1 I'm Kevin Biggar. And I'm Jamie Fitzgerald. Over the past 10 years, we've taken on some of the world's toughest adventures, from rowing across the Atlantic... That's the problem with this seat we've been having. ...to walking unaided to the South Pole. Whoo-hoo! Now we have a new challenge ` to relive the epic journeys of NZ's early explorers. I will bloody do this thing. Over the next five weeks, we'll confront some of the toughest terrain this country has to offer, from the hanging valleys of Fiordland to the treacherous seas of the Open Bay Islands. Each week, we'll retrace the hardest parts of pioneering NZ expeditions. It is so worth it. But we're not only following in their footsteps, we'll be experiencing some of the same conditions and dangers the original adventurers faced ` wearing the same clothing and footwear, trying the same food and using the same equipment. This week ` Oh! Whitcombe and Lauper's deadly 1863 first crossing of the Southern Alps. We'll enter the mountains with blankets, swags and basic 19th-century climbing gear. We'll push ourselves to the limit to show you what happened when Whitcombe and Lauper tried to traverse one of the most challenging and dangerous landscapes in the world... ...and reveal just how remarkable their first crossing actually was. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2012 FAST-PACED MUSIC INDISTINCT RT CHATTER We're in the South Island of NZ in a chopper used for deer recovery and search and rescue. We're heading straight to the heart of the country's largest mountain chain, the Southern Alps. Even for experienced pilots, this is a tough place to fly through. The weather closes in so quickly that the pilots who come up here never know which route they'll take. We're heading for an area known as the Whitcombe Pass. It's one of the most wild and remote places that you're gonna find on the planet. We are travelling back to the 1860s, a time when colonists were seeking to conquer and claim the new frontier. Canterbury's leaders realised that to develop the West Coast and its bounty of gold, they needed to find a practical route through the Southern Alps. So a new road had to be built, and a new pass had to be found. So they asked roading engineer Henry Whitcombe to go find it. So four men set off by horse and cart from Christchurch on April the 13th 1863 to search for a viable pass for a road across the Alps. Their leader, English-born road engineer Henry Whitcombe, had virtually no knowledge of the NZ wilderness. Of the other men in the party, only the giant Swiss gold miner Jacob Lauper had any experience in the wild. Whitcombe's brief was made very clear. He needed to find the source of the Canterbury rivers as far as the main divide, but not to cross them. From Christchurch they'd work their way up the Rakaia River. Then near its headwaters, they planned to begin the search for a pass. The first part of the journey from Christchurch was fairly straightforward. But it's here at the foothills of the Southern Alps that things started to get interesting. It was at this point that Whitcombe asked Lauper if he'd accompany him the entire way to the West Coast. Thanks, Russell. Thanks, Russell. Cheers, mate. Thanks, Russell. Cheers, mate. Good luck, boys. Two members of the party were sent back to Christchurch while Whitcombe and Lauper prepared for the journey ahead. Everyone knew of the exploits of Australian explorers Burke and Wills. Whitcombe may have seen this expedition as his chance for fame ` to be known forever as the man who discovered a vital new route across the great Southern Alps. The pair estimated the journey would take just a few days and so took very little food. Let's see what we've got inside here and what we've got to work with. There's not a lot in here. We've got some rope, our boots. Got a hat. Got a hat. That'll look good on you. Got a hat. That'll look good on you. Now we're talking. What sort of clothes have you got? What sort of clothes have you got? It's r` It's all wool. You know, there's no Gore-tex. There's no` There's no titanium. There's no graphite. When this gets wet,... When this gets wet,... ...we're gonna get wet and cold. Ooh, I got the scones. So this is what they call biscuits, right? So this is what they call biscuits, right? That's right. And the ration of these is two per person per day. Can you imagine? Even for 1863, this was pretty basic stuff. A few biscuits, some mutton, tea and four hens. You're joking me. You're joking me. Oh no. You're joking me. Oh no. You are kidding me. Oh, look at it. Oh, that is one sick chook. Oh, that is one sick chook. They took a chicken? Oh, that is one sick chook. They took a chicken? Can we give it mouth-to-mouth? Hold on. There's something missing. Kevin, where are you gonna sleep? Oh no. Don't say. They didn't take a tent? They didn't take a tent? They didn't take a tent. They didn't take a tent? They didn't take a tent. No tent? No shelter means we'll be exposed to the unpredictable and extreme weather of the Southern Alps. And, of course, we'll be kitted out in our old-school clothing. Oh, look at you. Oh, look at you. (LAUGHS HELPLESSLY) Oh no. Oh no. (LAUGHS) What? That's what you have to wear? What do you even call that? That's a neckerchief. That's a neckerchief. A w`? A what? That's a neckerchief. A w`? A what? It's a neckerchief. I mean, what's that? Frill? I mean, what's that? Frill? Like this. Like the frilly laces. I mean, what's that? Frill? Like this. Like the frilly laces. (GUFFAWS) You may laugh, sir, but you shall see the back of my hand. Hats on, buddy. Let's get outta here. Let's get outta here. Let's go. MAJESTIC MUSIC Our plan is to follow the original 1863 route as described in Lauper's diary as best we can and overcome the same obstacles they faced. Maori had known of these routes for generations, but kept them secret to protect the location of pounamu, the valuable greenstone they used for ornaments and weapons. If they could succeed, they'd complete the first documented east coast to West Coast crossing of the Alps by this new route. To be the first people through here would be quite something. But there'd be huge natural barriers in their way. For a glacier-fed stream like this, mid-afternoon is peak flow time. This isn't a great time to cross. And in a region that sees 60ft of rain a year, flash floods are a constant threat. In the 19th century, drowning was so common here it was known as the national death. Like many men of his time, Lauper could hardly swim a stroke. Whitcombe was a strong swimmer, but he didn't appreciate the power of South Island rivers. TENSE MUSIC OK, that's our line over here. OK, that's our line over here. Right here? Go. The water is icy cold, and the force of the river is incredible. TENSE MUSIC BUILDS Whoa! TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES (PANTS) It's so cold. It's so cold. Kevin. Here. (GRUNTS) (GRUNTS) Oh yeah. I can't feel my hands. We did it, though. We did it, though. Well done. We did it, though. Well done. (LAUGHS) Look at you. Oh, how'd the gear go? You haven't lost anything, have you? No. How about you? It'll all be wet. The food and blankets will be soaked. Unreal. Unreal. (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) From the Rakaia River, Whitcombe and Lauper found a valley that appeared to split the Southern Alps. How many more hours of sunlight have we got? It was open and had an easy slope. It looked perfect for a Christchurch-to-West-Coast road. You don't wanna walk on that. How are your feet? Are they cold? How are your feet? Are they cold? Yeah, I mean, it's been a few hours since that river. Is that cotton drying out? Is that cotton drying out? (CHUCKLES) Not really. Whitcombe and Lauper had been travelling for two days now. They believed three more would see them to the coast, where they hoped to be resupplied by ship. Oh, yeah, no, this is` this is it here. We're at the top of the pass. It's all gonna be downhill from here. Just around that corner, we'll be able to see the Tasman Sea. Wow. Things haven't been going too bad. And you can see how they thought they could make it all the way to the coast. The intention is to make a road connecting the east and the West Coast. Yeah, but their instructions were just to come to this point and not go any further. If they'd turned around here, things could've turned out a lot differently. Having crossed the main divide, Whitcombe and Lauper began their descent. Their plan was simple ` follow the river all the way to the coast. But where the going up had been easy, the coming down quickly became a different story. The open valley funnels into a nasty narrow gorge filled with large, slippery boulders. Whoa! It's quite deep here. SOMBRE MUSIC Nearly all West Coast rivers start with an incredibly steep section, and it acts as a catchment, and the water flow just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Whitcombe and Lauper found that it was too slow to go down in the scrub on each side, so they made up their minds to come down the riverbed. In conditions like this, getting knocked unconscious and held under by the water is a real possibility. TENSE MUSIC Right? It's really really cold. We've been coming down. It's going OK, but we've hit a really bad bit. We've tied the rope to a boulder to lower ourselves down, just as Whitcombe and Lauper did in this spot around 160 years ago. There's huge pressure. SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC RIVER DROWNS OUT SPEECH He can't find the bottom, so he has to risk it and drop the rest of the way. Whoa! Jamie, you all right? I'm not sure he made that look very... easy. Take your time. Find your footing. 'The freezing water has turned my feet into lumps of meat. It's so hard to find footholds.' Yeah. Whoa! 1 We're in the South Island reliving Whitcombe and Lauper's epic crossing of the Southern Alps. There's huge pressure. We're using the same techniques Whitcombe and Lauper used in 1863 to get down this river. This water comes directly from the snow and melting ice. It must be about 4 degrees. Whoa! Kevin's boot gets trapped under a rock, and for a moment he's quickly submerged and left gasping for breath. SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC Now my boot's just given out. Did you see? I got stuck in a rock. We have no hope of retrieving our rope from here. Whitcombe and Lauper faced exactly the same problem and so chose to cut it. It was a crucial decision, for without a rope, they had no way of climbing back up. Got it. Their only option now was to carry on to the West Coast. (LAUGHS) But if the explorers thought things would get easier, they were seriously mistaken. The river gets wilder as it winds through the gorge, constantly fed by side streams. The Whitcombe River flows through some of NZ's wettest country, with two of its tributaries holding virtually all the national rainfall records. It's slow going navigating the boulders. Some are as high as a two-storey building. Before leaving, Whitcombe estimated that they would cover about 8km a day. (GROANS) We're far more experienced than he was, and it's taken us a whole day to travel just 2. This is exhausting. The walls of the gorge are just closing in. The river's getting bigger. It's around about this point that Whitcombe and Lauper realised that it was too risky to use the river any more. They decided that the only way to go down was to go up. SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC We are in one of the wettest places on earth ` nearly 10m of rainfall here each year ` making the ground incredibly unstable. The huge amount of rain that comes down through here carves out these great holes, but it leaves this rock, which is very tough to walk on. You all right? You all right? (PANTS) The bank rises nearly vertically from the riverbed, and every handhold must be tested. Whitcombe and Lauper must've been exhausted, and I know how they feel. Little has changed from when Whitcombe and Lauper navigated through this valley. The bush is incredibly thick, and progress is even slower than the river. Being in the bush would've been a welcome change from the roar of the river, but not for very long. If there are tigers in this country, here's where you'd find them. It's so disorientating walking through this. You just don't know which way you're going. And you know what? Plenty of trampers have been lost in country just like this. Some never have been found. But the bush canopy offers us a good place to set up camp, albeit without a tent,... We can use the tree for our skins. PANTS: Yeah. ...and a chance to light a fire. Yeah. He-hey! Fantastic. Why don't we get some water? I'd love a cup of tea. Sounds good. I'll grab it. (CHUCKLES) (CHUCKLES) Uh-oh. Look. BOTH: Oh no. They've gotten wet. Tell you what. I could still eat this though. I'll swap ya. Oh no. What happened to the chook? I don't think he liked the river. I don't think he liked the river. Chicken surprise. (CHUCKLES) This is just what happened with Whitcombe and Lauper though. After just a few days out on the trail, all their bread got soaked. They ate some by the fire, but the rest turned stale. But that's all they had to eat... for the rest of the trip. I'm starting to smoke here. I'm starting to smoke here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Whitcombe and Lauper had brought food for a few days, but their odyssey was to take much much longer. Oh, look at that. (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) We use our swags as a makeshift cover and do our best with a couple of blankets. Oh. Oh. (LAUGHS) Well, it's not exactly the Ritz, but it should do for one night. Time for that tea? Time for that tea? Yeah. OMINOUS MUSIC When Whitcombe and Lauper awoke, they were soaking wet. Then they discovered half their remaining food had been eaten by rats. So we got through it. It was quite a long night. About 2 o'clock in the morning, I started to get a whole new appreciation for what those guys went through. I mean, it's starting to wear me down a little bit. I mean, it's starting to wear me down a little bit. < (CHUCKLES) I mean, and I'm just thinking about them, and, uh, blimey, they did very very well. Very very well. The bush is unrelenting. Crossing the waterfalls that tumble down to the river means that even up high, we're constantly wet. Check this out. Come on, Jamie. You could use a shower. Check this out. Come on, Jamie. You could use a shower. < (LAUGHS) Oh. Away you go, Murray. WATER PATTERS Oh. There are waterfalls everywhere like this. Just makes the whole ground so unstable, and made this come down as well. Oh, we don't wanna hang out here too long. Let's get outta here. At this point, the inexperienced Whitcombe was beginning to lose hope. Weak and nearing total exhaustion, he confessed to Lauper he had no idea the journey would be so tough. In one day, Whitcombe and Lauper only made 200yds. And now I can see why. (GRUNTS) The pair stumbled on through the bush until they came to a sheer cliff. This is unreal. This is unreal. CHUCKLES: This is, uh, the worst bit yet. If you can just get across to there... (CHUCKLES) and down there this side. (CHUCKLES) and down there this side. Why am I first? 'Whitcombe believed getting across was impossible.' How is it? How is it? In the undergrowth I can't see quite what my feet are on. 'But Lauper didn't want to go back, and he headed off across the face, clinging to the undergrowth.' You'd hold on to some moss and fern, and it just pulled straight out. I'm gonna try and keep going a little bit further. Jamie's set the route, but he's loosened most of the handholds in the process,... I got ya. I got ya. I got it. I got ya. I got it. Yeah. I got ya. (GRUNTS, PANTS) ...and there's a nasty 20m drop to the river below. (GRUNTS REPEATEDLY) Oh yeah. Oh. Whoo! Whoo! Well done, mate. Whoo! Well done, mate. Thanks. It's good to be here. Welcome to cliff camp. If you thought that was bad, for the last five minutes I've just been staring at this. Oh wow. Check it out. I can't see many footholds except one handhold, but it's an old log, old branch fallen. We could just go down this branch on to that ledge. There's a couple of footholds. You should be fine. I've spent five minutes staring at it. You're really good at this. You should go first. But I don't` Oi. Why do you think I should go first? I'm better at first aid. I'm better at first aid. Oh man. All right, all right. OK, so let's go. I'll hold on to you. I'll just only lea` OK, so let's go. I'll hold on to you. I'll just only lea` Get this sorted out. 'I'm gonna lower Kevin down, hoping that our ancient rope is up to the task.' < Let me know when you want some. < Let me know when you want some. Give me some. (GRUNTS) Yep. That's g` Oh! Oh! At OPSM, we use precision technology to look deep in the eye, helping us better detect eye disease such as glaucoma ` just one of the ways we look deeper. Talk to OPSM about an eye-health check-up today. We're retracing the original expedition of road surveyor Henry Whitcombe and his hired companion, Jacob Lauper. In 1863 they went seeking a path for a road between the east and West Coasts of the South Island. Oh! Kevin's found himself halfway down a cliff starting to doubt our antiquated safety equipment. Yep. That's g` Oh! Oh! More. More. I'm on the ledge. I'm on the ledge. < Yup? Yup. (GRUNTS) Nah, good. I'm on the ledge. Well done! That's awesome.(LAUGHS) Yup. From here, I will lower Jamie, using a tree as an anchor point. That's it, that's it. I'm gonna pray it will hold his weight. That's it. That's it. I got you. Oi. Whoo. Whoo! (LAUGHS) Good work. Good work. All right, we're here. Whitcombe and Lauper pressed on. They tried catching food along the way, but with no success. Oh man. And the rain just got heavier, turning the forest floor into a lagoon. MUD SQUELCHES First it was the rivers, then the boulders, then the scrub, and then it's this bloody stuff. Oh, this is terrible. Slips meant the ground underfoot was constantly unstable for the explorers,... You all right? You all right? Yeah. Oh. ...and rockfalls blocked their path. Look at this. Look at this. Oh, that's awesome. 'This fall looks pretty recent.' Oh, that was pretty bad in there. What do you think? Should we head down? Yeah, I think, cos, uh, I'm pretty sick of that bush. It's gotta be better. SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC Watch out. Watch out what's coming. Watch out. Watch out. 'This slip is still moving.' This wouldn't be a good place to` 'And with slippery rocks under our feet,... Watch out. '...there is a constant danger of something much larger coming down on top of us.' Probably best if we're parallel. Yeah, I just don't wanna step on the slippery stuff. Move it. Move over. For Whitcombe and Lauper, the never-ending rain had caused so many landslides the bush had become impassable. Their only option was to return to the roar of the white water. Starving and exhausted, the explorers now pinned their hopes on reaching the West Coast and meeting up with the ship the Emerald Isle. Oh wow. Look at that. That's incredible. This is where the Whitcombe River meets the Wilkinson, and in the background you can see Mt Evans. When Whitcombe and Lauper came through here, it was pouring with rain, so they never got to see this amazing view. The sheer ice walls and the glacier-fed waterfalls look like something straight out of a fairy tale. It's a beautiful sight, but it comes with a warning. The cloud is starting to build up in the mountain tops. The air temperature is dropping. That means rain is on its way. MAN GRUNTS Oh. (PANTS) This is miserable. Our` Our dream run with the weather... is certainly over, and the rain's just not stopping. Of course,... (GRUNTS) Whitcombe and Lauper had this for 14 straight days. Oh. (PANTS) The rain makes the travel that much harder. I know it's just water, but it feels like every rock is covered in oil. (PANTS) But worse than that, it means that the water levels are starting to rise. With torrential rain in the ranges above, the side streams were soon too dangerous to cross. No way we're gonna get across here. No way we're gonna get across here. That's crap. There's so much water, that would suck us right away. OK, we're gonna have to head upstream. Cold, tired and hungry, Whitcombe was now making bad decisions. Because he was a strong swimmer, he believed they could both make it to the other side. But Lauper could not swim at all. Whitcombe urged him to cross. Lauper refused and went searching for another option. We've been up and down the river, and there's no safe way to jump across. There's heaps of water flow, but maybe this is a bit narrower. When Whitcombe and Lauper crossed a river like this, they were lucky. They found a log that was already in place, but we'll have to find one of our own. Kev, can you see that timber up there? Yeah. Yeah. Let's see if we can bring some down, and we'll get one, jam into the side. We'll tie a rope around and lower it over. Sounds good. Let's go. Are you there? Are you there? Yup. Nice. See if you can get it on the other side, and we'll use it as a handhold. Right, who's going first? Oh. Best of three. Best of three. No chance. Away you go. We found the narrowest part of the river, but it sits right above a 12m drop. That's it. That's it. > TENSE MUSIC Oh. The` The problem is the river's come up quite a lot since we first put out that first log. If the explorers had fallen into the rapids, they would've been swept away in seconds. There's so many ways that this could go wrong. I'm seriously wondering if this was a good idea. 1 We're in the Southern Alps retracing the epic crossing in 1863 by Henry Whitcombe and his hired companion, Jacob Lauper. Try and get your foot up. > Jamie is halfway across the river on a bridge made we have made from branches. It's a tricky balancing act. There's so many ways that this could go wrong. Got it. Got it. > Fall left and you could get swept over the waterfall. Whoo. Fall right and you can be pinned under our bridge. That's it. That's it. > TENSE MUSIC Oi. Whoo. It's a huge relief when Jamie finally makes it across. Well done. > But the job is only half done. Just pull harder. > Here. Now your turn, mate. 'Now it's Kevin's turn.' You see how much the water's come up? As you can see, the rock that I just came over, the water level's coming up the whole time, so... Yeah, I'd never wanna do this, normally. The rising river means our bridge is now nearly completely under water. That's it. MENACING MUSIC < Take your time. The volume of water is incredible, and this is after just 24 hours of rain. At this point in Whitcombe and Lauper's journey, it had rained non-stop for 10 days. < Nearly here, mate. Now there's a` there's a footing just on your left, just in here. All right. All right. Whoo. I didn't think I` I didn't think that was gonna work. See the water that's all around here? It's just come right up. That's amazing. That's` That's gonna go. That's gonna go. HAUNTING MUSIC With the worst of the white water now behind them, the pair carried on down the gorge, but the rain just kept falling, to the point where they gave up even trying to light fires. HAUNTING MUSIC CONTINUES Their only comfort, their damp bedding, had become flyblown, so at night they were wrapped in blankets riddled with thousands of squirming maggots. (PANTS) We've finally left the mountains. It's great not to worry about slips any more... or crossing streams,... (CHUCKLES) and the sun's started to come out, so we're starting to get warm. But in the West Coast, that probably means there's a thunderstorm about to come. But there's one other thing that's really improving the way we feel about life right now, and that's this. Listen. DISTANT WAVES DISTANT WAVES You can just hear the sea. We can't be far. Whitcombe and Lauper had been battling the snow, the pass, the rivers, the mosquitoes, the scrub. But there was one more obstacle between them and the ocean ` (GRUNTS) this stuff. Swampland. Ugh. The wetland they stumbled into runs all the way to the coast. It's 10km of unrelenting mud and rotting vegetation ` a nightmare to travel in. Although they could hear the sea, it still took them three days to trudge through the swamp. PANTS: You know, back then, not many people could swim, right? Yeah, that's right. They would've found it pretty tough getting over here. They would've found it pretty tough getting over here. PANTS: Yeah. I just don't want my feet caught underneath the branches under the water. You can feel them,.... kind of, grab your boots. (GRUNTS, PANTS) It's a bit like quicksand, which, when you think about it, is a really dumb name. < It should be slow mud. As they travelled the last few miles to the coast, there was no sense of accomplishment. Whitcombe and Lauper had set off expecting to discover a route for an east-west road. They now knew that this was an impossibility. Their journey had been in vain. (SIGHS) Here it is. Oh. (PANTS) Oh. (WHEEZES) Oh, amazing. PANTS: W` Well done, mate. You too. You too. West Coast. It's been eight days. What a journey. What a journey. Amazing. Incredible. The relief of Whitcombe and Lauper to get here must've been... (WHEEZES) incredible. But they` Even though they were out of the bush, they weren't out of the woods yet. On the plus side, Lauper knew where they were. He had been here in this part of the coast just a couple of months earlier. And after the bush, the beach was gonna be like the road. But on the other hand, they were walking ghosts. They hadn't had a decent meal for two weeks. You know, the interesting thing is they... came out thinking there'd be a supply ship. Never saw it. So they had miles and miles to walk up the coast to try and get some food. ETHEREAL MUSIC The pair trudged north. They found a few potatoes, but barely enough for two starving men. ETHEREAL MUSIC CONTINUES They eventually staggered to the mouth of the Taramakau River. They could see a small village on the other side. After their marathon journey, they were finally in reach of food and shelter. It's only about 50yds, and Whitcombe could swim. He was pretty keen to try to get across to the other side. Lauper wasn't keen at all. He wanted to go back into the bush, go upstream and find a safer place to cross over, but there was no way Whitcombe was gonna go back into the bush. They had a stand-off. It wasn't until finally, where Whitcombe found two waka, or Maori canoe. He thought they could lash them together, then they'd get across to safety. Lauper really thought it was a bad idea. But somehow Whitcombe convinced him. MENACING MUSIC They lashed the two dugouts together as best they could. Unable to swim, Lauper was terrified of drowning. But Whitcombe promised he would look after him if anything went wrong. The weather conditions for us could not be much worse. The rain is driving into our eyes, and the river is full of flood debris. As we push off into the surf, our attempt to relive Whitcombe and Lauper's river crossing is about to become more real than either of us ever bargained for. Point them into` Point them into the waves. MUSIC BUILDS TYRES SQUEAL MOURNFUL STRING MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES In a crash, whatever your speed, the car stops, but everything inside keeps moving. It's the same inside your body. MOURNFUL STRING MUSIC CONTINUES SNAP! Even with the best protection, you're still vulnerable. STEAM HISSES We're in the South Island of NZ retracing Whitcombe and Lauper's coast to coast crossing of the Southern Alps in 1863. Whoa! It's so cold. It's so cold. We've been through hellish conditions... This is miserable. ...and been tested to the limit. Nearly here, mate. Nearly here, mate. Whoo! I didn't I was` I didn't think that was gonna work. Here it is. But now our journey is nearing its end. We're trying to cross the Taramakau River using dugouts, just as Whitcombe and Lauper had done. The tide's turned. It's rushing out now. < The bar is just a wall of white water. For them it was probably a whole lot rougher than this, having been through so much rain for the previous two weeks. Before we have even set off, torrential rain has half-filled the hulls. SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC As we paddle into the channel, the wind picks up, and the outgoing tide drives us towards the open sea. The dugouts are barely floating above the surface. (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) An inch and a half. Whitcombe and Lauper's filled up with water just like ours are doing now. HAUNTING MUSIC Every man for himself! The outgoing tide dragged them, and now us, toward the pounding surf on the bar. INDISTINCT SHOUTING As the waves smashed the dugouts, Whitcombe abandoned Lauper and swam for shore. TENSE MUSIC Lauper clung to the wreckage and was washed out to sea. SOMBRE MUSIC Over 12 hours later, Lauper, more dead than alive and still clinging to the dugouts, was washed ashore. There he discovered Whitcombe on the beach,... dead. Lauper walked north until eventually he came upon a village who took him in and gave him food. Lauper's account of the journey was published around the world. Their story even made it into a Jules Verne novel. But slowly over time, their names and the story of the failed expedition was erased from the pages of history. So history hasn't been that kind to Whitcombe. I think if you've heard about him at all, then you'd know him as a bit reckless and a bit brash,... and Lauper really comes across as the superstar. Yeah, but, you know, who wrote the one report about their entire journey? Yeah, it was Lauper, so you can see. What we know from what they've been through is they may have gotten themselves in over their heads, but the way they fought their way out of the mountains was just absolutely incredible. Oh yeah. Let's think about what they went through. They went over the pass, uh, the snow, the rain. It was what? April? It was what? April? April. Freezing cold, they were starving. The rivers, the rapids, the` the s` the snow, the` the swamp. You know, we've been living and breathing this for the last eight days, and, you know, we're exhausted. You think of their bodies` their bodies must have been begging them to stop. They got through all that, and, uh, they just made one bad call at the end, and you can see so easily how they could've done it though, because they were mad with hunger... how they could've done it though, because they were mad with hunger... Yeah. ...and so desperate to get out of that situation. ...and so desperate to get out of that situation. We know how they feel though. You know, in the transatlantic rowing race we got tipped out by a big wave, and we weren't strapped in. and we weren't strapped in. Like we should've been. and we weren't strapped in. Like we should've been. Like we should've been. You know, exhaustion just leads to the dumbest of decisions every now and again. But it doesn't take away from what they achieved ` what they achieved, which is so` such an amazing feat. It's such an incredible example of endurance and perseverance. Yeah. You know, if we didn't have people like this, we'd be all living by the rules, within square boxes, and life would be pretty boring. We wouldn't know what's over the edge. You know, I think the world needs more Whitcombes and Laupers. You know, I think the world needs more Whitcombes and Laupers. Yeah, I agree with you. Yeah. Right. I could do with a drink, and you could do with a shower. (CHUCKLES) (CHUCKLES) Let's go.