Tilpa reached!

Hi all,

Well right now I am in Tilpa, some 480 kilometres away from the confluence of the Bogan, Barwon and Culgoa rivers, from whence I started. This is really just a quick update to let you all know that I am ok and am now looking forward to what looks to be one of the most challenging parts of this expedition: Tilpa to Wilcannia.

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Zannia and I set off on the 30^th of last month where the Darling begins and made rather rapid progress to Bourke. Wild pigs, goats, turtles and birds a plenty. We got stuck at one point and I hopped out of the kayak to push us off the sand bank we were on. Took one step, then another and before you know it I was waist deep in mud. Instead of helping me, Zanni just laughed.

Once at Bourke it took a day or so to organise the next stage with Pip and the rest of the Melbourne mob: Paul, Rob and of course Redbox (Pip’s dog). In the end we took three kayaks – mine and two of James (two flash mirage kayaks). Red box sat in the middle of my big beast and had two people paddling for him – when he sat in a kayak at all of course. The first day or so he must have run 20 kilometres. He was exhausted. Bourke to Louth was a top leg. Good company, fruitless fishing, goat stew and a hugely varied river as we wended our way down. On the last day the lads decided to be picked up early and I pushed on by myself – a long leg of just under 70k’s, which was good but exhausting.

Now though, I am in Tilpa. I’ve crossed a few weirs (see photos), met some good people, paddled like buggery. I’ve had a shower (bliss!) and had a day off paddling to recoup my energies before heading off on this next, long leg (some 280 kilometres if I remember correctly from earlier calculations).

My principle concern at the moment is the river itself. Will there be enough water to get right the way through. I was told that I it would be tough to get to Bourke. I was told in Bourke it would be hard to get to Louth (if not impossible) and I was told Tilpa was touch and go. So far so good. But I do know that the amount of water in the river at the moment means I will be dragging the kayak over some shallow sections on my way to Wilcannia.

Wish me luck.

Regards,

Christo

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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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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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