July 23, 2025 • 51 mins
This week, we’re chatting to two remarkable women adventurers.
First up meet Lucy Barnard, the Australian Geographic Society's 2024 Adventurer of the Year. Lucy is almost at the end of an intrepid feat to become the first woman to walk the length of the Earth – 30,000 kilometres from the southernmost tip of South America to the top of North America, and talks to co-host Kirstie Bedford about this incredible journey. Follow her on Instagram at @tanglesandtail
Our second guest is adventurer, author and inspirational speaker Laura Waters, who joins us to talk about her recent, epic journey kayaking 2,400 kilometres solo along the Murray, Australia’s longest river. Laura is also the author of Bewildered, which documents her life-changing hike of the length of New Zealand. She has also authored Ultimate Walks & Hikes Australia.
You can watch a documentary about her journey here, and follow Laura on Instagram at @laurawaters_writer
And don't forget to enter our competition to win a tropical holiday in Thailand! To celebrate our 100th episode, we've partnered with Avani Hotels and Resorts to give away four nights' stay for two people in a deluxe room at Avani+ Khao Lak, with daily breakfast and dinner, airport transfers and a Muay Thai boxing class.
Just like the competition post on our Instagram page and tag a friend, and follow both The World Awaits and Avani Hotels, and you're in for the win!
Entrants can be located anywhere in the world. Entries close 31st July 2025.
Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Hi there, welcome to our winter series.
Inspiring, intrepid andremarkable, this week we're
chatting to two Australian womenadventurers, Lucy Barnard and
Laura Waters.
First up, my co-host KirstyBedford chats to Lucy, who was
(00:23):
named the 2024 Adventurer of theYear by the Australian
Geographic Society.
Lucy is almost at the end of anastonishing feat to become the
first woman to walk 30,000kilometres from the southernmost
tip of South America to the topof North America.
SPEAKER_02 (00:42):
Welcome to the show, Lucy.
Thank you.
It's so nice to have you on TheWorld Awaits.
Thanks for joining us.
Let's start by, tell us a bitabout your background.
Firstly, I would say that I wasa pretty adventurous person.
spirited kid always looking outof the window at school wishing
I could be somewhere else andthen I went into the
(01:04):
professional career path becamea scientist became a
communication specialist and wason my very first adult holiday
away when I was on a bustraveling down to Argentina and
Argentina in the country areasis very open plains so there's
(01:24):
not much happening over this12-hour bus trip, except that
time is passing, but thelandscape's not changing.
So that started me thinking thatI could walk faster to get
there.
And that silly little thoughtled to me doing a little Google
search to see if it was possibleand if anyone had done it.
And then that got me wonderingabout the length of the world.
(01:45):
And I'd seen that one man haddone it in the year that I was
born, but since then no womenhad achieved the same feat.
And I was like, oh, it can't bethat hard.
So when did you...
So what did you do to getstarted?
What planning did you have todo?
And also, when exactly was thisthat you got started?
Okay, so I started in 2019, butthe idea came to me in 2016.
(02:07):
And in that time, I was alreadya fairly competitive cyclist.
I was a rock climber.
I loved canyoning.
Every weekend, I was out doingwhat they like to call
micro-adventures these days.
And so I...
Just kept on with my usualfitness.
I was really, really fit.
In fact, I would say now I'mless fit than I was back then
(02:31):
because I'm just walking.
And I've lost a lot of my corestrengths.
And then I went into a wholeproject management plan of
setting out all of the things Iwould need to consider from
country to country, any kind ofillness that I might be exposed
to along the way, any kind ofpolitical issues, visas that I
need to be concerned about.
I knew that I wanted to get adog, so I found out about if it
(02:53):
was possible to pass throughthese places with dogs, which
it's really easy, very easy.
And then after I had a big chartset out of all of the different
things I'd need to sort outalong the way, I put it into
like a traditional Gantt chart,full project management style,
and just step-by-step hooked inand got myself to the point
(03:15):
where I didn't feel like I wasready.
You know, you never can be.
There's always something else orsomething extra that you could
do.
But a really good friend of minejust said to me, Lucy, getting
to the start line is a win.
Just get to the start line andsee how you go.
And that's all I did.
But how did you know where togo?
Like how?
(03:36):
I didn't.
That's the thing.
So I spent way too much timereally scrutinizing trails and
directions that I would andpaths and all of the rest of it.
But ultimately on the very firstday, National Parks wouldn't let
me through an old trail.
an old border crossing withoutgiving them three months notice,
which I didn't have time to do.
(03:56):
So my whole plans from day onechanged.
And from then on out, I justused local knowledge to
determine the route because inthe world of Latin America,
things really are day to day.
And just because there is ahigher profile of natural
hazards over there, earthquakesand tsunamis and all of that
(04:18):
sort of stuff you really need tomaintain a flexible mindset to
be able to continue on somethingthat's so long term keeping in
mind that originally I thoughtit would take me three years to
walk the length of the earth andI am now up to year five so and
so what's the dog why did youwant to take a dog and where did
you get the dog from and did thedog go from the very start from
(04:40):
day one and I'd like to admitthis but I am dog obsessed like
If I had a spirit animal, itwould be a dog.
So my whole life I've had somesort of a dog nearby and around
with me and I just knew that Iwould struggle.
So when I went to university,that was the first time where
I'd moved away from home.
(05:00):
I didn't have any animals withme at that point.
So I'd gone and volunteered at azoo to see if that would quench
my desire.
pining for a pet and it didn't.
But then the guide dogsapproached me and asked if I'd
like to raise a puppy for them.
And that got me down a wholeseparate path in my life where I
was training guide dog puppies.
And so I had experienced thatfeeling previously and I knew
(05:24):
that if I was going to beoverseas for such a long time, I
would experience that again.
But also it was a very naturalstrategy for reducing my risk of
to human interference while Iwas on the trail.
So having a dog that looks alittle fierce, who's not fierce
at all, but having one thatlooks that way is definitely a
(05:45):
good way in deterring peoplefrom harassing me, especially in
the evenings.
I didn't start with a dog.
I understood that about fourpeople every year start this
journey with the hopes ofreaching Alaska.
But typically everyone quitsbefore they reach their first
year.
And that's because the climatein Patagonia is so brutal.
(06:06):
It's so difficult that peopletend to stop along that point
somewhere.
So I decided that I didn't wantto adopt a dog over there and
then be stuck there.
with having to deal withrehoming it or bringing it home
because that can be reallyexpensive, I wanted to prove to
myself that I had what it tookto go the long distance.
(06:26):
And so I waited for that firstyear.
And once that first year tickedover, it just happened fluidly
that I was offered a dog from afarmer that was near where I
was, up to on my walk.
I had a trailer with me, so Igot Wombat as a puppy.
And he was able to walk duringthe day when he had lots of
energy, which was a lot.
of the time because he is such ahigh energy breed.
(06:47):
And then when he was tired, I'dpop him into a hiking trailer
that I had at the time because Iwas crossing a desert and I
needed to be able to carry extrawater and extra food.
And so it just made a lot ofsense that since I had a hiking
trailer that I could have a dogwith me that could rest when it
needed to.
And what breed is he?
He's an Australian cattle dog,so really high energy.
(07:08):
And Wombat, just because youwanted the Australian name?
Yeah, totally.
Actually, it went to anelection.
I put up a little voting panelon my website.
Don't ever do that.
It led to a major fight, andsomeone hijacked the election.
They hacked in and put all ofthese votes in the names that
(07:29):
they wanted, and it was adifferent name to the one that
actually legitimately won.
And so that's how he ended upgetting Wombat.
There were a couple of names.
There was Wombat, Yuki, Drover.
And another one that I've sinceforgotten.
So give us a little summary ofwhat you've covered so far.
Where have you been?
What countries have you covered?
(07:50):
Okay, so I started in Argentinaand Chile, walking in and out of
those two borders as I headednorth.
And that took me acrossPatagonia.
And really very famous hikingareas, areas where there's
glaciers, very cold down there.
I experienced some of thecoldest temperatures I've ever
experienced in this zone andwindiest.
(08:11):
Actually, there was one occasionwhere even though I was wearing
a very heavy pack, the windscooped me up and threw me five
meters.
I got dumped on a rock on myknees.
It was the most excruciatingpain I think I've experienced
while hiking.
And then leaving that area, Iwalked along a coastal region
for a while, which then turnedinto the Atacama Desert, which
(08:33):
is the longest, driest desert onthe planet that's non-polar.
From there, I moved into Peru,which was fabulous.
Whenever anyone asks me wherethey should go hiking, that is
definitely one of my favoriteplaces to recommend because I
was following trails that are500 years old along the Incan
highways that travel all the wayfrom actually up to Ecuador and
(08:58):
then continue into Ecuador.
And then the trail became alittle bit more tropical, a
little bit more jungly.
And then I dropped intoColombia.
I had a two-year pause therebecause of the pandemic.
But when I was able to continue,I was able to move through
Indigenous areas.
I've met people who were able toconnect me with the right people
to get the conditions that Ineeded to go through those
sirens.
(09:18):
After that, I reached an areawhich is really infamous called
the Darien Gap, where It's veryhostile and there's a lot of
criminal activity that occurswithin the zone.
But I managed to cross throughthere safely with the assistance
of Centre Front, which is theborder patrol area of the
(09:38):
Panamanian police.
So I got through there, gotthrough Panama.
Panama has its own throughtrail.
A through trail is a trail thatextends the full length of a
country.
And they have the mostmagnificent, beautiful trail
that I've followed as well.
And then I went through CentralAmerica.
I'm just short-cutting nowbecause I've been through so
many countries.
Okay, so then I went to Panama,Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras,
(10:05):
Guatemala, and into Mexico,which got a lot of attention
because, again, I ran into somehostile areas.
And then most recently I crossedinto the United States safely
and started following theContinental Divide Trail and
have reached all the way to thevery top of Wyoming.
I have...
one state really left to go inthe United States before
crossing into Canada so fromthere I'll follow my final long
(10:29):
trail which is the Great DivideTrail I'll make my way over
towards Alaska and then I'll befollowing kind of following the
highways also following gaslines until I get up to the
Brook Ranges and I'll be cuttingacross the Brook Ranges if the
season is permitting.
And then I'll drop down into atown that's called Utqiagvik.
(10:52):
It's the northernmost town inthe Americas, formerly known as
Barrow in Alaska.
I've got so many questions foryou.
We could be on But so when yousay the police helped you, how
did that work?
Because you'd be walking formany, many days, right?
Yes.
So in this area, it's known forpeople struggling, people who
(11:15):
are really looking for salvationin a country that is safer than
their own, somewhere safe tolive.
So that's going on.
There are about 700 people everyday that are commencing that
walk.
So it's a very high traffickedarea and there's a lot of cartel
activity taking advantage ofpeople who are just trying to
find a safe place to live.
And then because there's nohighway that goes through there
(11:38):
and there's a lack ofvisibility, it's the hotspot for
smuggling money and guns fromPanama into Colombia and from
Colombia into Panama drugs.
So it's a very hot area.
It's one of the areas thatyou'll see on Smart Traveller
where it's a red zone, whichjust says that you do not travel
(11:59):
here.
If you do travel into theseareas, you won't be covered by
any travel insurance.
They're seriously unsafe.
And so I had received permissionfrom Indigenous groups that live
in there because even though itis hostile areas, there are
people who live there.
safely in their communities inthese areas.
So I was going to be handed fromone community to the next to the
(12:22):
next.
But when Centrefront heard thatI was there, they felt very
uncomfortable becauseultimately, as a foreign
traveller, if something goeswrong, they're the people who
get stuck with trying to find meand dealing with the family and
the Australian government.
(12:43):
And so it is also important towork not just with the
Indigenous people.
In this area, the Indigenouspeople have sovereignty over
this land.
So it is their land and thePanamanian police are guests
there.
But the Panamanian police alsohave a high number of Indigenous
people who work with them aswell as perfectionals.
(13:04):
So it's a really workablesystem.
And I had a meeting with theDirector General, who is the
highest level professionalranked person in the police
force and he was able tocoordinate a group of seven
police officers to chaperone methrough this area oh amazing
(13:26):
yeah and I felt reallyuncomfortable with the idea of
that at first because I didn'twant to inconvenience a
government you know they've gotbigger issues to deal with than
a foreigner however they werejust following their usual
routine so they patrol theseareas.
They walk along these trails aspart of their job.
They go on month swings.
So they work for one month onand then one month off.
(13:47):
And every day that they'reworking, they're moving through
the jungle trying to interceptillegal activity.
Amazing.
Gosh.
And were you scared going intosome of these areas?
It's hard to describe.
So I would say that I feltprepared because And I had done
(14:08):
a risk assessment where I feltcomfortable with the level of
risk that I was taking on.
If I was just going to walkthrough there alone without
doing any of the due diligencethat I had done, then yes, I
think it would be right to bevery afraid.
But because I had done all ofthe things that were necessary
to keep myself safe, I wasfeeling more comfortable about
(14:28):
it.
So what did you do with the dog?
How far did the dog go with youon this part?
Oh, okay.
So...
With this section, I didn't takehim in.
I left him with somebody who Iknew in the northern section of
Colombia, and then he was flowninto Panama, which actually was
(14:49):
logistically more difficult thanorganizing a police escort,
believe it or not, because thatparticular leg is highly
monetized by the bodies ofpeople who like to bring or ship
animals through Colombia.
And so in hindsight, it wouldhave been easier just to take
him with me, but I didn't wantto have the additional concern
(15:10):
of keeping him safe too.
Yeah, of course.
So how much of the walk will heend up doing in the end?
More or less, exactly what I'vedone, minus 6,000 kilometers,
which is what I covered in thefirst year.
So he will do 24,000 kilometers.
All right.
And so you're back home for abit now.
Where is he now?
(15:32):
He is with a family that'staking care of him in Colorado.
Yeah, amazing.
Okay, great.
Oh, that's so nice.
So when are you headed back offagain?
Just a couple of weeks,actually.
I'm frantically getting mybudget ready.
And this final stretch is a veryexpensive leg of the journey
(15:54):
because I'm going to berequiring hiking, potentially
hiking skis.
or snowshoes to walk throughthis along the snow.
And to keep in lines withwalking the length of the world,
these are devices that you can'tslide on.
And because they're specialists,they cost a lot.
And then of course, I'll beneeding a sled as well.
I can't just use the trailerthat I have because it'll sink
(16:15):
in the snow.
And all of the cold equipmentthat's required as well.
So I got a lot, a lot toorganize in the next couple of
weeks, but I will be continuingin a few weeks.
And do you have to do it withina certain timeframe or anything?
Is there any restrictions aroundlike if you claim to walk the
world, does it matter or is itjust a matter of actually
(16:37):
literally walking the world?
Yeah.
That's it.
Because I'm the first woman, Iwrite my own rules and anyone
that comes after me can attemptto do it faster.
without having any rests becauseof COVID.
I feel a lot more flexible aboutthis now because I had been
consistently walking the entiretime.
And then because of the forcedbreak, it was really liberating
(16:57):
ultimately.
And it also just opens up alittle bit of healthy
competition in the sense that ifsomeone wants to come in and do
it faster than me, then by allmeans, I'd love to support them
and encourage them to do that.
And so you've talked about Perubeing your, you know, the best
place that you've been and alsothe challenges obviously of
getting through some of theseplaces.
What are you most lookingforward to next?
(17:21):
Well, it's really difficult tosay.
I think I was really impressedwith the the Divide Trail that
I'm on at the moment, which is athrough trail that goes through
the United States.
And so I guess I'm lookingforward to seeing what Canada
has to offer in the sense oftheir long trail that I'll be
landing on as soon as I get tothe border, which will be
wonderful.
(17:41):
And I am very curious to see, Ihave wanted to explore the book
ranges since I was very youngand to be able to have that
along the trail right at the endshould be magnificent too.
And of course, I'm always reallythrilled to see the different
animals along the trail.
We don't see very many becausebetween Wombat and I and the
(18:03):
noisemaker that I have with meto deter predators, a lot of the
animals get away before we getnear them.
But it is really thrilling tosee nature.
Amazing.
And what, tell us a bit aboutwhat you do, what you listen to
and what you eat while you're,you know, how does, how do your
days look and where do yousleep?
(18:24):
Well, the first thing is thatI'm usually in a tent.
So I don't really see a town anysooner than every five days.
And now that I'm heading intomore remote regions, it could be
10 to 20 days, which is why Ineed a sweat.
So I'm also in snow areas andfollowing hydro geological
(18:44):
areas, which are areas wheremost of the surface water comes
from that we as people consume.
So that's to say that it'sremote.
It's very cold and can be verywet.
So with that all said, I'm alsoin areas where there's lots of
predators.
So we're talking grizzly bears.
I'll be moving into polar bearregions.
(19:04):
There's also wolves, which arehuge, huge animals, much larger
than I thought that they were.
They're kind of two to threetimes bigger than a dog.
And they travel in packs.
And there's also snow leopards.
So I started daylight so that Ican see.
That's really important becausepredators tend to hunt at night,
but they are around during theday.
And then I have a speaker thatsits on my shoulder and I've
(19:28):
always got either a podcast or abook playing, usually something
that's conversational so thatsounds like there's more than
just me walking.
And we continue all the timewith something playing in the
background and that's newbecause of Predators.
And then...
If I can find somewhere tocomfortably rest and it's not
(19:51):
windy and it's not snowing, thenwe will take a rest around lunch
for sure.
And sometimes we'll take a restfor morning tea and afternoon
tea as well.
But now that it's cold, it'sgetting hard to find places
where I can get under a tree andbe dry.
and warm.
So it just is determined by thatand also how my progress is
(20:14):
going.
If I'm having a very slow day,then we'll just push through.
Wombat's very good at gettingbehind me and having an easier
time of breaking snow.
That's the region that I'm in,which it is right now.
And then we get into the tent inthe evening.
I get us warm.
I heat water.
I have to put my bear vault 100meters away from my tent so that
(20:35):
the food is not in the tent withme.
And voila, that's what a daylooks like.
And what are you eating?
Are you cooking?
Yeah, so to keep the pack weightdown, I have been buying
freeze-dried meals, which aremeals that are snap frozen, and
then the water evaporates as itgoes through that fast-freeze
(20:58):
process.
And that is the lightest, mostnutritious type of food for
long-term food storage that youcan get.
So I typically will have a meallike that in the morning and
then we just snack during theday.
And Wombat shares everythingthat I eat to keep it really
simple and to make sure thathe's getting a diversity in his
(21:20):
diet.
And I also, since this getsasked a lot, I have supplements
for him to make sure that hishealth is, you know, so make
sure he's thriving.
And I have a first aid kit forhim too.
In fact, he has less issues thanI have.
I take better care of him than Ido myself.
And when you're finished, what'sthe plan?
(21:40):
Are you going to write a book?
What are you going to do?
I get asked.
I would almost say harassed fora book often.
However, I just don't feel likemy story finishes at the end of
the walk and I don't want to sitdown and have a sad memoir of
something that I should becelebrating.
(22:01):
So instead of doing that, I havea collection of places where
I've been invited to go back andtell the story of these
communities that are very hardto access and they're very
closed off to general publictypically, but are happy for me
to come in and share theirstory.
So I've been working very hardto start a film production
company and have it in fullflight by the time I finish the
(22:22):
expedition.
And my hopes are that I'll beable to get the funding required
to then go into these places andreally celebrate people who I've
met along the way.
Amazing.
And introduce these communitiesthat people may not have even
ever experienced, like you said.
There are just the most amazingstories out there being, just
waiting to be told.
(22:42):
I have been invited by peoplewho live on a tropical glacier.
Did you know tropical glaciersexist?
I did not.
Yeah.
Yeah, neither.
So they live right at the top ofthis mountain in Columbia and
they truly believe that theirresponsibility in life is to
take care of the soul of ourearth.
So they're very concerned aboutthat, but I don't want to just
(23:04):
share that story, but also sharethe purpose of their life and
moments of real success andfulfillment so that I'm giving
an idea of reverement for thesepeople so that you can feel awe
for them and respect them butalso be able to appreciate that
while their lives and the storyis a wonderful story, it's not
(23:28):
your life but that you respectthem for it.
Amazing.
Gosh, I could talk to you forhours about this, but we're
running out of time.
So I'm going to have to ask youthe question.
The last question we ask all ofour gear switches, what's the
most bizarre thing that's everhappened to you in your travels?
I think one of the most novelthings is that I had been hiking
(23:51):
through the desert in Mexico,the Chihuahuan Desert, and I
needed support because I had asupport vehicle come through
this area with me.
It's the hottest area in Mexico,but also it's summer.
And they were experiencing aheat wave and measured the
hottest days ever experienced inMexico during this time.
(24:13):
But unfortunately, the car thatwe had rented to help me get
through this section was acomplete lemon.
And so again, the police weresupporting us and making sure
that we were okay on aday-to-day basis.
And so while the police werethere with us one day, I asked
them if they would like to do aTikTok with us and learn an
(24:34):
Australian dance.
And they said yes, becausethey're Latinos and they can't
resist.
So I taught a bunch of policeofficers how to dance to the nut
bush.
It's on my Instagram if you wantto check it out.
Well, I'm sure everyone willabsolutely be wanting to go to
your Instagram and check thatout.
(24:57):
Josh, I'm sure you've got awhole list of these sorts of
remarkable and bizarreexperiences that you've had.
Maybe that's a whole new filmseries.
Now that I think about it, it'snot even the first time that
I've danced with police officersright down in Argentina and
Patagonia.
They invited me to come to Zumbawith them because they just saw
that I was on my own and that Iprobably, you know, the theme of
(25:19):
this whole walk is thatcommunity has always gotten
behind me.
And I think one of the bigvalues of the Latin Americas is
that maintaining a sense ofcommunity and protecting one
another, really looking out foreach other.
And so definitely I have beenadopted a lot and invited to do
a lot of things that I wouldn'tordinarily expect.
It's been so amazing chattingwith you.
(25:40):
I wish we could just talkforever and we'll have to
revisit and have anotherconversation once you're
finished.
And congratulations on thisincredible, remarkable
achievement.
You're just truly such aninspiration to so many people
and we will put all of the linksin the show notes.
SPEAKER_01 (25:56):
That was Lucy Barnard, 2024 Adventurer of the
Year, and you can follow hertrails on Instagram at
tanglesandtale.
Next up, we are chatting withanother adventurer, author and
inspirational speaker, LauraWaters, about her epic journey
paddling the length ofAustralia's longest river, the
Murray.
Welcome to
SPEAKER_02 (26:16):
the
SPEAKER_01 (26:16):
show, Laura.
SPEAKER_00 (26:17):
Thanks very much for having me, Kirsty.
SPEAKER_02 (26:20):
It's so great to have you on.
We have actually had you onbefore and people, we will put a
link to the last time we spoke,which was about when you walked
the links of New Zealand, whichis an incredible feat.
So tell us a bit about yourbackground and how you came to
do that.
SPEAKER_00 (26:35):
Yeah, look, I was working in corporate for 10
years and then I just suddenlysaw a new hiking trail that had
opened from one length of NewZealand to the other and I
immediately thought, I want todo that.
And it's really opened the doorto a whole lot of changes in my
life because walking 3,000kilometers on my own was
(26:56):
something I didn't think I coulddo, but I achieved it.
And so when I came back, Ithought, what else can I do?
And so that led me to quittingthe corporate job and chasing my
dream to be a writer.
So since then, I've written twobooks, Bewildered and Ultimate
Walks and Hikes Australia, andbecome a full-time travel
writer.
SPEAKER_02 (27:17):
And speaker.
And inspirational, incredible,inspirational, motivational
speaker.
And so tell us, so was itbecause of that, that you then
just decided you'd look at whatelse you could do?
And then the Murray came up?
SPEAKER_00 (27:31):
The Murray River has had a fascination for me for
many years.
I don't know, whenever Ivisited, I felt like there was a
real energy about the place.
And I was curious to know whatthe Murray was like beyond the
big tourist towns like Echucaand Randmark and I knew that it
changed a lot.
(27:51):
It starts up in the foothills ofthe Alps and travels all the way
to this sea in South Australia.
There's 2,400 kilometres and Iwanted to see it all.
So I just, it was curiosity thatled me onto this quest of
paddling the Murray.
Amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (28:09):
So how do you get started on something like that?
Like, how do you know what youneed and how do you get the
gear?
SPEAKER_00 (28:16):
Yeah, I've done a bunch of short kayak touring
trips before.
And if you tallied them all up,it's probably about a month's
worth.
But I hadn't done anythinglonger than six days of kayak
touring.
And to be honest, it's a littlebit easier in some ways to
hiking because when you'rehiking, you've got to be really
(28:38):
brutal about what you carrybecause it's all on your back.
When you're in a boat, you'vegot much more space and weight
isn't such a critical issue.
So I already had all of thecamping gear and I was used to
what I would need food-wise forthat sort of long distance trip.
And yeah, because I didn'treally have any time constraint
(29:00):
as such, I just knew that Icould take my time, well, to a
point, take my time and justtake it as it comes.
SPEAKER_02 (29:11):
So how long had you anticipated that it was going to
take and how long did it take?
SPEAKER_00 (29:17):
I had in my head about two and a half months and
that is how long it took me.
But I have to say I would havepreferred to have had more time
because I felt like I was reallypushing long days sometimes.
And although the whole journeytook me 76 days, I was only
(29:38):
paddling for 60 days of that.
And that's because I needed theinevitable rest days once a
week.
And then there was some weathercontingency days, basically.
So when there's a massiveheadwind, it's just, to my mind,
some paddlers battle into it.
But honestly, you can be bustinga gut and barely making any
(30:00):
progress.
And I just thought that was abit of a waste of time.
So if I had a 40, 50 kilometeran hour headwind, I would just
pull up on the riverbank andleave the next morning.
And then there were a fewelectrical storms as well.
And you certainly don't want tobe on the water, waving a paddle
in the air when one of those isgoing on.
SPEAKER_02 (30:19):
No, absolutely.
And so what did you, where didyou start?
Where did you actually start?
And tell us a bit about whatyour days look like.
SPEAKER_00 (30:29):
Yeah, so I started from Bringenbrom Bridge, which
is near Corion, which is about40 kilometres as the crow flies
from the top of Kosciuszko.
So I started within sight ofsnow-capped mountains and it was
all very green and there's cowsand real sort of alpine lowlands
feel.
(30:49):
And then I, you know, the firstthree days is rapids basically.
So I was shooting these gradeone and two rapids and the
water's clear there.
When we think of the Maru, weoften think of that sort of
cappuccino-coloured water.
But when you're up high in themountains, it's clear.
(31:10):
crystal clear and you can seethe pebbles on the bottom.
So yeah, I started there andthings are quite fast up high
because the water drops a lot ofelevation or the river drops a
lot of elevation in those first,I don't know, the first week or
so.
So it's running fast and you'rereally not doing so much
(31:31):
paddling, but a lot of steering.
And so I tried to, but then,sorry, as you go further
downstream, The river slowsdown.
There's 15-odd locks to getthrough, and the river widens as
well, which slows things down,and you're more prone to
headwinds.
So it was very variable.
It was very difficult to say howmany kilometers I would do each
(31:54):
day, but I would try to aim forat least 40 kilometers a day,
and that might be from sunrisetill 4 o'clock or 5 in the
afternoon.
Yeah, every day was veryvariable, very different.
And then you pitched a tent?
Yeah, yeah.
(32:14):
And all of my gear stashed indry bags and stuffed in the
hatches in the boat.
So I'm in the cockpit andthere's a hatch in the front and
in the back and I would justhave to stuff everything in
there, which was quite an epicevery day, I have to say.
And sometimes I'd be exhaustedjust after that one process.
And finding a campsite to suit.
(32:36):
There were some areas wherethere was lots of camping
opportunities.
There'd be beautiful sandbarsthat you could just pull up the
boat and easily drag it on shoreand easily offload and reload.
But there were also plenty oftimes when I would struggle to
find somewhere to pull outbecause the riverbanks were too
steep.
(32:56):
Or there was mud on the shores.
There was one point where I sunkinto mud up to my knees, like
quicksand, which was quitescary.
And then you might pull up andit'll say private property, so
you've got to find somewhereelse.
Or there might be so many gumtrees around, which there's a
lot of tree fall from gum treesup on the river.
(33:19):
So I needed to find somewheresafe where I could put my tent
up and not risk having a limbfall on me in the middle of the
night and that was always a bitof a challenge finding somewhere
somewhere somewhere suitable
SPEAKER_02 (33:32):
it's very brave and I know you've done a lot of solo
traveling anyway so for you youdon't really see it like that
but it must have been there musthave been times when were there
times when you were a littlefearful or did it was just were
there when you were paddling andwhen you were staying in places
did you come across many people
SPEAKER_00 (33:50):
Yeah, look, I've done a lot of solo hiking, so
I'm not fearful of camping alonein the bush.
As is sadly often the way, thebiggest danger out in the wilds
is humans.
And I thought the biggestchallenge on this trip would
have been the three days ofrapids at the top or crossing
(34:12):
Lake Alexandrina near the rivermouth.
But To be honest, the biggestheadache for me and the biggest
stress out was other boaties.
So powerboats, wakeboarders, jetskis.
It was quite a source of stressfor me avoiding interactions.
Some of them were great, butthere's quite a few, shall we
(34:32):
say, irresponsible boat driversout there who don't think about
the wake they cause and how thataffects a sitting duck like me
in a human-powered boat.
kayak my sea kayak was 5.8meters long so not terribly
maneuverable very fast on thestraight but if I cop waves from
(34:53):
the side it can cause a bigproblem and also if you think
about the river it's flowingfast at times and there is a lot
of tree snags on the side theriver is constantly eroding the
riverbanks and big gum treesjust fall into the river and
choke up the edges and And ifyou can imagine your boat hits
(35:15):
one of those submerged trees,you can easily flip and then get
pinned in the boat against thewater.
So it's actually a reallyserious issue.
And unfortunately, some peoplein tinnies or powerboats
actually thought that it wasfunny to force me into these
dangerous situations.
(35:36):
I was coming out of Albury onelate afternoon and I heard a
tinny come up behind me and Itwas getting louder and I turned
around and I could just seethese two guys just coming
straight at me.
And they would have turned likebarely two meters away, took
evasive action.
And then they just laughed anddrank beers.
(35:58):
And to them, it was just a joke.
But to me, it was really scary.
And I felt very vulnerable.
From then on, I realized thatnot everybody was going to treat
me with respect basically andthat sort of transferred through
unfortunately to evenings when Ijust felt very vulnerable after
that and when I'm camping on myown and campers turn up in a
(36:22):
four-wheel drive at 10 o'clockat night and start driving
around and playing loud musicyou you feel like a sitting duck
and there was another momentwith I had a close call with
about Fifteen jet skis cameracing around a blind bend,
goggles on.
It sounded like a Grand Prixtrack, the scream of the
(36:44):
engines.
And thankfully, I'd pulled overfor a snack at the time.
But had I been on the river atthat point, they would have run
me over before they even knewwhat happened.
Because it was a blind bend,that narrow part of the river,
once again, the usual snags onthe side, and there would have
been nowhere for us all to go.
And yeah, it just concerned methat some river users aren't
(37:07):
thinking about who else is outthere and treat it as their own
private waterway or racetrack.
SPEAKER_02 (37:13):
Yeah.
And was that in a lot of the,obviously you covered a really
long way, or was that just acertain part?
SPEAKER_00 (37:22):
Really wherever there were boats, obviously the
Murray attracts lots of waterskiers and jet skiers.
So any of those tourist hotspotsthat do attract boats, I could
be affected.
There was a spot, I think I gotless hassle further down the
river, South Australia, and theriver widens there.
(37:44):
But having said that, I still, Ihad a wakeboarder, a
wakeboarding boat come so closeto me, I could have touched the
guy with my paddle.
He was that close.
And the waves they make are likemeters high.
And I think he just went pastsaying, high five.
And I was like, it was justabsolutely wild trying to stay
(38:08):
upright in those sorts of waves.
It's, yeah, not cool.
Yeah.
Wow.
Gosh.
Yeah.
From that point on, from thatmoment in Albury with that
moment with the tinnies, everytime I heard an engine, I would
just have this rush ofadrenaline and cortisol.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That wasn't fun.
But then there were other longstretches where I wouldn't see
anybody for a few days, perhaps,and it was just the sound of the
(38:30):
birds.
And those bits were magical.
I loved that.
But other river users did add abit of stress sometimes.
SPEAKER_02 (38:38):
So what were some of the best places or parts for
you?
Obviously, those tranquil placeswhere you could hear the birds.
Whereabouts were those placeswere the best parts, I think.
SPEAKER_00 (38:51):
Barmer National Park, I think that was the first
point where I really noticed thebirdsong.
I've spent a lot of time campingin the bush, but there were
moments where I camped up aroundthat point and the bush was just
so noisy at night.
It was unbelievable.
(39:12):
I've never camped in such anoisy area with insects and
birds and animals.
And Yeah, it was just fantastic.
And when I had a rest day andstayed in a house, in a friend's
house, the thing that reallystruck me was how quiet it was
because I was just so used tothis rich and vibrant
(39:33):
environment.
And yeah, so I often startedpaddling early in the morning to
try and avoid the worst of thewind because the wind tends to
pick up later in the day.
So I would start at sunrise ormaybe even a bit before.
I would just get completelysidetracked and end up holding
my camera for the first hourbecause the sunrises are just so
(39:57):
amazing.
There seems to be a real clearclarity to the light up on the
river.
Beautiful colours, pink andmauve and orange and yellow.
And then you've got this mirrorwater, mirror calm water.
And the sound of the birds isjust a total symphony.
Really a fantastic experience.
(40:18):
And I also saw a lot of emusfrom the boat as well, which was
fantastic.
Just a lot of emus at the bestof times, but when you're
paddling along and then you comearound a bend and there's a few
just walking on the sandbank,it's pretty special.
SPEAKER_02 (40:33):
Yeah, absolutely.
And were there moments of realreflection for you or was it
afterwards that you thought,what was your thoughts coming
out of it?
Did you...
Because obviously the NewZealand hike was so
transformational for you.
Was this one the sort of onethat you had a lot of time for
some reflection or was it morejust, yes, I've got to the end,
(40:54):
tick that box?
SPEAKER_00 (40:54):
Yeah.
It was interesting because Iwent into it expecting it to be
a real nature escape typeexperience as my New Zealand
hike was, but I actually felt itwas quite an urban experience in
comparison and I should qualifythat by saying a lot of Murray
paddlers do experience it as anature escape but as someone
(41:20):
who's hiked for a week at a timewhere there's no signs of
civilisation at all to be on ariver where there's a fairly
constant stream of people, townsyou are never far from the sound
of farm machinery or the rumbleof trucks on a freeway just
(41:41):
beyond the riverbank.
Yeah, so I didn't have that realcalming nature recalibration
type experience.
And because of the stresses, notjust the physical stress as well
of paddling and the stresses ofother watercraft, I actually
found it quite tough from thatpoint of view.
(42:02):
And so I didn't really have timefor any reflection anymore.
Sounds a bit dramatic, but I wasin survival mode a lot of the
time and probably wasn't helpedby the fact my mother died
suddenly two months before Iwent out.
And I was hoping that the riverwould be a healing experience
(42:23):
like my hike was, but it reallyjust added to the stress bucket,
I think.
Yeah.
So I didn't really have time toappreciate what I was achieving
until I'd achieved the lasthurdle, which was a day before
the finish.
And then the satisfactionfinally hit me in a massive wave
(42:46):
and I was just like, wow, youdid it, girl.
And I've had a few challenges inmy life, a few physical
adventures, but this was thefirst one where I actually had a
massive sense of achievementbecause it was so hard fought
for.
SPEAKER_02 (42:59):
Yeah, absolutely.
And not many people do it.
It's just remarkable how But howthe length that you covered and
what you've achieved, it'sincredible.
It must be that absolute senseof complete satisfaction.
Is there a section of it thatpeople, because obviously many
people can't do the amount thatyou did, but is there a part,
and you have touched on some ofthose of the best parts along
(43:22):
the way, but is there a partthat you'd say people could do
if they just wanted to get ataste of it?
SPEAKER_00 (43:28):
Yeah, look, around Barmer, there's a good section,
the picnic point.
You can do a three-day sectionthere and you'll get the
beautiful birds and the river'snarrow and goes fairly fast at
that point.
There's also sections around,say, Hatter Kalkine National
Park where there's lots ofbeaches and beach campsite,
(43:52):
which is great.
So you could pick a sectionthere as well to do.
I also really loved some amazingred cliffs, sheer red cliffs
around Wakery and the SouthAustralian border and Renmark,
upstream of Renmark.
And it looks like a chunk out ofan outback gorge or something.
(44:13):
You've just got these sheersandstone walls and little
corellas and cockatoos hide outin the holes.
It's just wondrous paddlingbeneath those.
So I really enjoyed that bit.
And that was a massive surpriseto me because I didn't even know
these cliffs existed, to behonest.
And I was just, every day Inever really knew what the day
(44:35):
would bring.
And then suddenly I'm paddlingone morning and going, wow, look
at these cliffs.
They're amazing.
And I got all excited and took amillion photos and then the
cliffs went on for days.
Yeah, I got to enjoy that.
But I also see a lot ofhouseboats enjoying that section
as well.
So it would be good to do it ona houseboat too.
SPEAKER_02 (44:54):
Yeah, a lot easier sitting on a houseboat than
doing what you do, that's forsure.
SPEAKER_00 (44:58):
So sometimes I'd go past and see people sitting on a
boat with a glass of wine,slogging it out and getting sore
bums or fingers, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (45:10):
And it was your birthday too, wasn't it?
Didn't you spend your birthdayout paddling?
So did you have an
SPEAKER_00 (45:15):
easier day that day?
It was.
I want to say a special shoutout to Trentham Estate, which is
a winery right on the riverbank.
And I didn't actually know ifthey would take me in because I
thought I'll go and do a winetasting because it's right on
the river.
But I'd been out for a week.
(45:35):
I hadn't had a shower in a week.
I'd washed in the river, butI've only got one out.
And it's pretty stinky.
And I just brushed myself down alittle bit and tied the boat up,
walked up.
and went inside, and I wastreated very wonderfully and did
a wine tasting.
SPEAKER_02 (45:52):
Did you tell them?
Did you tell them?
Did you say, oh, hey, look, I'mactually peddling the
SPEAKER_00 (45:57):
length of the Murray?
I had to explain because I justthought it was such a mess.
But I did the tasting andenjoyed a bit of civility for a
while, and then I got a bottleof wine there, which was lovely,
and took that, and the next dayI was– Well, no, it was a couple
of days later, but I saved thatfor my birthday.
(46:17):
I was camped at Devil's ElbowBend, which is one of the most
spectacular campsites I've everstayed at.
It's on a sandy point and therock formations there are just
amazing.
It's like a big cliff ofsandstone that's been eroded
into these domes and you can seethe lines of color in the rock
(46:40):
and So I just sat on that beachon my own, drinking some
Trentham Estate wine and lookingat this beautiful view as it
changed with the sunset.
It was just spectacular.
SPEAKER_02 (46:51):
Amazing.
I love that so much.
So what's next?
What are you going to do next?
Is there a plan?
Can you reveal it to us here?
SPEAKER_00 (47:02):
My plan is to enjoy having some creature comforts
for a while and enjoyinghaving...
a proper bed and a bathroom anda shower.
And my fingers have only juststopped hurting, really.
I got like an RSI pain in myfingers, which is pretty typical
for long distance paddlers.
And so it took two and a halfmonths for that to go away.
(47:24):
Yeah, so I need to fill my cupfor a little bit before I think
about the next adventure.
But I suppose the next challengewill be writing another book
about this Murray journey.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (47:35):
Amazing.
God, yes, can't wait to readthat and grab a copy of that
one.
Unfortunately, we're running outof time and so everyone will
have to make sure they staytuned so they can hear when
Laura's book does come out.
But we're going to finish.
SPEAKER_00 (47:49):
I'll just point out, if anybody wants to have a look
at the journey, I've put a videoon YouTube so you can get a
six-minute summary and see howthe scenery changes.
Amazing.
Yeah, it's on YouTube, but it'salso on my website,
laurawaters.com.au.
And so you can check out thatvideo and breeze along 2,400
(48:12):
kilometers in six minutes.
SPEAKER_02 (48:14):
Yeah, great.
Well, everyone will certainlyput a link to that in the show
notes and everyone can checkthat out.
So let's wrap up by telling uswhat's the most bizarre thing
that's ever happened to you inyour travels.
There has to be a few.
SPEAKER_00 (48:25):
There, yeah.
And I'll tell you this onestory, but This isn't the only
time I've had something thiswacky.
I was hiking remote backcountryaround Mount Ruapehu in New
Zealand.
And it was a six-day hike, notvery well visited.
(48:45):
And I got to this hut oneafternoon and there was a guy
standing on the deck.
And I thought, oh, he looksfamiliar.
Did I bump into him last week orsomething in New Zealand?
And then I realized it was ahiker from America.
who I'd met also hiking in NewZealand five years earlier.
So when I was hiking the TeArawa Trail, I haddled the
(49:08):
Whanganui River with him.
And then just amazingly, fiveyears later, we randomly bump
into each other again.
That's pretty wild.
How small is the world?
Of all the places you can hikearound the
SPEAKER_02 (49:26):
world, and particularly coming all the way
from America, Oh, amazing.
Look, it's been so greatchatting with you.
And like I said, we'll certainlyput all these links in the show
notes.
And thanks for chatting to usabout your incredible feat.
SPEAKER_01 (49:39):
If you'd like to follow more of Laura's
adventures, you can follow herat laurawaters.com.au.
SPEAKER_02 (49:46):
And for those who haven't heard, we have a trip to
Thailand to give away.
Our friends at Avani Hotels andResorts have partnered with us
to celebrate our 100th episode,kicking off the party with a
tropical holiday to give away.
You can win four nights for twopeople in a deluxe room at Avani
(50:06):
Plus Khao Lak with dailybreakfast and dinner, airport
transfers and a Muay Thai boxingclass.
And all you have to do is go tothe world Awakes Instagram
competition post, like it andtag a friend and follow both the
World Awakes and Vani and you'rein for the win.
Entrance can be located anywherein the world and entries close
(50:28):
on the 31st of July.
SPEAKER_01 (50:30):
Next week, we are taking you to some of
Australia's ultimate beaches andislands.
And if you're enjoying ourpodcast, please leave us a
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On Apple Podcasts, simply clickon our profile, scroll down to
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Or simply drop us a line athello at The World Awaits.
(50:53):
We love hearing from you.
Thanks for joining us on TheWorld Awaits winter series.
See you next time.
That's a wrap for The WorldAwaits this week.
Click to subscribe anywhere youlisten to your favourite pods.
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
UNKNOWN (51:11):
Thank you.
Hi there, welcome to our winter series.
Inspiring, intrepid andremarkable, this week we're
chatting to two Australian womenadventurers, Lucy Barnard and
Laura Waters.
First up, my co-host KirstyBedford chats to Lucy, who was
(00:23):
named the 2024 Adventurer of theYear by the Australian
Geographic Society.
Lucy is almost at the end of anastonishing feat to become the
first woman to walk 30,000kilometres from the southernmost
tip of South America to the topof North America.
SPEAKER_02 (00:42):
Welcome to the show, Lucy.
Thank you.
It's so nice to have you on TheWorld Awaits.
Thanks for joining us.
Let's start by, tell us a bitabout your background.
Firstly, I would say that I wasa pretty adventurous person.
spirited kid always looking outof the window at school wishing
I could be somewhere else andthen I went into the
(01:04):
professional career path becamea scientist became a
communication specialist and wason my very first adult holiday
away when I was on a bustraveling down to Argentina and
Argentina in the country areasis very open plains so there's
(01:24):
not much happening over this12-hour bus trip, except that
time is passing, but thelandscape's not changing.
So that started me thinking thatI could walk faster to get
there.
And that silly little thoughtled to me doing a little Google
search to see if it was possibleand if anyone had done it.
And then that got me wonderingabout the length of the world.
(01:45):
And I'd seen that one man haddone it in the year that I was
born, but since then no womenhad achieved the same feat.
And I was like, oh, it can't bethat hard.
So when did you...
So what did you do to getstarted?
What planning did you have todo?
And also, when exactly was thisthat you got started?
Okay, so I started in 2019, butthe idea came to me in 2016.
(02:07):
And in that time, I was alreadya fairly competitive cyclist.
I was a rock climber.
I loved canyoning.
Every weekend, I was out doingwhat they like to call
micro-adventures these days.
And so I...
Just kept on with my usualfitness.
I was really, really fit.
In fact, I would say now I'mless fit than I was back then
(02:31):
because I'm just walking.
And I've lost a lot of my corestrengths.
And then I went into a wholeproject management plan of
setting out all of the things Iwould need to consider from
country to country, any kind ofillness that I might be exposed
to along the way, any kind ofpolitical issues, visas that I
need to be concerned about.
I knew that I wanted to get adog, so I found out about if it
(02:53):
was possible to pass throughthese places with dogs, which
it's really easy, very easy.
And then after I had a big chartset out of all of the different
things I'd need to sort outalong the way, I put it into
like a traditional Gantt chart,full project management style,
and just step-by-step hooked inand got myself to the point
(03:15):
where I didn't feel like I wasready.
You know, you never can be.
There's always something else orsomething extra that you could
do.
But a really good friend of minejust said to me, Lucy, getting
to the start line is a win.
Just get to the start line andsee how you go.
And that's all I did.
But how did you know where togo?
Like how?
(03:36):
I didn't.
That's the thing.
So I spent way too much timereally scrutinizing trails and
directions that I would andpaths and all of the rest of it.
But ultimately on the very firstday, National Parks wouldn't let
me through an old trail.
an old border crossing withoutgiving them three months notice,
which I didn't have time to do.
(03:56):
So my whole plans from day onechanged.
And from then on out, I justused local knowledge to
determine the route because inthe world of Latin America,
things really are day to day.
And just because there is ahigher profile of natural
hazards over there, earthquakesand tsunamis and all of that
(04:18):
sort of stuff you really need tomaintain a flexible mindset to
be able to continue on somethingthat's so long term keeping in
mind that originally I thoughtit would take me three years to
walk the length of the earth andI am now up to year five so and
so what's the dog why did youwant to take a dog and where did
you get the dog from and did thedog go from the very start from
(04:40):
day one and I'd like to admitthis but I am dog obsessed like
If I had a spirit animal, itwould be a dog.
So my whole life I've had somesort of a dog nearby and around
with me and I just knew that Iwould struggle.
So when I went to university,that was the first time where
I'd moved away from home.
(05:00):
I didn't have any animals withme at that point.
So I'd gone and volunteered at azoo to see if that would quench
my desire.
pining for a pet and it didn't.
But then the guide dogsapproached me and asked if I'd
like to raise a puppy for them.
And that got me down a wholeseparate path in my life where I
was training guide dog puppies.
And so I had experienced thatfeeling previously and I knew
(05:24):
that if I was going to beoverseas for such a long time, I
would experience that again.
But also it was a very naturalstrategy for reducing my risk of
to human interference while Iwas on the trail.
So having a dog that looks alittle fierce, who's not fierce
at all, but having one thatlooks that way is definitely a
(05:45):
good way in deterring peoplefrom harassing me, especially in
the evenings.
I didn't start with a dog.
I understood that about fourpeople every year start this
journey with the hopes ofreaching Alaska.
But typically everyone quitsbefore they reach their first
year.
And that's because the climatein Patagonia is so brutal.
(06:06):
It's so difficult that peopletend to stop along that point
somewhere.
So I decided that I didn't wantto adopt a dog over there and
then be stuck there.
with having to deal withrehoming it or bringing it home
because that can be reallyexpensive, I wanted to prove to
myself that I had what it tookto go the long distance.
(06:26):
And so I waited for that firstyear.
And once that first year tickedover, it just happened fluidly
that I was offered a dog from afarmer that was near where I
was, up to on my walk.
I had a trailer with me, so Igot Wombat as a puppy.
And he was able to walk duringthe day when he had lots of
energy, which was a lot.
of the time because he is such ahigh energy breed.
(06:47):
And then when he was tired, I'dpop him into a hiking trailer
that I had at the time because Iwas crossing a desert and I
needed to be able to carry extrawater and extra food.
And so it just made a lot ofsense that since I had a hiking
trailer that I could have a dogwith me that could rest when it
needed to.
And what breed is he?
He's an Australian cattle dog,so really high energy.
(07:08):
And Wombat, just because youwanted the Australian name?
Yeah, totally.
Actually, it went to anelection.
I put up a little voting panelon my website.
Don't ever do that.
It led to a major fight, andsomeone hijacked the election.
They hacked in and put all ofthese votes in the names that
(07:29):
they wanted, and it was adifferent name to the one that
actually legitimately won.
And so that's how he ended upgetting Wombat.
There were a couple of names.
There was Wombat, Yuki, Drover.
And another one that I've sinceforgotten.
So give us a little summary ofwhat you've covered so far.
Where have you been?
What countries have you covered?
(07:50):
Okay, so I started in Argentinaand Chile, walking in and out of
those two borders as I headednorth.
And that took me acrossPatagonia.
And really very famous hikingareas, areas where there's
glaciers, very cold down there.
I experienced some of thecoldest temperatures I've ever
experienced in this zone andwindiest.
(08:11):
Actually, there was one occasionwhere even though I was wearing
a very heavy pack, the windscooped me up and threw me five
meters.
I got dumped on a rock on myknees.
It was the most excruciatingpain I think I've experienced
while hiking.
And then leaving that area, Iwalked along a coastal region
for a while, which then turnedinto the Atacama Desert, which
(08:33):
is the longest, driest desert onthe planet that's non-polar.
From there, I moved into Peru,which was fabulous.
Whenever anyone asks me wherethey should go hiking, that is
definitely one of my favoriteplaces to recommend because I
was following trails that are500 years old along the Incan
highways that travel all the wayfrom actually up to Ecuador and
(08:58):
then continue into Ecuador.
And then the trail became alittle bit more tropical, a
little bit more jungly.
And then I dropped intoColombia.
I had a two-year pause therebecause of the pandemic.
But when I was able to continue,I was able to move through
Indigenous areas.
I've met people who were able toconnect me with the right people
to get the conditions that Ineeded to go through those
sirens.
(09:18):
After that, I reached an areawhich is really infamous called
the Darien Gap, where It's veryhostile and there's a lot of
criminal activity that occurswithin the zone.
But I managed to cross throughthere safely with the assistance
of Centre Front, which is theborder patrol area of the
(09:38):
Panamanian police.
So I got through there, gotthrough Panama.
Panama has its own throughtrail.
A through trail is a trail thatextends the full length of a
country.
And they have the mostmagnificent, beautiful trail
that I've followed as well.
And then I went through CentralAmerica.
I'm just short-cutting nowbecause I've been through so
many countries.
Okay, so then I went to Panama,Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras,
(10:05):
Guatemala, and into Mexico,which got a lot of attention
because, again, I ran into somehostile areas.
And then most recently I crossedinto the United States safely
and started following theContinental Divide Trail and
have reached all the way to thevery top of Wyoming.
I have...
one state really left to go inthe United States before
crossing into Canada so fromthere I'll follow my final long
(10:29):
trail which is the Great DivideTrail I'll make my way over
towards Alaska and then I'll befollowing kind of following the
highways also following gaslines until I get up to the
Brook Ranges and I'll be cuttingacross the Brook Ranges if the
season is permitting.
And then I'll drop down into atown that's called Utqiagvik.
(10:52):
It's the northernmost town inthe Americas, formerly known as
Barrow in Alaska.
I've got so many questions foryou.
We could be on But so when yousay the police helped you, how
did that work?
Because you'd be walking formany, many days, right?
Yes.
So in this area, it's known forpeople struggling, people who
(11:15):
are really looking for salvationin a country that is safer than
their own, somewhere safe tolive.
So that's going on.
There are about 700 people everyday that are commencing that
walk.
So it's a very high traffickedarea and there's a lot of cartel
activity taking advantage ofpeople who are just trying to
find a safe place to live.
And then because there's nohighway that goes through there
(11:38):
and there's a lack ofvisibility, it's the hotspot for
smuggling money and guns fromPanama into Colombia and from
Colombia into Panama drugs.
So it's a very hot area.
It's one of the areas thatyou'll see on Smart Traveller
where it's a red zone, whichjust says that you do not travel
(11:59):
here.
If you do travel into theseareas, you won't be covered by
any travel insurance.
They're seriously unsafe.
And so I had received permissionfrom Indigenous groups that live
in there because even though itis hostile areas, there are
people who live there.
safely in their communities inthese areas.
So I was going to be handed fromone community to the next to the
(12:22):
next.
But when Centrefront heard thatI was there, they felt very
uncomfortable becauseultimately, as a foreign
traveller, if something goeswrong, they're the people who
get stuck with trying to find meand dealing with the family and
the Australian government.
(12:43):
And so it is also important towork not just with the
Indigenous people.
In this area, the Indigenouspeople have sovereignty over
this land.
So it is their land and thePanamanian police are guests
there.
But the Panamanian police alsohave a high number of Indigenous
people who work with them aswell as perfectionals.
(13:04):
So it's a really workablesystem.
And I had a meeting with theDirector General, who is the
highest level professionalranked person in the police
force and he was able tocoordinate a group of seven
police officers to chaperone methrough this area oh amazing
(13:26):
yeah and I felt reallyuncomfortable with the idea of
that at first because I didn'twant to inconvenience a
government you know they've gotbigger issues to deal with than
a foreigner however they werejust following their usual
routine so they patrol theseareas.
They walk along these trails aspart of their job.
They go on month swings.
So they work for one month onand then one month off.
(13:47):
And every day that they'reworking, they're moving through
the jungle trying to interceptillegal activity.
Amazing.
Gosh.
And were you scared going intosome of these areas?
It's hard to describe.
So I would say that I feltprepared because And I had done
(14:08):
a risk assessment where I feltcomfortable with the level of
risk that I was taking on.
If I was just going to walkthrough there alone without
doing any of the due diligencethat I had done, then yes, I
think it would be right to bevery afraid.
But because I had done all ofthe things that were necessary
to keep myself safe, I wasfeeling more comfortable about
(14:28):
it.
So what did you do with the dog?
How far did the dog go with youon this part?
Oh, okay.
So...
With this section, I didn't takehim in.
I left him with somebody who Iknew in the northern section of
Colombia, and then he was flowninto Panama, which actually was
(14:49):
logistically more difficult thanorganizing a police escort,
believe it or not, because thatparticular leg is highly
monetized by the bodies ofpeople who like to bring or ship
animals through Colombia.
And so in hindsight, it wouldhave been easier just to take
him with me, but I didn't wantto have the additional concern
(15:10):
of keeping him safe too.
Yeah, of course.
So how much of the walk will heend up doing in the end?
More or less, exactly what I'vedone, minus 6,000 kilometers,
which is what I covered in thefirst year.
So he will do 24,000 kilometers.
All right.
And so you're back home for abit now.
Where is he now?
(15:32):
He is with a family that'staking care of him in Colorado.
Yeah, amazing.
Okay, great.
Oh, that's so nice.
So when are you headed back offagain?
Just a couple of weeks,actually.
I'm frantically getting mybudget ready.
And this final stretch is a veryexpensive leg of the journey
(15:54):
because I'm going to berequiring hiking, potentially
hiking skis.
or snowshoes to walk throughthis along the snow.
And to keep in lines withwalking the length of the world,
these are devices that you can'tslide on.
And because they're specialists,they cost a lot.
And then of course, I'll beneeding a sled as well.
I can't just use the trailerthat I have because it'll sink
(16:15):
in the snow.
And all of the cold equipmentthat's required as well.
So I got a lot, a lot toorganize in the next couple of
weeks, but I will be continuingin a few weeks.
And do you have to do it withina certain timeframe or anything?
Is there any restrictions aroundlike if you claim to walk the
world, does it matter or is itjust a matter of actually
(16:37):
literally walking the world?
Yeah.
That's it.
Because I'm the first woman, Iwrite my own rules and anyone
that comes after me can attemptto do it faster.
without having any rests becauseof COVID.
I feel a lot more flexible aboutthis now because I had been
consistently walking the entiretime.
And then because of the forcedbreak, it was really liberating
(16:57):
ultimately.
And it also just opens up alittle bit of healthy
competition in the sense that ifsomeone wants to come in and do
it faster than me, then by allmeans, I'd love to support them
and encourage them to do that.
And so you've talked about Perubeing your, you know, the best
place that you've been and alsothe challenges obviously of
getting through some of theseplaces.
What are you most lookingforward to next?
(17:21):
Well, it's really difficult tosay.
I think I was really impressedwith the the Divide Trail that
I'm on at the moment, which is athrough trail that goes through
the United States.
And so I guess I'm lookingforward to seeing what Canada
has to offer in the sense oftheir long trail that I'll be
landing on as soon as I get tothe border, which will be
wonderful.
(17:41):
And I am very curious to see, Ihave wanted to explore the book
ranges since I was very youngand to be able to have that
along the trail right at the endshould be magnificent too.
And of course, I'm always reallythrilled to see the different
animals along the trail.
We don't see very many becausebetween Wombat and I and the
(18:03):
noisemaker that I have with meto deter predators, a lot of the
animals get away before we getnear them.
But it is really thrilling tosee nature.
Amazing.
And what, tell us a bit aboutwhat you do, what you listen to
and what you eat while you're,you know, how does, how do your
days look and where do yousleep?
(18:24):
Well, the first thing is thatI'm usually in a tent.
So I don't really see a town anysooner than every five days.
And now that I'm heading intomore remote regions, it could be
10 to 20 days, which is why Ineed a sweat.
So I'm also in snow areas andfollowing hydro geological
(18:44):
areas, which are areas wheremost of the surface water comes
from that we as people consume.
So that's to say that it'sremote.
It's very cold and can be verywet.
So with that all said, I'm alsoin areas where there's lots of
predators.
So we're talking grizzly bears.
I'll be moving into polar bearregions.
(19:04):
There's also wolves, which arehuge, huge animals, much larger
than I thought that they were.
They're kind of two to threetimes bigger than a dog.
And they travel in packs.
And there's also snow leopards.
So I started daylight so that Ican see.
That's really important becausepredators tend to hunt at night,
but they are around during theday.
And then I have a speaker thatsits on my shoulder and I've
(19:28):
always got either a podcast or abook playing, usually something
that's conversational so thatsounds like there's more than
just me walking.
And we continue all the timewith something playing in the
background and that's newbecause of Predators.
And then...
If I can find somewhere tocomfortably rest and it's not
(19:51):
windy and it's not snowing, thenwe will take a rest around lunch
for sure.
And sometimes we'll take a restfor morning tea and afternoon
tea as well.
But now that it's cold, it'sgetting hard to find places
where I can get under a tree andbe dry.
and warm.
So it just is determined by thatand also how my progress is
(20:14):
going.
If I'm having a very slow day,then we'll just push through.
Wombat's very good at gettingbehind me and having an easier
time of breaking snow.
That's the region that I'm in,which it is right now.
And then we get into the tent inthe evening.
I get us warm.
I heat water.
I have to put my bear vault 100meters away from my tent so that
(20:35):
the food is not in the tent withme.
And voila, that's what a daylooks like.
And what are you eating?
Are you cooking?
Yeah, so to keep the pack weightdown, I have been buying
freeze-dried meals, which aremeals that are snap frozen, and
then the water evaporates as itgoes through that fast-freeze
(20:58):
process.
And that is the lightest, mostnutritious type of food for
long-term food storage that youcan get.
So I typically will have a meallike that in the morning and
then we just snack during theday.
And Wombat shares everythingthat I eat to keep it really
simple and to make sure thathe's getting a diversity in his
(21:20):
diet.
And I also, since this getsasked a lot, I have supplements
for him to make sure that hishealth is, you know, so make
sure he's thriving.
And I have a first aid kit forhim too.
In fact, he has less issues thanI have.
I take better care of him than Ido myself.
And when you're finished, what'sthe plan?
(21:40):
Are you going to write a book?
What are you going to do?
I get asked.
I would almost say harassed fora book often.
However, I just don't feel likemy story finishes at the end of
the walk and I don't want to sitdown and have a sad memoir of
something that I should becelebrating.
(22:01):
So instead of doing that, I havea collection of places where
I've been invited to go back andtell the story of these
communities that are very hardto access and they're very
closed off to general publictypically, but are happy for me
to come in and share theirstory.
So I've been working very hardto start a film production
company and have it in fullflight by the time I finish the
(22:22):
expedition.
And my hopes are that I'll beable to get the funding required
to then go into these places andreally celebrate people who I've
met along the way.
Amazing.
And introduce these communitiesthat people may not have even
ever experienced, like you said.
There are just the most amazingstories out there being, just
waiting to be told.
(22:42):
I have been invited by peoplewho live on a tropical glacier.
Did you know tropical glaciersexist?
I did not.
Yeah.
Yeah, neither.
So they live right at the top ofthis mountain in Columbia and
they truly believe that theirresponsibility in life is to
take care of the soul of ourearth.
So they're very concerned aboutthat, but I don't want to just
(23:04):
share that story, but also sharethe purpose of their life and
moments of real success andfulfillment so that I'm giving
an idea of reverement for thesepeople so that you can feel awe
for them and respect them butalso be able to appreciate that
while their lives and the storyis a wonderful story, it's not
(23:28):
your life but that you respectthem for it.
Amazing.
Gosh, I could talk to you forhours about this, but we're
running out of time.
So I'm going to have to ask youthe question.
The last question we ask all ofour gear switches, what's the
most bizarre thing that's everhappened to you in your travels?
I think one of the most novelthings is that I had been hiking
(23:51):
through the desert in Mexico,the Chihuahuan Desert, and I
needed support because I had asupport vehicle come through
this area with me.
It's the hottest area in Mexico,but also it's summer.
And they were experiencing aheat wave and measured the
hottest days ever experienced inMexico during this time.
(24:13):
But unfortunately, the car thatwe had rented to help me get
through this section was acomplete lemon.
And so again, the police weresupporting us and making sure
that we were okay on aday-to-day basis.
And so while the police werethere with us one day, I asked
them if they would like to do aTikTok with us and learn an
(24:34):
Australian dance.
And they said yes, becausethey're Latinos and they can't
resist.
So I taught a bunch of policeofficers how to dance to the nut
bush.
It's on my Instagram if you wantto check it out.
Well, I'm sure everyone willabsolutely be wanting to go to
your Instagram and check thatout.
(24:57):
Josh, I'm sure you've got awhole list of these sorts of
remarkable and bizarreexperiences that you've had.
Maybe that's a whole new filmseries.
Now that I think about it, it'snot even the first time that
I've danced with police officersright down in Argentina and
Patagonia.
They invited me to come to Zumbawith them because they just saw
that I was on my own and that Iprobably, you know, the theme of
(25:19):
this whole walk is thatcommunity has always gotten
behind me.
And I think one of the bigvalues of the Latin Americas is
that maintaining a sense ofcommunity and protecting one
another, really looking out foreach other.
And so definitely I have beenadopted a lot and invited to do
a lot of things that I wouldn'tordinarily expect.
It's been so amazing chattingwith you.
(25:40):
I wish we could just talkforever and we'll have to
revisit and have anotherconversation once you're
finished.
And congratulations on thisincredible, remarkable
achievement.
You're just truly such aninspiration to so many people
and we will put all of the linksin the show notes.
SPEAKER_01 (25:56):
That was Lucy Barnard, 2024 Adventurer of the
Year, and you can follow hertrails on Instagram at
tanglesandtale.
Next up, we are chatting withanother adventurer, author and
inspirational speaker, LauraWaters, about her epic journey
paddling the length ofAustralia's longest river, the
Murray.
Welcome to
SPEAKER_02 (26:16):
the
SPEAKER_01 (26:16):
show, Laura.
SPEAKER_00 (26:17):
Thanks very much for having me, Kirsty.
SPEAKER_02 (26:20):
It's so great to have you on.
We have actually had you onbefore and people, we will put a
link to the last time we spoke,which was about when you walked
the links of New Zealand, whichis an incredible feat.
So tell us a bit about yourbackground and how you came to
do that.
SPEAKER_00 (26:35):
Yeah, look, I was working in corporate for 10
years and then I just suddenlysaw a new hiking trail that had
opened from one length of NewZealand to the other and I
immediately thought, I want todo that.
And it's really opened the doorto a whole lot of changes in my
life because walking 3,000kilometers on my own was
(26:56):
something I didn't think I coulddo, but I achieved it.
And so when I came back, Ithought, what else can I do?
And so that led me to quittingthe corporate job and chasing my
dream to be a writer.
So since then, I've written twobooks, Bewildered and Ultimate
Walks and Hikes Australia, andbecome a full-time travel
writer.
SPEAKER_02 (27:17):
And speaker.
And inspirational, incredible,inspirational, motivational
speaker.
And so tell us, so was itbecause of that, that you then
just decided you'd look at whatelse you could do?
And then the Murray came up?
SPEAKER_00 (27:31):
The Murray River has had a fascination for me for
many years.
I don't know, whenever Ivisited, I felt like there was a
real energy about the place.
And I was curious to know whatthe Murray was like beyond the
big tourist towns like Echucaand Randmark and I knew that it
changed a lot.
(27:51):
It starts up in the foothills ofthe Alps and travels all the way
to this sea in South Australia.
There's 2,400 kilometres and Iwanted to see it all.
So I just, it was curiosity thatled me onto this quest of
paddling the Murray.
Amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (28:09):
So how do you get started on something like that?
Like, how do you know what youneed and how do you get the
gear?
SPEAKER_00 (28:16):
Yeah, I've done a bunch of short kayak touring
trips before.
And if you tallied them all up,it's probably about a month's
worth.
But I hadn't done anythinglonger than six days of kayak
touring.
And to be honest, it's a littlebit easier in some ways to
hiking because when you'rehiking, you've got to be really
(28:38):
brutal about what you carrybecause it's all on your back.
When you're in a boat, you'vegot much more space and weight
isn't such a critical issue.
So I already had all of thecamping gear and I was used to
what I would need food-wise forthat sort of long distance trip.
And yeah, because I didn'treally have any time constraint
(29:00):
as such, I just knew that Icould take my time, well, to a
point, take my time and justtake it as it comes.
SPEAKER_02 (29:11):
So how long had you anticipated that it was going to
take and how long did it take?
SPEAKER_00 (29:17):
I had in my head about two and a half months and
that is how long it took me.
But I have to say I would havepreferred to have had more time
because I felt like I was reallypushing long days sometimes.
And although the whole journeytook me 76 days, I was only
(29:38):
paddling for 60 days of that.
And that's because I needed theinevitable rest days once a
week.
And then there was some weathercontingency days, basically.
So when there's a massiveheadwind, it's just, to my mind,
some paddlers battle into it.
But honestly, you can be bustinga gut and barely making any
(30:00):
progress.
And I just thought that was abit of a waste of time.
So if I had a 40, 50 kilometeran hour headwind, I would just
pull up on the riverbank andleave the next morning.
And then there were a fewelectrical storms as well.
And you certainly don't want tobe on the water, waving a paddle
in the air when one of those isgoing on.
SPEAKER_02 (30:19):
No, absolutely.
And so what did you, where didyou start?
Where did you actually start?
And tell us a bit about whatyour days look like.
SPEAKER_00 (30:29):
Yeah, so I started from Bringenbrom Bridge, which
is near Corion, which is about40 kilometres as the crow flies
from the top of Kosciuszko.
So I started within sight ofsnow-capped mountains and it was
all very green and there's cowsand real sort of alpine lowlands
feel.
(30:49):
And then I, you know, the firstthree days is rapids basically.
So I was shooting these gradeone and two rapids and the
water's clear there.
When we think of the Maru, weoften think of that sort of
cappuccino-coloured water.
But when you're up high in themountains, it's clear.
(31:10):
crystal clear and you can seethe pebbles on the bottom.
So yeah, I started there andthings are quite fast up high
because the water drops a lot ofelevation or the river drops a
lot of elevation in those first,I don't know, the first week or
so.
So it's running fast and you'rereally not doing so much
(31:31):
paddling, but a lot of steering.
And so I tried to, but then,sorry, as you go further
downstream, The river slowsdown.
There's 15-odd locks to getthrough, and the river widens as
well, which slows things down,and you're more prone to
headwinds.
So it was very variable.
It was very difficult to say howmany kilometers I would do each
(31:54):
day, but I would try to aim forat least 40 kilometers a day,
and that might be from sunrisetill 4 o'clock or 5 in the
afternoon.
Yeah, every day was veryvariable, very different.
And then you pitched a tent?
Yeah, yeah.
(32:14):
And all of my gear stashed indry bags and stuffed in the
hatches in the boat.
So I'm in the cockpit andthere's a hatch in the front and
in the back and I would justhave to stuff everything in
there, which was quite an epicevery day, I have to say.
And sometimes I'd be exhaustedjust after that one process.
And finding a campsite to suit.
(32:36):
There were some areas wherethere was lots of camping
opportunities.
There'd be beautiful sandbarsthat you could just pull up the
boat and easily drag it on shoreand easily offload and reload.
But there were also plenty oftimes when I would struggle to
find somewhere to pull outbecause the riverbanks were too
steep.
(32:56):
Or there was mud on the shores.
There was one point where I sunkinto mud up to my knees, like
quicksand, which was quitescary.
And then you might pull up andit'll say private property, so
you've got to find somewhereelse.
Or there might be so many gumtrees around, which there's a
lot of tree fall from gum treesup on the river.
(33:19):
So I needed to find somewheresafe where I could put my tent
up and not risk having a limbfall on me in the middle of the
night and that was always a bitof a challenge finding somewhere
somewhere somewhere suitable
SPEAKER_02 (33:32):
it's very brave and I know you've done a lot of solo
traveling anyway so for you youdon't really see it like that
but it must have been there musthave been times when were there
times when you were a littlefearful or did it was just were
there when you were paddling andwhen you were staying in places
did you come across many people
SPEAKER_00 (33:50):
Yeah, look, I've done a lot of solo hiking, so
I'm not fearful of camping alonein the bush.
As is sadly often the way, thebiggest danger out in the wilds
is humans.
And I thought the biggestchallenge on this trip would
have been the three days ofrapids at the top or crossing
(34:12):
Lake Alexandrina near the rivermouth.
But To be honest, the biggestheadache for me and the biggest
stress out was other boaties.
So powerboats, wakeboarders, jetskis.
It was quite a source of stressfor me avoiding interactions.
Some of them were great, butthere's quite a few, shall we
(34:32):
say, irresponsible boat driversout there who don't think about
the wake they cause and how thataffects a sitting duck like me
in a human-powered boat.
kayak my sea kayak was 5.8meters long so not terribly
maneuverable very fast on thestraight but if I cop waves from
(34:53):
the side it can cause a bigproblem and also if you think
about the river it's flowingfast at times and there is a lot
of tree snags on the side theriver is constantly eroding the
riverbanks and big gum treesjust fall into the river and
choke up the edges and And ifyou can imagine your boat hits
(35:15):
one of those submerged trees,you can easily flip and then get
pinned in the boat against thewater.
So it's actually a reallyserious issue.
And unfortunately, some peoplein tinnies or powerboats
actually thought that it wasfunny to force me into these
dangerous situations.
(35:36):
I was coming out of Albury onelate afternoon and I heard a
tinny come up behind me and Itwas getting louder and I turned
around and I could just seethese two guys just coming
straight at me.
And they would have turned likebarely two meters away, took
evasive action.
And then they just laughed anddrank beers.
(35:58):
And to them, it was just a joke.
But to me, it was really scary.
And I felt very vulnerable.
From then on, I realized thatnot everybody was going to treat
me with respect basically andthat sort of transferred through
unfortunately to evenings when Ijust felt very vulnerable after
that and when I'm camping on myown and campers turn up in a
(36:22):
four-wheel drive at 10 o'clockat night and start driving
around and playing loud musicyou you feel like a sitting duck
and there was another momentwith I had a close call with
about Fifteen jet skis cameracing around a blind bend,
goggles on.
It sounded like a Grand Prixtrack, the scream of the
(36:44):
engines.
And thankfully, I'd pulled overfor a snack at the time.
But had I been on the river atthat point, they would have run
me over before they even knewwhat happened.
Because it was a blind bend,that narrow part of the river,
once again, the usual snags onthe side, and there would have
been nowhere for us all to go.
And yeah, it just concerned methat some river users aren't
(37:07):
thinking about who else is outthere and treat it as their own
private waterway or racetrack.
SPEAKER_02 (37:13):
Yeah.
And was that in a lot of the,obviously you covered a really
long way, or was that just acertain part?
SPEAKER_00 (37:22):
Really wherever there were boats, obviously the
Murray attracts lots of waterskiers and jet skiers.
So any of those tourist hotspotsthat do attract boats, I could
be affected.
There was a spot, I think I gotless hassle further down the
river, South Australia, and theriver widens there.
(37:44):
But having said that, I still, Ihad a wakeboarder, a
wakeboarding boat come so closeto me, I could have touched the
guy with my paddle.
He was that close.
And the waves they make are likemeters high.
And I think he just went pastsaying, high five.
And I was like, it was justabsolutely wild trying to stay
(38:08):
upright in those sorts of waves.
It's, yeah, not cool.
Yeah.
Wow.
Gosh.
Yeah.
From that point on, from thatmoment in Albury with that
moment with the tinnies, everytime I heard an engine, I would
just have this rush ofadrenaline and cortisol.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That wasn't fun.
But then there were other longstretches where I wouldn't see
anybody for a few days, perhaps,and it was just the sound of the
(38:30):
birds.
And those bits were magical.
I loved that.
But other river users did add abit of stress sometimes.
SPEAKER_02 (38:38):
So what were some of the best places or parts for
you?
Obviously, those tranquil placeswhere you could hear the birds.
Whereabouts were those placeswere the best parts, I think.
SPEAKER_00 (38:51):
Barmer National Park, I think that was the first
point where I really noticed thebirdsong.
I've spent a lot of time campingin the bush, but there were
moments where I camped up aroundthat point and the bush was just
so noisy at night.
It was unbelievable.
(39:12):
I've never camped in such anoisy area with insects and
birds and animals.
And Yeah, it was just fantastic.
And when I had a rest day andstayed in a house, in a friend's
house, the thing that reallystruck me was how quiet it was
because I was just so used tothis rich and vibrant
(39:33):
environment.
And yeah, so I often startedpaddling early in the morning to
try and avoid the worst of thewind because the wind tends to
pick up later in the day.
So I would start at sunrise ormaybe even a bit before.
I would just get completelysidetracked and end up holding
my camera for the first hourbecause the sunrises are just so
(39:57):
amazing.
There seems to be a real clearclarity to the light up on the
river.
Beautiful colours, pink andmauve and orange and yellow.
And then you've got this mirrorwater, mirror calm water.
And the sound of the birds isjust a total symphony.
Really a fantastic experience.
(40:18):
And I also saw a lot of emusfrom the boat as well, which was
fantastic.
Just a lot of emus at the bestof times, but when you're
paddling along and then you comearound a bend and there's a few
just walking on the sandbank,it's pretty special.
SPEAKER_02 (40:33):
Yeah, absolutely.
And were there moments of realreflection for you or was it
afterwards that you thought,what was your thoughts coming
out of it?
Did you...
Because obviously the NewZealand hike was so
transformational for you.
Was this one the sort of onethat you had a lot of time for
some reflection or was it morejust, yes, I've got to the end,
(40:54):
tick that box?
SPEAKER_00 (40:54):
Yeah.
It was interesting because Iwent into it expecting it to be
a real nature escape typeexperience as my New Zealand
hike was, but I actually felt itwas quite an urban experience in
comparison and I should qualifythat by saying a lot of Murray
paddlers do experience it as anature escape but as someone
(41:20):
who's hiked for a week at a timewhere there's no signs of
civilisation at all to be on ariver where there's a fairly
constant stream of people, townsyou are never far from the sound
of farm machinery or the rumbleof trucks on a freeway just
(41:41):
beyond the riverbank.
Yeah, so I didn't have that realcalming nature recalibration
type experience.
And because of the stresses, notjust the physical stress as well
of paddling and the stresses ofother watercraft, I actually
found it quite tough from thatpoint of view.
(42:02):
And so I didn't really have timefor any reflection anymore.
Sounds a bit dramatic, but I wasin survival mode a lot of the
time and probably wasn't helpedby the fact my mother died
suddenly two months before Iwent out.
And I was hoping that the riverwould be a healing experience
(42:23):
like my hike was, but it reallyjust added to the stress bucket,
I think.
Yeah.
So I didn't really have time toappreciate what I was achieving
until I'd achieved the lasthurdle, which was a day before
the finish.
And then the satisfactionfinally hit me in a massive wave
(42:46):
and I was just like, wow, youdid it, girl.
And I've had a few challenges inmy life, a few physical
adventures, but this was thefirst one where I actually had a
massive sense of achievementbecause it was so hard fought
for.
SPEAKER_02 (42:59):
Yeah, absolutely.
And not many people do it.
It's just remarkable how But howthe length that you covered and
what you've achieved, it'sincredible.
It must be that absolute senseof complete satisfaction.
Is there a section of it thatpeople, because obviously many
people can't do the amount thatyou did, but is there a part,
and you have touched on some ofthose of the best parts along
(43:22):
the way, but is there a partthat you'd say people could do
if they just wanted to get ataste of it?
SPEAKER_00 (43:28):
Yeah, look, around Barmer, there's a good section,
the picnic point.
You can do a three-day sectionthere and you'll get the
beautiful birds and the river'snarrow and goes fairly fast at
that point.
There's also sections around,say, Hatter Kalkine National
Park where there's lots ofbeaches and beach campsite,
(43:52):
which is great.
So you could pick a sectionthere as well to do.
I also really loved some amazingred cliffs, sheer red cliffs
around Wakery and the SouthAustralian border and Renmark,
upstream of Renmark.
And it looks like a chunk out ofan outback gorge or something.
(44:13):
You've just got these sheersandstone walls and little
corellas and cockatoos hide outin the holes.
It's just wondrous paddlingbeneath those.
So I really enjoyed that bit.
And that was a massive surpriseto me because I didn't even know
these cliffs existed, to behonest.
And I was just, every day Inever really knew what the day
(44:35):
would bring.
And then suddenly I'm paddlingone morning and going, wow, look
at these cliffs.
They're amazing.
And I got all excited and took amillion photos and then the
cliffs went on for days.
Yeah, I got to enjoy that.
But I also see a lot ofhouseboats enjoying that section
as well.
So it would be good to do it ona houseboat too.
SPEAKER_02 (44:54):
Yeah, a lot easier sitting on a houseboat than
doing what you do, that's forsure.
SPEAKER_00 (44:58):
So sometimes I'd go past and see people sitting on a
boat with a glass of wine,slogging it out and getting sore
bums or fingers, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (45:10):
And it was your birthday too, wasn't it?
Didn't you spend your birthdayout paddling?
So did you have an
SPEAKER_00 (45:15):
easier day that day?
It was.
I want to say a special shoutout to Trentham Estate, which is
a winery right on the riverbank.
And I didn't actually know ifthey would take me in because I
thought I'll go and do a winetasting because it's right on
the river.
But I'd been out for a week.
(45:35):
I hadn't had a shower in a week.
I'd washed in the river, butI've only got one out.
And it's pretty stinky.
And I just brushed myself down alittle bit and tied the boat up,
walked up.
and went inside, and I wastreated very wonderfully and did
a wine tasting.
SPEAKER_02 (45:52):
Did you tell them?
Did you tell them?
Did you say, oh, hey, look, I'mactually peddling the
SPEAKER_00 (45:57):
length of the Murray?
I had to explain because I justthought it was such a mess.
But I did the tasting andenjoyed a bit of civility for a
while, and then I got a bottleof wine there, which was lovely,
and took that, and the next dayI was– Well, no, it was a couple
of days later, but I saved thatfor my birthday.
(46:17):
I was camped at Devil's ElbowBend, which is one of the most
spectacular campsites I've everstayed at.
It's on a sandy point and therock formations there are just
amazing.
It's like a big cliff ofsandstone that's been eroded
into these domes and you can seethe lines of color in the rock
(46:40):
and So I just sat on that beachon my own, drinking some
Trentham Estate wine and lookingat this beautiful view as it
changed with the sunset.
It was just spectacular.
SPEAKER_02 (46:51):
Amazing.
I love that so much.
So what's next?
What are you going to do next?
Is there a plan?
Can you reveal it to us here?
SPEAKER_00 (47:02):
My plan is to enjoy having some creature comforts
for a while and enjoyinghaving...
a proper bed and a bathroom anda shower.
And my fingers have only juststopped hurting, really.
I got like an RSI pain in myfingers, which is pretty typical
for long distance paddlers.
And so it took two and a halfmonths for that to go away.
(47:24):
Yeah, so I need to fill my cupfor a little bit before I think
about the next adventure.
But I suppose the next challengewill be writing another book
about this Murray journey.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (47:35):
Amazing.
God, yes, can't wait to readthat and grab a copy of that
one.
Unfortunately, we're running outof time and so everyone will
have to make sure they staytuned so they can hear when
Laura's book does come out.
But we're going to finish.
SPEAKER_00 (47:49):
I'll just point out, if anybody wants to have a look
at the journey, I've put a videoon YouTube so you can get a
six-minute summary and see howthe scenery changes.
Amazing.
Yeah, it's on YouTube, but it'salso on my website,
laurawaters.com.au.
And so you can check out thatvideo and breeze along 2,400
(48:12):
kilometers in six minutes.
SPEAKER_02 (48:14):
Yeah, great.
Well, everyone will certainlyput a link to that in the show
notes and everyone can checkthat out.
So let's wrap up by telling uswhat's the most bizarre thing
that's ever happened to you inyour travels.
There has to be a few.
SPEAKER_00 (48:25):
There, yeah.
And I'll tell you this onestory, but This isn't the only
time I've had something thiswacky.
I was hiking remote backcountryaround Mount Ruapehu in New
Zealand.
And it was a six-day hike, notvery well visited.
(48:45):
And I got to this hut oneafternoon and there was a guy
standing on the deck.
And I thought, oh, he looksfamiliar.
Did I bump into him last week orsomething in New Zealand?
And then I realized it was ahiker from America.
who I'd met also hiking in NewZealand five years earlier.
So when I was hiking the TeArawa Trail, I haddled the
(49:08):
Whanganui River with him.
And then just amazingly, fiveyears later, we randomly bump
into each other again.
That's pretty wild.
How small is the world?
Of all the places you can hikearound the
SPEAKER_02 (49:26):
world, and particularly coming all the way
from America, Oh, amazing.
Look, it's been so greatchatting with you.
And like I said, we'll certainlyput all these links in the show
notes.
And thanks for chatting to usabout your incredible feat.
SPEAKER_01 (49:39):
If you'd like to follow more of Laura's
adventures, you can follow herat laurawaters.com.au.
SPEAKER_02 (49:46):
And for those who haven't heard, we have a trip to
Thailand to give away.
Our friends at Avani Hotels andResorts have partnered with us
to celebrate our 100th episode,kicking off the party with a
tropical holiday to give away.
You can win four nights for twopeople in a deluxe room at Avani
(50:06):
Plus Khao Lak with dailybreakfast and dinner, airport
transfers and a Muay Thai boxingclass.
And all you have to do is go tothe world Awakes Instagram
competition post, like it andtag a friend and follow both the
World Awakes and Vani and you'rein for the win.
Entrance can be located anywherein the world and entries close
(50:28):
on the 31st of July.
SPEAKER_01 (50:30):
Next week, we are taking you to some of
Australia's ultimate beaches andislands.
And if you're enjoying ourpodcast, please leave us a
rating and a review.
On Apple Podcasts, simply clickon our profile, scroll down to
the bottom to leave a starrating.
And if you're on Spotify, go toour main page and click the
three dots underneath our photo.
Or simply drop us a line athello at The World Awaits.
(50:53):
We love hearing from you.
Thanks for joining us on TheWorld Awaits winter series.
See you next time.
That's a wrap for The WorldAwaits this week.
Click to subscribe anywhere youlisten to your favourite pods.
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
UNKNOWN (51:11):
Thank you.
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