The Next Adventure
Well it’s been a little while since the end of my incredible adventure down the Nile. As I said in my last update, it was just the beginning.
The exciting news is the next expedition is about to start. This time on home turf – the Murray River, which is Australia’s longest river at just over 2,500km.
THE MURRAY RIVER
As many of you know, we’re suffering from severe droughts here in Australia. Many rivers are drying up. A lot of people have been asking – is there enough water in the Murray? The top section doesn’t look great, but from then on, most of it should be ok. The Darling river, which joins the Murray is much harder hit.
I drove down yesterday to Jindabyne, not too far from the source. Shout out to Craig who shared the driving and then drives my car back to Sydney!
The trip then starts on Monday. It’ll be a drive then trek into the source for a day and then another days’ hiking. Due to the lack of water in the river and most likely not being able to kayak the top section (about 130km) I’ll have to jump in a car for about 60km and then hike the rest to where I put in my kayak. The initial hiking section (and kayaking should there be enough water) will be guided by Richard Swain of Alpine River Adventures and one of his guides. Plus Mike Bremers who’s done countless river kayaking trips here in Australia. Then it’s just me and my boat.
Talking of which, for this trip I have a shiny new boat! It’s an Audax Azure. Big thanks to Rob Mercer and the team from Expedition Kayaks for getting this ready in time and for throwing in some complimentary rolling sessions (haven’t manage to crack flipping and rolling back up…yet).
To go with my new boat I’ve got two paddles thanks to Greg Bennett of Bennett paddles. HUGE thank you for once again coming on board as a sponsor.
The risk profile for this trip is very different from the last. The good news is there are definitely less hippos and dodgy border patrols ready to arrest me. But it’s not risk free. Key dangers are:
strainers (trees/branches in the river) which you can get caught on and trapped against in the moving water
weather – Australian summer – gonna be hot, hot, hot
snakes – they are coming out of hibernation and likely to be hangry – and I have a phobia of snakes. Maybe this will be the exposure therapy I need to get over it?
fires – while there are bushfires plaguing over 2m hectares in New South Wales and Queensland currently they aren’t along the Murray. But that can change, so I’ll be regularly checking the apps for where they’re at
Plus being solo obviously adds to the risk profile. To help with this and as part of the risk management plan two of my great friends, Sue and Debbie, have very kindly agreed to be support team. So I’ll be checking in with them daily and they know what to do if there are any issues. I’ll have good comms with me – the GPS (which I can message from), satellite phone and mobile phone.
It's a bit stressful staring down the barrel of an expedition, even if it's not on the same scale as the last one. There's a part of me wondering why I am doing this?!! I could chilling on a beach for Christmas...you know, just taking it easy. But it's just pre-expediton nerves. I know I'm going to love it once I get going! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of my home country.
TALKING
Before setting off on the Nile expedition I knew public speaking was something I wanted to get into. Since being back I’ve been privileged to speak at some outstanding organisations, including the Royal Australian Navy, Lawson Delaney, T+O+M Executives, the Law Society, IGT and Tabcorp. The talks have either focused on mindset and resilience or managing risk. I am incredibly grateful to all these organisations for inviting me to speak, to share some stories and lessons from the trip and hopefully give the audience some tools and ways to approach big goals and challenges. I look forward to more of these after this next expedition.
AWARD
Now this was a big highlight! At the annual Paddle Australia awards night the best surprise was in store. In recognition of my expedition I was awarded the Olegas Truchanas award, which celebrates a canoeing trip that exemplifies the spirit of Olegas Truchanas and his passion for the natural environment.
THE BOOK
The first edit is pretty much there and I'm on the hunt for a publisher. I am chatting to a couple of peeps in the biz, but if anyone has contacts, please let me know. It would be fantastic to get it published!
Right, well time for me to get going and finish off the final preparation. I plan to be doing updates throughout the trip and will be posting on social media.
Right, time to get back to packing!
Sarah x x