Day eleven - One uphill battle ends

Day 11 Yee Ha!!! Finished paddling up the Goulburn River. I pulled in at the Killingworth Pump Station at 2.30pm.

It was like the river had thrown everything at me on the last day. I was in and out of the kayak on stoney sections, walking around log jams, and worst of all flogging through long sections against 7km/hr current. In the afternoon a thunderstorm appeared. With a lot of rumbling, the odd crack and a bit of fireworks it threatened a deluge but all it dumped was icey rain. Compared with a Northern NSW thunderstorm though, it was all bark and no bite.

John Winther, the pipeline security manager turned up to say hello. All went well but there was no way he would be filmed. He did say that he would ask if anyone would present the pro-pipeline argument as we have been desperate for someone to talk to our camera. We just want some balance and are mystified as to why we have trouble getting government opinion. Maybe they don’t trust us? Maybe they need to control spin? We are only interested in truth.

Jan Beer came down to the river to see us as representative of Plug the Pipe. She had arranged dinner at the pub, her unit to stay in for two nights, and good boost from Plug the Pipe to help with finances. These trips cost money that we don’t have so we are extremely grateful for any support from anyone. Dinner at the pub was a terrific night meeting people who would have been horrified if you had said five years ago that they would turn into activists.

Ellen Hogan, who had been at the original Cry Me a River trip meeting a month ago was there so we had the two main organizers from the top end of the river. Deb, the infamous woman who was arrested for trying to keep constructors off her land is a lovely person, articulate, passionate, and feisty. Bill, another bloke who has a court case against the constructors for trespass was there as well. They were unanimous in their opinion that the government was behaving like a bully.