the grade as Fat Paddlers

Tags: Antarctica, Cas and Jonesy, Crossing the Ditch, Crossing the Ice, James Castrission, Justin Jones

Fat Paddler in Greenland. That's right, GREENLAND! (Image Credit: Chris Paton)

With 2009 drawing to a close I thought it time to run one last competition. The last competition is – “Where’s the Fat Paddler?“.  To enter, follow the following steps:

1. Get hold of a Fat Paddler logo. I can be a tshirt, a sticker, a beer cooler, something from Fat Paddler’s Zazzle Store, or simply print and cut out the logo I’ve prepared for you HERE.

2. Take a photo of the Fat Paddler logo – be it in an exotic location, creatively placed somewhere it shouldn’t, or anything that you think looks good.

3. Upload your picture to the Fan Photos section of the Fat Paddler Facebook Page.

4. Write a brief description with the photo of where or what the photo is. That’s it!

Entries close on Sunday 20 December (where-ever you are!) to give me time to collate and judge the two best photos to put up on FatPaddler.com.

Now for the important bit – the Prize Pack!  For this competition there will be two prize packs for the two best photos. Each prize pack will consist of:

1. A copy of the book “Crossing the Ditch” personally signed by its author James Castrission and his paddling partner Justin Jones. This book is about the first ever crossing of the Tasman Sea (between Australia and New Zealand) by kayak, and if you like how the Fat Paddler writes, then you will love this incredible story.

2. 2x Vinyl Fat Paddler stickers (1x white, 1x black)

3. An exclusive Fat Paddler beer cooler.

So there it is, can’t wait to see what you come up with! And just to give you a taste of the book “Crossing the Ditch”, enjoy the preview to the documentary they made whilst on their incredible paddle. Cheers – FP

Tags: Competition, Crossing the Ditch, Where's the Fat Paddler