We were glad to get out of the RV park where we were with its single dunny and obnoxious shower. The new one is at Vidalia, on the opposite bank to Natchez, on the river between the big levee and the little levee next to the river. It is great but unfortunately T-Mobile data does not work here. That’s 50% of parks we have been where T-Mobile does not work. If it doesn’t get better I will ditch the unit and get another carrier but that costs money. Luckily the park’s wifi works enough and is fine if no-one else is on it.

Access points are few and far between and tomorrow’s journey is longer than the longest day so far and the river is flowing 20ft above normal according to Mark, a local who spends every hour he can fishing the river.

We went to explore this arvo and found the next two access points but I am concerned about the big day tomorrow. Just gotta do it I suppose. At least the crew can get to the spot.

Found out the 4WD does not have diff locks. Looking for an access point to the river the right side went into a mud hole that stopped us dead. The crew tried to flag down some help for about 45 minutes while I tried everything I could. In the end we rang AAA but just after that when I was sitting by the road with them Mark Cummings came along. He had a big ute and a chain and even offered me a beer. Bloody great bloke. Cancelled AAA so still have two free callouts left.

After all that it is now 7.30pm, I’m tired and I’m worried about tomorrow so I will be glad when that is behind us.

There are six blokes way up ahead of us www.redicoverna.com but they went up before the river rose. I doubt they could do it now. Still ten days or so before it peaks and there is debris all over the river with locals warning about the danger of logs. That’s not river people though.

Lynne:     Hi everyone.  I’m a new kid on the block. Just arrived. Don’t really know my place yet but I suspect it maybe as a mediator for the sorting out of the disagreements, minor, I hasten to add, between master Steve and chef and driver Klaas.  Oh well, we had a busy day, departed Baton Rouge to explore drop off and pick up points along the river. Arrived at Natchez river park. Right on Mississippi. Such a busy river. Our last stop had us stuck deep in the mud. Klaas tried to flag down motorists for help. No success, so I was allocated this job. Hahaha.  Mark was the angel in disguise. He didn’t hesitate to help us stranded Aussies…he was greatly appreciated . so willing to help. Has given us his number if we are in need while we are in this area. Thank you Mark xxxxxxand ahug as well  another big day ahead. More tomorrow re people and places of Louisianna and Mississippi state. A wonderful trip and great experiences.

NOTE: Tried to put Lynne’s photos from her phone on the site but the phone (new one) won’t turn on. Looks like a trip to Baton Rouge and a lost day. We need her phone because she is on A T & T like mine and Klaas’s T-mobile is unreliable at the pick up site whereas ours seem to work

31 deg today! Too hot for the skirt and you have probably noticed the sail has gone. They don’t work without wind. Klaas pushed me off at 8.45am.

Seeya mate

There he goes, into gator country 

The locals reckon the gators are fine. Poke ’em with a stick and they move away. The 16ft old man is a bit more stubborn but no problem apparently. I’m not keen to poke a gator with my paddle. It is expensive.

Up the bayou beside the river

A log jam. Seen them before.

The wheels are a nuisance in this stuff

These are on the inside of bends and they collapse as I paddle past. Normal stream flow logic does not apply. Sometimes the worst problems I have are on the inside of bends. Sometimes not. If the banks are collapsing on the inside of bends the river is straightening

Tried racing this bloke for half an hour but he was too fast

Sports tape doesn’t work!

Plenty of wrecks around

Even inside the trees the current can be fierce

Bridge finish again

Somebody made a track for me out of the river

This is what a fire ants nest looks like. They are not pleasant.

 

38.8km for the day. 364.1km from the Gulf

Klaas    Hi all.Hurrah. Saw my first “Gator”. Waiting for the master to arrive at designated pick up point some hill Billies arrived in an old pick up truck. She was rather “Plump”, nothing over 20 stone and no teeth and he resembled a match with all the wood scraped off. They were delightful and told us all about the river and bayou/ . She wanted to buy my book but they could not come up with the $20= but would order one from Amazon. We are now travelling in lonely rural areas and access to the river is highly restricted. The levies are fenced off and leased to farmers who run cattle on it. Interspersed are huge oil refineries and electricity power stations with “No admission ” signs and guards . Yesterday, waiting to pick Steve up, I drove the car and kayak box on top of the levy wall so Steve could see me easily from the water. Next thing a police car came up and the sheriff

came out looking like John Wayne. Two revolvers ,one on each hip. “Private property this here” he drawled. I explained to him I was extracting a mad Australian kayaker and he would be coming any minute. “Alright,” he drawled, “I wont book ye.,seeing it is Sunday, a nice day and I hate the paperwork. “(These are the hazards of pickups

 

Setting out from Baton Rouge. USS Kidd one side and the museum to the right.

Gotta cross the river today. Turn left when?

Here looks as good as any. Resting point behind the barges mid-stream

Propeller wash about 2m high. Care required.

From the opposite bank: Bye bye Red Stick

Not good. Nosed into bank with three, look hard, pushers going so can’t paddle against their wash. Pilot yelled at me when I paddled up the inside but did it anyway with a plan to walk the last bit.

Time to walk

Bugger. Lost a wheel nut.  M16, not 5/8″ so problem in an imperial country. Found it back 15m. Phew!

Head back to the river. Not that easy but OK sort of.

Not so bad.

About a kilometre further on I had to turn back because of debris between bank and barges and then found this opening. Paddled nearly through it.

Chickened out when I saw this. Too dangerous. See debris under front of barges and look closely at turbulence. Not gonna risk life for 15 minutes hard work so came back and went around outside

Near the end for the and found an entrance into a flooded area.

The end

Only 17km. Access to the river is seriously curtailed so we have to work around  what is available.

St Patrick’s Day in Baton Rouge

We were invited to a party near the parade. The bloke’s name is Steve Poss! His partner Carrie has a much less interesting surname. Dick turned up, who is 72 and  real character. We went to his place that night. What a house! It was used to make a horror movie That was supposed to premier that night but although Dick reckoned it finally screened at 2.00am we were long tucked up in bed.

The Poss party had Dick and a friend of Carrie’s turn up and that was it. Not a lot of people to meet and the ones at Dick’s could best be described as an eclectic group. We had fun at both places and saw the parade.

Just to prove I was there and still looking like a D Head

Some cross cultural stuff going on

I captured this standing on a garbage bin. A typical float is going past. Clever people who drink beer take these small tents which I think take care of waste beer.

People like their beads

Party over

And there is a bit of a mess

 

 

Rain was falling heavily as we drove up to the ramp. Klaas got out but I suggested he let me get wet as he had to wait at the pickup point. The old Australian saying of not having the brains to come in out of the rain came to mind but I was far too polite to say that. Anyway he did stay in the car until it eased, by which time I was ready to go. It was still too wet for him to use the land camera though.

There have been quite a few pictures of barges but no quantifiable size so for Rod:

They are about 200ft long x 35ft wide x16ft high drawing as low as 18” empty and about 11ft when full. Some have a box front, some curve upwards. The ones curving upwards would certainly suck a kayak under it if caught. Typically a pusher will push three barges wide x six barges long but it can be much more than that. There are thousands of them along the banks, some pushed right onto the bank, some moored a little way out. This can be a single barge but usually at least six long by six wide.

This morning I had to paddle around approximately ten barge sites. The one that was memorable was eight barges wide so out I went, along past five barges long and met some guys sheltering out of the rain. We had a brief hello then out another two wide then around a pusher hooked up two barges ahead. That’s ten barges plus a pusher wide and seven barges long plus another three before I could head towards the bank. As I passed the pusher the skipper, pilot I think they are called, said hello. I used a certain strong adjective to describe his barges. I haven’t seen that word amuse people before but he sure thought it was funny.

After the barge “discussion”. Baton Rouge skyline.

It had been raining until then but the rain eased. Half an hour later the fog returned.

The city and everything else disappears

When I pulled in there was a cameraman from TV station WBRZ, so I guess that goes on the news tonight.

Only 7km travelled in 1½ hrs, much of the time travelling at about 9km/hr over the water.

This afternoon I recorded two long interviews with a local radio station WHYR. Doug Daigle was the interviewer and the sound man was Bruce Morgan. It was done in Bruce’s home. Both are lovely blokes. Bruce learned his skills doing books for the blind. He is a fair bit older than me so obviously retired and coincidentally we both have five grandchildren. Despite his modest means he gave me $100 for the trip which was very touching.

We are starting to get good non-mainstream coverage. 100,000 followers on this one:

http://www.theinertia.com/environment/aussie-kayaker-begins-inspired-paddle-up-mississippi-river/

You will have to scroll down to see the K4e story.

Klaas:  Hi all  It is Friday “Blurb time” Now there are good blurbs and bad blurbs and half way in between blurbs. This is a special only half a day blurb because the master kayak-er had only an hour and half to the finish to the heart of Baton Rouge. At least there was one TV Channel there to meet him and not before time. The media has been conspicuous by there absence. He did some interviews on radio but few and far between. Tonight Lynne joins the crew, and tomorrow we have been invited to the Saint Patrick day parade which is a big deal apparently in these parts. So dont expect a blurb from me tomorrow as I will be busy entertaining Lynne and drinking green beer. Hic cheers Klaas

 Walking down the levee to where I left the kayak last night 

Phew, it’s still here

Starting the day. I did not know this structure was here yesterday because it was covered in fog

River level was up another 300mm or so and lots of paddling through trees to keep out of the current. Lots of debris coming down the river so it was a bit like paddling up the Brisbane river in flood.

13.46, that’s the number of miles covered today. Everything was set to zero when I set out. I have been travelling an hour. Yet another equipment malfunction? This is getting tedious!

Interesting pusher. Like driving from the crows nest. This guy was pushed hard into the bank so I thought it was another trip around the outside. This was taken as he backed out, turned around and steamed off down river

First cross river ferry I have seen

The fog is rolling back in like giant pacific rollers breaking onto a headland. You half expect to see ghostly board riders on them. If I paddled two days in a row like yesterday I might!

A long trip up the inside of six barges, that’s about 300m, only to find my way blocked so back out and around. This lot was four wide

Finished for the day

Looking upstream. How good is that? Baton Rouge ahead. First city after New Orleans. Tomorrow, Friday, I will pull into the USS Kidd at mid-day

38.5km for the day. 308.3 from the Gulf

Today was tough for four or five hours. I just felt like crying. It is stress that does that. When I was younger I got that feeling when I pushed my heart rate over 200. That was a long time ago I have to admit. It passed though, especially towards the end when I could see where I was going again.

One of the big positives in the trip is that I bought a ten dollar watch and it works. Every other watch I have tried since they started going haywire on my first trip in 2007 has been a failure. That has at least enabled me to coordinate timing with the pick-up lads

A big thanks to everyone who has sent me messages. They really are a big motivator.

Klaas:  Almost at Baton Rouge. The weather today is lousy, rain rain and more rain, I don’t know how Steve motivates himself to get into wet gear and be soaked by rain or mist. Imagine opening your lunch box in this weather and having instantly soggy sandwiches. Brrrrrrrrrrrr. Klaas

Big, big day. 56km. To those who said paddling up the Mississippi was impossible: no comment. My old fallback, TEFE comes to mind though. To know what that means you have to read my first book Cry Me a River.

You have probably noticed a difference in the Facebook page. The Farm (http://www.thefarmdigital.com/) noticed our efforts in Australia and have come on board to assist. I am so pleased firstly that they noticed, secondly that they thought enough about our efforts to want to help, and thirdly to make the commitment.

Here I go on yet another foggy day with rain predicted 

This grab is unloading brown stuff from a barge that goes up to a processing place that turns it into black stuff. (I think) 

Pounds to peanuts this is a sewage outfall. It looks like old 20:30 standard and my guess is it is from a trickling filter plant. Shame you aren’t here to smell it with me Griffo, I’m sure you would know. 

These guys either nose in or back into the bank and go to sleep. No sign of life, just the engine idling in reverse holding the pusher against the bank 

This is mounds of sand where they were mining the bank but the water rose 

And they moved to higher ground

Here’s a weekender for ya, complete with outside dunny

Day 8 and we finally have an active GPS, although for some reason it started at 24.25 miles and average speed over 100 mph

The fact that it took until now shows the pressure of logistics. We have yet to get a GoPro operating satisfactorily now due to mounting straps chafing.  My jobs are: 1) Logistics enough to paddle  2) Paddle enough to get me to the end on time  3) Record as much as I can bearing in mind 1& 2

Managed to get a shot of upstream of barges. This is the dangerous area 

More sand mining

This diffuser is one of many discharges I have seen

The end of day 1 was at mile 102 so this is a neat 100 miles past that and is also for my old mates at Aquatec Maxcon 

There ya go Siebert. Tired, wet, cold but smiling after 56km!

Chef chose lunch today:

Salmon and mayonnaise sandwich

Ham and mustard sandwich

Selection of fruit

Salad in a separate bowl with jar of special dressing

YUM!

 

 

Klaas

I know a fellow called Steve,

A voyage he wanted to conceive

to make people aware

and make people care

about the world we live in

It is no allusion

to come to the conclusion

we’ve contaminated the atmosphere

and Global Warming is here.

So he set out in his kayak of yellow

to speak to every fellow

he comes across

the believers and those who don’t give a toss

It is a hard battle

because people are like cattle

and go with the mob

But here and there

there are people that care

and we all can make a difference

So follow your heart

and make a new start

and be of significance

The chef has had a hissy fit.  Can’t say I blame him though. Everything he touches has sugar in it. First it was coconut cream that tasted like brown sugar. Now the organic beans taste like sugar. He’ll get over it and with his idea of adding sour cream and some curry to his dish it tasted great.

Soaking wet again after a mixed, but mostly foggy day

There’s a pool of water on my seat Con. Wet bum from minute one!

Just like yesterday

First trip out into the current coming up

A sandy beach

What do you see? Nothing. The lighter patch is the sun coming through. The reeds disappeared and this is what I saw. Nuthin’

Some sort of weather station

The fog cleared in a minute  when the wind came towards me. Here I am in an eddy carrying me upstream

Amazing what can come around the corner

Look really closely. Behind the barges you can see black posts. This is very important. It usually means I can get behind them

Here comes the fog. It had rolled over me enveloping everything within a minute

Looking back. Just after the start the skipper of the pusher came to the edge of the barge and said “Hey buddy these are all moving towards the bank. You need to get outta here”. I wasn’t going back, the barges were mostly full and drawing 3m and even if they did hit the bank I reckoned I could just get the kayak out of the water. I paddled furiously and took this shot with some relief

No way through here. They were nine wide and six barges long and I was mighty relieved to get around them and back in after about ten minutes slog.

I just liked this shot

Nearly finished lunch

Just another grain handling facility me thinks

If the object of the water cannon was to make sure anyone paddling up the river got wet it worked

Look through the trees. The levee separates the two worlds. On the other side here is suburbia

End of the day looms finally. The cranes are on a ship.

Perfect timing Klaas. We are directly under the bridge here

Had my first river moment today ie the first time where I was challenged by the natural river, not man made things. There was a sharp corner, the only one I have seen. Two metres of mud cliff, boiling current with whirlpools, waves slapping against the cliff and booming back from caverns and thunderclaps overhead. That was a bit over the top I thought because it was all fine, much easier than the dreaded barges.

Also had my first scary bit. It was really gloomy under a wharf and some sort of grey liquid was cascading down. The other end seemed blocked by scaffolding and logs so I retreated back down the river and went around.

35.5km for the day. That’s seven days paddling since the Gulf. Including walking 5km through the French Quarter we are up to 213.6 km (132.7 miles)

Klaas:   To all you ” Doubting Thomas’s “a message from me. You all said it was impossible to kayak up the  Mississippi against a five knot currant etc ,so now eat your heart out. Stevie the Wonder boy is clocking up twenty miles (No, not kilometres) per day and sometimes more. Wind, hail, waves, he still does it. How he does it I don’t know but it is time you started to recognise his achievements and tell him so. Go on, send him an email and let him know. Klaas.

 

 

No pics yesterday. Nearly all pics today. First 10miles in 2 hrs 15 mins, second 10 miles 3hrs 50 mins.  When things are good I can beat a barge around a right hand bend. When I have to go out into the current I can’t beat anything. Lots of problems after the first two hours. The picture above is when we were ready to unload the kayak behind the 5m levee which has followed us from just into Lake Ponchartrain.

The day started well eh. Just keep close to the bank.

Nice

This guy was picking up scrap metal and loading it into trucks

Down the outside. Forward progress 2km/hr at best. The end is where?

I heard a waterfall, then I found it. Can you see what it is?

Bloody burrs, just like home on the Condamine

Log jams too!

That forced me outside. Barges were 9 wide and God knows how long. It was at least half a kilometre before I could get back in.

End of the barges. Now what. Bank or outside?

How about down the middle and have a grain shower.

Next wharf. This is good. Not even any rain.

Not so good at the end though. (Swear word)

This guy passed me

Then he pushed into the bank to park

I was buggered so wasn’t going around and slithered through the gap

Nearly at the end. The boys are 1km past the bridge

39.4km. I will do 50 km if the barges would go away.

Klaas “Ghost riders in the Mississippi River.”  Dropped Steve of at nine this morning, one and half hours down the track. Drove back to attend to fixing electrical fault in Fridge-Freezer .Prepare tonight’s dinner, dumped garbage and drove an hour to new pick up site. Found access road over the levy wall (Authorised vehicles only ” and stopped right next to “Where the …………… is the river. Nowhere else on the roads I encountered fog but the river was obliterated. Finally, a shape emerged like the Loch Ness Monster, but what was it doing in downtown Louisiana ? I asked for the pass word and he shouted something  obscene like “Get Stuffed” so we managed to retrieve the intrepid sailor boy and whisk him home to our nice cosy trailer.Klaas

 

We set off with the van in tow all in good time. The RV Park near the river was perfect. Lots of room. “Uh oh” said Con, “No internet.” We upped sticks and headed off across the river. No T-Mobile internet reception there either. Back over the bridge and tried a few parks. Lots of calls later we are up in Baton Rouge and lucky to get this place. Salubrious? Nah. Most people use the amenities in the RV because you hook up to sewer and water as well as power. Seems like there is one block with a wahing machine, dryer, dunny and shower. Just had an email from Con who was in a tricky situation in the only toilet/shower. Took him the paper and all is fine. Phew! Thank God for technology.

I have wanted to send you a photo of the 350 meeting on Thursday night but they haven’t sent it to me. Lesson there, make sure I give my camera to someone so we have the image. I really did enjoy the meeting. It was pretty much like an Aussie meeting, same sort of people, same sort of issues. As I said to them, there must be millions of similar meetings going on around the world. Committed people will make Climate action happen. In every group there are a couple of standout doers and they were evident there. On that note we have had a good response from environmental people in Baton Rouge.

The Mississippi has two worries. The first is paddling around barges. It knocks my hands around and slows me down a lot. The second is finding access points in and out of the river. Yesterday was 20 miles between the two possible points.

The thing about the river that impresses me is the size of the bends. Some bends are long enough that you can still see almost to the limit of vision. They are bloody huge and take hours to get around just one sometimes. Looking at it on the map doesn’t convey the correct impression.

Tomorrow I will go as far as I can. It has been a bit depressing looking at progress up the river so farr and my rough guess today was Chicago mid-July at the current rate. Surely I can do better than that though. The banks can’t be lined with barges all the way.

For some reason we have lost power to some of the van including the new fridge. Checked all fuses and everything is OK there so will leave it with Klaas and Con to find a sparky tomorrow.

Today was 23 degrees and very pleasant. Tomorrow is showers with rain developing. Top of 20 deg.