Oh Darling

  Ever since Simon and I finished paddling the Murray River in 2019 I have wanted to paddle the Darling River. The Darling has had a tough decade – extreme drought and more recently flood. The logistics of paddling the Darling are more difficult than the Murray. It is further away from home and more remote from transport and supplies. The river was renamed to honour Sir Ralph Darling the 7 th Governor of the New South Wales colony. I hope at some point we can adopt joint naming and acknowledge that the river was known as the Baaka for millennia before Europeans arrived. The other aspect of “Darling” to be mentioned is my darling wife Lisa who encourages me with my adventures. While I was out on the river Lisa was continuing to work and volunteer as well as managing the family, home, pets and everything else. To Lisa I owe everything. Officially the Darling commences at the confluence of the Culgoa and the Barwon between Brewarrina and Bourke in NSW and finishes where joins the Mur...

  Arriving in Bourke I needed to find a location to leave my car securely for 3 weeks while I paddled downstream. The Back of Bourke Information Centre suggested I ask Tracy at Kidmans Camp Caravan Park in North Bourke. Fortunately Tracy was happy to assist and I was able leave the car there and camp the night before launching next morning (July 11 th ). Day 1 (11/7/2022) Kidmans Camp to Myandetta Station Campsite 43 km past Bourke With the river in flood the billabong next to Kidmans Camp was full so I was able launch and paddle into the river from there. Kidmans Camp is 10 km by river north of Bourke. The river was flowing fast and finding the main channel was a little tricky but a quick look at my GPS app confirmed I was on the river.  From there I was very soon paddling under the Gateway Bridge and not long after I was passing the Port of Bourke. Gateway Bridge, Bourke Port of Bourke I was aware from the map there was a weir downstream of Bourke and from prior research tho...

  Day 7 Louth to Campsite 54 km past Louth Up early and on the water by 7:10 am. Paddled until 11:00 am and then had early lunch having covered 35 km. After lunch passed the Trilby Station. Chatted with guy camping on the bank, he suggested I should have my own YouTube channel . He said it could be lucrative claiming he had been given $10k worth of sponsored camping gear for his own camping series. Spent 45 minutes finding campsite with suitable get out. Bird Highlights: White Bellied Sea Eagle, Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos and some Pelicans. Some Jacky Jacks (Apostle Birds) stopped by my campsite to check me out too. Such entertaining and social birds. Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos Day 8 Campsite 54 km past Louth to Campsite 100 km past Louth Another sunny day with persistent cool breeze. Bird Highlight: 5 pelicans gliding in formation. Birds were sparse today. Found a great campsite as soon as I started looking. 46 km seems short – I think the current has slowed through this...