If there’s one thing I took away from a weekend at the Gregory, it is that we have an absolute gem of a gift in this hidden outback river.
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From the road you could almost miss it, but seated in a tiny yellow mustering helicopter I was able to see miles of lush greenery lining the banks, spreading out to sparse bush and into flat nothingness.
For the last 41 years this pristine location has hosted hundreds of visitors for its annual canoe race, founded in 1976 by members of the North West Canoe Club.
It felt like the furthest thing from work to witness a hundred paddlers take off early in the morning and run alongside them to capture the moment they hit the first rapids.
Carnage Leap was a small obstacle for most competitors, whether they were in a Canadian canoe or kayak, in a team or alone, they deftly swerved to miss rocks and avoid capsize, for the most part.
I had heard much about how fun the race is and while serious competitors attend, most are there to have a good time.
This seemed to ring true for the first timers, with several competing in teams with little to no experience.
Everyone made it safely to the finish line, though a few were disqualified for taking too long.
After bumbling 30km down a dusty dirt road in the North West Star ute trying not to blow a tyre, I made it over the bridge to the finish line where a crowd was gathered.
The morning chill subsided to a scorcher, and shade was as welcome as the cool shallows at the river’s end.
Paddlers in the 18km short course came through first, with experienced paddler Al Cameron winning at 1 hour, 36 minutes and 24 seconds.
Next was a TK2 two-man man kayak carrying Troy Lane and Phil Anderson at 1h 41m 38s, despite it being Anderson’s first paddle and neither training for the race.
“We thought about training a few times and then it got closer, so we decided to just give it a crack on the day,” Lane said.
Third place for the short course was Owen Parnell at 1h 41m 48s, finishing with a stylish capsize to cool off.
The full course heavyweights weren’t far behind, and Steve Jenje predictably took out first place for another year with a time of 3h 15m 49s.
Speaking to organiser Alison Whitehead on arrival, Jenje was humble in his victory.
“I was with Al and Jeff Pierce, Al had a bit of a tip out near checkpoint three which was unfortunate because he was definitely the stronger paddler today,” Jenje said.
Newcomer Alan Cross was seconds behind him with a time of 3h 17m 09s.
It was paddle number 33 for Jenje, and one for Cross.
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