The Franklin River invokes images of remoteness, of a river that runs wild and free, just as they are meant to. It winds its way through a wilderness that now bears its name – the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers NP – and is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in the Southwest of Tasmania. The country out there is rugged, impressive, pristine and unforgiving. The scenery is magical. Moss-covered trees, rocks with different colours of lichen, ancient-looking pandanus and tree-ferns, and some slow-growing but huge Huon pines, celery top pines and pencil pines.

a stunning view of the Franklin River

The remoteness also means there is no phone reception. Once you enter its domain you need to be self-sufficient and prepared for every eventuality. The moment you let a raft or kayak take you away from the safety of the bridge you have to be one hundred percent committed. The exit is about 110km downstream, with many rapids to be negotiated along the way.

In the 1980s the Franklin River was the stage for many protests when conservationists tried to prevent the river from being dammed for hydro power. They ultimately succeeded, and that’s why this is Tasmania’s prime wild river and one of the world’s best multi-day rafting trips you can do.

We had signed up with a company that has been running rafting trips forever on the Franklin River (and we can highly recommend them). Apart from offering the adventure on a standard raft, they also bring a ‘ducky’ if you are keen. Ducky is what they call their packrafts and we were definitely keen. So Brett brought two duckies for us and that’s how we found ourselves standing underneath the bridge with several others next to four big rafts and two small packrafts.

Two groups were starting that day. Klaudia and Jed left first with their group on two rafts. Brett and Angus, the two guides for our group, thought it was better to wait a little longer so the rain that had been falling overnight would raise the water level in the Collingwood River. We needed to paddle about 5km to meet the Franklin and the higher the water level at this point the better (it was 0.7m as we arrived at the put-in point).

we start our trip at the bridge across the Collingwood River, you can see the water levels are low, they are at 0.7m

Brett, one of our guides and the owner of the company (Water by Nature) we used to packraft the Franklin River

Angus, one of our guides

Jon and Jude before the start, ready to go in all our gear – thermal leggings and tops, woolen or wetsuit socks, 5mm wetsuit, keg, pfd and helmet

It had been a very dry summer until the day we left. But about 30mm had fallen in the right area overnight, and we could see the level rising as we enjoyed lunch by the river. We didn’t fully grasp the significance of the river levels and the consequences for our adventure yet, but over the course of the week we learned a lot. And it just so happened that our group was lucky, extremely lucky. The right amount of rain fell over the next few days, which meant we had enough water in the Collingwood River to run the rapids. We then had enough water on the Franklin, but not too much in the Great Ravine (because high levels there means you can’t go through and you have to wait until the water level drops). Our trip then had an excellent flow to push us along on the last section of the Franklin as it meets the Gordon River. High levels as this point means a cruisey ride to the take-out point at the St John Falls jetty.

Angus, Dave and Jude paddling the raft after a portage

one of the few rapids in the Great Ravine that can be rafted, this is Angus with Nico, Jane, Dave and Jude (front right in the boat)

Jude helping Angus re-load the raft at one of the rapids where you have to portage everything

when the raft gets stuck and the water gets on top of it, it is really hard to shift the raft – it was stuck here for a while

Angus, Dave, Nico, Jude and Jane running one of the bigger rapids in the Great Ravine

the island in the Bend, made famous because of a photo taken here a long time ago, this is nearly the end of day four for us

Jude’s raft in front of the island with Angus, Dave, Nico and Jane

Apart from the rapids in the Great Ravine where we all portaged the rafts as well as the duckies, we paddled most of the three rivers (Collingwood, Franklin and Gordon). The others in our group all had a go on the duckies in some calm sections of the Franklin too, they all loved it, including Dave, the 79-year-old from Dayboro in Queensland (just around the corner from where we live).

even Dave, our awesome 79-year old has a go in one of the duckies

one of the duckies on the Franklin River

Our group was ten in total, including the two guides, which meant most of the time there were three people plus a guide in each raft. Jon paddled the double packraft, initially with his personal bag and a barrel to make the rafts lighter for the Collingwood section. Jude paddled the single with just a personal bag on the Collingwood.

Jon and Jude in front of the Franklin River, we are at the junction with the Collingwood and from here we will paddle the Franklin

our team – Angus, Brett, Nico, Angelo, Dave, Rosina, Jon and Bastian

Running the rapids was the best, we had so much fun. Most of the time Brett would run the rapid first, then give us a sign we could follow. Occasionally pointing out where to go. Usually we would follow the same line as his raft, but occasionally there was a different approach for the duckies. Angus would follow us, picking up the pieces if needed. The rapids came in quick succession. Some bigger than others, but a steady flow of grade 1 and 2 rapids was usually the norm. Of course we had some swims. Jon was the first to swim, but Jude had one more overall (four).

Jon running one of the first rapids on day one

Jude running one of the rapids on day one

the Franklin River – simply stunning

Jon in his ducky on day one

we both had a swim on this rapid

once you are through the Great Ravine the river opens up in a lot of places

we continue to run rapids, so much fun, and there are many of them

The water was cold, but the 5mm full steamers plus kegs kept us warm. Having to take them off though was a chore, and made it especially tricky for Jude, Jane and Rosina to go for a pee. At every snack and lunch stop it would be a coordinated effort to help each other drop everything and we often wondered if a she-wee would be the answer to this problem…

Brett continued to surprise us every time we had food. The eskies and barrels were full, and he pulled out random treats and fresh food all the way until the last day. We demolished several cakes, were given course after course of gourmet cuisine, all cooked on a little Coleman stove, the same as we use in Lara. Jude always had vegetarian delicacies, and it all tasted fantastic. On some nights it was abalone or shrimps, sometimes followed by lamb, other times steak or a curry. We had asparagus, corn on the cob, delicious soup and even quail on the menu. And all of those courses came after we had already been munching and nibbling on the smorgasbord of cheeses, dips, chips and other snacks after coming into camp.

Brett is preparing our feast in the first camps, we often offered to help but he always preferred to work alone

Brett is preparing breakfast in the third camp

Brett cooking us one final feast on the jetty on the last evening

Every campsite was different and we loved all of them. Our first campsite was at Angel Rain Cavern. We pulled in beneath the overhanging rocks, this was a great place as it meant we were dry whenever it rained. It was still occasionally raining, adding more water to the Franklin which was perfect. At the Cavern we picked a little spot from where we could see the rafts and the river beneath us. Magic. We also had a beach campsite near Camp Arcade where we strung up tarps in between the trees, one large one for Dave, Angelo, Rosina, Bastian as well as Brett and Angus, and two smaller ones. One for Jane and Nico (mum and son duo), and one for us. Rafter’s Basin was a campsite in the forest with the occasional leech trying to find a meal. One had a successful go on Jude’s chin, leaving a trail of dried blood after it fell off. The little string of fairy lights Brett would hang up always made the kitchen / dining area feel very cozy.

our sleeping arrangements in the third camp, we had a big tarp and shared the space with Nico, Jane and Rosina

at the end of a long day of paddling and portages we arrive at our third campsite, then it is time to unload the rafts

our second camp was on a small beach, this was our little shelter for the night

Jon and Jude enjoying breakfast in the morning of day three

getting ready to go on day three, packing the rafts with all the camp gear and food, as well as all the personal bags

looking back up the Franklin river from our beach campsite

our campsite for the first night at Angel Rain Cavern, we could look down onto the river and our duckies from our spot

Jon and Jude pumping up our air mattresses, they even bring a little electric pump for this

our trip on the map, if you look closely you can see where we camped each night (red triangles)

The campsite where we spent three nights was a huge rocky bank with another overhang. It was right next to Newland Cascades, the last rapid we ran on the day we paddled the Great Ravine and we had all been in the big rafts. But we also paddled about half of Newland Cascades in our little duckies, that was great fun and easy at this medium water level. We watched the water level rise higher and higher as we relaxed in camp, until one specific rock had disappeared under water. The level of the Franklin River had officially reached ‘high’. The Great Ravine would now be impassable and we were lucky we had already negotiated it.

Jon and Jude at our penthouse, you can just see our gear at the base of the rock

our penthouse campsite we shared with Rosina, perfect little spot (although not quite flat)

the view over the river (Newlands Cascade) from our penthouse

the duckies make comfortable seats in camp – Jon, Jane, Rosina, Bastian, Nico and Dave

Jon learns how to use this awesome medium format camera from Rosina, it can also take polaroids!

Jon on Newlands Cascade

we both run the rapid in front of our fourth campsite next to the Newlands Cascade, this is Jon on his way down

Jude on Newlands Cascade

The group before us had not been so lucky. The river levels were so low, they ended up hiking out from Mt McCall (the proposed site for the second dam0, one of only two small, steep and rugged trails to get away from the river. They had left their rafts and some gear behind (which we picked up). A stark reminder that water levels don’t always magically rise the day you start!

From the Newland Casdcades campsite it is 36km on the Franklin until you reach the Gordon. From that junction it was only 5km till the end of the paddle. And with the flow now pushing the rafts at approximately 7km an hour we only needed one more day of kayaking, so we enjoyed a relaxing time in our camp before the final paddle day.

Jon ready to paddle on day seven

there is a huge cave (Pengana Cave) we paddle into on day seven, once through the cave it narrows quickly and becomes a stunning slot canyon complete with small waterfall at the end

Jon on the last day of paddling the packrafts on the Franklin River

Jude on the Gordon River, the Franklin meets the Gordon before it flows into the Macquarie Harbour, we paddle the last 5km to the jetty at the Sir John Falls where we were picked up with a yacht

The camp next to the jetty was another forest camp, although some chose to walk ten minutes to a hut. The yacht arrived shortly after we had our final swim in the river, this time it was a planned dip though to celebrate reaching the end of our 7-day journey with the rafts, but there was also no protection against the cold anymore as we had taken off the wetsuits. The next day we sailed along the Gordon River until it flows into the Port Macquarie Harbour, crossed it to get to Strahan and then hopped on the bus that waiting for us.

the yacht arrives in the evening and we chat and eat on the jetty, very happy

Jon and Jude on the yacht, we cruise back to Strahan on the west coast of Tasmania, from there we will hop on a bus back to Hobart

the awesome team at the end – Bastian, Rosina, Brett, Angus, Jude, Jane, Nico, Jon, Angelo and Dave

We had kayaked the famous Franklin River and it had been an amazing trip, shared with a bunch of like-minded people who together made the trip something we will cherish the rest of our lives. If you haven’t done the trip yet, add it to your bucket list and make it happen. You will love it!

We were lucky that two of our team (Brett and Rosina) were wearing a go-pro during our trip and they kindly shared their footage with us. Here’s a compilation of our eight days packrafting the Franklin River.

A pristine wilderness

To keep the World Heritage Area pristine and not littered with human poos, we carried out every single one of them. The toilet area (a designated area away from where we were sleeping) was equipped with medium-sized bin bags so you could do your business into them. A large bin bag was provided and hanging up to receive your ‘deposit’. This larger bag would be added to a big dry bag every morning and strapped to the raft. At the end of the trip the entire content of the dry bag was dropped into the big skips on the jetty in Strahan.

Not only does it keep the surrounds of the campsites free of litter, it also ensures we can all drink straight from the river during the trip, no filters or treatment required. When you are thirsty you simply cup your hand, dunk it in the river and take a sip. That’s how we all drank when we were thirsty, no one got sick, the water is pure and fresh, just as it should be.

the shit bag – literally