Day 1: 1712 to 1668 km: Echuca - towards Torrumbarry.








Everything has a beginning
A nervous time
A step into the unknown
Where all that is familiar
Is left behind
There is only the self 
Immersed, intensely aware.

23/3/2014










I hazard to say that most journeys are begun methodically. Gear check, boat check, food and water check. But it is not just the fear of leaving something behind that could endanger the success of the venture. In a well planned expedition you have back up plans. It is also to reassure, to calm the nerves by worrying about the little things. Whilst our children were still young we moved between Australia and Europe five times. Each time was heart wrenching. In order to keep our heads with such strong emotions in the air, we concentrated on finding places to have nice coffees and a bite to eat, asking about everyday things and talking about what was happening in the next few minutes. Most journeys are begun nervously. They are in their essence a step into the unknown.



Leaving your home town, or passing through it are awkward times. Kitted out for an expedition, I found myself paddling my training route; others might pass by in their preparation for a marathon event. It is the home territory of local water skiers and fishermen. However this awkwardness is all in the mind, it is actually the fear of failure. Of not being able to achieve what we set out to do.

In actual fact, my friends saw me off in style, with a small flotilla of canoes accompanying me four kilometres downstream to the junction of the Murray and Campaspe Rivers and friends and family waving from the river bank. It was exactly the same point that I had seen Dave Cornthwaite off with the St. Joseph's Kayaking team four years earlier. It was at that time that I resolved to do the same - to paddle to the sea. From here I was on my own. It was a relief to be on my way. Before I got too far, I checked once more and once more again that I had everything. Running through mental lists of what was needed in everyday and emergency situations. Of course, you can't cover every eventuality. Things can happen, like heart attacks and strokes. My grandfather had died of a heart attack. In moments like these I turned to one of my father in law's favorite quotes. He used it first when leading a group into the New Guinea Highlands. They came across a raging torrent, the likes of which are rare in Australia. The only way across was via a simple three strand rope swing bridge. When some of the intrepid tourists expressed their doubts about how adventurous they really wanted to be, he advised them to "hang nicht so fest an das bissle Leben!" - don't hold on so tight to this short life of yours! Not only are we not on this beautiful planet for such a short time, but in the scheme of things we are pretty insignificant. The world will keep turning without us. Journeys like this are also about letting go.




As the bends turned into straights and the straights into bends again, my thoughts turned inwards. How would I cope with the Ross River Fever which had so plagued me over the past eighteen months. It had gotten me down. Its continual recurrence and an almost constant feeling of being unwell left me doubting my ability to continue my career as a teacher and to be a stable bread-winner for my family. I had ceased to train because even that seemed to bring on new periods of illness, each lasting for weeks. I could not remember a time since I had contracted the illness that I had been well for more than a period of two weeks. When I was feeling good, I almost felt elated, I could lift up the moods of the people around me, both at home and at work. As it was, I was unfit, I had put on ten kilograms and was depressed much of the time. I determined to break out of it by fulfilling a dream, of following the river that had flowed past my door for much of my life to the sea. I was going to do this. The conversation began.


Paddling a kayak is like meditating. You might think that you relax your mind, but in order to do it well, in order to be efficient and not injure yourself you need to concentrate on every single stroke. If you don't you pay for it with muscular aches and pains. On long journeys once a pain is there it is generally there to stay, so it pays to listen and be kind to your body. It has to hold up for the long haul. It was time to settle into the routine. In one hour I was well out of town, in two I had passed the five mile, in four I was half way to Torrumbarry, the day was growing old and with all that had happened I was ready to find a spot for the night.

I found a spot with a fair bit of bush, where trees would provide shelter from the hot afternoon sun and it looked like I would have a bit of privacy. I found a place to tie up my boat, set up the tent and settled in for the night. It was the first true test of my food and cooking arrangements and I ate well. Tomorrow I would reach Torrumbarry and in doing so, leave the area I knew and enter the unknown.




As evening fell, I heard cicadas synchronise their calls, till, as if conducted, they all chirped in time. I listened to the gentle drumming sound of dry leaves bouncing off my tent as, carried by the wind, they tumbled and spun from the tall river red gums around my camp. In the night, I heard something big thrashing about in the water, kangaroos hopping through camp, crashing through the undergrowth, and unperturbed by my presence tearing off and chewing grass.

I heard a possums guttural warning to another of its kind, a tawny frogmouth's incessant booming call through the night air and the sound of the wind moving through the trees all around me, like waves on an ocean beach. With dawn still hours away, the first birds are beginning to call, broadcasting their presence and intentions for the new day.

Distance paddled: 44km




The river at Echuca

These pictures provide a glimpse of a local's view of the river and the vegetation on its banks. In contrast to an expedition, I have attempted to show you the river in all its seasons, in the cold of winter and the heat of summer, in dry times when it can almost be walked across and in dramatic floods. Living next to the river you come to respect it and care for it. The river becomes your friend and your nemesis. For all the structures which try to tame it, it is wild at heart... and occasionally breaks free. At those times we have seen the best of sides of our community. Similar tales resound all along the river. In Wentworth, there is a park and a museum honouring the "grey fergies" that saved the town in the floods of 1956. In Echuca I still vividly remember the sirens - the same as were used for air raids in Europe - sounding in the night in 1974. On that night, every able bodied person rushed to the levees. A section 300m long had become saturated and wobbling like jelly, threatened to burst. Working through the night a complete new levee was built, almost a kilometre long saving hundreds of homes. Local quarie owners provided sand gratis and when in the face of so many volunteers, the shovels ran out, the  hardware shop and disposals came back with all their supplies. As a 10 year old, I remember school being cancelled. We were to go to the sandbagging stations all around town. The river, grey-black, rather than blue slide past the raised levees. At night it took on an eire quality, threatening to sweep away anything that slipped into it.

As a kid, I remember playing on the old wharf (a mate showed me the way through the barbed wire) which was derelict at the time. Pride was still strong in the town and this emerged in multiple and often parallel initiatives to pay homage to the pioneers and the paddle steamer trade that had made the town. It is impossible to visit Echuca-Moama and not be affected by these ghosts of the past. If when enjoying a beer in the Shamrock, you pause to look up you will see a pressed tin ceiling. The same ceiling as would have been found in the over 100 pubs which quenched the thirst of the riverboat men in the heyday of the riverboat days between 1860 and 1920. Ironically, the railway to Melbourne which made Echuca such an important river port from 1864, also rang its death null. Once the rail network reached into NSW and throughout regional Victoria, farmers could transport their wool and wheat without waiting for high river. The weir and lock at Torrumbarry, 80 kilometres downstream arrived too late to save the trade, instead heralding a new age of irrigation. Townspeople became ashamed of the old fashioned technology they had been associated with and much of the old wharf was broken down and sent to Melbourne as firewood. The proud double story verandahs which once graced all of the larger hotels were removed. Only the Shamrock and Caledonian have retained theirs. Now townspeople celebrate their heritage and the simpler, down to earth times. Once again, steam whistles can be heard. Instead of heralding new cargo for the wharf, they are calling for passengers. I like to think of them as a celebration. You can't keep a good girl down!


Sneaking up on Pevensey.

Morning light


Echuca's 1880 cast iron bridge at high river.

Wharf at high river.

Wirrikee wattle, Victoria Park.

Floods on the Campaspe in 2011.
PS Canberra

Floods on the Campaspe - "You shall not pass!"

Campaspe River, Echuca. Low water.

Wildflowers

Shells in the bank indicating a former midden.

Sandbagging in the 2011 Echuca floods.

2011 Echuca floods. Lions Park

Echuca wharf. High river.

Wattles in the Spring, following rain.

Campaspe River, Echuca. High River.

Campaspe River, Echuca. High River.

Campaspe River, Echuca. High River.

Campaspe River, Echuca. High River.

Murray River, Echuca. High River. Winter.

Campaspe River, Echuca. Low River. 2007.

Bush at Victoria Park, alongside the Murray River in Echuca.

Echuca Wharf

Horse and dray, Echuca Wharf.

PS Pevensey, Echuca.

PS Pevensey, Echuca.

PS EmmyLou, Echuca.

PS Perricootta, Echuca.

PS Alexander Arbuthnot, Echuca.

Adelaide: Source Lost Echuca Facebook


Building levees to keep back the flood in 1976.
PS Adelaide, Echuca.

PS Pevensey, Echuca.

PS Adelaide, Echuca.

Winter's paddle. Murray River. Echuca.

PS Canberra, Echuca.

Golden wattle, Echuca.






All the Rivers Run celebrates the riverboat days. It heralded a new era of tourism for Echuca-Moama and a resurgence in interest in paddle steamers.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRxmwoPV4BI&feature=share&list=RDmRxmwoPV4BI 


Synopsis (Crawfords Australia).

In a storm off the Victorian coast in 1890, a young English girl is shipwrecked and orphaned. She is rescued heroically by the only other survivor of the wreck, who is feted and rewarded in Melbourne. The girl is taken in care by her guardian, Uncle Charles, who has made a meager fortune from gold, and settled at Echuca - the great Australian inland port on the River Murray. His ward is sixteen years old, and her name is Philadelphia Gordon. She is known as Delie.

Delie is an energetic and high-spirited girl who wants to paint, and not conform. She finds it difficult to understand why her aunt Hester, a tart and unsmiling woman, seeks to impose her ideas of womanhood, femininity, even good housekeeping on a girl who needs nothing more than the freedom to lead her own life. It is her cousin, Adam, who truly awakens in Delie the feelings of young womanhood. Tom, the seaman who rescued Delie, arrives in Echuca on a paddle steamer he bought with his reward. It is the beginning for Delie of a remarkable ten years in her life. Her investment of part of her inheritance in the riverboat is, without her knowing it, the first step towards a turbulent marriage to a riverboat man and, indeed, to the boats who ply their great trade along the mighty, unpredictable and perilous river.

In a riverboat ceremony, Delie marries Brenton Edwards, a cavalier riverman, who wins and loses the girl on their way to the alter. Their years together are as unpredictable as the river, and more than once Delie is attracted to bohemian Melbourne, and the patronage of Alistair Raeburn, the gentleman art critic, who falls in love with his protégé. Yet Delie remains magnetically drawn to Brenton and the river, the crew of their paddle-steamer Philadelphia, and the river community of Echuca, friends like Bessie Griggs, a merchant's daughter, and George blakeney, the bluff rival riverboat captain. Their community has grown from the 1850's when it was merely a river crossing, established by Henry Hopwood, an English convict. Mobs of cattle and sheep were driven across the Murray at Echuca on their way to the stockyards at Melbourne.

Proudly, Delie and Brenton race the Philadelphia in dangerously narrow waters, and for a wager they cannot afford. They dare the Darling River in drought, a dash which could go for nearly 1000 miles across outback New South Wales, in the hope that rains will wash down from Queensland and allow their escape. In tinderbox conditions, they survive a fire which all but bankrupts them. They have a son, in a way many women did at the time…on the riverbank, in circumstances far removed from Echuca, when hardened riverman became midwives. Brenton turns against the law to find a way out of their financial maze, and the couple part before coming together again. Brenton is critically injured in a riverboat accident. It inspires Delie to turn her talents towards being a riverboat captain, to winning her own Master's Ticket.

The long paddock.





When gold was discovered in Victoria, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the goldfields. In response to their need for food, drovers began walking cattle from as far north as Queensland, down what was to become established routes between watering points from all over the riverina. You can tell when you are on a 'long paddock', or travelling stock reserve as they are more officially known, because of the very wide roadside verges and occasional holding paddocks. The routes crossed, or followed, reliable water sources. Where access to water was more than two days apart, tanks (large dams) and bores were provided. The long paddock provided feed for the cattle as they walked and allowed large mobs to be moved easily. The very wide streets in some towns hint that a stock route previously existed there. In Echuca, it ran from the bridge to the former stockyards alongside the railway line. The current iron bridge, completed in 1878 was built where stock was driven across. The long paddock therefore existed before both the railway line and the bridge. Both were built in the space allowed for travelling stock.

 



On the 30th of June 1870, the Riverine Herald noted that although the season had not been a good one due to heavy rains, 1,930 and 2,300 'fat sheep' had passed through Echuca. 



Henry Hopwood, the founder of Echuca made his fortune by providing first a punt and then a pontoon bridge where travellers could safely cross over the Murray. The cable from his punt is still visible in one of the trees just downstream from the wharf. He made even more money once he had built a hotel on the Echuca side. He used to close his punt early in the afternoon, forcing people to stay till morning (and have ample opportunity to try a nice cool beer from his cellars)!





ECHUCA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) (Continued.)

The chief feature of interest in Echuca is the crossing of the Murray. The town came into existence and now exists by vitrue of its being the chief crossing place of this river for many miles up and down it. In saying this, we do not lose sight of Moama, the township on the New South Wales side, a couple of miles higher up the river, which has come into existence in the same way as Echuca, but which has latterly been thrown into the shade by its Victorian rival. For a long time the river was crossed by a small and rude punt, in which vehicles were by no means safe. The punt was worked by a large rope, connecting both banks, and when we consider what the force of the current is, during flood time, we can see that the rope required to be strong. At present, there is a large and capacious punt at the crossing place at Echuca, which, as well as the pontoon bridge, belongs to Mr. Hopwood. The enormous waggons of Reynolds and English, laden each with many tons of goods, cross on this punt, and large as it is, the centre of it bends under the heavy load. The punt is attached to the shores by a cable of iron wire, which cost £100.

The pontoon bridge is an object of still greater interest than the punt. As its name implies, the bridge is carried on pontoons from one side of the river to the other. The pontoons are made of sheets of iron, riveted together as usual, with wooden decks. Although they are of no great size (little more than twenty feet long and five feet wide) yet each pontoon cost about £70. The bridge is built in lengths, and can be shortened or lengthened as the height of the river requires. The bridge is perhaps somewhat narrow, there being just room for a buggy to cross easily. The cost of the bridge must have been very great, more especially as the price of carriage to Echuca is so high.

The Moama crossing place, known as Maiden's Punt, is still used by a few ; but as Mr. Hopwood has purchased the punt there, with all the lights attached to it, it plays second fiddle to that at Echuca. There was a story recently in the papers' about the Moama punt, to the effect that the residents of that town, dissatisfied with the small punt that was placed there by Mr. Hopwood, purchased a larger punt for the purpose of crossing the river. A day or two before it arrived, Mr. Hopwood moved up the old large punt formerly in use there to Moama, so that the crossing place was fully taken up, and the punt of the Moamaites has never been used yet.

Another illustration of the striking energy and enterprise of Mr. Hopwood is the bridge over the Campaspe at Echuca. This river, which joins the Murray about two miles below the town, in one of its surpentine windings approaches within a few hundred yards of the Murray at the crossing place.

The Campaspe cannot be said to flow past Echuca, for there is nothing but a deep channel, with some dirty water lying in ponds at the bottom, steep banks and large gum trees to represent the river which thirty or forty miles above this point is a very respectable looking river for Australia. At Heffernan's, or at Harney's, the Campaspe is worth looking at, but at Echuca, after it has travelled sixty or seventy miles further, it has no better appearance than the Axe Creek. Why this is so, and what becomes of the water which rushes down in times of flood are questions hard to answer. Probably it is for the same reason that the Darling and other Australian rivers, after attaining considerable magnitude in the higher country, dwindle to insignificant proportions on the plains, and in some cases become lost in swamps.

The main road from Echuca to Sandhurst crosses the Campaspe at the township by the bridge which Mr. Hopwood has erected. It is a trussed wooden bridge about a hundred and twenty-feet long in one span from bank to bank, and is a work which reflects credit upon the projector and the maker. We believe there was an understanding that the Government would after a certain period purchase the bridge and keep it themselves, but they do not seem to be in any hurry to perform their part of the bargain. The bridge is at present undergoing some slight repairs, necessitated by the late heavy traffic during the wool season. The road from Echuca to Sandhurst is so level, that the waggons carry extra loads, and their weight has fully tested the strength of the Campaspe bridge. 

The site of the railway terminus at Echuca appears to be well chosen, though it would be difficult to go wrong in making a choice. The line passes on the east side of the town, and comes on the river at the point where stock are driven across, where the banks are high and the water is deep, and where a wharf can be erected with little trouble capable of accommodating any steamer likely to ply on the Murray. Of course, at present there is not much trade at Echuca, as the busy season is over. 

The town itself is small, but it is the nucleus of a large district, which will be very much increased by the opening up of the railway. The wool from the Darling, Murrumbidgee, and the Murray, even below the junction of the Darling, will be sent to Echuca for transmission to Melbourne by the railway ; and of course the settlers will receive their supplies via Echuca from whatever place is enterprising enough to secure their custom. 

We fancy that Sandhurst, as the nearest town of any importance, might manage to make itself the emporium of this large district, in some commodities at least. Already speculative men have made preparations for wresting the trade out of the hands of the South Australians. When the railway to Echuca is completed, we believe that the country bordering the Murray, up even to Wahgunyah and Albury, including the Indigo goldfield, and perhaps even the Ovens itself, will receive their supplies from Melbourne via Sandhurst and Echuca. 

Such results as these must show what a revolution in the trade of the colony this railway will effect. Those people who talk of the railway not paying have, of course, never taken these facts into consideration. Nor can these short-sighted people who wish the railway to stop at Sandhurst have fully considered the effect of continuing it to the Murray. It, in fact, places us on the line of road to the Ovens, to Albury, Chiltern, and the Upper Murray down to Echuca, and to the Lower Murray to the junction of the Darling, the Darling itself, the Murrumbidgee, Lachlan, &c. Grafting that this is a thorough traffic, must it not add somewhat to the business and importance of the place. Already a Sandhurst firm has made arrangements for supplying flour to the settlers of the north -will that be the only instance of the kind? 

Moama, on the other side of the Murray, and two miles up the stream, has, as we have previously remarked, been somewhat eclipsed by its southern rival. But Moama will be a town of considerable importance, and in course of time there is little doubt that they will both increase and spread until the stream of the Murray will be the only division between them. The line of telegraph posts is continued from Echuca across the river into Moama, and thence to Deniliquin. The site of the town is good, and there are some vary substantial buildings in it. Under the New South Wales Land Bill, settlement will probably be promoted more rapidly than under the Victorian, and the land in the vicinity of Moama is likely to be taken up by free selection. This has already been done in one instance, though from the use the selector has made of the privilege in doing nothing but impound the squatter's cattle, his can scarcely be looked upon as a case of legitimate settlement upon the land. 

Cricket is a great institution. At the time of our visit we found that "all Echuca" had gone to Moama to witness a return match between the chosen elevens of the two places. If Moama must knock under to her rival in business importance, she decidedly has the best of it at cricket, for the Victorians, as in Sydney, were "well licked," and on their merits too. Considerable dissatisfaction is expressed by the people of Echuca at the want of uniformity between the postage charged in Victoria and New South Wales. It is a pity that the rates of postage in the colonies were not assimilated. 

Among minor details may be noticed the curious fact, that at Echuca there are no cows, and of course no cow's milk. In their stead are large flocks of goats, which seem to be a profitable speculation. This is certainly a curious anomaly in a town the centre of what is par excellence a pastoral district. On the banks of the river half a mile below Echuca, we noticed the place where Captain Cadell built a snag boat. The ways on which she was launched are there still. 

There is some good timber about the Murray, the chief of which is the Murray pine, which is hard and full of knots. The tree itself is a beautiful object, tall and stately, with rich dark green foliage. A few boats, or what go by the name, are kept on the river, and the Echucans can enjoy rowing as much as they like. Although the river is famed for its fish, there is seldom any to be seen at the table. Sometimes the blacks bring in fish, and one or two persons take the trouble to set lines, on which fish fifteen or twenty pounds in weight are sometimes caught. The fishing ground of the Murray River Fishing Company is at Lake Moira, some twenty miles from Echuca. One has a far better chance of tasting good Murray cod in Sandhurst than at the Murray. Thus, we only accomplished half of the object of our journey. We saw King Hopwood of Echuca, and ate of the famous grapes, but the luxury of Murray cod fresh caught is yet to come.


Long Paddock from Wilcannia to Echuca




Links for more information:

Preparation, research and those who have gone before.



Human history has always included journeys:
aboriginal song-lines, exploration, emigration, travel.
We are all on a journey of one sort or another.







When people ask me why I don't start at the source of the river I explain that the way I understand it is that this journey has a spiritual element. Travelling from my home to the ocean seems natural. Since I was a boy I have watched the river flow past my door and imagined its journey. Imagined that if I threw a bottle with a message in, it would eventually reach the ocean... and then where? The river is my natural connection with the world beyond our nation's boundaries. I want to be part of that journey. Take part in the natural event that has so much been a part of my life. This is why I am beginning at my home town and not at the source. Starting 1000km above where I live and then just paddling past would feel wrong for me. The source to Echuca will have to be another trip. Note: I hope to complete what most people call the paddlable Murray in 2014. In Jan, I paddled from the Hume to Echuca with my wife Ruth, and in April plan to paddle from Bringenbrong Bridge near Corryong to the Hume.


The Murray meanders through the landscape like an old friend.

Being aware of river history helps to understand what it looks like today. The amazing achievements of others put my own journey into perspective. Although I will be unsupported, I have a comfortable boat, lots of gadgets and will never be more than 5 days from a town.


Epic Murray Journeys from others:

Charles Sturt:

Sturt had to go 1500km back upstream when the pickup he expected at the Murray Mouth never arrived. Charles Sturt. In 1829 Sturt set off to find the mouth of the Murrumbidgee River which he followed by horse. When the swamps of the Macquarie Marshes made further passage impossible he swapped to a whale boat. On this journey he discovered "a broad and noble river" which he named the Murray (unaware that it had been discovered and named the Hume by that explorer already). 1,500km later they reached the sea. When the expected steamer never arrived, they rowed all the way upstream again - nearly perishing on the homeward journey.

This trip has been re-enacted several times; in 1984 for a Bill Peach Documentary...



and The Adelaide Advertiser carried this report of a 35 day re-enactment of Charles Sturt's journey on the 12th of February 1951.
The 35-day voyage of the Start re-enactment expedition ended at Goolwa yesterday with a welcome from nearly 9,000 people, many of whom travelled from the city to take part in the pageantry. During the voyage down the Murrumbidgee and Murray rivers the whaleboat crew rowed about 1.100 miles, except for small stretches of sailing, and touched three States.
The general manager of the ABC (Mr. C. J. A. Moses) said yesterday that before the re-enactment ceremonies were finished, more than 250,000 people would have seen the whaleboat and its crew. Escorted to the landing reserve at Goolwa by a flotilla of small craft including a 'miniature whaleboat crew' of eight Goolwa boys dressed like their Start counterparts. 
The crew was greeted by a group of aborigines in ceremonial paint from Point McLeay Mission Station. The natives performed their corroboree 'Nureeah,' a legend of 'A man who came down the river.' It was explained to the crowd by an 81-year-old aboriginalwoman, Mrs. Pinkie Mack. The native leader later presented his spear to  Grant Taylor, the actor portraying Sturt, as a symbol of friendship.
Wikipedia
This book from J. H. L. Cumpston, made available as an eBook as part of the Gutenberg Project details Sturt's expeditions, including his second expedition into the interior... 


'(his) object was to trace the course of the Murrumbidgee, as, if that stream should join the Darling, the combination of these two "considerable rivers" would form a navigable stream opening a direct and, perhaps, easy communication between Sydney and these distant parts of the colony... the whale boat, 25 feet long, with a beam of 5 feet, was first built, dismantled, and, during the land journey, transported in sections... a small still was carried, for the distillation of water in the event of finding the water of the Darling salt as it was on the previous journey... They first met the Murrumbidgee in Jugiong... "I now looked down upon a stream, whose current it would have been difficult to breast, and whose waters, foaming among rocks, or circling in eddies, gave early promise of a reckless course"... but did not begin to row until near the junction with the Lachlan at the Macquarie Marshes'

Replica of Sturt's Whaleboat: users.esc.net.au


Tammy van Wisse and Graham Middleton


Tammy van Wisse swam the whole way in 2000. Tammy swum the river to highlight the plight of a river that had been taken for granted, which had not reached the sea following years of drought and over-exploitation. She was the second person to swim the length of the Murray. It was first swum by Graham Middleton in 138 days 1991. Click to read the Border Mail's report on his swim to raise money for cancer research. Tammy broke his record by 32 days. Tammy says that once you drunken from the Murray, it remains in your veins forever.




"once you drunken from the Murray,
it runs through your veins forever"


ABC Interview with Tammy van Wisse: transcript.

Border Mail

Eric the Red


Though I am yet to find out his real name, 'Eric the Red' rowed the length of the Murray four times, three times downstream and once up. Accounts of his tales can be found at: The Conquerers, The Border Mail Dec 17, 2008 and in an chance meeting in a pub described in an expedition blog by Kevin Moody in Mildura 17th Nov 1988.

Dave Cornthwaite

    Dave Cornthwaite is a professional expeditioner whose first major challenge was to skate board across Australia. In 2009 Dave traversed and then paddled the length of the Murray from the summit of Kosciusko to the sea, one of the first to do so. Dave shared his journey through regular entertaining videos which he uploaded regularly throughout his journey. Whilst focussed on the adventure and the charity he supports, Dave raises issues about the river that he learns from the people that live along it. They are fun to watch and provide an insight into such an expedition that is hard to convey through photos and text alone. Dave's professional preparation, sponsorship and communication set a standard that is hard to match. For more about Dave's continuing adventures, go to Dave Cornthwaite Expeditions and here for the website specifically covering his journey.

    Beyondlimitsmagazine



    I accompanied Dave as he paddled through Echuca and together with the St. Joseph's Kayaking Team, made sure that he got a proper farewell from our town.





    Murray Marathon

    The St. Jo's Kayaking Team fostered canoeing skills, resilience and social awareness in 4 years of Murray Marathons (2005-2008) in the lead up to this legendary annual 400km race, My experience when I raced it back in 1980 and 1981 and training the St. Joseph's Kayaking team later were great preparations for this paddle.




    Rose Fletcher

      Rose Fletcher is a surprising champion. Her example sets a new mold for paddlers of the river. Able to take her time, she lives the journey, allowing it to take as long as it needs. She lives simply and independently, supplementing her food supply in the vegetation growing along the river banks and with fish caught from the river. Rose is a naturalist with a great knowledge of birds, a gentle nature when it comes to sharing her tent with crawling visitors and the ability to take stunning photographs. She is was the first to share photographs through Facebook as regular updates, motivating others, like Seja Vu and myself to do the same. Rose and Seja may well be modern and gentler versions of Eric the Red. However you see them, we and I believe the river, profits from their generosity in sharing what they have seen and the effort and skill of their photography. You can see more of their photographs at Murray River Expeditioners Facebook page . There, you will also find beautiful images from Rose Fletcher and Seja Vu - or look them up in Facebook if you can't get access to the group.

      Facebook
      Facebook

      One of the things I hope to achieve in documenting my preparation and journey is to empower others to begin their own adventures. This is why I also share other people's stories. 

      This is a shot of the wet dock area of the Echuca wharf, with a few small padllesteamers in it. The post in the corner used to be the edge of the river. It was to show the paddle boat captains where the bank began in high river. The wharf reached almost all the way to the council chambers. Since the 1880's the path of the river has changed. Almost 100m of river bank has built up. It is hard to imagine the old wharf reaching all the way in here - but it did. My father used to collect riverboat photos and wrote several books on this aspect of our history (Riverboat Days & Red gum and Paddlewheels). I will upload a picture from these of the old wharf.



      These majestic old river gums are forever dropping their branches, but in doing so they provide nests for all types of birds.


      Preparation and planning

      If you are considering a trip like this, preparation is key. Find people who have done the trip before, read reports from others on the internet and get hold of a good map book. From Yarrawonga to Renmark you can't go past Murray River Charts by Barry and Maureen Wright. The newest version of the charts has a DVD version which includes the bay of islands charts.

      For the upper Murray get there is a very good river guide called 'River of Islands: Charts of the River Murray - Yarrawonga Weir to Hume Dam' by Kath and Leon Bentley (1985) which is worth acquiring. It is mentioned in Barry and Maureen Wright's 'Murray River Charts' and available on the CD version of their charts by agreement with the authors.

       


      http://www.rivermurraycharts.com.au/


      Murray River Access Maps provide an alternative to the above publications and at around $8 a booklet in 2014, they are a good deal. They include roads and river kilometres, but do not show snags, or include insights and history about stretches of the river as the other publications do. Whilst it is possible to see where you are using google maps, for the convenience and safety of knowing where you are at all times, it is worth having one of these maps. Phone reception is poor along many stretches and technology requires batteries and charging strategies which can fail. It is better to have a hard copy.


      https://svmaps.com.au/

      For the river below Renmark, get hold of Murray River Pilot by Ronald and Margaret Baker and Bill Reschke.



      Training

      Just as important as fitness and good health is being happy with your gear, in your boat and developing skills, such as how to paddle in strong currents, how to avoid snags when in your boat, or if floating following a capsize. The best way to do this is to find a canoe club and get as much time on the water as possible in the boat you will do the trip in. Do not wait until you are drifting sideways into a snag, overhanging willows, or a whirl pool. Know how to get out of trouble. Skill yourself up.

      Canoe Victoria


      Canoe Associations in every state run coaching sessions which build these skills. There are also private coaches. David Cornthwaite swears by this book. If you are new to paddling, or the Murray, or would like to get an experienced paddlers perspective you can't go past "The Guide - How to Paddle The Whole Murray - Source - To Sea' by Ro Privett. Ideas, thoughts and experiences which can help get your Murray trip afloat.

      Ro Privett


      I also hope that you will find this blog helpful.


      Paddling near Echuca - practising what I preach

      Most importantly, enjoy this time. Begin as early as you can and try everything out. Practise taking photos, making films, cooking on your camp stove, charging your phone from the sun and writing blogs. Set up a Facebook page about your trip. Learn about the river, the birds and the people. Try your hand at fishing. Learn to let go. You will have to on the trip.






      Training paddles with my daughter Anna and brother Laurie were a highlight of the preparation time. When the sun causes the water to sparkle you just have to soak it up and enjoy.





      The 1.5km long old cast iron bridge in Echuca. Still the only connection between Victoria and NSW despite 50 years of campaigning. It has survived many floods, but suffers under 20,000 vehicles daily and the weight of ever larger trucks. Legend has it that one of the workman building the bridge in 1880 fell into the concrete that was used to fill each pylon.


      News clips from 1984 - I remember this, it took a long time to get her in the water.
      Paddlesteamer Adelaide Relaunch



      Paddling under a darkening sky.




      It never ceases to amaze me. I have been on this river in all manner of boats for 48 years and I keep seeing new things, stuff that lifts my spirit on every journey. The low flying wedge-tailed eagle chased by 3 crows, struggling to build speed as it crossed the river and then flying straight through the dense undergrowth of the shoreline forest (just yesterday) for example. The photo is generic - couldn't get the camera out quick enough. It was much closer than this. I could see the colour of every feather, every joint in the wing as it struggled to get away and to be able to tell that each wing was at least a good meter in size.



      Preparation paddle: Echuca - Torrumbarry: 80km 
      Lunch on the most magnificent Sandhills 50km out of Echuca.




      On warmer days it seems there is nothing but sky. Training: 4 weeks to go.


      OC6 rescue service. If you want a friendly place to learn to paddle, try Echuca.


      One of the pleasures of moving along a river slowly and quietly is witnessing the birdlife. I have been canoeing for over 30 years, but still get a thrill every time I see the flash of blue, or little bobbing head of an Azure Kingfisher.

      Yesterday, I saw 2 wedge-tailed eagles circling and flocks of cockatoos and galahs screeching in alarm as they flew away. Memories of flocks of cockatoos flying along the river go back to my childhood. I hope they are around for many generations to come.

      Photo: Birdlife Australia


      Gear: pulling it all together

      Trial pack - everything ready except for a bit of fresh fruit and veg.



      Testing how the wheels and boat behave with a full load.


      The first idea I had was to load food in meal times (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Shopping bags were good storage units because they fit the shape of the boat, so there is little wastage). I later abandoned the bags, preferring to fit food and cooking gear loosely in the front storage compartment and camping gear and clothes in the rear compartment.


      It fits... what a relief. My aim was to have nothing on top of the boat, to cut down wind resistance and minimise the risk of loosing gear in rough weather. I lost a phone once. It floated almost 400km - all the way to Swan Hill, where it was found in an irrigation channel by an inspector, handed in to the police, who identified me as the owner and sent it back to me.. still in working order... but I did not want to risk that again :)



      Heavier, but well within its limits.



      Spending a lot of time researching how best to manage this page on the trip, including which devices, power, waterproofing, file transfer and storage, capacity, usability. Would like to keep it simple if I can. Found a niffty device for transferring photos from cameras to iPads... some people seem to think that it will also do the same to an iPhone. If I can avoid taking a computer, then the solar panels do not have to be as powerful (and expensive).

      Also found out that iMovie can be used on an iPhone (with iOS6). Memory may be an issue though.
      Solar panel review, including experiences and impressions of travellers and expeditioners.



      Gearing up for the trip: seems like more and more electronics. Picked up a GoPro Hero 2 Camera  today.

      The Prijon Kodiak Kayak on our Toyota Echo. Many people have a bit of a chuckle when they see the big boat on our small car, but with the custom made racks it sits well and the overhang (less than 1m front and back) is less than on much bigger cars with standard racks.


      9 weeks till I begin my paddle from Echuca to the sea.







      More from this expedition:

      • Google+  Murray River Paddle Echuca To The Sea Photo Album
      • Facebook Murray River Paddle
      • YouTube Murray River Paddle


      More information about topics from this page:
      1. Port of Echuca: Visitor Information
      2. Echuca-Moama: Visitor Information
      3. Wikipedia: Echuca
      4. Barry and Maureen Wright's River Murray Charts
      5. Environment Victoria: The Living Murray 
      6. ABC Central Victoria: News and Community Events
      7. Charles Sturt: Charles Sturt MuseumTwo expeditions into the interior of southern Australia