Australia New Zealand Explorers Club

Mr. Christopher Bray (International Fellow - 2005, Australian)

Areas of Interest: Remote Expeditions, Arctic, Hiking, Kayaking, Photography, Cycling

Brief Bio: Chris Bray, now 26, living in Sydney, Australia, was born into a life of adventure - sailing around the world for 5 years with his family on their homemade yacht Starship.

Leading an active outdoor lifestyle, when he was just 20 Chris organised and embarked on a 30-day expedition in Tasmania's untracked south-western wilderness - complete with airdrops of supplies. Australian Geographic labelled this trek 'one of the toughest foot journeys in the world' and named him, along with his hiking mate Jasper Timm, the 'Young Adventurer of the Year' in 2004.

This trek was soon followed by other journeys and in 2005 Chris lead a 2-man, world-first, 58-day, unsupported expedition part way across the largely unexplored Victoria Island in the Arctic. Together with EC companion Clark Carter they hauled their home-made wheeled kayaks behind them for 300km, loaded with 250kgs of gear and supplies each. Crossing regions never before seen by human eyes, they filmed unforgettable encounters with arctic wolves and polar bears and documented archaeological sites while the temperature plunged to minus 38 deg with wind-chill. Only about a third of the way across the island they buried a flag and vowed to return.

In 2008 Chris and Clark went back Victoria Island to finish what they started, again bringing an EC Flag. They dug up the Australian Geographic flag and after a further 70 days alone and unsupported, they reached the most westerly point of the island, having travelled the remaining 700km through snow, ice, mud, boulders, tundra, rapids, swamp and more, hauling totally re-designed carts behind them (hindsight is a wonderful thing!). They again had unforgettable encounters with arctic wolves and an enormous polar bear - and shared the experience online with daily updates and photos to the www.1000HourDay.co website, watched by over 32,000 people.

Chris Bray is also an Australian freelance cameraman, and Canon's Australian Ambassador for Digital Photography, specialising in wilderness and wildlife photography. He also runs a business Chris Bray Photography holding 1-Day photography courses all around Australia, and shoots for Australian Geographic, having the honor of being the first photographer Aust Geo has ever sent on assignment overseas.

When Chris was just 16 he established BlackJackal.com - a business retailing electronics online, and performed highly academically - coming 'dux'/'first' of both Primary and High Schools. A UAI of 99.2% earned him a 5yr scholarship to study Electrical Engineering at UNSW, which he completed in 2006 with first class honours and awards in Project Management. In the same year he started up his second Australian business, 'Expedition Facilities' www.ExFac.com.

Elected as a member of - and now Chairman for - The Explorers Club (Australia and New Zealand chapter), as well as being a part of the Society for Human Performance in Extreme Environments, Chris is fast forging an exciting career blending all his passions including photography, writing, film making, and applying his engineering skills to developing innovative approaches to adventuring. Having presented numerous lectures for the Australian Geographic Society, Air Canada, Icebreaker, Gore-Tex, The Explorers Club, adventure expos, climbing festivals and motivational talks for both high schools and primary schools, Chris hopes to encourage others to reach for their own life goals.

On the side, when he's not scaring himself with giant kites, taking photos, freediving, kayaking, bike riding, running, or generally carrying on like a pork-chop, Chris spends his time with his girlfriend doing exactly the same things. Any spare time is spent cobbling together and managing the websites, and dreaming up new ideas.

4 news pieces from Mr. Christopher Bray:

Orca Champion gets National Recognition (2010-07-18)
Dr. Ingrid Visser - NZ member and renowned Orca expert - has just been presented with the prestigious Wyland Award - the first woman ever to receive it, recognizing her contribution to the environment! Well done Ingrid! Also, see below for some amazing footage of Dr. Visser and others helping to ....View Details >>

ANZEC Member Michael Aw joins Elysium Epic expedition to document Antarctica! (2010-01-21)
Elysium Epic research team will provide in-depth scientific/photographic survey of Antarctica and the impact of global warming on Earth’s last remote place Australia, 20-January 2010 – On February 10, 2010, a 57-member team of explorers from 18 countries will meet in Ushuaia, Argentina – the worl....View Details >>

Clark and Chris back from sailing to Chile (2007-12-16)
Clark Carter and I just got back from helping sail the 20m expedition yacht 'Blizzard' from Hobart 1/2 way around the world to Chile, via the sub-Antarctic islands of Auckland and Campbell island. It was an amazing trip, and we were lucky with the weather, the worst gales blowing up to 55kn, with so....View Details >>

Our First News Piece! (2007-05-12)
Ok everyone - the new ANZEC webpage is up and running! You can login and change your details, upload photos to the gallery, write your own news pieces like this one to keep everyone up to date on what you're doing! When you get a chance, please do fill in your details and find a photo of yourself....View Details >>

8 photos from Mr. Christopher Bray:

Chris Bray sailing expedition yacht Blizzard in the Southern Ocean
© Mr. Christopher Bray

Aurora Borealis burns above PAC
© Mr. Christopher Bray

Places Visited: Tasmania, Victoria Island, Arctic, Canada, Australia, Port Davey, Overland Track, Mount Field, West Head, Vancouver, New Zealand,

Webpage: www.ChrisBray.net