Everything is Water

by Simon Cleary

'I want to go with the river's flow, not against it. I want to follow where the river leads - to listen, to observe, hopefully to learn.'When novelist and experienced hiker Simon Cleary sets off to follow the course of the river that has so influenced his life, he hopes that by walking its banks - from its source to where it empties into the bay - he will better understand the power and impact of this immense waterway on the environment and communities who rely on it.Cleary's ambitious journey, alone and with companions, explores the ways rivers connect landscapes, ecologies, histories, communities and myth. But his journey along the unpredictable and magnificent Brisbane River threatens to be cut short by one of the wettest autumn months on record. Over four eventful weeks and 344 kilometres we are witness to the river in all its beauty and fury. Everything is Water considers our complex relationship with nature through flood, drought, time and place. It is an inspiring pilgrimage that invites us to connect with nature and also to navigate our own path.

Genres: Nonfiction, Adventure, Environment

336 pages, Paperback

Published September 4, 2024

Reviews

[Rueben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody marvellous. What an excellent storyteller.

[Natasha Ziebell · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Everything is Water, Simon Cleary takes us on an incredible journey beginning with ancient stories through dreaming country, Indigenous history, the experiences of river families, tales of myth and legend, and a personal story of a 344km walk along the Brisbane River. Thorough research and anecdotal accounts have shaped this uniquely Australian perspective on the Brisbane River. The author writes about its rhythms and cycles, and of life and death, in the land of drought and flooding rains. And there is an absolute torrent of flooding rains. The book is a snapshot in time, and as a reader, I was acutely aware of the fact that had the river walk happened at another point in time, it could have been a different story. That’s what makes this book so special. So critical.

There are stories of how the river has been invaded, suffocated, controlled, mined and dammed, but never tamed. Undeterred in the mission to walk the river despite storms and floods, this story is also one of strength and resilience. He marvels at nature’s wonders, taking risks, navigating dangerous terrain and physical extremes. The author must keep in time and step with the environmental conditions he encounters. He is forced to. There are beautiful excerpts where he praises the river, is in awe of its beauty and fury, and reflects on moments of both peace and then destruction. The river gives life, and it takes life. There is also a deeply reflective thread about what it means to be human, with messages of opportunity and hope throughout, making this river story both local and universal.

There are stunning descriptions of the shape and patterns of Australian landscapes, and of flora and fauna, including the remarkable and miraculous resilience of Australia’s ancient lungfish and grass trees. The author has a keen eye for detail, sharp and completely aware, which is woven into a narrative that is beautifully written, thrilling and at times, tragically devastating. The reflections show a deep respect for the river, the people who come along for the journey, and the importance and love for family and community.

This book creates a storm of its own with its gentle wisdom and poetic style, because the stories and realities contained in its pages are impossible to ignore.

The author reminds us that water is everything. Everything is water.

[Liam Cleary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything Is Water follows Cleary’s pilgrimage walk, from the source of the Brisbane River to the mouth. This book, at its most fundamental, is a collection of stories – acting as almost a time-capsule for the river by recounting moments of historical, cultural, and spiritual significance to the river’s different sections. Cleary expertly weaves and intertwines legendary urban myths, empirical scientific data, and environmental reflection and commentary – all the while captivating the reader through his physical journey along the riverbanks.

At the beginning of the book Cleary poses a question to the audience – ‘is this cattle country or is this emu and kangaroo country?’. This hereby becomes the key tension of the book, where the audience, alongside Simon, bears witness to the destructive nature of colonisation, the effects of which the natural world itself still feels to this day. Sections of the riverbanks are overrun with invasive plants, strangling the wildlife and causing near irreversible damage. However, Everything Is Water doesn’t just dwell on the injustices of the past, it provides us with noble stories of communities coming together to re-introduce native species, notably the incredible Lungfish. Furthermore, Cleary mechanises the 2022 federal election to subtly commentate on the importance of political engagement, and how we all can actually empower ourselves to rectify the injustices of the past. While democracy is utterly abstract to a river, we’ve given river’s rights – and in doing so we’ve provided them with a level of protection which only though our persistent engagement can we strengthen. Cleary allows the audience to come to their own answer in regard to whether this is cattle or emu country, and you can’t help but find yourself reflecting on it constantly as you hear tale after tale of the rivers secrets. A must read.

[Jo Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous book where the reader walks alongside Simon as he follows the course of the Brisbane River from its origins to the sea. He walks and paddles 344 km over 27 days and uses this time to reflect on the role the river plays in shaping not only the geology of the landscape but the lives of all the creatures whose lives depend on its flow. His journey coincides with one of the wettest periods on record, a timely reminder of how dependent we are on the landscapes we ignore at our peril. Simon’s journey echoes the words of Dorothea Mackellar’s poem, where Australia is described as ‘a land of rugged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains.’ Cleary also loves her ‘far horizons and jewel sea’ and lives close to her ‘beauty and her terror.’
What I loved most, though, was the storytelling, deftly woven between the fascinating facts about rivers, dams and our whitewashed history. While navigating sodden camp sites, blisters, and water-logged gear, we learn the story of an ancient turtle, Harriet whose history has been lost in the mists of mythology, a tale about a dachshund called piglet and the lives of some of the people who both lived and still live along the river that has shaped the flood plain that is now Brisbane. This book is not only a pilgrimage but an ode to rivers and the environment and an invitation to us to journey inwards towards deeper understanding of the world in which we live.

[David Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simon Cleary's invitation to join his twenty-seven day walk on the banks of the Brisbane River rewards the reader with an invigorating, inspirational adventure - from its source to the sea. Cleary brings to life - his River, its brutality and beauty.

His careful observance of plants and pebbles, flora and fauna, the bends and eddies of the river, connected to wider stories of waterways and human history, viewed through a global lens, instils a holistic and vibrant dimension to the experience.

"Everything is Water' is a rich narrative celebrating the author's relationship with nature, family, friends and strangers he meets on his adventure.

Cleary's intimate storytelling style, often poetic, engaging, immerses the reader in the moment. Vivid imagery brings the journey to life. "Walking down the middle of the sandy bed, we're following the current as surely as if we were in a canoe... We're walking in flow, in the heart of a moving river, propelled along by waves of pebble and quartz and sand." The rhythm is mesmerising, like a musical beat.

'Everything is Water' is lyrical and meditative. The river is a teacher for us to listen, look and learn with a clear philosophical message inviting us to "navigate our own path." A reminder that we are mostly water and interconnected with all living things who are also mostly water, a unifying factor that encourages us to care and respect all creation.

A beautiful book I gladly rate four stars.

[Merrilee Frankish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written, lyrically descriptive novel about a mainly walking, paddling, boating journey of discovery along the entire length of the Brisbane River. We travel with the poetic author from the river’s source in the mountains, via farms and reserves, beside the Wivenhoe Dam, along ‘hostile’ highways, beside the river through the city to the sea in Moreton Bay. It seamlessly weaves traditional knowledge, ecological devastation- including the loss of the Brisbane cod, science, botany, myths, violent colonisation atrocities, history, current landholders care, quarries, bush, environmental consequences of dredging and the constraints of the built city together in a flowing narrative.
The maps at the beginning are very useful. The title comes from the belief that everything comes from and is water- even concrete. Echoes of the book ‘There are rivers in the sky’. The joy and challenges of walking seeps through, as well as the conversations and river lessons that accompany a long river trek- described so aptly.
I was astounded that he kept going through dangerous flooding, possible covid at the start of the epidemic, did not try to vote in a national election and carried so little water. He relied constantly on the kindness of friends, acquaintances and strangers, restoring our faith in humanity. The river is often forceful, brutal, requiring evasion and strategising.
Ideas- Remembering of an experience ‘is what we need to remember.’ Brisbane is built on a flood plain- we live in a river that is ‘a universe’. The simple joy of scintillating light stars on the water- my favourite!
‘..partings : that the one who goes is sad, and the one who remains grieves’.

[Rozanna Lilley]

'Everything is water' documents the author's 27 day walk along the Brisbane River, from source to bay, in May 2022. A childhood love of creeks is transmuted into an adult adventure - along the way Cleary is accompanied by family and friends, and helped by resident well-wishers. I've long held a romantic desire to walk a river's length - this book totally cured me of it! Between floods, driving rain, lantana, COVID, wading through mud, dehydrated meals and sore feet, I was very pleased to be vicariously walking from the comfort of my inner city terrace. Cleary's descriptions of landscape are often vivid and poetic. Where the book foundered, for me, was in the sometimes clunky attempts to provide some intertextual sources - poems, books, philosophical musings and so on - as well as the somewhat forced quality of minor epiphanies experienced along the way. If these were somewhat, well, pedestrian, I nevertheless enjoyed the river stories threaded through this book - the Galapagos tortoise who may, or may not, have accompanied Charles Darwin; the bloke in a corrugated shanty who insisted he was Ned Kelly. Overall, aa worthwhile journey.

[Norrie Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a diary of a 27 day journey from source to sea along the Brisbane River. The aim was to walk as much as possible, but that’s not easy when there are no tracks and halfway through the trip, the river floods. So Simon is obliged to use the occasional road and boat.
The book describes the journey, with numerous asides about cultural history, science and legends. There is a music to the writing style, especially when Simon ponders the many questions that arise in his mind - on everything from meanders to meteorology.
He always sees the good, while recognising the bad. This is not a book for scholars, but it is intelligently written and provides food for thought about how people interact with the forces of nature.
See the full review at: https://www.queenslandreviewerscollec...

[Caydan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of the mind’s wonderings sparked by the bodies pilgrimage. Cleary beautifully passes from visage and experience to a tale of history and philosophy and back again, capturing the essence of his journey’s tale in its very delivery. The river is presented to you through the eyes and glasses of a single man, yet you are left with a world scale appreciation of its power and importance. The writing gives power to the mundane and overlooked, purposefully drawing attention to the world we can so easily ignore. At times Cleary attempts a sense of magnitude or existentialism that can break immersion, but only ever momentarily before the next boot fall brings you back in. Through a balance of questions unanswered and answers previously unquestioned you will be left knowing that everything truly is water.

[D.M. Cameron]

A well-observed trek along a river I’ve known most of my life, or I thought I knew until I read this book. As a reader we are there with Simon at every step, the highs and lows…even when he’s forced to drink gritty, flood filthy river water- not to mention all the pesticides from all the farms he’s just walked through! Erk!! Peppered with research and personal musings, I found this book absolutely fascinating.

[Michael Springer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simon Cleary's book Everything is Water not only takes the reader on a day-to-day journey with him walking the Brisbane River from its inland source to its outlet to the sea but also places you, the reader, by his side because of his sublime writing skills. It is an incredible written expression of the mind and body as Simon embarks upon a journey of a lifetime. I highly recommend that you read Everything is Water.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I’d love this book more than I did. Some parts were fantastic and for those I couldn’t put it down. Other parts felt like a chore and a couple of times I gave up but after a month or so I’d return. I got there in the end just like the author on his journey.

[Emlikescake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much about Brisbane in this book, but from a completely different perspective. The writing was hard to wrap my head around at first, but then it felt like the river itself. Great read.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, lyrically written story. The descriptions of the river and its inhabitants remind me of the poems of Thomas Shapcott, poems of my Ipswich youth.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pacing was not stella but it was still enjoyable nontheless.

[Barb Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt I walked the river too reading this story. I feel informed. It was good to read and something I wouldn’t normally read. After meeting Simon at Outspoken Maleny, encouraged me to read the finish the book. His journey is important for all people living in Brisbane and surrounds to read to understand Brisbane.