The Brobdingnagian People you Meet!

As I mentioned in my earlier blog, Zanni and I were given a lift to the start of our journey by a bloke I met in Bourke. A really interesting guy, a kayaker of amazing proportions. Of biblical proportions. Of brobdingnagian proportions.

I wonder if that's a word by the way. Brobdingnagian. Sounds like it should be. It Sounds HUGE! And that is what this man has accomplished. Huge things. Before I go into that though, let me tell you how I met this person.

The logistics of an expedition such as this are many and varied. Food, equipment, scheduling and more all become issues at one time or another. Organising equipment for the Melbourne Mob (an eclectic medley of mad Melbournians) who are to join me on the river meant that, amongst other things, ensuring kayaks were available to actually paddle in. With this in mind, Pip (my brother and one of the Melbourne Mob) rang a guest house in Bourke and asked if it would be possible to hire a kayak or canoe. Much to his delight the guest house owner said yes. In fact she even owned a canoe - and she knew of a bloke who was a keen kayaker and owned a couple.

Anyway, one thing led to another and Pip gave him a call only to find that this guy was indeed one of the dead set hard core kayakers of the world. A man who has kayaked or canoed in various parts of the world. He's paddled a large part of the river - down to Wentworth in fact. That paddle helped him fall in love with the area and today he lives out here, teaching kids and loving the bush and lifestyle out here.

Now I can understand that. On the face of it, Bourke is a pretty rough town. Crime is high and petty theft common. Windows on houses are protected by wire mesh and peoples property are behind big huge fences. Cars being left on the streets are almost assured of being broken into during the night. not a pretty picture, right. Well true, but that's just one side to the place.

The people that you meet here, the community which is clearly thriving is just beautiful to see. People are quite friendly and are keen to help in any way possible. It is wonderful really. On hearing that I was looking at kayaking down the river, James (for that is the name of the kayaker) was only too happy to give a helping hand.

"Where are you launching?"

"Whose property are you going through?"

"Who do you know around here?"



After an hour or so of discussion, James volunteered to drive Zanni and myself out to the start of the river. He's also keen to call ahead so that some of the people on the river can expect to see a mad mob kayaking down.

I love this place. The people here are great. Sure the youth is disaffected. Sure petty crimes are rampant. but the people here are like gold and the country is just beautiful to behold. I can really understand the reason why people would far rather live in places like this instead of those cosmopolitan places they call cities...

I can't wait to discover other people of such brobdingnagian proportions. If its a word anyway...

Regards,

Christo
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The Journey Begins

And the Journey begins. Well, almost anyway. Tomorrow I shall finally putting paddle to water in anger. The first stroke in the journey down the Darling River. And not before time I might add. The last few weeks has been astoundingly busy, buying equipment here, talking to people there; researching what's needed here, modifying equipment there.

Now though, I am truly kitted out and ready to hit the water. I'm writing this now on the veranda of the Port of Bourke hotel, a pub which I stayed in for the first time over 30 years ago. Back then as a callow youth it made quite an impression on me and I'd have to say its still a great place to be. Back then they charged $19 per night per person. Today things are different. They charge $50 per night but you get a free meal thrown in. Last night I had a Reef & Beef meal: Scotch Fillet steak with prawns and squid on top essentially, with as much salad on the side as you like. The meal was easily worth $25, which means that the room itself was about $25. not bad eh.

The pub (which I think was called the Royalle hotel when I was here in '77) is a classic outback Australian pub. Wide veranda's, corrugated iron and tiny rooms. I love the shared sitting room (where the only TV is) and showers are down the corridor. Very civilised. Tomorrow however, will be the first night on the river. I'm ready for it. I've been running hither and thither for the last few weeks and feel as if I've been run off my feet.

I now have enough equipment to fill a warehouse. I'm not really sure just how I will fit it all into the kayak. Maybe if a put it all in and just jump on it it will all just find a place somehow. Actually its not that bad but I sure do have a lot of gear. One of the funkiest purchases over the last week has been a new water filter. Instead of the normal pump action, which most filters I've seen use, it is gravity fed. You simply fill up a water bag and attach it to the filter and Bob's your uncle. Just leave it for a few hours and come on back to fresh water. The claim is 10 litres over about 7 hours, which means that by the beginning of every day I will have all the water I need. Of course thats just the most recent purchase.

I have a GPS, camera, phone, laptop, tons of food and more to say the very least. I even have a solar panel to help keep this electronic world fed.

At the moment the plan is to head out tomorrow morning from Bourke by 4WD to the junction of the Culgoa and Barwon Rivers. Zanni, a very good friend of mine is joining me for the first few days and we are being very kindly taken to the river by a bloke I met in Bourke who just happens to be a mad keen kayaker himself. So just to give you a bit of an idea about the itinerary...

Sunday 30th	Put paddle to water with Zanni
Wednesday 2nd	Paddle into Bourke. Zanni head home to Melbourne
Thursday 3rd	Joined by the Melbourne Mob (Pip, Paul and Rob). Late morning start for Louth
Tuesday 8th	Melbourne Mob leave the river and head for home
Thursday 9th	Estimated arrival in Louth.

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For more detail on where I'll be check out my calendar.

I am hoping that I shall be able to update people as I go on down the river but I don't expect to put much up for the next few days.

Regards,

Christo Full Story

A Touch of the Outback

Henry Lawson wrote "If you know Bourke you know Australia". Well, Bourke is my first town on the Darling River and a place which already has a place in my heart.

When I was a seven year old stripling my father (when he had black hair instead of white) took me (and others of course, but lets just focus on me for a second) out of my safe environs and into the bush. I remember the first night we camped on the Bogan River (at least that's where I think we camped) before making our way to Coopers Creek via Bourke. It was a magic journey. A journey full of wonder for a young mind. I remember vividly the times when at night, with the fire low we would retire to Dad's old canvass tent (more a tarp then a tent really) where, by the light of an old hurricane lantern, Dad would read to me about the great gray green greasy Limpopo River and other suchlike Rudyard Kipling gems. It was wonderful. As I lay on the banks of the Cooper my soul gradually become one with the land, and ever since I have loved the Outback.

Now of course, I am about to write a new chapter of my life in the great Australian Outback. This chapter is somewhat different from the other chapters of life. Its centred around the Darling for a start. I've always felt that the Darling has had an allure for me of course. I've just never really given in to this allure. Not that there has been much opportunity to of course.

For at least the last ten years the river has run pretty much dry. Instead of a majestic river "A Second Mississippi" as Henry Lawson would have you believe, it has instead been a chain of elongated billabong's. Instead of water gently flowing, blue green algae has proliferated, making much of the water virtually unusable and certainly undrinkable. Fish have suffered and could be seen desperately trying to survive in the few clean sections of the river. Today however, its a different kettle of fish. The Warrego, one of the tributaries to the Darling hasn't flowed for twenty years but this year its in flood. Of course most of the water will be eaten up on the vast floodplain's north of Bourke, but this years La Nina weather pattern has changed all that. Some of the precious water has managed to hit the Darling River. More water from Flooding in Central NSW has also meant that the average depth of the Darling has risen markedly. Not to dangerous levels. Not to flood levels, but to healthy levels: where people can swim in comfort and the fish and other animals have the opportunity to breed prolifically before going into hibernation when the next drought hits this benighted land. Farmers of course, are in ecstasy. now they just need to get crops planted again and that could be the tricky part.

Since the drought began in this area the population of he town has dropped by about a third. People have gradually been drifting away to find work in less benighted lands. Now however, the land is far from benighted. Today the land seems to be bursting with energy and the farmers are walking about with a spring in their steps. Now they need to figure out ways to entice people to return to Bourke and help them plant their crops. Of course the problem with this is that the amount of water allocated for farm usage is way beyond the capacity of the river meaning that the continued degradation of the river is almost a dead certainty, despite the federal government making noise about buying back water rights... Its a beautiful place around Bourke. I can really understand why people around here fight to keep the way of life they live going. So much beauty. So much magnificence.

The rivers upon which now I look are those which conjure up a wonderful sense of romance. The mighty Paroo, the Bulloo overflow and the Warrego just to name a few. These are the names of far off places and little understood by people sitting back in their offices. As is Bourke of course. Just the word "Bourke" conjures up images today in any person who has learnt anything about the history of Australia (and even in the minds of those who have not the faintest idea of the history of Australia.

If you hear somebody remark that something is at the "back of Bourke", then you immediately know that it is miles away. And that's because Bourke is in the middle of nowhere. Anything that is further away than Bourke is an unimaginable distance away. I love that. When people think of remoteness, then surely the Australian outback must be one of their first thoughts. And Bourke is a gateway into remoteness. A gateway into the Outback and hence a gateway to my heart.

All my love,

Christo

P: The Limpopo River, of which Rudyard Kipling waxes upon, is a river one third smaller than the Darling River - at least in terms of length. Of course, the amount of water which flows along the Limpopo River is more - almost twice as much in fact. It does have similarities however. Like the Darling River, the Limpopo runs through desert country. Like the Darling River its flow waxes and wanes with the heavy annual rains. Unlike the Darling River, the Limpopo has thousands upon thousands of people who live upon its banks.

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Darling River facts

The Darling River is one of the great rivers of the world. Beginning near Bourke in northern NSW, it wends its way 1,475 kilometres through some of the most remote country in the world before the confluence of the Murray and Darling Rivers at Wentworth, on the border of NSW and Victoria. From Wentworth, it is some 1,000 kilometres to Lake Alexandrina and the mouth of the river, which is on the tip of one of the most incredible regions of Australia – the Coorong.

The goal for this expedition is to journey – largely un-aided – down the Darling River to the rivers confluence with the Ocean and to experience some of the challenges which faced the early explorers. This is the realisation of a dream borne through childhood journeys into the heart of Australia and late nights over ten years ago with good friends. Through realising this long held dream, I hope to inspire people to step out of the everyday world. Just as importantly, I hope to discover the story of the people in the area and how they contend with one of the harshest, changing landscapes in the world.

Town	Leg Distance (km)	Distance Covered (km)	Day	Comment
Bourke	0		0
Louth	204	204	14	Mt Gundabooka exploration between Bourke and Louth
Tilpa	170	374	20
Wilcannia	276	650	31
Menindee	309	959	41
Pooncarie	285	1,244	54
Wentworth	229	1,473	63	Confluence of the Murray and Darling River
Renmark	261	1,754	72
Goolwa	1,082	2,836	110	Where the Murray Darling hits the Ocean

The Darling River is a slow moving river and I expect that the average distance covered will be in the order of 30 kilometres each day. Rather than treating this as a single massive expedition with a single goal (i.e. to reach the ocean from Bourke), the plan is to break it into two distinct sections: section one being from Bourke to the confluence of the Darling and Murray rivers – the township of Wentworth; and section two being from Wentworth to the headwaters of the river in South Australia. Late March is the expected launch date and it is expected that from Bourke to Wentworth will take two months, with an extra month at the very least required to reach the ocean.

The river conditions at the moment are awesome. The depth of the river is exceptional and the flow of water through the system is very high. The table below shows the current conditions of the river recorded by the NSW government. Look at the water temperature! I see swimming in the near future to be a certainty. And the salinity shows that this water is eminently drinkable; pure and clean (at least so far as salt is concerned).

Place	Depth (m)	Flow (ML/day)	Water Temp (C)	Salinity (EC)
Source of Darling	5.54	3,293	25	164
Bourke	4.57	3,919	25	152
Louth	4.22	8,018	25	252
Tilpa	5.07	10,519	25	183
Wilcannia	4.60	10,152	24	214
Menindee	1.47	381	23	290
Pooncarie	1.92	255	26	530

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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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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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