Is April Fool’s day a good day to start a major trip?
The psychologist asks a simple word association test “DARLING”, expecting some equally warm, fuzzy reply.  Answer “MUD”: No problem, just James or Bert after their trip down the Darling River.
How long can it take to organise a trip (fulfil a dream)?  I first started to think seriously about paddling the Darling when we reached Wentworth on our trip down the Murray River about ten years ago. Then after a ‘reccee’ road trip along the river, first the water disappeared, then the paddling partners. However one mention of it to James and the wheels were in motion, there was no stopping. James in fact had had the idea in the back of his mind for twenty plus years and nothing was going to stop him now.
While the original idea might have been to paddle the full length in one go, time constraints meant this was never going to be possible, so we settled on half now and half latter.  Moving as fast as practical without racing, times were, two days travelling, fourteen days paddling and one rest day.
How long is the Darling River? How long is a piece of string? We still have yet to find an actual length quoted in an official document or map. By carefully measuring river loops on maps, and by applying kayaking  ‘fudge factors’ to known road distances our pre trip estimate was 760km from Wilcannia to Wentworth.  Running a GPS continuously on our trip recorded a distance of 792km. Given the fact that we took the shortest route possible, cutting all corners (as in the Hawkesbury race) correct distance for this half of the river is probably about 820km.
How many people have paddled the Darling River? We have no idea. Despite extensive inquiries we have yet to meet anyone who has paddled the Darling. We have reliable reports of about ten people and estimate a total figure of about twenty to forty; less than the number that have paddled the Amazon.
Some practical details include: Firstly thanks to James for his company and assistance and to James’s sister and her partner for delivering the car from the start to the finish.                                                                     We chose to paddle after the first wave of floods had disappeared and before the second wave. This suited our timetable and meant we were not an annoyance to the locals. It also allowed us to see the river at a closer to normal level, but meant we had little flow assistance. The trip was unsupported, we carried all our gear and supplies, and camped on the riverbank wherever we finished each night, averaging about 60km per day. Portages around weirs, dams and low level bridges were an added difficulty some involving many kilometres carrying boats and gear or negotiating ten metre high mud cliffs.  
Other interesting points were: A beer at the pub in Menindee where Burke and Wills stayed (and presumably drank) in 1860 on their historic expedition. The tiny town of Pooncarie where everyone made us welcome. Tolarno station where Henry Lawson worked (and wrote) during his travels. The remains of the paddle wheeler Rodney which was burnt and sunk by shearers in 1894 during the great strike that led to the start of the union and labour movements in Australia. This is the only recorded act of piracy on Australian waters.
So, what did we see? Birds in huge numbers, in fact any keen bird watcher would find a trip out to the Darling well worthwhile. Eagles (including a huge Wedge-tail), hawks and many other ‘birds of prey’. Ducks of many breeds. Heaps of parrots, including Galahs, Cockatoos (white, black and red tailed black), Corellas, Major Mitchell’s, several varieties of Lorikeets, smaller grass parrots and budgies. Many others smaller birds of varying types. Goats, lots of goats; originally feral, they are run as stock by many of the properties as they require little or no looking after. Also, of course heaps of mosquitoes.  Other animals were in short supply. The odd kangaroo, fox, snake, carp, cod, ant nest. No goannas, lizards, dingos, emus, rabbits, pigs and very few cattle and sheep.     
What was also very noticeable by their absence is people.  Yes there has been a very severe drought and things have been tough for farmers, but that does not seem to be the full story.  There are fantastic little towns out there with great people, but the towns are dying, they all have less people each year and little is done to try and improve the situation. To quote an official from the west “48% of the State has 48,000 people and there are no votes in that”. [That’s enough for my soapbox]. The hot topic of course was ‘water politics’ but despite James persistent efforts the locals would not be drawn into this topic. Resentment of the amount of water taken out of the system by the cotton farmers in Queensland was noticeable, but huge volumes were also going into Menindee Lakes. When we were there virtually nothing was going past Menindee and the river just below the lakes was little more than a dribble (fallen trees completely crossed the river).
So, what is the lasting memory of the trip? Not only the river itself but the MAGNIFICENT ISOLATION of the river banks and the whole area. You really should try to visit ‘THE RIVER’, not just because you’re a paddler but because you’re Australian.