Two Sutherland Shire Canoe Club members have joined an elite club of paddlers who have successfully tackled the Murray River in its entirety.
Steve and Kate Dawson have now been listed on the official register of everyone who has travelled the river from outside South Australia.
They are entry number 411 since the register was started 60-years-ago.
The couple, who are 51 and 49-years-old, had just finished a hiking trip in Tasmania when they started discussing their next challenge.
No strangers to marathon kayak journeys - including two major races in the US before COVID struck - there was always the option of circumnavigating Australia, but Kate gets sea-sick.
The pair paddled around 2400 km from the Snowy Mountains to Goolwa/Murray in South Australia.
The goal was to take 48 days for the trip, but with a gale warning halting their final 111km - the final tally for the journey was 56 days with 49 days of paddling.
Steve said they had decided on the Murray because it was the biggest paddling challenge they could do with international borders closed.
"The river officially rises at Indi Springs in the Snowy Mountains," he said. "But for the purposes of a 'source-to-sea' paddle, the starting point is about 200 km downstream, from Bringenbrong Bridge between Corryong and Khancoban.
"Upstream from the bridge, its a trout stream that you can wade across and barely get your knees wet, so that's as high as we could go with kayaks loaded with gear and provisions."
He admitted they had not done a huge amount of planning but emphasised that years of experience influenced their decisions.
That know-how helped them take two single kayaks rather than a double because they could carry more equipment and food.
"We carried provisions for 16 days even though there are small towns almost every two or three days along the river," he said.
"The longest gap is at the South Australia border where you are off-grid for about six days.
"But we covered ourselves by dropping off two re-supply caches of food, fuel, and toilet paper at Torrumbarry and Mildura, which were our 800km and 1600km stops."
When they finally reached the river mouth, they celebrated by receiving their Covid vaccinations.
The Dawsons' great Murray River adventure was not just about self-indulgence.
Steve and Kate raised $7770 from people following their journey for the Coast Shelter on the NSW Central Coast.
Now heading into Western Australia, they are already thinking about the next long paddle.
"We'd love to go back to the US as soon as the international borders open up again."said Steve