Eva Batey is canoeing the length of the Murray River to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer research.
Photo by
Bree Lambert
A Yarra Valley local, Eva Batey is about a month into a 2356km solo canoe journey along the Murray River, raising funds and awareness for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.
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Having set off from Bringenbrong Bridge in NSW on April 7, Miss Batey will paddle the length of the Murray in 10 weeks, camping along the way and covering up to 45km a day.
The challenge is a tribute to her dad, Peter, and grandfather Ray, who have both battled with prostate cancer and undergone radiotherapy.
“Since my grandfather and my father have it, my brother is five times more likely, and my dad’s brothers are twice as likely to get it,” she said.
“So that’s kind of what’s pushing me to do it.”
Beyond raising funds, Miss Batey hopes her journey encourages more men to get tested early for prostate cancer, “because a lot of people don’t understand that it is hereditary”.
“There is a stereotype around men have to be tough … and they ignore a lot of symptoms.
“If people catch it early, like there's ways to kind of prevent it and so you don’t have to go through the more hardcore treatments like radiotherapy or chemotherapy.”
Now on the river, she begins paddling at 5.30am most days and spends about eight to 10 hours on the water.
A highlight of her journey so far was sharing part of the trip with her dad, who joined her to paddle a 40km stretch.
“It was the first time having someone come with me,” she said.
“It just provided that little extra oomph to keep going.”
The idea for the challenge came together less than a year ago while Miss Batey was on an overnight canoe trip while working as a tour guide in Canada.
“I got discussing with the group, and we were talking about how cool it would be to canoe a whole river,” she said.
“And I was like, you know what, I kind of want to canoe the Murray.”
Upon her return home from Canada, Miss Batey bought her canoe second-hand in December and spent months preparing by mapping out campsites and dehydrating meals for the trip.
Eva Batey passed through Echuca three weeks into her journey, on Monday, April 27.
Photo by
Bree Lambert
As she passes through communities along the river, she spreads awareness through hosting meet-and-greets, where she hopes people can learn a little bit more about the signs and symptoms and consider getting themselves tested.
So far, the journey has been as rewarding as it is physically demanding.
“It’s been absolutely incredible,” she said.
“I haven’t gotten bored one bit and I haven’t woken up one morning and gone, ‘oh, 1700km to go, get me out of here now’ kind of thing, so I love it.”
Having recently passed through Echuca, she is heading towards Swan Hill, Robinvale and Mildura, before crossing into South Australia, where she will complete her journey.
Miss Batey has raised more than $3500 so far towards her $10,000 goal and expects to reach the finish line at the Murray Mouth in South Australia in early June, where her friends and family will be waiting to celebrate her journey’s end.
