The Journey Draws Nigh

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Well, its getting closer.  In just over a months time I will put paddle to water as I launch my kayak into the Darling River.  The water is good, the depth very good and I expect that there may even be a bit of flowing water when I start the trip.  In fact, I understand that the Darling River is flowing appreciably better than the Murray River at the moment, which is one for the books.  Not that that will make it that much easier of course.

Just to put this all into perspective for a second: from North to South, Tasmania is around 280 kilometres long.  This is one tenth the length of the Darling River, which I will be heading down at the end of March.  No wonders I'm getting nervous. 

I'm planning for the journey to last for several weeks, given that at best I expect that I shall be covering 30km's a day paddling. 

On average when I paddle at the moment I manage around 7.5km's per hour, which means that I do 30 kilometres in about 4 hours.  I figure with a more cumbersome kayak and a heck of a lot more weight I shall paddle quite a bit slower.  At a guess around 5 kilometres per hour, which means that I'll be paddling for around 6 hours per day, give or take.  Given the state of the river at the moment, I'm guessing that fishing is a good idea.  And yabby's.  I can't wait.

My primary goal is simply to paddle down the Darling River to the confluence of the Murray at Wentworth.  This is some 1,500 kilometres down some of the most remote country you could ever imagine.  My secondary goal is to reach the Ocean, some 1,400 kilometres away from Wentworth in Goolwa.

I also have a dream to explore the Mt Gundabooka Range.  Gundabooka is about 30k's South East of the Darling River.  I'm not to sure just how to get there at the moment.   Walking of course is the only way, but how do I carry all the gear I'll need?  What about water?  I know that I'll need to carry all the water as water is at a premium out there.  This means that at the very least I shall need to carry around 20 litres of water + the rest of my regular gear, which I guess for a four day trek will mean the total weight will be around 30 - 35kg's.  Eek! 

The logistics at this stage are slowly sorting themselves out.  I still haven't confirmed how to get my car back to civilisation for example (hi Al ).  At this stage it appears that I will have company leaving Bourke, with my brother Pip able to take some time from his busy schedule with Tzu et al. 

I haven't yet bought any food, and I plan on doing this when I hit Sydney mid next month.  If anybody can think of a decent number of recipes, which consist of really basic food which can last for long times in a dry, hot climate then I'd be grateful.

 

Christo

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Paddle Steamers on the Darling

The Darling River is a big river. Hundreds of kilometres longer than the Colorado in the United States and longer than the Zambezi (by a whole 3 kilometres) it is in anybodies language a big river.


It traipses through some of the most remote country in the world, where populations are measured in the tens of people, not thousands of people.

This is a river which has captured the imagination of explorers and poets, adventurers and farmers alike. Its also a river that for much of the last 100 years has rarely existed.

For the first time in years, 2008 sees the Darling River in flood. Not, admittedly a flood of biblical proportions, yet a flood nonetheless. Where only six months ago a baron water course lay - the despair of hardened men and women - today there flows a river: and its not just water that is running. Its opportunity. For the first time in years water can be drawn from the river and carefully dolled out to the orchids and cotton crops which intermittently line its banks.

Well over a hundred years ago the Darling River was also used as a thoroughfare. Paddle steamers wended their way up from the Murray and Darling River confluence to Bourke, captained by enterprising men who saw a ready dollar for any person able to transport the agricultural bounty found in the inland ports of Bourke, Louth and Tilpa.

Today however, the very thought of taking a boat of any size is anathema. Even in their hey day, taking a paddle steamer was a journey fraught with risk. Several steamers sank and others became stranded - sometimes for years. The quikest trip recorded from Bourke to the mouth of the Murray - Goolwa, is three weeks. The same boat which took three weeks to get to Goolwa took three years from Goolwa to Bourke, which gives an idea of the enormous variations on the river.

Henry Lawson spent some time on the Darling River and likened it to either a muddy gutter or a second Mississippi. He wrote about its winding ways and of how a swagman could walk the same pace (or quicker) than a boat and could at the close of each day ask for a feed from the same boat, week in, week out. Full Story

The First Update

Did you know that the Darling River from one end to the other is around 2,800km’s?

Getting my head around this Darling Journey, I have decided, is no easy thing. I thought that one way to do so would be to fill you all in on just where I’m at for the moment.

Launch Date: 25/03/2008

Length: 2,800km

At the moment I am planning to launch the kayak from Bourke, though Brewarrina is also a potential launch spot as it is closer to the actual start of the Darling River than Bourke.

Having finished up at The Wilderness Society I can now start dedicating my time towards organizing the myriad bits and pieces which a journey of this size requires. I’m a tad intimidated if the honest truth be known. Over the last few days I’ve been looking at building web sites and the various technologies that underlie what I want. Blogs, Maps, Geotagging and RSS feeds are all things I’m looking at right now. Andrew Cheetham is helping at the moment and is looking at an appropriate Content Management System.

Some of the goals for these are:

• To paddle for at least 8 – 12 hours each week for the next couple of weeks;
• To buy a camera;
• Buy a GPS;
• To get a blog going;
• To send out the first update (this is it);
• Research various web technologies and create at least one beta web site;
• Start setting up an email list to which people may subscribe for updates.

I'm also slowly going through all the logistics required: What equipment I need for what, how to get to where when etc.

So there you go. My first update. As things get a little bit more sorted out I shall send through more updates.a

I hope you are all enjoying life at the moment.

Christo

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