From Redcliffe to Townsville - One Man, One SUP!
Setting out from Redcliffe, North of Brisbane on the 17th July, he set himself a challenge to mark his 8th year sober. The challenge? To paddle to Townsville in 28 days. The reason? To raise awareness for the work that SMART Recovery Australia do.
Along the way, he battled some pretty intense conditions, camped on the beach, made a few friends and saw a lot of the QLD coastline. Early in the paddle, it was the daunting task of paddling in through the break to set up camp at night that related closely to his recovery.
"I did my best today, still not as far as I wanted to go, I'm still not where I wanted to be." Explained Matt after a hard day on the water. "I put it all on the line, I had some nerves which I shared earlier about coming in (to the beach). It's not my favourite thing to come in or go out, I'm not real skilled with the waves. I'm not real skilled with the water either but I'm out here doing it. Just like I did when I first started recovery, I wasn't really skilled at being in recovery and you know that's all I'm doing is repeating the process and applying it to a different perspective, a different challenge. This time I'm challenging myself…"
As well as challenging himself, he raised a bit of money too, and you can still donate to the cause! So far he's raised nearly 3 grand, which will go a long way to helping others who need help to sober up, and turn their lives around. Chip in what you can to help support the cause, and as a congratulation to Matt for an epic paddle!
bunbury, WA
