Packrafting adventure

[Chris S]

Hi all, though you might like to hear about our recent packrafting adventure in northwest Australia.
We flew into a remote camp with our backpacks and followed the Fitzroy river back south over six days; me in a proper Alpacka packraft, my mate in a £20 PVC pool toy which does not look much different - until you try and paddle it...
About 30% of the river was too shallow to paddle (end of the dry season), but wading suited us just fine (especially Jeff in the pool toy), although portaging in the heat was very tiring. As soon as you get off the water, whether wading or paddling, the temperature shoots up. We lived off freeze dried food - the fishing came to nothing, although there are said to be some big barramundi in there.
A packboat is a great way to combine cross-country walking with paddling, especially in somewhere like Scotland.
A couple of vids below.
(looks like they've all been modified/deleted by a mod? Sorry if I broke any rules: search "fitzroy packrafting" on youtube).

Chris S

[video=youtube;ZAUOT1H7nnI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAUOT1H7nnI[/video]
[video=youtube;Trro6m8AXeQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trro6m8AXeQ[/video]
[video=youtube;6bVzByOuAAg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bVzByOuAAg[/video]
[video=youtube;l529Qqyxks4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l529Qqyxks4[/video]

 

[atross]

Great Vids,

The croc in the water must have been a bit of a shock and I bet your mate was wishing he had more than a 20 quid boat!

Ash

 

[Chris S]

Thanks Ash. It takes a lot less than a croc to make a mess of a 'Bestway Outdoorsman 200 Sport'.
Even raised voices would make it go flat ;-)
When we got to the highway bridge at the end, he left it with some Aboriginal kids. I doubt it lasted them more than a day or two.

Ch

 

[Shewie]

Great vids Chris, stunning scenery

Thanks for sharing

 

[andybysea]

Really enjoyed watching them,cheers for posting.