1476 MILES ON australia's largest river
Between October 6th and December 19th 2009 I paddled along the majority of Australia's Murray River in a Wilderness Systems Tempest sea kayak named Nala, documenting the human, environmental and climatic factors contributing to the decline in health of this once mighty river.
My first encounter with the Murray was three years earlier, when I rolled onto the Wellington Ferry in South Australia en route from Perth to Brisbane, on a skateboard! That 100 metre crossing was the most peaceful section of that 3618 mile traverse of Australia, and it led to this, a second expedition over 1000 miles.
From the river's early moments high in the Australian Alps, I struggled through heavy blizzards and deep snow, properly getting myself into trouble thanks to a lack of survival skills and general ability! After a 100km hike, I hitched a lift with a local down to Corryong, before settling into a kayak to begin a two and a half month paddle, a total of 2350km. Passing along the border of New South Wales and Victoria, the Murray eventually enters South Australia and takes a southerly route to the sea for its final 500km.
Suffice to say, paddling along a river was a wholly different experience from the road journeys I'd experienced previously, and from then on a close love and passion for water developed. It was because of this journey that I became an Ambassador for the Blue Climate and Oceans Project, and went on to paddle and swim other mighty rivers, including the Mississippi and the Missouri.
Considering your own Murray paddle? Check out Shane Strudwick's Murray River and Ro Privett's paddling manual. Both were instrumental in my trip.
1,239,500 paddlestrokes
ANECDOTES AND QUESTIONS
Why the Murray River?
In October 2006, halfway across Australia on a skateboard, I skated onto the Wellington ferry to enjoy the most peaceful 100 metres of a 6000km journey. By then, thousands of kilometres under my wheels, the daily traffic dodge had become tiresome, and I remember staring out over the Murray at fish jumping and pelicans gliding over the surface thinking, “wow, it would be so nice to do a trip down a river.” A seed was planted that day, and three years later I was paddling down the Murray.
Better Bake Bakery
Gael and I had landed on the Corowa foreshore just as dusk fell the night before. We slept soundly as the Murray River edged past ever so slowly, our tents pitched unnecessarily high up the sandbar. It had been years since the water had climbed to that level and all signs suggested that the drought would continue.
We had no idea what each new day would bring, and this morning in Corowa was no exception. We lay in our respective tents, flexing sore fingers, delaying the inevitable pack-up and trudge into town to find some breakfast before the river called once more. All of a sudden the air was filled with a strange jingle… the sound of a voice through a megaphone.
“Morning paddlers, up you get
Better Bake Bakery’s here, as you’d expect
Bacon egg rolls, hot and fine
Hope you enjoy them, the day is fine!”
Peeking outside, we found a cheery man heading down the verge towards us, “I’m Shaun!” he smiled. He pressed an orange juice and a warm white bag into our hands, “Mate, I had one myself so I thought the Better Bake Bakery better shout the pommies, I didn’t make ‘em, the missus’ made ‘em.”
And then he spun, returned to his van, on the side of which the words BETTER BAKE BAKERY circled a cartoon of a man in a chef’s hat holding a steaming pie, which looks suspiciously like Shaun himself. “Good luck!” he chanted, and with a final wave he was off. Gael only had a a couple more days left on the river, but little encounters like this left me feeling comfortable with continuing on by myself, on what would be the first big solo adventure of my life.
PHOTO GALLERY
ROUTE MAP
RIVER MURRAY Playlist
TRANSPORT: WILDERNESS SYSTEMS TEMPEST 170
Dave's kayak, Nala, is a Wilderness Systems Tempest 170. Complete with fixed skeg and three separate bulkheads to store gear, this boat is a tough old cookie perfect for a voyage in river or sea.
