About Robbo

My name is Andrew Robertson, but everyone calls me “Robbo”.

Since I was a kid I have always dreamt of being an adventurer. I spent all my time as a teenager reading books and magazines about adventurers exploring amazing locations. When all my friends’ bedroom walls were covered in posters of the latest rockstars and movie stars, I had pictures of mountains, rivers and icebergs. My sister used to say my room felt cold because there were so many pictures of snow and ice.

The first time I kayaked properly was in 1990 when I was in Year 10 at school. Our school had an Adventurers programer and we had to choose an activity to do for the year. A couple of friends and I decided that white-water kayaking sounded fun and would be a lot easier than carrying a hiking pack. Little did I know, as we headed to the Big River in Victoria on the school bus, that I was about to find one of my biggest passions in life. At the time I could not imagine anything more exciting than finding rivers and creeks with big rapids to throw ourselves down in our second hand kayaks. My friends and I spent the final years of high school and the first couple of years of university exploring all the big rapids we could find in Victoria.

When I moved from Melbourne to Sydney in 1999, I reluctantly retired the white-water kayak and bought my first sea kayak. I had been a bit of a white-water snob and it took me a while to discover the joys of long distance paddling on flatter rivers, harbours and the sea. Now I absolutely love packing my kayak full of gear and disappearing down a river for days on end, living out of the boat and just enjoying the surrounds.

The Murray River is going to be the longest adventure I have ever embarked on. In fact it will the longest time I have been away from home and been by myself.

Other than kayaking I am also very active in other various outdoor activities, including:

• ballooning
• hiking
• mountain biking
• camping

I am also a keen photographer, videographer and commercial drone pilot. I just love getting out there and making the type of content I want to consume… and hopefully others do too.