The Route
The entire journey ended up being 2,363km. It consisted of a small amount of walking, a bit of biking and then a whole lot of paddling. To put that distance into perspective, that is the same that Melbourne isn to Cairns, London is to Moscow and Los Angeles is to Chicago.
The Hike
The first section was a short hike (11km) from the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko to Dead Horse Gap where I transitioned to my bike.
For those people overseas, when we talk about Australia’s tallest mountain, it really is just a big hill. The peak is only 2,228m high but it does get covered in snow in the Winter months (usually between July and September). It is definitely not the type of mountain that other continents such as Europe and Asia have, as there is a paved track to the top and a toilet block just below the summit.
The Ride
After I hiked (strolled) down from the Summit, I meet Kath and her sister, Carolyn, at Dead Horse Gap and picked up my bike and camping gear.
The plan was then to ride down Cascade and Cowombat Trails to Tin Mine Hut (about 40km). From there I was going to hike the few kilometres to the true source of the Murray (based on GPS coordinates). Unfortunately the weather did not allow this to happen. Extreme winds, snow, rain and cold meant that I had to turn back at Cascade Hut and skip going to the Soruce.
I rode back uphill to Dead Horse Gap and then head down the Alpine Way back to the river at Tom Groggin campground. From there I rode back up about 1,000m of elevation to top of Mt. Youngal (1,514m) and then I ride down a remote track called the Indi Track to Khancoban.
All up, the ride was about 120km and took me about 4 days.
Being that I had not done much mountain biking (or any biking) in the last 10 years, the bike ride was the bit that required the most training.
The Paddle
This was obviously the bulk of the trip. At Biggara, I got into my White Water kayak and paddled 30km in narrow, fast water to Bringenbrong Bridge. At Bringenbrong I packed all my camping gear into to my sea kayak. I then start paddling all the way down the Murray. There is so much information I could write about the paddle, but I have no idea where to start, so you can read the blog posts about that.
I lived out of my kayak and camped on the side of the river most nights. There were towns along the river every few days, so I was able to restock my food, recharge batteries and post photos and videos. The longest section of the river without towns is Wentworth (near Mildura) and Renmark, which is about 270km and that section took 6 days.
Itinerary and Campsites
For details of my itinerary and the location/details of where I stayed each day, visit this spreadsheet.