![Scott Bevan paddling down the Hunter River near Jerrys Plains. Picture by Nick Raschke Scott Bevan paddling down the Hunter River near Jerrys Plains. Picture by Nick Raschke](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/69fUThMh3V6mENHE7Nwkb5/ca9a9ee6-e9c1-40c2-b8dd-fc4091e71d9c.JPG/r0_0_4608_3072_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Paddling down one of the east coast's major coastal river systems appears to have become addictive for journalist and author Scott Bevan.
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He first tackled the task in 2011 and returned to the river ten years later in 2021 to reacquaint himself with the river's ecology and the community who live along its banks from the Barrington Tops to Newcastle harbour.
Asked if he would paddle down again in another ten years he didn't say no but rather acknowledge the task would not be an easy one as he would then be in his late 60s.
His first journey down the Hunter River in his kayak led to the book, The Hunter.
"One of the reasons I decided to kayak down again was the fact my book The Hunter was out of print and the second journey meant I could reprint the book but add this new adventure and the changes in my own life during those ten years," he said.
The new book Return To The Hunter is an account of the 2021 journey which reflects the changes in the lives of those Scott met 10 years earlier and the changes he sees along the river.
What hasn't changed he says is the humanity ad generosity of the people he meets along his journey.
"They come from all walks of life but they were all caring and generous to his kayaker. The second trip was a reunion with many of the people I met on the first trip.
"I caught up with Peter and Serena White in the upper reaches of the river east of Scone and then with Jamie Pitman at his property neat Stanhope. It was great catching up with them and others."
In contrast to the first trip where the kayak, in places, had to be carried across a dry riverbed, the second trip took place during a wet period, and Scott had to be rescued by landholders from floodwaters at Aberdeen.
His adventures included plenty of fabulous campsites including feeling like a 'troll' sleeping on a sandbank under the bridge in Singleton - a night he described as very noisy due to all the traffic on the New England Highway.
As to the most stark changes he noted, were sections on the river north of Muswellbrook, that were once farming paddocks but are now part of the Mount Pleasant open cut coalmine.
He also saw a great deal of weed infestations along the riverbank.
"But I was also very pleased to see the riverbank in sections being successfully regenerated - that gave me hope for the future," he said.
Now based at Lake Macquarie Scott was a journalist for 39 years working for the ABC, and writing for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian and Australian Geographic.
Today he is a freelance journalist, writer and documentary maker.
![Paddling down the Hunter again Paddling down the Hunter again](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/69fUThMh3V6mENHE7Nwkb5/a396c814-6456-4a40-85e0-8b4f19490f4d.jpg/r0_0_1984_3035_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)