During a crossing of Australia on a skateboard back in 2006 I received a note from the illustrator Jules Faber. He included a little cartoon he’d made about my journey and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
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A couple of years later Jules took it upon himself to join me for another journey, this time along the Murray River. Jules wasn’t actually there but every week he took the stories he’d seen me posting and sketched out a new cartoon.
Every so often I find the folder with these sketches and they make me laugh, smile and desperately want to learn that skill for myself. So here they all are, with a little back story to each….
Jules with me, in spirit and with pencil, paddling along the Murray River.
The first section of this journey was in the Snowy Mountains, on foot. I managed to get myself caught in a snowstorm and suffice it to say, those few days up top were uncomfortable and fairly cold. I was rescued by a wild horse, but let’s save that story for another day.
Once in the kayak the weather was fairly damp for a couple of weeks. That combined with river life and a basic lack of outdoorsy skills meant my feet had a life of their own.
I was joined at the start of the journey by Queenslander Peter Dowling, who I’d met a year earlier on my book tour around Australia. We developed a habit of getting caught in thunderstorms and only afterwards did Peter notice that his paddle was made of a conductive material.
Let’s just say, the Murray flows through some remote spots…
I was still a green adventurer and packed far more than I needed.
What a treat to see Playpus in the wild, the only place where this is possible. They’re so playful, jumping clear out of the water right alongside the boat.
The reason for shoes dangling from power lines will differ depending on who you ask. Whether they signal a nearby drug den or the outcome of the actions of a random dreamer, we’ll never know. But for sure, there are lots of shoes dangling around in Australia.
I’m a child. Place names make me laugh and gladly Jules feels the same.
One day I was paddling along minding my own business and saw this neck and head rising up from the Murray. It was utterly terrifying and could only be one thing, my fatigued mind told me. A serpent! The truth was possibly even more random, it was an emu going for a swim! When she ran up the opposite bank her fluffy body was saturated. Just wonderful.
The biggest challenge of the journey: speed boats towing waters-kiers. Weekends were spent watching out for the water hoons who sometimes would actively try to capsize me.
There were plenty of fine moments on the river though, including my 30th birthday, which I celebrated with a group of strangers who became friends on Lake Mulwala upstream of Yarrawonga.
It wasn’t rare to see a skinny dipper or proud nudist on the banks.
And to be fair, sometimes that was me at the end of a long, hot day.
I paddled through a couple of bushfires, both times just in time to make it through before that section of the river was closed for a couple of days. Both spectacular and deeply sad to witness, these fires regularly taunted a river valley that had been in drought for a decade.
I mentioned the speedboats and water-skis earlier. Well, one of the boats sped by within touching distance of me so I aimed my camera at them. I mean, it was about the only weapon I had. A couple of minutes later he same boat came back, this time towing a jet-skier who reached out and tried to grab the camera at high speed. I was quite angry.
There were lots of spiders…
Every few kilometres these blue and white signs signalled how many kilometres remained.
So much kindness showed along the river. Surely one of the best nights was when Customs Houseboats let me stay. Sheer luxury! I slept well.
It was Australia. It was hot. And as a side note, the drought meant that in most parts of the river I could have climbed out of the kayak and walked.
Finally I made it to the Southern Ocean and had one more challenge, get over the first set of breakers to finally say hello to open water!
The Murray was the beginning of a love affair with rivers that continues to this day. A couple of years later I’d be standing for a descent of the Mississippi, not on a raft but a paddleboard.
An image tells so many stories but in addition, the fact that Jules took time out from his own life to tell someone else’s story made a big impact on me. I know for sure that the kindness Jules and hundreds of others showed me as I snailed my way around our world led to my own little efforts like SayYesMore , @theyestribe , @theyesbus and other bits and bobs.
Just the smallest thoughtful act of kindness could make the world of difference for so many others. Be a pebble that creates some ripples. The world needs those little waves of change.
