CASSANGA FUND @cassangafund - Tumblr Blog

'Out and About with the Gutsy Girls Film Tour'

Are you a Gutsy Girl?

Up until last year I knew nothing about adventure film tours. I went along to the Banff film festival with Cass and absolutely loved it; I even won a jet boiler as a door prize and yep you guessed it Cass ended up having it "Come on Mother Goose" she said "When are you going to use something like that". Of course she was right.....

Needless to say I was hooked on these adventure films. So this time last year I booked tickets for the Gutsy Girls Adventure film tour at the Village Crown. Cass was in Japan working at the time, but that didn't stop us from making her feel apart of the experience. Colin sent her this photo he took in the cinema.

Looking through my messages I sent Cass this;

'You can climb any mountain, paddle any stream, jump out of any plane because you’re our GUTSY GIRL'

She replied "Ha ha so true".......

And that she was, and that she did!!

I sent Cass a parcel and included a Gutsy girl sticker. After Cass' passing when we were going through her belongings, we found the sticker in her journal.

Somehow that sticker became a connection and part of our story.

After buying tickets to the upcoming Gutsy Girls Adventure Film tour, we decided to take a leap of faith and contact Adventure Reels in the hope that we could use the opportunity to promote the Cassanga fund and sell some adventure raffle tickets.

That leap of faith turned out to be so much more than we could ever have hoped for. Not only were we welcomed open heartedly, we were also invited to speak after intermission and attend the next screening at the Astor theatre in St Kilda.

Tamara commenced the evening with a general introduction to the films; she then went on to talk about Cass' story. We were totally taken by surprise with Tamara's most beautiful and heartwarming welcome and her encouragement around supporting the Cassanga fund.

We set up our display ready for intermission.

We were absolutely overwhelmed by the support we received; we sold 5 raffle books during the break and had lots of positive comments. People were very supportive of what we are doing; we even got some lovely hugs. 💓 💓

Both nights were amazing. Limiting my speech to a few minutes was challenging, I could speak all night long about Cassanga, her achievements, her story.....

A big thank you to Christine and Georgia from the Cassanga Fund Team who came and helped out. Thank you to everyone that supported the Cassanga Fund, bought raffle tickets and / or donated a dollar or two. A big thank you to Tamara and Adventure Reels Gutsy Girls film tour for providing the space to promote our fund.

All together we raised over $1000 with ticket sales and donations. Two Nepali girls bought some tickets; they were so excited to hear of our plans to create a Cassanga Adventure Sister School in Nepal.

It's moments like this when I'm feeling so pumped and extremely grateful that the heartache and sadness fades into the background. Although it is short lived I'm grateful that I have something to hold onto, something to strive for, a clear purpose and direction, a resolve from the grief, loss and emptiness all the while feeling so proud to honour our beautiful girls legacy. It makes me feel so HAPPY🙏🤗😇💜

Forever in our hearts Gutsy Girl💞💓❣️

#cassangafund #cassangapower #liveyourbestlife #getabitofcassangainyourlife

Final Blog for the

'World Rafting Championships Tully River'

It's been 3 months now since our trip to Cairns. We will hold the memories and highlights of this amazing experience in our hearts always ❤️

There we're so many memorable moments. It was a really emotional journey for many of us who were blessed to be apart of this incredible event. Tears, laughter, excitement, acts of kindness, cheering and supporting, grieving and mourning; so much to be grateful for. The precious relationship and loving connection we share with our amazing daughter was honoured and embraced by Cass' beautifully heartfelt river community....... We thank you🙏

Whilst we are still coming to terms with the reality that Cass is no longer with us, her presence was felt so strongly as she continues to touch the hearts of many. Dave from the Masters Mens team, paddled his last competitive race on the Tully for Cass, and gifted us his helmet. 🙏😘

Yuri from the Japanese Open Women's team came to win gold for Cass and gifted us her silver and gold medals.🙏💐😇😘

Cass is held so deeply within her Nepali community. We are so grateful for the precious connection we have with Nim and the Nepali Open Men's team. Words simply cannot describe the way they loved and honoured Cass at her memorial service. We love you so much, thank you🙏😘😇

A special and deeply touching mother's day paddle on the Barron river in honour of Cass, supported by the Cains Adventure Group. 🙏💜🤟

As you continue to read through the daily blogs you will discover that each day came with its own special highlights.

The Cassanga fund had the honour and privilege of sponsoring our Aussie Open Women's Team. We felt compelled to support these women; they were Cass' river sista's, her team mates, doing it hard as they have always been totally self funded. 🙏

Through the incredible generosity of Kylee and Clint's Double Shots Mobile Coffee Van customers, Cass' grandparents and from our Women's Adventure Film Tour fundraising event and also from everyone that has purchased Cassanga Fund merchandise we managed to sponsor the team around $4500; an achievement we feel incredibly proud of. The Cassanga fund logo was proudly displayed on the Women's team shirts and rashies.

Day 9 and 10

Our last day in Cairns was a fairly quiet one. We visited the companies that Cass had worked for whilst she was living in Cairns. We are so excited that Foaming Fury also known as the Cairns Adventure Group and Raging Thunder have generously sponsored us raffle prizes for our fundraising adventure raffle.🙏

Christine, Colin and I spent our last evening sharing a meal on the esplanade overlooking the bay, watching the Catermarans coming back from Green Island. It bought tears to my eyes reflecting back on the last moments I shared together with Cass in Cairns. I found myself saying what I would give to have one last hug, to feel my girl, to hang out with her and talk😭😭😭 the emptiness and heartache can be overwhelmingly unbearable.

That night Sanga came into my dreams. I held her tightly and repeatedly kissed her face until she said with that beautiful big smile on her face"Don't you think that's enough mum" with which I replied "You don't understand Sanga it will never be enough....." we talked a bit and then she left. I woke up feeling so incredibly grateful, what a precious gift. 🙏😇.

As we boarded the plane I was left with this undescribable feeling like this chapter was coming to an end.....

Cass was staying behind to hang out in the rivers and be with those that she loved......😇🤟💓

Did we Tame the Tully........ I don't think so, I think it kind of tamed us a little and certainly helped with our healing🙏

We miss you so much beautiful girl of ours, so so much😥.......... Thank you for being all that you are, all that you give and all that you continue to be in spirit.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

'World Rafting Championships Tully River'

Somehow whilst l was doing some editing I managed to delete the entire post of Day 5 . Oopsie.... It was the day of Cass' memorial on the Tully, a day of significance, so I'm reposting parts of it.

Day 5

Days like this one tend to catch me unawares; I think I'm doing ok and then my heart tells another story.

Today was all about providing a space for our beautiful girls paddling community to pay their respects and say their goodbyes, however that would unfold.

Colin and Christine went for an early drive into town to pick up the 'All River' Car Pass' that had been organised for us thanks to the lovely Linda Davis. They surprised me with tea light candles and a bag of rose petals which was generously donated by the beautiful owners of 'Petals and Beanz' florist.

The organisers together with the Aussie teams informed the athletes about the memorial service and extended an invitation to anyone that wanted to attend.

The memorial service took place at the recreation reserve where the take out point was for the down river training, right on the waters edge; the location was perfect.

I was so grateful that Nim took charge and went about creating a beautiful altar; a rock from the Seti River (the place of Cassandra's passing) took pride of place. I could no longer hold back the tears.

I watched on as the Nepali boys all payed their respects and spread some ashes down the river. A special select few including Nim were also given the honour of spreading Cass' ashes.

One at a time, those athletes that chose to join us we're invited to place some rose petals in the water.

We all stood for a minutes silence. In that moment through the tears of sadness and feeling the heaviness of our loss I knew in my heart our beautiful girl was exactly where she wanted to be, set free and at peace, surrounded by so much love and respect.

An ABC journalist also joined us for the memorial service; I did my first impromptu radio interview. It was a great opportunity to promote the Cassanga fund and our mission.

The interview is now available to listen on you tube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfgErXP4He0&t=1s

'World Rafting Championships Tully River'

Day 9

19th of May the final day of competition. Downriver is the star event of the championships; mentally and physically challenging all the teams, with up to an hour of paddling flat out. The river level was nice and high after the constant heavy down pour in the previous day's, making the degree of difficulty even more challenging as the teams made their way through the various rapids. Teams are sent down in groups of up to 5 rafts.

Our Aussie girls were totally pumped for this race.

I can only imagine how the competitors must of been feeling after travelling up and back to the river over the past 7 days; we were exhausted. For us we were left with mixed feelings knowing the competition was coming to an end.

Our final trip up to the river saw us once again take advantage of using our 'All River' car pass; it was so nice not to have to do the shuttle bus thing, especially having Lozzie and Shaun with us.

The excitement began to build as we all eagerly awaited the arrival of the teams at the finish line. As we stood on the banks of the river waiting patiently we became lost in our thoughts. The power of mother nature took our girl, yet here we were wading our feet in the water. The sadness and heartache comes in waves, and then the tears begin to roll down our cheeks 😥

It wasn't long before the first teams came within sight. The elation on their faces as they crossed the finish line was a sight to behold.

It was nice to see the competitors let their hair down and celebrate their achievements mucking around in the water, I think they were cheering louder than the spectators. We had no idea where the teams had placed and it didn't matter to us either way. We were so happy to be apart of this fantastic event, cheering and supporting our Aussie teams.

We watched and cheered as the Nepali boys went past the finish line. They paddled straight up to the river bank to be greeted by Nim and the Nepali support crew.

Although we experience moments of intense sadness with Cass' passing we also experience a real sense of knowing that she is with us.

When the boys stopped at the rivers edge the most beautiful Ulysses butterfly circled above each of the boys heads crowning their glory, time almost stood still as we watched the beautiful crowning dance unfold and then it flew off. Colin and I both looked at each other and burst into tears; we held each other tightly. 😭😭

We knew in our hearts that our girl was acknowledging the amazing effort of each of her Nepali brothers.

As Nim stepped into the raft to join the boys another butterfly flew directly through the middle of the raft; it was like it was doing a fly by......

No other raft had any butterfly's around them, only the Nepali boys.

Yet another special moment.....

The downriver results were in; the Japanese Opens women team managed to out paddle the New Zealanders and placed first. Yuri was absolutely estatic, she came to win gold and she did. Little did we know that was her intention all along, to win gold for Cass....💪💪💪

Our Aussie girls placed 6th. The Nepali boys also placed 6th. Our Masters Men did an amazing job and placed 3rd.

The final overall result saw our Aussie masters men receive a bronze medal on the podium and our Masters Women Gold. What an amazing achievement. We felt so incredibly proud.

We had time to shower and change and with Christine's help write a speech before the medal and closing ceremony. The sky was pitch black and the rain bucketed down during the medal presentations; I wasn't impressed at all. I had done my hair and makeup in preparation for my speech for the closing ceremony.

Once again Yuri caught us off guard. As we were presenting the medals for downriver she called Colin over and placed her gold medal over his head. With the look she gave Colin in that moment he could feel the honour and how much it meant to her to gift this precious medal for her dear friend Cass.

I had no idea what was happening because I was too busy trying to get out of the pouring rain. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Colin coming off the stage with Yuri's gold medal around his neck.

The Japanese national anthem played and there stood Yuri amongst her team mates medal less. We stood there totally speechless and once again emotionally overwhelmed......

As the medal presentations drew to a close I quietly had a chat to Cass and told her to stop the rain. I didn't want her moment of glory to be spoilt by the weather.

As the closing ceremony began we were invited on the stage to speak. Although I was quietly shitting my pants I did notice the rain stopped, our beautiful girl worked her magic once again. My hands shook as I read my speech all the while feeling sick to my stomach. What I would give to have our girl back😥

Standing up there on the stage watching everyone looking at the screens I could see by their faces how deeply touched they were by our beautiful girl ❤️

Here is a you tube link for a shorten version played on the night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUrMKhHRUk8

What an incredible human being she was. The rain had stopped and it was like time had stood still as our girl strutted her stuff on the big screen. I'm sure she was looking down on us all proud as punch of what she had managed to achieve in her lifetime. 🤗😇

It was an undescribable moment 🙏❤️

'World Rafting Championships Tully River'

Day 8

18th May 2019 Day 3 of competition saw the teams showcase their skill, strength and determination on the slalom course; with the best of two runs. The winner is determined by the team who can navigate the course of slalom poles with the least amount of touches and misses combined with the fastest time. This requires exceptional water reading skills, precision and power. With the heavy rainfall overnight the rising river levels made for some challenging action packed paddling.

Our morning started off catching up with family for coffee before making our way up the river. Like us, Lozzie (Sanga's cousin) and Shaun booked ahead with the intention of being Sanga's cheer squad and support crew. Little did we know at the time of booking flights and accomodation that Cass would never make it to the championships.😭😭

Being the weekend organisers we're expecting more spectators and thankfully shuttle buses were running regularly throughout the day.

With the extremely heavy rainfall overnight and into the morning, catching the shuttle bus wasn't the challenge for the day, making our way down a slippery, slushy, muddy track to the spectator view point was. Unfortunately Lozzie and Shaun had to pull out half way down it became far to dangerous for Loz being pregnant.

I was very grateful that the organisers had strung rope down the track to help with the descent. Volunteers we're scattered down the track to offer a helping hand and continually warned us of the slippery and dangerous terrain ahead. Despite the conditions nothing was going to keep us from getting to the river to support our Aussie teams.

Our Open Aussie Women's team did really well with their first run. Second time around they received more penalities because they missed a few gates; the girls placed 8th.

Our Masters Men worked so well as a team. Their first run they took a little longer than the second but had very little penalities; they placed 4th overall.

Although we were standing in the pouring rain throughout the day I was in total ore of all the athletes. The skill, guts, determination and team work required to get through the course was truly inspiring. It left me feeling bitter sweet knowing that we will never see our girl compete especially doing this amazing event.😥

They say never live your life with regret; I really wish we were there in Argentina in Nov 18 to see our girl strut her stuff.....

Instead we followed her progress on Facebook.

It was yet another emotional day. I was glad to wash the day away and scrub the baked on mud off my feet before medal presentations.

Our evening ended on a real high. We managed to connect with the right people at the right time to lock in a space in the closing ceremony to pay tribute to our girl.

Watch this space.....

'World Rafting Championships Tully River'

Day 7

17th of May 2019; Second day of competition for the senior teams was all about head to head. This sees teams battle it out,one on one, over the Sprint course in a knock out format. This time the teams must navigate their way around bouys; contact is allowed as long as it's not dangerous. Well let me tell you some fierce battles were fought, edge of your seat type stuff.

Last night I received this text from Yuri one of the Japanese competitors, a very dear friend of Cass.

Konnichiwa mama!

Are you coming medal ceremony tomorrow!? As presenter? Today I didn’t get the medal,,,, so I’ll do my best H2H tomorrow! SO PLEASE COME TOMORROW!

Meeting Yuri was yet another highlight, a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the beautiful people our girl surrounded herself with. Each day bought many special and memorable moments none more special than this one. The Japanese women placed second and Yuri selflessly gifted us her silver medal. We were so deeply touched, this act of kindness left us feeling absolutely overwhelmed with emotion and totally speechless. 😥

Head to Head racing for the open and masters teams wasn't due to start until 1pm.

Our morning was somewhat relaxed; if you could call washing and tidying up relaxing, nevertheless there was no need to rush up to the river. We had plenty of time to say our goodbyes to Marie and Allan as they were heading off today.

The men carefully strapped Cass' kayak on to the roof of Allan's car in preparation for the trip back home to Melbourne. Colin was ever so meticulous with this precious cargo strapping the kayak face down. After saying our farewells Marie and Allan travelled only a short distance up the road before Allan was forced to pull over and turn the kayak over and restrap it, because it was far to noisy with the wind swirling underneath it; apparently it sounded like a jet engine.

Once again our patience was tested waiting for a shuttle bus to take us up the river. This time when we arrived up the car park we were delighted to see a bus parked. Our excitement soon turned to disappointment when we found out that some Japanese tourists had contracted the bus from Cairns and it wasn't a part of the shuttle fleet. We waited patiently with the Japanese tourists as more and more people joined us.

Feeling frustrated again I called on Sanga to work her magic and help us out. Not sure if you would call this Divine intervention but something made that bus driver have a change of heart. He called us all into his bus and drove us up the river; we all applauded him in appreciation. 👋😇👋

What a relief......

What an afternoon of excitement we experienced watching the teams use amazing tackticle skill to get ahead as they negotiated their way around the bouys. The crowd roared as the teams clashed and tussled their way around the course. We cheered our Aussie teams on; our open women's team were up against Russia.

Unfortunately Russia got ahead of our girls despite their best efforts. 😤

Our girls placed 7th, with New Zealand collecting first place, Japan second and Czech republic third place.

It was a nail biting competition for our masters men who placed third. Our masters women came first.

Later that evening once again we we're invited to present medals; feeling very honoured being introduced as special guests. After the medal presentation Yuri completely surprised us by placing her silver medal around my neck; she wanted Cass to have it. It was the most touching and heartfelt moment, I couldn't stop crying. 😥❤️

It rained persistently throughout most of the day; heavy rainfall was predicted overnight. With the continued rise in water levels it was bound to make for an exciting action packed two days ahead, with slalom and down river racing still to come......

'World Rafting Championships Tully River'

Day 6

16th of May 2019; Today marks the first day of the IRF World Rafting Championships; Sprint racing. The winner is determined by the fastest team from start to finish, collecting the all important 100 points. First, second and third medals were up for grabs. Our Aussie girls gave it their all.

The day started with lots of enthusiasm, keen to watch our senior teams compete; this is what we were here for.

We allowed plenty of time to get up to the river or so we thought. Our Aussie girls were competing at 10.47am. We drove up to the road block and flashed our 'All River' car pass only to be told that access was restricted to volunteers and officials.

Okay so Plan B 'Catch the shuttle bus'. Only problem was there was no bus at the car park and no way of communicating up river to find out when the next bus was due to arrive.

I could feel the panic begin to rise, which soon turned to frustration 😟😫

My patience was wearing thin as time was ticking waiting, waiting, waiting....

It was time to call on some Divine Intervention. "Sanga we need you to work your magic and get us up the river"

Moments later the most beautiful butterfly landed on the car parking volunteers hat; it flew off then came back.

Was this some sort of sign? Not sure but it did provide a brief distraction. Suddenly out of the blue a car came passed, spotted us and came to a halt. Of all the people to be in the car it was Freddie one of the official organisers. I referred to him as 'the head honcho' he had the ability to move mountains. He tore off like a bat out of hell to get us a bus.

Thanks to Sanga's magic and Freddie's powers we made it up the river and to the spectator point in time to see all the open and masters teams compete. We quickly let go of the frustration and turned our attention to cheering.

I do have to confess that recognising teams and their countries flag is not my strongest attribute. I saw in the distance what I thought was our Aussie girls so I began cheering loudly only to realise it was the New Zealand team. 🇳🇿 Bit of an embarrassing moment. 🤭🤭

We joined forces with Ellie one of our Aussie girls mum and together we cheered so loudly when our open women's team paddled past my voice became hoarse. The atmosphere was electric; I felt so honoured to be there and be apart of this truly amazing experience. So proud to be an Aussie cheering our Aussie teams on home soil. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺👋👋👋👋👋

The Nepali boys looked strong as they paddled in unison placing 5th for the event; just tipping our Aussie mens team by 3 points. 💪💪💪

When the competition concluded for the open and masters sections we joined our girls back at the live site to wait for the final results for the day. Our open women placed 6th. Our masters women placed first and our masters men placed 3rd; a fantastic achievement.

We left the river and headed back to the showgrounds for medal presentations. Colin and I were invited to present medals each evening. Once again we we're very impressed at how well things were organised behind the scenes. Fiona had everything well in hand. Each medal presenter was allocated a school child; their job was to carry the medals on stage.

A truly memorable and deeply honouring experience, having the opportunity to personally acknowledge these wonderful athletes. We presented three medals to various sections; it was a fantastic opportunity to showcase our Cassanga fund mandala T shirts. I was absolutely exhausted come the end of the day.....

'World Rafting Championships Tully River'

Day 4

The championships were held over 8 days in total; the first 3 days were training days. There were 49 teams from 19 different countries from all around the world competing. Our main focus was to support the Aussie Women and Nepali Men's Open teams.

We arrived up at the river early in the morning. It was our first chance to catch a glimpse of the senior teams in action doing sprint and head to head training. We watched the Aussie teams and the Nepali boys strut their stuff. Wow it definitely got the heart racing and left us feeling excited for what was to come....

Most mornings on the way to the river we stopped in town at the local IGA and cafes to pick up some snacks for the day and a coffee for the drive up to the Tully Gorge. The drive was never boring there were an abundance of bannana plantations along the way.

Attending white water rafting championships was totally new to us and we had no idea what to expect. We we're pleasantly surprised at how well things were organised for the athletes. Buses shuttled the competitors from the showgrounds back and forth to the river daily.

Up at the live site tents, marquees, and big umbrellas we're set up to offer some protection from the weather. We were able to mingle amongst the athletes as they ate their lunches; sandwiches, local fruit (usually bananas) and a sweet treat. Drinking water was also readily available. Our Aussie girls even offered to share their lunch with us; bless them🙏

The temperature was mild however it did rain on and off through out the morning. Heavy rain was predicted; we all hoped it would hold off for the opening ceremony later in the day.

We stood amongst thousands of locals and spectators that lined the main street eagerly awaiting the arrival of the athletes.

As we stood waiting I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness and started to cry😥😥😥The realisation that our beautiful girl wasn't going to be here to share this moment was simply to much to bear. I'm pretty sure that Sanga wasn't about to have her parents feeling sad. Moments later my tears quickly turned to excitement as the Aussie girls marched by and unexpectedly invited us to join them; one of many special memorable moments.

The rain held off breifly until we arrived at the show grounds and during the welcome speeches it absolutely bucketed down. The rain wasn't about to dampen the athletes spirits. As the music played the Nepali boys led the way and started dancing.

The night finished with a spectacular fireworks display. The most comforting feeling for me was having a real sense that Sanga was right with me dancing alongside the Nepali boys. If it wasn't for you my darling girl we would never of had the privilege of sharing an amazing experience; feeling so much love and gratitude. ❤️

World rafting Championships Tully River

Day 3

The plan for the day was to be up at the Tully river live site for the indigenous 'Welcome to Country' gathering with all the athletes at 2pm. This gathering was to include a memorial tribute for Cassandra.

We left Cairns early in the morning and arrived at Tully with enough time spare to head out to Tully Heads and settle into where we were staying for the next 7 nights. A special shout out to our dearest family friends Pete and Tracie Baldwin for not only having us stay but also our support crew Christine, Marie and Allan; the back yard felt like our own private camping ground. It was a really nice space to come back to at the end of some really long and emotionally exhausting days. Thanks Marie for doing what you do best cooking up sensational meals for us all each night.

Travelling up to the Tully river each day, where all the action was, proved to be a test in patience, trust and a whole lot of winging it....

We drove 30 minutes up the Tully Gorge Road to a car park and then caught a shuttle bus up to the live site and spectator viewing areas.

When we arrived at the live site it was buzzing with athletes from all around the world. It was so nice to finally meet all our open women's team and athletes from some of our other Aussie teams.

There was time before the 'Welcome to Country' to meet the Nepali Open Mens team and give Nim the teams coach (Cass's Nepali mentor/ family) a special reunion hug; a moment we had been waiting for since leaving Nepal after Cassandra's passing. Plenty of tears were shed in that moment.

As it turned out Cassanga had special plans regarding her rafting community memorial and being included in the 'Welcome to Country' gathering wasn't how she wanted it to be; it was accidently overlooked by the organisers. Nevertheless other arrangements we're quickly made for Day 5 after the down river training

After stocking up on the world rafting championship merchandise, we headed down the spectator area to catch our first glimpse of the teams training on the water.

Before heading back to our home base we called into the Tully showgrounds and checked out the athletes village. The Cassanga fund proudly sponsored accommodation for our opens women's team.

The sun was shinning through out the day but........ organisers we're busy posting signs all over the village.

°Warning heavy rainfall is expected°

Cyclone Anne was forming out at sea and heading our way.

Stay tunned for our next blog and hear about 'The opening ceremony'.

Trip to Cairns for the World Rafting Championships.

Day 1

We arrived in Cairns early evening Saturday 11th May, unsure how the next 10 days would unfold, but very much open to having an adventure.

Arriving in Cairns was bound to evoke an emotional response in me; May 2018 I spent 4 days hanging out with Sanga experiencing her lifestyle, meeting some of her beautiful river community, work colleges and house mates. It was to be our very last mother / daughter time we shared.....😥

So grateful to Johnathon Bromley and his mum Barb and partner Dennis for accommodating us and our travelling companion Christine Saunders (Cassanga's Nepali Soul Sista) for a couple of nights. We had a lovely BBQ dinner sharing stories and laughs with Johnny's family, house mates and our beautiful friends Marie and Allan Denbesten who drove up from Melbourne to pick up Cassanga's kayak and hang out with us.

Day 2

I was secretly dreading this day; my first mother's day since Sangas passing. Little did I know it would turn out to be a truly special day. I was surrounded by so much love. The beautiful messages I received left me speechless; so deeply heartwarming.

Happy Mother’s Day to you. I can’t imagine how hard today is. I am with you. Sue - you are the epitome of love and the most amazing mother I have ever met. We love you so so much 💗🙏🏻💗.

Our day started with a visit to Rusty's Market. We drank coffee with Billy and had a yummy almond croissant (Sanga's favorite) sharing stories and tears.

Sunday afternoon we headed out to the Barron River for a memorial paddle hosted by Foaming Fury in honour of our beautiful girl.

The turn out was amazing.....I proudly wore Sanga's rashy from the World Championships in Argentina and Colin was show casing our Cassanga fund mandala t-shirts.

Prior to and after the paddle Colin and I had the opportunity to talk about Sanga, her passion for adventure, her time in Cairns and the establishment of the Cassanga fund in honour of her legacy.

Releasing some of Sangas ashes into the Barron was a moment shared by a select few; truly special people in Cass's life. It didn't go without a little bit of excitement / drama true to Sanga's form. Thanks Loz for taking the go pro footage.

A huge thank you to Roddy Reed from Foaming Fury for making this magical day happen.

This is what Christine posted on Facebook....

An extra special way to pay tribute to my beautiful Nepali soul sister Cass.

Words can not describe how emotional this day was. It had taken 6 years to white water raft again, after a nasty accident whilst paddling in Africa.

I am so honoured to be able to share this moment with Cass's amazing parents, some of the Australian Women's rafting team, Cass's Cairns family and loads of brave women promoting women in adventure sports.

A huge shout out to Foaming Fury for putting on this event and allowing all women on the day to paddle free. Your communication, instructions and safety on the river was outstanding.

Cass your forever in our hearts, a liitle bit more of you is set free in the Barron and Tully Rivers in Far North Queensland. Your Cairns family are gorgeous sis.

Your honoured, loved and missed so much ♡♡

The day finished with a lovely Thai dinner and an early night ready for our next adventures down the Tully River for the World Championships. Stay tunned more blogs to follow.....

What an amazing night we had for our very first Cassanga fund Adventure film tour fundraiser. We had well over 80 people come along for the night. Our Cassanga fund team worked tirelessly with marketing and promoting the event. Flyers were emailed to all the neighbouring schools and displayed in several shops, cafes and community notice boards; our Facebook posts reached over 6000 people. The Cassanga fund has really started to gain momentum and lots of support.

On the night we gave away 14 door prizes, most of these lovingly hand made and thanks to our wonderful sponsors we had 10 amazing raffle prizes. These included Chaco sandles, Blunstone boots, photography, beauty and local cafes vouchers, outdoor gear, thermals and a month gym membership. Plenty of merchandise was sold including our 100% recyclable Cassanga fund mandala t shirts.

The evening commenced with a short trailer of Cassanga doing lots of her different adventure sports. Cassanga was a student at Emerald Secondary College and we were privlaged to hear a heart warming speech from Cassanga's outdoor recreactional teacher Matt Pringle.

The films featured on the evening included a variety of women doing different adventure sports. The films were truly inspiring leaving everyone enthralled; the scenery simply breathtaking.

We are so grateful to Emerald Secondary College and The Women's Adventure film tour company for donating the films and the facilities to host our event.

We are so excited to announce that we raised a grand total of $2340 for the evening. All these proceeds will be used to support our Australian Open Women's Rafting team competing in Cairns in May.

We had an amazing night last Friday with the women's adventure film tour under the stars in Eildon. Loz from the Australian women's rafting team got very creative with the raft screen. Everyone was so supportive and bought heaps of raffle tickets. The prizes were amazing. The BBQ dinner was delicious and also well supported. Enough money was raised to cover fuel costs for 2 of our team members travelling from Melbourne to Cairns. They will be heading off next week for the big drive ready for some serious training before the World rafting Championships begin on the 13th of May. We are so excited to be supporting our Aussie women. Cassanga definitely had a big part to play in helping make this fundraiser happen. Thanks Sanga❤️

Cassanga Fund - Empowering Women

Cassandra Elise Emary, also now known as Cassanga, was a 23 year old, young female adventurer. She died on the 29th of November 2018 doing what she really loved, kayaking in Nepal. Surrounded by a community of people she dearly loved and who loved her, in a country she came to call her home. Cassanga’s story is like no other. It’s a story of love, passion, beauty, inspiration, determination, strength and courage.

She navigated herself through her short life and into her death with grace, love, beauty, honesty and integrity. To say we are, and always will be, proud of her is an understatement. Everyone that knows us knows this to be true.

Cassandra wrote in journals throughout her life and it is because of these journals we knew what we needed to do. She wrote about her travels, her passion, all the things she wanted to do in her life and the driving need to make a difference. She outlined how she planned to do this in her journals and the time frame in which she hoped to achieve it. We don’t know of any other young person who does this. She has given us clear direction and although she can no longer travel this path herself we intend to travel it for her so that her life has not been in vain. We will make our girl proud and through this foundation Cassandra Elise Emary certainly will make a difference!!

Cassanga wanted to make a difference. She was extremely passionate about empowering women. Our mission with the Cassanga Fund is to support & promote unity & genuine inclusion of women in the outdoor sports & the eco adventure community around the globe. To promote Environmental Protection, Equality, Passion, Safety, Honesty, Integrity, Trust and True Inclusion.

Together we can make this happen for her with our “Donate a Dollar” Campaign. So get on board today and ‘Please donate a dollar to help raise a million’ http://www.cassangafund.com.au/

#cassangafund #donateadollar #helpraiseamillion #empoweringwomen #womensequality

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