Murray River Paddle 2016 Day 49 & 50 Rest Day then Blanchetown to Walker's Flat

 

Day 49 & 50: 212km Walker's Flat 4th Dec 2016

Blanchetown Hotel - Ski Club - Expeditioners - Flood wave attenuation - Floodplain - Fisheries - Cliffs - Cockatoos - Rain - Shacks - Gorge - Travellers

Rest Day then Blanchetown to Walkers Flat

Sometimes the unexpected happens. I found myself a guest at the ski club table at the Blanchetown hotel. Rob and Sally, my neighbors at the caravan park, had invited me to join their family for dinner. Rob told me that in South Australia there has only recently been limits set on how much water can be pumped from aquifers for irrigation and that the underground streams that run through the limestone beneath the farms are beginning to run dry. No wonder with so many centre pivots and few controls. Rob and Sally are from Mt Gambier. They come to the lower Murray to ski because the river is wide and it's not crowded, and because the ski club has great programs for kids.

Earlier in the afternoon, I met Warren, a Murray Expeditioner from 1991 - before there were mobile phones. He would find a payphone in towns he passed through to let his wife know all was ok. He couldn't look up the weather, or use google maps... Although it was not all that long ago, much has changed.

Warren gave me a hand to carry things down to the boat and at 8:30 I was off, ready for the Lock opening time. Barry, the lock master saw me coming and had the gates open by the time I was there. He said the peak was predicted to arrive in a few weeks, but that by the time the water reached Blanchetown only about 80,000 megalitres a day was expected, the rest being used by irrigation pumps, or absorbed into the flood plains. Barry was upset about the Murray cod deaths from blackwater upstream and asked why more water could not be released from the Darling (Menindee Lake) to provide a safe place for the fish to shelter in until the black water passes. We talked about investing in the health of the river. Barry told me that there is only one fisheries officer for all of the South Australian rivers. That person is expected to patrol the whole of the South Australian Murray, the Onkaparinga and the Torrens rivers.

The weather was calm when I left the caravan park, but by the time I left the lock chamber it had begun to drizzle. The drizzle stayed with me. By the afternoon, it had turned into a soaking rain. I pulled out my wet weather gear and continued on, toasty warm, despite everything around me being so wet. I had looked forward to the predicted 38 deg C and strong Northerly winds. It would have been the first time I would have had a day of tailwinds in the whole trip. Neither happened. The overcast skies kept the temperature down and the wind continued gusting from the southwest - straight into my face. Waves crashed over the front deck slamming into my water bottles, my second line of defence.

The cliffs downstream from Blanchetown are the biggest on the Murray and where the river runs alongside them, they have vertical faces. Big Bend is made up of two curves, one curving west and one curving east. Each runs for about 5 kilometers and both were filled with cockatoos. The cockatoos occupied small hollows and when I approached flew noisily into the air. At first I thought that they were after minerals from the cliff face, but on looking more closely, I saw that they were in pairs. They appear to be nesting in the rock rather than tree hollows. The cliffs do not have the thick sandstone layers that those upstream have, making them harder and more resistant to erosion.

Once the rain cleared for the last hour or so of today's eight hour paddle, the colors had a new crispness and depth. It was as though someone had hit the enhance button. When the sun broke through the clouds, it became steamy and hot. I shed my rain jacket and applied sunscreen. People began to get out into the water again. A ski boat zoomed past, followed by a traditional clinker hulled river launch. Interestingly the rear waves from the older boat went on for kilometers. I think it had something to do with the hull design.

Farms and properties along the river continued to be developed as shack areas. These holiday homes are called shacks because their original purpose was as places to fish and hunt from to help city people out during the depression years. The right to maintain a 'shack' is written in law. A few original shacks remain, little more than corrugated iron bush huts, but most shacks are a far cry in both design and purpose. Newer shacks are usually 2 story, with verandas and lounges from which to enjoy the river. Many modify the bank using terraces and retaining walls. All have removed the understory vegetation and replaced it with lawn.

On this section of the river, the ancient Murray Gorge, through which the current Murray flows is very narrow, little more than a kilometer. Old river beds form billabongs running parallel to the river, resulting in a rich and varied habitat for both animal and plant life, all the time contrasted by the arid hills beyond. Bends run for up to 10 kilometers and the river is wide. It doesn't take much for the wind to whip up waves to test a weary paddler.

Coming into Walkers Flat I found a spot next to a German couple, Carsten and Christiana, who have been traveling the world in their expedition grade camper for 4 years. Over a few beers I told them things I thought would interest of the Murray and listened to their stories of South America, Asia, Antarctica and Australia.

Tomorrow I make for Younghusband, after making time to resupply at the Walkers Creek Shop. All the time I am getting closer to the sea. Not many more days now.

Murray River Paddle 2016 Day 48 Morgan to Blanchetown

 

Day 48: 276 km Blanchetown 2nd Dec 2016

Apostle birds - Morgan - Houseboats - Fellow kayakers - Blackwater - Floods - Murrumbidgee River - Itldoo Station - Shacks - Crooks Landing - Halvorsen cruiser - Murray Gorges - Ecosystem dynamics - Mosaic - Ted the boat dog

Morgan to Blanchetown

A big thank you to Kev who put me up for the night, laid on dinner, beers and breakfast. Kev is planning to paddle the Murray in Aug next year. He has read all the trip reports he can get his hands on. He has even seen what the trip can do to you... (Clarkies' unique finishing photo may never be upstaged)... and he's still keen to do it. Kev has a backyard full of chooks and apostle birds. There is a constant argument going on as to who’s boss. The apostle birds have adopted Kev, they come up and sit near him and eat from his hands, even though they are wild birds.

Morgan is full of houseboats. The shores are busy places. Sounds of angle grinders, hammers and lawn mowers in preparation for weekend and summer holiday guests. Prime real estate is down by the waterside, with even a shed going for around 300,000. In a twist on the past, places up on the hill, built of solid stone, symbols of wealth in the paddle Steamer times era are a fraction of the price now.

I paddled out of Morgan with Rordon and Dale, two Cairns based paddlers who had come down to paddle the Murrumbidgee River from Gundagai to where it meets the Murray near Boundary Bend. They had to call off their trip at Hay because the black water and the amount of dead stock in the river had made it unpleasant and potentially unsafe for their dog Ted. Ted is a true boat dog. He sits on a mat between the front and back seat of their kayak. Their kayak is the best appointed that I have ever seen. Rordon made it himself from a kit. It is wooden, with fiberglass internal and external layers, roomy and cuts the water beautifully. We paddled the first 10 kilometers together until the appropriately named 'Itlldoo' Station, where they turned around and made their way back to Morgan. Rordon and Dale hope to continue their bidgee paddle once the high water has passed, but enjoyed sharing their memories of their full distance Murray paddle in 2014.

After about 15 km, the shacks (as even the luxury riverside houses are called) finally gave way to bush. Patches of development continued around high ground, which usually still had the historical name of the property whose Landing Paddlesteamers had stopped to trade at in bygone days. Most shacks have lawn down to the water’s edge and many have sprinkler systems set up. I suspect these are to discourage campers and unwelcome boats and their passengers mooring on their property. Looking for a shady place to pull in for lunch, I eventually decided to brave having the sprinklers turned on on me and pulled into Crooks Landing at Ridgeway Station for lunch break. Above me cockatoos are nibbling the seed pods of the River Myalls. A cool breeze was blowing and I soon drifted off to sleep.

There weren't as many boats to photograph today, however there were a few notables. One was a Halvorsen Cruiser, every bit the battleship in pocket format. Another was a modern version of it, with similar lines, but twice as long. There were also little gems, home built paddle steamers and 1920's excursion boats and almost every shack had a tinny.

Probably the most notable thing today was that the river headed due South, with little deviation East or West. I had a 25 km/hr headwind, which kept me on my toes, but as it was not constant, was not too bad. The valley the river runs through is actually the path the ancient Murray. A much bigger river than today's Murray. Geologists have determined that the gorges it cut were 80m deep. The ancient Murray, at first held back by the uplifted land, formed a huge lake, which in spilling, found and enlarged its original path. The deep gorges formed by the ancient Murray are mostly filled with sediment from today's river, creating the gentle gradient we are familiar with in the lower part of the Murray today. At some points, the original gorge is little more than a kilometer wide. Too narrow to meander, the river moves from side to side, leaving billabongs and sand dunes parallel to the main stream. Where the river has not changed its path for thousands of years, flood plains gradually build high enough to support black box. Where it changes more frequently, it erodes these high flood plains, creating low country ideal for red gums with their requirement of frequent flooding. In this way the two habitats can be seen to be competing within the one environment. The floodplain is both building and eroding at the same time. In these narrow gorges this creates a mosaic habitat which is a stark contrast to the arid zone either side.

I reached Blanchetown just after 5pm, half an hour after the last passage was allowed. I could almost have ducked over the barrier rope, however if my kayak had gotten stuck I could have been in real trouble. The better decision was to turn around and return to the caravan park I had seen about 1 km upstream.

The manager had just settled into the pool when I found her. She gave me a nice shady spot with plenty of green grass, near the entrance. I packed my gear into duffle bags and walked it into the park, following eventually with my boat.

Murray River Paddle 2016 Day 47 Waikerie to Morgan

 

Day 47: 338 km Morgan 1st Dec 2016

Leaving the Murray River Queen - morning light - birds of prey - Big Toulca Flat - Woodcutters Reach - Lock 2 - Undercurrents - Bartels Landing - Floating seeds - Riverleigh Station - Tree health - Tipping points - North-West Bend - Morgan - Paddlesteamers & Wharf

Waikerie to Morgan

I left Waikerie early, before anyone else on the boat was up. The sun was up, it had risen about 5:30 and I had gotten up not long after that. Keeping breakfast simple, a couple of muesli bars, some fruit and a cup of tea, I was ready to push off at 7:30.

The light was beautiful and clear. That together with the smooth surface of the water and still flow out a real spring in my step. Morning light is not as harsh as what it is during the main part of the day. The colours come out. It's when you see just how amazing the bark on red gums can be. Paddling out of town, I passed a long row of houseboats waiting for their next outing, their next passage of discovery.

Whistling Kites have been the most common bird of prey along the river this year. There never used to be so many when I was a kid, but there were more Wedge-tailed Eagles. I don't know what has changed, perhaps they benefit from having fishermen around. Once the cliffs begun, Falcons started to appear. They like to sit at the top of trees on the cliff face and swoop down on their prey, which I imagine, could be any small bird or marsupial. All the more amazing when I saw a Fairy Martin chasing a falcon. It was swooping again and again on the falcon, pecking it on the back. While the falcon tried to get away. Brave little bird.

Again today they were great names like what coverage and Big Toluca Flat and Woodcutter Reach. I guess I shouldn't of been surprised when there weren't very few old trees on Woodcutters Reach.

All along the river I can hear the sounds of people raiding their pumps in preparation for the high water. Occasionally i can hear the voices of fruit pickers drifting down from amongst the orange orchards, however I can rarely see them.

Approaching Lock 2, the navigation pass is open. I can see that the water is at the top of the weir. It splashes up in the air ominously. To go that way would be very dangerous. At Wentworth weir, a tinny was caught in the turbulence behind the wall. The back end went under first, filling the boat with water. Soon the whole boat disappeared, only to resurface 100m downstream. There are signs which slow you where to go to be in the safe passage. You keep right of the green triangle (when going downstream) and left of the red squares. There are some pretty big swirls for the first 200m. If you keep under power (keep paddling) you come through it without too many involuntary course changes.

At Bartels Landing were two old farm houses and in front of them, an eclectic collection of boats. Both farm houses had orange groves behind them as is the old tradition in the area. A little further down stream is a vineyard. In the 1980s when the Australians discovered that there were other beverages besides beer, the Riverland wine industry boomed. It expanded till it seemed that everyone wanted to get into wine. In the late 90s and 2000 the wine industry crashed and with so many suppliers, prices plummeted. Now with quality assurance, interesting boutique wines evolving and export markets established, the wine industry is picking up again. Although there were only two houses there were about 6 boats. I love seeing people's boats, there is so much of their character that you can read in them and each boat has its own story as well. At Bartels Landing was one which looked like it had a proud history. Long and sleek, it's wooden hull looked more at home in the ocean then on the river. Seeing ocean boats is a common thing down this end of the Murray, it is so wide and deep and we're not all that far from the ocean. I now have around 360 km to go - that's a lot less than 2200 and I can feel that the end is getting near.

Approaching Riversleigh Station I can see the cliffs curving away to the North. The land in between them and the current river channel is low and beginning to flood. There's a lack of trees on that flat what trees I can see seem to be dead. On the edge of the river young red gums have sprouted following the 2011 flood. This high water event is predicted to be much higher in this area so all of that low land will get a drink, indeed the water is well on its way to flooding the whole area already. It will be interesting to see how it responds in the years to come. Red gum and black box seeds are carried by water over the land from parent trees. You can pick the extent of a high water level from the line of red gum saplings at its edge. The thickness and height of the saplings and later trees gives you an indication of when that flood happened. The rule of thumb is a centimetre a year. A four centimetre thick tree germinated 4 years ago (2012), a 50 cm thick one, about 50 years ago.

I camped opposite Riversleigh Station in 2012, above the beach and under some study black box trees. It had been really hot that day, thunderstorms were building and I chose what I thought was a safe campsite. I had just set up camp and had a cooling swim when the thunderstorm hit. With it came wild winds. Lightning flashed continually and my little tent was buffeted in all directions. When it hit nearby, it left a strong smell of ozone in the air for a while afterwards. It was gone soon after it began. I remember a cockatoo screeching as it flew. From the noises it was making it sounded like it had scored a direct hit. The poor thing had been scared out of his wits. After the thunderstorm, the sun set over the now flooded lowland across the river, turning the sky gentle hues of pink and purple. The trees at the beach campsite, despite four years of good rain, did not look any better than they did in 2012, if anything they seem to have declined further. If trees experiencing prolonged stress reach a tipping point from which they can no longer recover, it is all the more important that we ensure that the young trees and saplings are growing to replace them - otherwise we will lose those habitats entirely.

There are several more straights on the run into Morgan, those opposite cliffs had a single row of old trees as magnificent as any you'll see anywhere on the Murray. With cliffs on one side and old trees on the other, this channel had not changed for hundreds of years. In other areas there was almost a total loss of trees. Saplings thrived, forming a dense layer of green, but the older trees were all gone. I couldn't work out why.

For almost all of it's journey so far, the Murray River has taken a North-Westerly course. This changes just before Morgan, where, defeated by the same uplift of land that built the Flinders Ranges, the Murray changes its course and heads South to the sea. On the river, this place is called the North-West Bend. When the current slams into these cliffs, it swirls around and even flows in the other direction. If you don't keep your eye in the water, you can be spun around.

I paddled past Morgan's old Wharf, second only too Echuca's in size. There are said to be 6 wrecks in the deep water in front of it. As the railways expanded, the paddle steamer trade evaporated. Crews waited for jobs that never came, eventually abandoning their boats.

At Morgan I pulled in a grassy bank. White floats tied together a rope and some small white signs pointed out that this was a kids swimming area. I sailed over and beached high enough to keep my feet dry. I met a couple who had travelled down from Cairns to paddle down the Murrumbidgee, but had given up because of Blackwater, the number of dead livestock in the river and difficult to predict currents. They had already paddled the length of the Murray in their beautiful home made boat. Their dog always travelled with them. It sat on a mat between the two cockpits, resting its head on their solar panel. We traded experiences and stories until Kev, my host for the night arrived. Kev is planning to paddle full distance in 2017. Now he had three people he could talk too about his ideas. I think he is going to have a great trip.

Tomorrow I will head towards Blanchetown and the last weir on the Murray; not sure where I will camp yet.