Once again, GeoWizard Tom Davies is wreaking havoc across Wales. Davies is back with more shenanigans as he makes his third attempt to cross Wales in a straight line.
Allowing himself only slight deviations of 25-50m, his expedition style is outright bonkers. He crawls through thick foliage on the forest floor, hops over fences, wades through marshlands, and pisses off farmers.
Warning for those who watch his show, there are spoilers ahead!
The Davies brothers. Photo: GeoWizard/YouTube
The first two attempts
His first two attempts failed due to circumstances out of his control. On his first attempt, he found himself on the edge of a dangerous cliff that plunged into a deep ravine, surrounded by dense fog. Disoriented with low blood sugar, he had to scramble to safety.
On his second attempt, his friend and fellow adventurer Greg began to suffer an Addisonian Crisis. This is a serious condition caused by low levels of cortisol, as a result of extreme stress, dehydration, shock, or injury.
However, Davies has not given up on the expedition. Now, he is back in the thick of it with his brother Ben. He chose a slightly different route this time, hoping to avoid dangerous terrain, as well as farmlands, as far as is possible.
Dodging farmers and crossing rivers
Davies posted the first episode of his third attempt to YouTube on December 22, 2021. It narrated the pair’s first leg: 15.28km spent trying to traverse farmland unseen, battling thick, stubborn vegetation, dodging farmers’ quad bikes (the scariest sound on these expeditions), and crossing Britain’s longest river, the Severn. Verity, Davies’ girlfriend, has resupplied them along the way.
They didn’t veer too far off course and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Then Davies posted the second episode on December 31. It captured a rather stressful encounter with a farmer. The farmer chased the Davies brothers to the boundaries of his land and threatened to call the police. Luckily, they were able to escape his wrath, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. Tom Davies had sprained his ankle. The pair still had to navigate some deep gorges and steep hills. After a bit of rest and some painkillers, they were back on their feet.
Making it to the reservoir. Photo: GeoWizard/YouTube
Part three shows how the mission almost failed. They had made it past the halfway point and were beyond the majority of the farmland. They crossed a reservoir with inflatable kayaks and briefly met up with Verity. Davies felt hopeful but things soon went downhill. Their GPS died, which had never happened before.
The expedition grinds to a halt without a GPS
Without a means of navigation, they veered off course to find higher ground and call Verity, the unsung hero of their expedition. They wandered around aimlessly as it began to get dark, trying to get hold of her. Eventually, Verity found them and the three went to a hotel where they are recuperating.
Was this a failure? Davies doesn’t seem to think so. He believes that after some rest, they can pick up right where they left off. Will they succeed? Stay tuned.
You can check out his most recent upload here:
