PADDLEBOARDER Stuart Murray glided into Oatley Park beach last Tuesday afternoon and left the following morning accompanied to Como by of flotilla of local environment groups.
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He was hoping to make Maroubra by nightfall — "down the Georges River to Botany Bay, turn left and paddle up the coast".
Mr Murray's aim was to get to Narrabeen Lakes, up past Manly, by last Sunday, (March 16) thereby circumnavigating the Sydney basin — 350 kilometres on water and 50 on land.
The land, or portage section, was the most difficult, he said.
That involved pulling his wheeled paddleboard from Penrith to Eastern Creek then to Liverpool.
"I'm a paddler, not a walker, so I was surprised how difficult walking is," he said.
"I walked on my ego with blistered feet."
The nine-times New Zealand and Australian stand-up paddleboard champion, coach, adventurer and writer started the trip on March 2 at Middle Harbour.
The route included Palm Beach, the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers, and six to eight hours daily paddling for between 30 and 60 kilometres.
Although keen for the adventure, Mr Murray did it to support a charity, the Tangaroa Blue Foundation, which focuses on the health of the marine environment and co-ordinates a network of volunteers monitoring the impact of marine debris.
"There is a lot more debris out there than we know how to clean up," he said.
"Those plastic 'islands' found in the ocean are the easy bit.
"The plastic photo-degrades into smaller and smaller particles which waft down into the ocean.
"The fish eat the particles and then the toxins get into our food chain."
Mr Murray said his support of Tangaroa Blue had made him more aware of his own personal habits such as buying takeaway coffee with a plastic lid.
Many of those lids ended up in rivers and oceans after being washed into the stormwater system.
He saw the shocking results in the litter present in the Georges River near Liverpool.
"It's not about blaming but about doing it better at a local level," he said.
He urged residents to take on a manageable part of the river, clean it up four times a year, record the rubbish collected and take it up with their councils and politicians.
LITTER THREAT
Oatley Flora and Fauna president Graham Lalchere said consumers should properly dispose of their rubbish to prevent the stormwater system being fouled.
‘‘But failing that, we need more drainage gross pollutant traps (GPTs) to catch rubbish before it enters the river,’’ he said.
‘‘More importantly container deposit legislation is needed to drastically reduce the number of discarded bottles, as well as the reduction of plastic bag usage.
‘‘The Georges River catchment, with over one million people, drains an area of nearly 1000 square kilometres and unfortunately makes a large contribution to the amount of debris entering the ocean. In our recent Clean Up Australia Day action near Jinna Reserve, Peakhurst, much of the rubbish found was plastic bottles and bags washed off the streets.’’
Is the Georges River in Good health?
