Kate Is Casual For Borneo Rain Forest (Updated: Top & Boots IDed)

Kate and William are in Borneo’s rainforest today, they were choppered into the remote area from their hotel in Kota Kinabalu, where they spent the night. 

In this Instagram photo by Sunshine Su Lin we see the pair being briefed after their arrival at the Danum Valley research location.

The area they are visiting is part of the Royal Society’s South East Asia Rainforest Research Programme (SEARRP), photographer Sunshine Su Lin shared her photos on Twitter, almost like a virtual tour guide. In this next picture she says the pair were asking about conservation efforts in the Danum Valley and about the orangutans that so many are fascinated with.

More from the Borneo Post:

After the half-an-hour briefing, the Royal couple, who were spotted with matching jungle-themed outfit, trekked into the rainforest to experience the area’s remarkable biodiversity for themselves.

William and Kate walked through the rainforest to reach the Danum Valley Research Center, which is located deep inside the rainforest and is run by the Royal Society.

This photo from the British High Commission’s Facebook page shows the couple as they walk through the forest, the remote area is in Sabah, one of two Malaysian states in Borneo.

The Centre is staffed with both Malaysian and British scientists, as well as research students, among them 25 from Oxford University.

The pair look a bit tired following the arduous schedule and stressors of the last several days, it is splendid to see them outside in an environment they love. Many thanks again to Sunshine Su Lin for tweeting her photo.

More on the area from the Royal Society’s Facebook page. William is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and is extremely interested in the work being done in the rainforest. Also traveling with the Royal Tour, author, commentator, and longtime reporter Robert Jobson; he tweeted this photo of William and Kate on a suspension bridge.

The bridge was not for those faint of heart, Mr. Jobson took the same route as Kate & William, he noted it is 80 feet above the ground.

After making their way across the bridge, Kate and William prepared to be winched up an enormous tree, here they are being shown the gear to be used.

Again, Sunshine Su Lin updates us:

Another image from Sunshine Su Lin.

Samantha Siow posted this image of Kate and William exploring the rainforest.

As is obvious, Kate wore khaki pants, a deep green shirt and hiking boots. Multiple WKW Facebook friends believe her boots are by Scarpa, another suggestion is Brasher; many noted they are well worn, no surprise knowing Kate’s love of hiking and walking.

UPDATED 9/24: As suggested by Gill in a comment, Brasher has identified the boots as their Hillmaster GTX, described as “Britain’s most loved hill walking boot,”  made from full grain leather with a waterproof and breathable lining.” The boot is available at £106 here.

The pants look like specialty wear, for expeditionary sports, hiking/climbing/etc., with diagonal front zippered pockets, and multiple horizontal panels, it is possible some additional knee protection is built into the middle section. They look to be of the durable, quick-dry fabric many of us like in activewear. (Think Patagonia, Marmot, North Face, etc.) If we get these IDed we will update the post.

It sounds like I was way off base thinking the blouse was technical wear, apparently the blouse is actually a 2010 Zara piece.

With thank to the HRH Duchess Kate blog for sharing this on the WKW Facebook page, she let us know about this piece. A Telegraph story referenced below also mentions that Kate wore the top over a black tee shirt.

I have also been chastised (properly so I might add) for neglecting to mention that Kate had her Le Pliage in the helicopter. You can just about see it in the upper right photo in the montage below, just the top of it by her leg and hiking boot.

The Telegraph has an outstanding story about the rainforest visit,

The couple then took a rainforest walk with Dr Reynolds, who had offered them the use of ‘leech socks’, which the Duke and Duchess politely declined. “Apparently they didn’t pass the sartorial test,” said Dr Reynolds.

But moments later, the Duchess might just have wished she had taken Dr Reynolds up on his offer. Looking down, she saw that a leech had attached itself to her leg.

“She dealt with it very calmly and just bent down and picked it off,” said Dr Reynolds.

The story by Roya Nikkhah has wonderful detail on the day’s adventures in Danum Valley, including some of William’s comments about Kate:

The couple also inspected a selection of pressed flowers and leaves.

“Do you press the leaves here yourself?” said the Duchess. Her husband said: “She’ll now ask you all about how you do it, she’s very arty.”

Next on the agenda for Kate and William:

• The Duke and Duchess travel to Honiara, in the Solomon Islands.
• Kate and William travel in an open-topped vehicle to the Church of Melanesia cathedral in Honiara, they will attend a joyful service of thanksgiving for the life of dedicated service of The Queen.
• In the evening, The Duke and Duchess attend an Island Feast, given in the traditional manner outdoors, hosted by the Governor-General at his official residence

(NOTE: they are actually on their way to the Solomons now, that country is 15 hours ahead of US EDT.)

The flight to the Solomons is *very* long, more than 4000 miles. To be in place and set up to cover the story most media flew ahead, skipping the rainforest visit. Paul Harrison of Sky News shared this photo of the queue at the airport:

When William and Kate are welcomed to Honiara they will be driven in this, I believe it is the transportation (vehicle?) that will take them to the Cathedral, with thanks to Edwina Bartholomew for posting the photo.

Linkage:

• a video of Kate & William leaving the hotel from photographer Samantha Siow
• the Royal Society’s South East Asia Rainforest Research Programme (SEARRP) website is here
• UK in Malaysia Facebook page is here, its Twitter feed is here
• Photographer Sunshine Su Lin’s Twitter feed is here
• Read more about the Solomon Islands here
• Follow Roving Cameraman’s blog as he covers the Tour
• Read the Telegraph story in its entirety (highly recommended)