Welcome to ETA Unknown

These are the travel and adventure musings of Alan as he contemplates what the future will bring.

I finished the longest river in the country, the Murray River from the source to sea in January 2021 (2,500 km). This was done directly after paddling the main sections of the Murrumbidgee River (1,200 km) along with the lower Tumut River and part of the Murray River, a combined paddle of 4,000 km over two months. I shifted my focus back to the Darling River.

In March 2020, a good rainfall event allowed me to paddle the upper Condamine River and remote Culgoa River before COVID rudely interrupted my trip down the river at Bourke. With another great rainfall in 2021, I was able to fully complete the uncompleted section on the Condamine and Balonne Rivers (900 km) and then continued onto the Darling River starting at Walgett. I completed the remaining sections of the Murray-Darling river system, including the entire Darling River (1,600 km) and the lower Murray River (800 km) to the ocean successfully completing the source to sea navigation of the country's longest continuous river system.

COVID border restrictions ruined any plans to make use of the great spring river flows, but after the restrictions were lifted I was able to paddle the Lachlan, Darling (again) and Great Darling Anabranch over the summer.

Both the Lachlan and Darling Anabranch were journeys into the unknown. Everyone that had tried the Lachlan had aborted their trips due to difficulties a long way before reaching the Great Cumbungi Swamp, and the Anabranch has only flowed 14 times in its natural state since 1890. I was likely to be the first person that has successfully navigated the Lachlan since it was first surveyed back in 1876 and I was probably the first person to paddle the Great Darling Anabranch in its natural state.

For friends and family, I have also updated and reposted our older travel blogs from SE Asia (2006) through to the Americas (2010/11).