Being Adelaide born and raised, the importance of the Murray River is widely understood with the river on average supplying approximately 50% of Adelaides water annual water requirements.
I have many great memories of the river from childhood. Fishing, water skiing, houseboating and yes some kayaking...there are so many aspects of the river to enjoy. However, the river is but a shadow of its pre european state. Water extractions for dry land irrigation, regulation by weirs, land clearing, urbanisation of catchment, bank erosion caused by stock watering, desnagging, overfishing, introduced species...there is absolutely no questioning that the river has been struggling to deal with these enormous and abrupt changes. And now, possibly the greatest threat of all may be taking hold. Climate change leading to more frequent severe droughts is threatening the survival of the river and billions of dollars in agricultural production.
My trip will commence from the base of Hume Dam just upstream of Albury-Wodonga during one of the longest and most severe periods of drought in the Murray-Darling Basin in recorded history. Storage volumes in the system are extremely low and releases from the Hume and Dartmouth are being minimised to maintain some supply for later in the season. From all reports it seems certain that at some locations I may be dragging my green and gold machine through ankle deep water. To see the Murray River at such a crucial juncture will be a sobering experience and a key reason for the journey.
It is not all doom and gloom though. The Murray Darling Basin Agreement between all the relevant states excluding Victoria has been an important step forward in the system management. On ground works including fishways constructed at several of the weirs are allowing the passage of fish through the prevously inpeneratable obstructions. I am very keen to inspect these structures.
There is of course a secondary purpose of the trip which is simply the enormous physical and mental challenge. Being a distance runner I feel I am mentally strong and can push through when the body screams stop. However, I am far from an experienced kayaker and there is an enormous difference between 3 hours of running and 45-50 days of 6-8 hours of kayaking per day. It is also likely that I will go days at a time without any human contact. I have made the decision to be completely reliant on my food supplies (dried, powdered and mostly lacking taste) and whatever I can catch from the river. Overall, there are a huge number of unknowns associated with the journey and I look forward to the challenges ahead.
Map indicating the journey route and significant towns
