Made it to the end!

After the frustration and slow progress caused by limited water flow in the upper section of the Murray, the faster current post the Hume gave me and Mildred (the kayak) a push. Once I started talking to said kayak I decided she deserved a name, and Mildred was it. The good news is she didn’t start talking back, so I think my sanity has been preserved. 

THE SCENERY 

The change in scenery was gradual. For most of the way it was thick forests, then these were interspersed more frequently with populated areas. Then there were sections of cliffs and before flattening out as I approached the end. One constant was seeing the water levels down and most of the creeks running off the river dry. 

The green algae had become a problem in parts thanks to the warmer weather and low water flow due to the drought. This algae is toxic and can cause stomach upsets and eye irritation if you come into contact with it. At high concentrations it kills the fish in large numbers. As a result, there was water being released from the weirs to help flush it through. 

There were some stunning camping spots. Once I got away from all the holiday makers and their speedboats and jet skis, it was wonderfully peaceful and I had the place pretty much to myself. I loved that time of day when I'd find a good spot, call it, set up camp, have a swim and put dinner on. They weren't all like this one (below), but there were some crackers along the way. It was a beautiful place to kayak.

When it came to the weather, it was a real mix with temperatures ranging from 8C to 45C, airless days to winds that stopped me in my tracks, smoke haze from the bush fires, then dust storms along with some torrential downpours and thunderstorms for good measure.  

THE WILDLIFE 

Along there way there was plenty of native animals. Some I was happier to see than others. The roos, wallabies, emus, koalas and the beautiful birds were great. Ones I was slightly less happy about were more snakes and goannas (a decent sized monitor lizard). One night I had to take refuge in my tent from a goanna that clearly hadn't got the memo explaining he was supposed to me more scared of me than I was of him. Instead he seemed intent of seeing if I was going to share my dinner with him...  One of the more surprising sightings was an emu swimming across the river, doing a good impression of the Lochness Monster! I had no idea they swam!

MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CHALLENGES

Naturally this trip had its challenges, mentally as much as physically, if not more. A few things contributed to this:

• Being solo: pros including setting my own pace, cons is a lack of distraction

• Monotony: long days kayaking – between 8 to 13 hours with the scenery only changing very gradually

• Slowing progress: the current gradually slowed. My goal post the Hume was 55-60km a day. To begin that was pretty easy, but that got harder to do, meaning longer days in the kayak

• Softer ‘why’: the ‘why’ for the Nile was so strong – it was my purpose for such a long time. While I was excited to be doing this trip, the ‘why’ behind it wasn't as strong, which meant having to work harder to motivate myself at times. 

Saying all of this, once I surrendered to the long days, times of slow progress and monotony it was great and a gift to have the time and space for some real thinking. I had podcasts and audiobooks to fill the time and prompt some deeper thinking, but there was still a lot of boredom.

However, I don't think this isn't such a bad thing. We rarely give ourselves the space to be bored and are way more likely to avoid it than search it. It can be uncomfortable to just be with our thoughts and no distractions. Instead we'll pick up our phones, put on Netflix, fill our diaries. We'll never find a diary entry - 10-11am - be bored. But boredom leads to creativity and problem solving. It gives us the space to look at the past, make sense of things and extract lesson. To imagine the future and set goals. I certainly got all of this out of the endless thinking time and some unexpected personal growth!  

FELLOW LIFESAVERS

As a member of North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club, when I heard there was a lifesaving club at Mildura I had to try and meet some fellow lifesavers there. Not only did I meet them, they well and truly looked after me and Mildred. The latter was given shelter at their club while Cris and Tim ferried me around town and invited me to a wonderful home cooked dinner. Such a treat after weeks of Uncle Ben’s rice and packets of tuna! Tim is also a remedial massage and accupunture therapist and somewhat of a genius. My shoulders were eternally grateful and felt refreshed when back on the river.   I also got to meet their Club Captain Adrian Adams as I was interviewed by the local paper (thanks to Cris for setting that one up).  It was brilliant to meet them all and I'm so grateful for all their generosity and help.  

Coincidently the day I left there I did a minor rescue. Paddling along I saw a guy swimming toward the river bank from a speedboat. He was no Phelps and was gradually getting slower. As I got closer he raised his arm so I quickly went over. He was really struggling by the time I got there and grabbed onto my kayak once it was in reach. I waited with him until his mates came to get him. 

 KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

This was one of the major highlights of my Nile expedition, and it was on this trip too. There is something incredibly special and heart-warming when strangers go out of their way to help.

On top of the team at Mildura and Dave who I mentioned in my last post at Albury, there was Murray and Anthony who stored my kayak while I had rest days. There was Diana at a campsite who made me teas, gave me biscuits, lollies and water and even made me a chicken sandwich for lunch the next day. Another lady gave me some cream to help my feet (I was developing trench foot, nice) and offered to cook me some boiled eggs to take. 
 
A couple of guys out fishing came out of their way to give a big bottle of delicious ice cold flavoured water. They reckoned I must be parched and hot after all my paddling and in need of a cold drink. They were right!Then at a free campsite at Narrung, Jo and Tony (above) were amazing. They cooked me dinner, gave me some leftovers and fruit the next day as well as replenishing my water supplies. It wasn't just that - hanging out with them and chatting, sharing stories, I just loved it. 

In a world that can too often seem hostile, uncaring and filled with hate and fear, these acts of kindness and generosity restore my faith in humanity and I am eternally grateful. 

REACHING THE END

The horror stories about Lake Alexandrina, the final stretch for this expedition, reached my ears long before I physically got there. It's a huge, shallow lake notorious for strong winds that create steep and treacherous waves. People have tragically lost their lives on the lake, making me somewhat apprehensive. Taking this into account along with the forecasts and distance to cover I made the call to do it over two days and stick mostly to the edge of the lake rather than risk a direct crossing.

I set off at first light on day one, knowing that the winds tend to pick up around lunchtime. Reaching Narrung ferry and the nearby campsite I spoke to someone working on the channel markers who warned me not to head out into the S/W winds forecast the next day. I made the call to wait out the two following days that were forecast to be very windy and hope the mild conditions forecast the day after them would eventuate.  It was frustrating - so close to the end! But it was a good call and ended up being a nice time to reflect on trip, rest up and then really relish the last day. Again I set off at first light. Glancing behind me I was greeted by a beautiful sunrise before the sun ducked behind the clouds.

The winds were kind to me all day so I could just take it all in. There is a barrage across the lake keeping the salty sea water out of the river. The other side of the barrage I was into the Coorong (pic below) - about 200km of lagoons and wetlands, separated from the Southern Ocean by big sand dunes. 

It's beautiful and I was excited to be back in salt water. Eventually I made my way to the 100m gap in the sand dunes where the ocean comes into the Coorong and is the official mouth of the Murray. When I got there, I cried. Tears of relief and happiness and then it was just smiles. I'd made it! Or rather, Mildred and I had made it. Exactly 2,500km covered in 60 days (including rest days). 

It was a short paddle to where I was meeting Marc. He completed his own descent of the Murray during which he talked openly about his battles with depression and through it encouraged more conversations about mental health.

Through his trip, named 'Talking about a lonely journey', he quite literally changed the lives of many others battling their own mental health challenges. He transported me to a motel, took Mildred to be dropped off to where she'll be shipped back to Sydney and then we grabbed a bite to eat and shared some stories. A lovely way to finish the trip - thanks Marc!

And that was it. The Murray was done. As far as I know no one had completed expeditions down both the Nile and Murray, so that's kinda cool!

After a feed and a good night's sleep it was home to Sydney. There was a surprise to come - one of my best mates, Sue was there to meet me. More tears. Sue has been there all the way through. I checked in with her everyday and we had agreed protocols to follow if I failed to check in. And she always cheered me up when times were tough. She was backed up by Debbie, who was also checking in on me and helping to keep morale up. Thank you both!

And thank you to everyone who's helped, been so kind, encouraged me and help make this trip possible. Finally a HUGE thank you to Greg Bennett of Bennett Paddles who supplied the all important and best paddles for this epic journey. 

WHAT'S NEXT...?

Not surprisingly that's a question I get asked a fair bit. The immediate future is being kind to my body after another relentless pounding. My shoulders were just about ready to divorce me, so they're getting plenty of TLC. 

I'm also hoping this dodgy tan line (from my gloves) fades real quick!

For my next adventure, I'm not 100% sure. Discussions are underway and needless to say I have plenty of ideas...stay posted.

One big focus now is finishing the book about my Nile expedition. Hopefully I'll have some more news to share about that soon. 

In the meantime I hope you get out there for some adventures of your own. I'm going to sign off with this quote from writer and poet Harley King:
 

May your dreams be larger than mountains and may you have the courage to scale their summits

Until the next adventure...

Sarah x x