JOHN STOUKALO
Syd Kirkby overcame childhood polio to
map more of Antarctica than anyone else, often
travelling by dog sled in temperatures as low as
–70°C. Gaby Kennard was a single mum with
two children when she chased her dream of
becoming the first Australian woman to fly solo
around the world.
Why does the instinct to explore lie dormant
in some, yet drive others to confront discomfort,
even mortal danger, in pursuit of the unknown?
Just one question examined by TrailBlazers:
Australia’s 50 greatest explorers, an Australian
Geographic-supported exhibition opening at
Sydney’s Australian Museum in November. It’s
the brainchild of Kim McKay, the dynamic new
director and CEO of Australia’s oldest and most
revered museum.
As founding editor of the journal and long-
time councillor of the AG Society, I’d met Kim
decades ago as she encouraged us to Clean Up
Australia. More recently, we’d worked together
helping Tim Jarvis organise his Shackleton Epic.
“How about an exhibition about Australian
exploration and adventure,” she asked just over
a year ago. “You know, like the top 50 of all time.”
It’s been a wild ride ever since. What defines
exploration? Or adventure? How would we
choose between one person and another? Cavers
vs mountaineers, sailors vs surveyors?
“It will be controversial,” Kim noted.
And comprehensive. From our first explorers,
Aboriginals arriving from the north some 60,000
years ago on log rafts, to Macassans and Dutch
driven by trade, the British expanding empire
and ‘settler explorers’ opening up Australia’s
interior in search of greener pastures.
Victoria’s Burke and Wills vied with
South Australia’s Stuart to be the first expedition
to cross the continent. Two decades later, George
‘Chinese’ Morrison, a cub reporter for Mel-
bourne’s The Age, crossed from north to south
alone, describing it as a “stroll”.In time, Frank Hurley’s Antarctic imagery
would surpass Douglas Mawson’s extraordinary
scientific discoveries in the public consciousness.
And one of our greatest ever adventurers, Hubert
Wilkins, went largely unheralded, because he
made the USA his base.
Most explorers shared personal qualities.
Often they had been challenged, either by social
circumstance, illness or injury, and all showed an
insatiable curiosity. They set goals, were willing
to take risks to achieve them, yet maintained the
necessary discipline to survive. Putting up with
great physical discomfort was a given.
As we approached the present time, the names
became people that are part of the Australian
Geographic family – such as Dick Smith, who
continued his aviation adventures as we developed
his ‘Journal of Adventure and Discovery’. I’d
shared expeditions with Greg Mortimer, Ron
and Valerie Taylor, Syd Kirkby and Tim Cope.
Many others I’d been fortunate to meet, thanks
to the crucial role the AG Society and its journal
has played in sponsoring science and adventure.
Curating this exhibition taught me that
Australians, like all humans, set out to explore
and to push the boundaries, because it’s in our
nature. Like seeds that drift onto a newly formed
island, take hold and generate fresh life, we too
are designed to go forth and colonise. And not
everywhere we land is sympathetic to human life.
So perhaps adventures to the most hostile
environments on Earth, from the ‘death zone’
above 8000m, to the ocean’s greatest depths, are
vital exercises to prepare us for challenges ahead.
As for those among us who cry “there’s noth-
ing left to discover”, I disagree. We’ve only just
begun. If you’d like proof, make time to visit
TrailBlazers: Australia’s 50 greatest explorers, which will
be at the Australian Museum from 28 November
2015 to 18 July 2016.Howard Whelan
JAMES COOK grew up a humble
farm boy, left school at 16, signed on
as an apprentice sailor and proved
to become one of history’s greatest
navigators and explorers.
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Tim Jarvis, 2013 AGS
Adventurer of the Year.