I sign in from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory in Australia. We are on day 3 of straight driving and we still have over 1,500 to go. Our destination? The King Edward River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Rock Art

I have never been to the part of Australia before but have heard epic story after epic story of the incredible area. Tanya Faux described the King Edward to me as the “best piece of white water that she had ever paddled.” The river has big water due to the cyclone systems that regularly dump massive amounts of water in the basin this time of year. Add into the mix a 70 footer and a high population of both fresh water and salt water crocodiles that grow to 20 feet in the area, and you get 360km of river that has kept me awake at nights from the end of last year when fellow expedition members Sean Boz, Anthony Yap and Jackie Hennessy asked me to join them.

Why hasn’t this area been paddled much? Its epic in every sense of the word. First we drive 4000km to the last town that you can drive to. From there we charter our own plane to a remote cattle station at the headwaters, then we hike 15km with a month's worth of equipment, food, kayaks and a raft. Followed by the most remote self sustained play boat trip ever.

King Edward Falls

A few unique features of the area: -The Kimberley is three times the size of England and 15 percent bigger then Japan. -It's average population distribution is 1 person per 14 Square kilometers. -The gorges contain Bradshaw paintings that have an estimated age of 30-50 thousand years and are thought to be some of the oldest examples of rock art in the world. It is very possible that we will be viewing paintings that have not been seen by European settlers. - There are lots of crocodiles with no exposure to humans or kayaks before. -The area is usually very dry, but in the first two months of the year, more water falls into the Kimberley than the entire eastern seaboard of Australia due to the Monsoonal rainfalls and cyclones that run carnage this time of the year.

Camp

I will be paddling by Fluid Nemesis on this trip. More info on the expedition can be found at www.kayakthekimberley.com

Lachie Carracher