Mission Accomplished
Steve set off in his kayak from West End in Brisbane on 4th October 2008. He arrived at the Sydney Opera House on 1st November 2008 with a bag containing thousands of letters for Minister Peter Garrett asking him to stop the Traveston Dam. The journey was 945km. To continue during adverse weather Steve dragged the kayak along the beach, the highway, and anywhere that would allow his relentless slog to the end. His exploits are contained in his daily logs.
Read Steve's account of his arrival in Sydney.
Because Garrett's only powers on this issue are under the EPBC Act the message was about threatened species, especially the lungfish. The lungfish is the oldest vertebrate in the world. It is native to only the Burnett and the Mary Rivers. The Burnett was dammed some years ago. Since then, according to lungfish expert Jean Joss, "there has been nil recruitment" to the population. In other words, despite the fact that they can live for 100 years they are not breeding there any more. The Queensland Government will obliterate the only remaining breeding grounds in the world with the Traveston Crossing Dam. This would be an international tragedy and extremely embarrassing for Australia.
Trip Log
- Day 1 (Saturday 4th October) - West End to Wynnum
- Day 2 (Sunday 5th October) - Wynnum to Jacobs Well
- Day 3 (Monday 6th October) - Jacobs Well to Currumbin
- Day 4 (Tuesday 7th October) - Currumbin to Tweed Heads
- Day 5 (Wednesday 8th October) - Tweed Heads to Brunswick Heads
- Day 6 (Thursday 9th October) - Brunswick Heads to Ballina
- Day 7 (Friday 10th October) - Ballina to Evans Head
- Day 8 (Saturday 11th October) - Evans Head to Yamba
- Day 9 (Sunday 12th October) - Yamba to Minnie Water
- Day 10 (Monday 13th October) - Minnie Water to Arrawarra
- Day 11 (Tuesday 14th October) - Arrawarra to Boambee Creek
- Day 12 (Wednesday 15th October) - Boambee Creek to Nambucca Heads
- Day 13 (Thursday 16th October) - Nambucca Heads to Smithtown
- Day 14 (Friday 17th October) - Smithtown to Point Plommer
- Day 15 (Saturday 18th October) - Point Plommer to Camden Haven
- Day 16 (Sunday 19th October) - Camden Haven to Hallidays Point
- Day 17 (Monday 20th October) - Hallidays Point to Myall Lakes
- Day 18 (Tuesday 21st October) - Myall Lakes to Port Stephens
- Day 19 (Wednesday 22nd October) - Port Stephens to Stockton
- Day 20 (Thursday 23rd October) - Stockton to Warners Bay
- Day 21 (Friday 24th October) - Warners Bay to The Entrance
- Day 22 (Saturday 25th October) - The Entrance to Barenjoey Point
- Day 23 (Sunday 26th October) - Barenjoey Point to Shelley Beach
- Reflections on the trip so far
- Arrival at the Sydney Opera House (Saturday 1st November)
Steve on Engineers Media
Steve's Crew and Supporters
John Schulstad
John Williams
Steve and his supporters at the Opera House (L to R):
Tanzi Smith (Greater Mary Association),
Professor Stuart White (Institute for Sustainable Futures),
Heidi Posselt (Steve's daughter),
Carol Posselt (Steve's wife),
Steve Posselt,
Julie Wellington (Brisbane Save the Mary group),
Vikki Uhlmann (Convenor, Brisbane Save the Mary group),
John Schulstad (Steve's support crew from Perth),
Victoria Pullen (from Mary Valley - she has painted her car yellow and with no dam logos and is on a pilgrimage down the east coast collecting letters to Minister Garrett),
Glenda Pickersgill (Save the Mary group),
Professor Jean Joss (Lungfish expert, Macquarie University).
Many people followed the journey on the web. This would not have been possible without Rick Grantham (right) who updated the site regularly from text and images that I forwarded to him. This is an extremely important and very valuable contribution and I thank him on behalf of everyone. Geoff, who constructed the site on behalf of MC2, and did the other two trips was not available this time due to other commitments. I am sure you will agree with me on the importance of these guys and how indebted we are to them.