Crossing the Ditch was the effort of adventurers Justin Jones and James Castrission to become the first to cross the Tasman Sea and travel from Australia to New Zealand by sea kayak. Setting off from Forster, New South Wales on 13 November 2007 in their custom-designed kayak Lot 41, the two-man expedition succeeded where previous attempts, including the fatal journey of Andrew McAuley, had been unsuccessful. They arrived at Ngamotu Beach, in New Plymouth, New Zealand on 13 January 2008.
The expedition holds the world record for "the longest trans-oceanic expedition in a double kayak by two expeditioners". A significant aspect of this undertaking was the use of the internet to allow the public to track the progress of Lot 41 in real time, and message the crew. Photographs and podcasts from the crew were made available just hours after they had been transmitted from the craft.
Read more about Crossing The Ditch: Team, Design and Construction of Lot 41, Journey, Other Trans-Tasman Crossings
Famous quotes containing the words crossing the, crossing and/or ditch:
“This was charming, no doubt: but they shortly found out
That the Captain they trusted so well
Had only one notion for crossing the ocean,
And that was to tingle his bell.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“This, my first [bicycle] had an intrinsic beauty. And it opened for me an era of all but flying, which roads emptily crossing the airy, gold-gorsy Common enhanced. Nothing since has equalled that birdlike freedom.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“I have three phobias which, could I mute them, would make my life as slick as a sonnet, but as dull as ditch water: I hate to go to bed, I hate to get up, and I hate to be alone.”
—Tallulah Bankhead (1903–1968)