Ed’s connection to water stems from his memories as a kid spending his holidays at his grandparent’s farm on the Ovens River in Wangaratta.
“As kids, my siblings and I would spend days by the river close to Warby Springs National Park, swimming and playing around in the fresh water. We had wanted to see more of the river and the banks further upstream, so we proposed the idea of building a raft to float from upstream along the thalweg (the line of lowest elevation in the river) toward our swimming hole.”
“We fashioned the raft out of an old shed door, and multiple large empty plastic bottles. It was mostly trial and error to get the balance right between our weight and its buoyancy.”
“Once we had it just right, we drove upstream and set course down the river, passing snags and obstacles and sunbathing, but mostly burning, in the sun. It was a truly great experience that brings me joy to look back on.”
