Have you ever wondered what it might be like to paddle 111km down the Hawkesbury River?? Well, now you can find out – the easy way! Sponsor us and you can follow myself and team-mate Richard Barnes, as we paddle our way throughout the night, from Windsor to Brooklyn in Sydney this November.
All vessels are fitted with GPS trackers, so you can follow our progress and cheer us from the sidelines! Richard has made the run 41 times, but it’s my first time taking part in this iconic event. Richard is known for becoming the first person to paddle solo, non-stop & unassisted from Australia to New Zealand in his custom-built ocean kayak BLUE MOON... I can only claim to have been the first person to paddle solo and non-stop around little Sweers Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria! It's not in the same league, but one thing that we can all share is a Sense of Adventure - hence our Team name MOON RIVER. Check out our version of the old song: 'Moon River, wider than a mile, I'm crossing you in style today... Two drifters, off to see the world - there's such a lot of world to see... We're after the same rainbow's end, down at Brooklyn Bend, Moon River and me...'
We first met 'virtually' when Richard was on his first attempt to paddle across the Tasman; I followed his journey online, enjoying the updates he shared daily to his internet followers. I also followed his successful second crossing online, and then we met in person when he brought some of his support team to Sweers Island where we all did some paddling round the island. A reciprocal visit to Sydney led to some cold night paddles on the Lane Cove River. I once said to Richard: "You do the Big Adventures, I just do the Little Ones," but then one day he told me: "It's time Lyn had a Big Adventure!" so here we go!
All participants raise at least $200 towards the Arrow Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation in order to take part in the event and we are encouraged to raise more if possible. This foundation is dedicated to helping medical researchers find better treatments - and one day hopefully cures - for diseases treatable by bone marrow transplants, including leukaemia, lymphoma and auto-immune diseases. In 2024, the paddlers raised an incredible $50,000, contributing to a total of $4.5 million raised over 30 years.
Please click here and contribute what you can to this worthy cause. Then sit back, relax, and be glad it’s not your bum that’s going to be sitting for over 12 hours on a hard plastic seat! Surely that’s a small price to pay for a few laughs at our expense 😊
Please also, share the love and this link to friends and family – the more sponsorship we can raise, the more worthwhile will be the blisters…
Thank you,
Lyn Battle & Richard Barnes
Team Moon River
Note: As donations are made in real time to a registered charity, they cannot be refunded if for some reason we can't complete the paddle (broken leg, broken paddle, event cancelled etc) but rest assured we will be expecting to finish in style and all donations are going to a very worthy cause - Lyn :-)
