By media release

 

The Australian Geographic Society Awards were presented last night at The Ivy Ballroom, George Street, Sydney, where long-distance outback equestrian, Belinda Ritchie, was awarded the Young Adventurer of the Year Award.

 

Australia's longest running awards for adventure, the AG Society acknowledged this year’s greatest adventurers and conservationists and the winners serve as an inspiration to all Australians. The Lifetime Achievement Awards for adventure and conservation are the Society's highest honours, recognising those Australians who have a lifelong commitment to their chosen field. 

 

The ceremony brought together adventurers, scientists, conservationists and AG enthusiasts to salute the courage and resilience of all the winners. Those in attendance included the founder of the Australian Geographic journal and patron of the Australian Geographic Society, Dick Smith, and guest speakers wingsuit couple Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan. The event’s MC was Ms Catriona Rowntree. 

 

 

This is the Society's highest honour and recognises those special Australians who have not only lived an adventurous life, but have also put something back into Australia and inspired other Australians. Danish-born Australian adventurer Hans Tholstrup’s legacy are a series of odd-looking solar-powered vehicles that crawl every year from Darwin to Adelaide during the World Solar Challenge. This solar-powered race had its roots in a 1982–3 adventure, during which Hans and engineer Larry Perkins drove a solar powered car, The Quiet Achiever, from Perth to Sydney (4130km). It was the first solar-powered crossing of the Australian continent and begat the first World Solar Challenge in 1987. This event was headed-up by Hans for 15 years, until he passed it on to the South Australian government. Hans’ lifetime of adventuring includes more than a dozen other impressive walking, driving, flying and sailing ‘firsts’ – including being the first to sail around Australia in an open boat in 1970 and being the first to jump 14 motorcycles in a double-decker bus with AG founder Dick Smith in 1980. 

 

Fossils were the first love of Professor Tim Flannery, former Australian of the Year and possibly Australia’s most outspoken climate advocate. Perhaps it was thinking about time on a geological scale that made him care about the future so much, he says. As well as being a professor at Macquarie University and chief councillor at the Climate Council, Tim has been a presenter on ABC Radio, NPR and the BBC for more than a decade; he has also written and presented several documentary series, including Islands in the Sky, Bushfire, The Future Eaters and Wild Australasia. Tim’s books include Here on Earth (2010) and The Weather Makers (2005), which has been translated into more than 20 languages. He has also worked as a professor at the University of Adelaide, director of the South Australian Museum, principal research scientist at the Australian Museum and visiting chair in Australian Studies at Harvard University. The AGS has awarded this honour to Tim for his role in the communication of the science of human-induced climate change. 

 

Until recently, mainland Australia has been circumnavigated by kayak only three times – by paddling legend Paul Caffyn in 1982, then by Freya Hoffmeister in 2009 and Stuart Trueman in 2011. But on 28 June 2014, 45-year-old Jason Beachcroft cruised into Sydney Harbour’s Rose Bay 17 months and 18,000km after paddling out from the same location. In doing so, he became the first person to kayak around Australia, incorporating Tasmania into the route. During Jason negotiated two crossings of Bass Strait; a huge kayaking achievement in its own right, let alone twice. And unlike the other circumnavigations, his was largely unsupported, except for occasional food drops. 

 

Despite being just 31, Anna has been leading the debate on climate for a more than a decade. And her 30s haven’t slowed her – this year she spearheaded Earth Hour Australia’s evolution from a single event to a year-round social movement with a focus on protecting the Great Barrier Reef from climate change and coastal development. Among her many achievements, Anna co-founded the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, now one of Australia’s largest youth organisations. She also made headlines in 2012 when she journeyed around the world with former Liberal senator Nick Minchin, to encourage him to accept climate science for the ABC documentary I Can Change Your Mind About Climate. She later wrote a popular book on the experience. 

 

In 2013 Belinda Ritchie, a young lawyer, was awarded the AG Society’s annual Nancy-Bird Walton grant to support her horseback journey along the Bicentennial National Trail. She made good use of the $5000 windfall, riding into almost 350 sunsets as she traversed the 5330km route, which is the longest marked, non-motorised, multi-use trail in the world. Her only constant companions were three horses: Trump, an Australian stockhorse; Clincher, a stock/quarter horse; and Ruben, a large draught horse. “The idea was to capture the lifestyle of droving,” Belinda says. She began her epic journey in Healesville, Victoria, in November 2012 and ended it in Cooktown, Queensland, in December 2013. 

 

The daughter of conservationists and TV stars Steve and Terri Irwin, 16-year-old Bindi has been in the limelight all her life – she appeared on the US’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show, aged 9, and on The Oprah Winfrey Show, aged 11. But rather than take this fame for granted, Bindi works tirelessly as a global ambassador for Australia Zoo’s conservation arm Wildlife Warriors Worldwide. Bindi has featured in a number of documentaries and movies, all with a strong wildlife conservation theme. In 2013 she also courted controversy when she criticised the department of US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, after an essay she wrote on conservation for Hillary’s e-journal was heavily edited – at Bindi’s request, the article was withdrawn. This year, the young wildlife warrior gave her voice to population documentary Surviving Earth. The AGS has given the award to Bindi for her role in the communication of ideas and action on global wildlife conservation. 

 

Awarded to people whose efforts reflect strength, determination and the ability to overcome obstacles to achieve their goal, in 2013 it is being awarded jointly to Aussie diggers Private Heath Jamieson and Corporal Seamus Donaghue. They joined charity Walking With The Wounded to tackle a 335km trek to the South Pole at the end of 2013. Both had sustained serious injuries in Afghanistan and were selected for their sense of team spirit by Australian polar adventurer Eric Philips. Heath and Seamus – along with Eric, Canadians Alexandre Beaudin D’Anjou and Chris Downey, The Wire actor Dominic West, and co-founder of the charity Simon Daglish – formed Team Commonwealth. Two similar teams from the UK and the USA made up the full South Pole Allied Challenge, originally conceived as a race. After enduring adverse conditions, all teams ceased racing mid-way and walked to the pole, but nonetheless raised more than $200,000 to help retrain injured soldiers for long-term employment after the armed forces. 

 

 

 

 

For media enquiries interviews, pictures and footage, contact: 

Erin Frick (Momentum2) (T) 02 9252 4800 (M) 0487 444 201 / Efrick@momentum2.com.au 

Lyn Tuit (Momentum2) (T) 02 9252 4800 (M) 0405 160 275 / Ltuit@momentum2.com.au