A journal of canoe expeditions along the rivers of Australia's Murray Darling Basin using photographs, stories and information to highlight the beauty, challenges and history of these rivers and the communities they flow through.
Day 24: Leaving camp at sunrise. Rilli Conservation Reserve.
I left my island home with the intension of making it to either Kingston 'on the Murray' or Lock 3. During the day, I realised that if I made it to Lock 3, I would be in striking distance of the Overland Corner. The story around that hotel and what happened compelled me to try.
The current was not as fast as in the past days, but I had a light tailwind. This was good news as today's distance included the infamous seven mile reach (known to inland outriggers as the 11 kilometre straight). It is said to be the longest reach on the river. For once the river seems to know where to go. The problem is that us freshwater sailors are used to and have come to like and feel secure in its twistings and turnings. It also keeps the journey interesting because you never really know what will be around the next bend. Enter the 11 kilometre straight and the horizon disappears. It is as though you have become a cartoon character in someone's perspective drawing where the path you are following just disappears into the infinite distance. The difference to the ocean is those guide rails. They just keep saying “go ahead, doesn't look like you've done much, but keep trying”. It took an hour and a half to reach Moorook, a few kilometres past the end of the straight. I called in for sanity, food and a rest.
Day 24: I like coming in close to overhanging trees. This one was full of flowers, others have nests. The most common are the darters, they make a messy nest out of gum leaves.
Day 24: Reeds on the river banks are common around here. The moorhens love them.
Day 24: The beginning of the seven mile reach . Otherwise known as the 11km straight. The longest straight on the Murray. It went on and on and on...
There were things to look at on the banks going up the straight. There were the elaborate houses on the tall banks that looked like they belonged to people from Adelaide. There were the smaller, more modest farm houses with home-built sitting areas down near the river to escape the summer's heat and all too often fields with tall sprinklers that once would have watered orange trees, but were pulled out in the last drought when water could not be guaranteed these farmers, or as the result of government water buy backs, after the drought. The houses were on the taller southern bank. On the lower flood prone northern bank were red gums and mulga trees. The mulgas have low drooping branches that almost hang to the ground, tempting some people to call them native willows. Wallabies and kangaroos like to lie near the river protected from the sun's strong rays under these trees. I caught many snoozing. They often awoke with a start. Many were mothers with joeys. The joeys would bound away a short distance and then look back at mum. Mum seemed to know that I was not a threat, but stayed alert watching all the same. Under one tree was a collection of swallows’ (tree martin) nests, and, as it was close to the water I was able to take a photo.
The constant bank watching caused neck ache after a while. I listened to an album. Finished. Now what? Still 5 kilometres straight paddling to go. I tried paddling with my eyes closed, feeling the rhythm of the boat. Staying upright, but not maintaining a reliably straight course. The act of closing eyes also let sunscreen into them. Failure. Keep paddling. Just do it. At least there was no head wind.
Day 24: Swallows nest under an old gum on the water's edge.
In Moorook I dried off on a park bench and then went into the store, as much to talk to the shop assistants as to buy something. I bought my normal performance food, pie and a chocolate Big M. The lady serving me told me about life in this small town, how with thirty years there, she was almost a local. The shop was a cafe, supermarket, post office and petrol station. The owners were selling after five years of seven days a week. She hoped that she would continue working there. She had seen out three owners now. Thongs seemed to be the uniform for men in Moorook. With my river shoes, I felt overdressed. One bloke hurriedly brought a pair. Maybe he had had a blow out.
From Moorook to Lock 3 was 22 kilometres and I had just two and a half hours to get there. I would have to maintain an average of 10 kilometres per hour to get there on time. That is fast for my kayak. Burping up pie and the other performance food I had so greedily consumed, I raced to the weir. Time had gotten away on me, the weir was further than I thought and the last lock age was 30 minutes before closure. I made it three minutes past the cut off, but was let through anyway. The drop in the weir was three and a half metres, the biggest outside of Torrumbarry. Jamie, the Lockmaster, explained that because the river is hemmed in between two sets of hills here - the same that form those magnificent cliffs - floods happen quickly here and are fast flowing, as the water is squeezed through this natural bottleneck.
Day 24: The way to the Overland Hotel from the river. For their sake I hope that they also have another road. (They did).
Day 24: The Overland Corner Hotel. Original and compelling. A living museum.
Day 24: View towards the river from the Overland Hotel. Like so many other places along the river, precious habitat - this time to the endangered Southern Bell Frog - which has incidentally done very well here following the recent high river.
Pulling into Overland Corner, I met Graham who was on an extended cycle tour of Australia before returning to his home country of New Zealand to live. I persuaded him to come to the hotel with me. Built in 1850, it is one of the oldest country buildings in South Australia. The name comes the times of migration from the coast to inland Australia. People hoping to forge a new life on the land took the paddle steamers from Goolwa, where the Murray enters the sea to the Overland Corner, where they continued their journey by stage coach. This was the last point that the river could reliably be travelled on in summer. From here on, it was goodbye to the smooth luxury of a paddle steamer with its parlours and cabins and onto a stage coach to Wentworth. The entrepreneurial founder of the hotel had first released brumbies into the bush here. With these as a breeding stock, he was able to supply the 300 horses needed for the coach run. He used the natural bends of the river and narrow gorges between its cliffs to trap the brumbies when they came down for a drink in the evening and so always had a supply of horses when he needed them. He built a solid building, which is virtually unchanged to this day. Its thick walls are made from limestone quarried from the cliffs behind it. I enjoyed my few beers and overland burger and with the sun setting over the river returned to camp.
I recommend that you seek out this hotel and its friendly staff when in the area. You won't be disappointed.
Day 24: Campsite near the Overland Hotel.
Day 24: Sunset on the river from my campsite.
More from this expedition:
Google+ Murray River Paddle Echuca To The Sea Photo Album
Renmark - Lock 5 and 4 - Rilli Island Conservation Reserve, Loxton.
River markers: 566 to 500 km from the sea.
Distance travelled today: 66 km.
Total distance travelled: 1212 km
Farewell comfort and dryness... time to hit the water again.
The 8:30 am start was late for me, but most of the caravan park was still asleep. They can't have had a river to paddle down - yes that was it. This was the friendliest caravan park I had ever been in, as well as the cleanest. Not sure about cheap, but the experience is close to resort like. So, secure in their comfort people slept, whilst I packed and got ready to go. An elderly gentleman who had chatted to me the day before came down to wish me well. He was going to come back before I left, but then even in conversation, he kept forgetting things.
Being tired, I set myself a more modest goal of Lock 4, just 52 km today. I could get most of it done by lunch and cruise in the rest. I paddled steadily, in no particular hurry, lucky to have a good current - something I had not banked on at this end of the river. The flow from the Darling was helping. The current was about the speed it is at Echuca (about 1.5 km/hr); given that the water here is pooling between weirs, that is something. Enjoying the scenery and the waves from the wind (think positive).
Day 23: Afternoon sun on the river near Berri
Day 23: Pulled up at the shady lawns at Martins Beach in Berri for some lunch.
Day 23: It doesn't take much to get me in the Christmas spirit, but you don't see much tinsel or hear many carols on the river, so I got really excited when I saw the caretaker's decorations at Martin's Bend in Berri. So many reindeer!
Day 23: Serious boat, Berri.
This houseboat actually looks like one.
I passed through two locks today, Lock 5 just 6 kilometres out of Renmark and Lock 4, 46 kilometres later. I shared the first lock with a couple who were travelling the Murray in a tinny. It was fast and well appointed, but given that a lot of their load was petrol, it was a good thing that neither of them smoked! They were off to Kingston for lunch. I later looked up where Kingston lay. It was about 140 kilometres away. No wonder they sped off. They would finish in Goolwa in about a week, they told me. This was interesting, because I expected only to take 2 or 3 days longer in my kayak. A lot of tinny travellers are fishermen. They like to whizz from place to place, but in the end spend a lot of time sitting still. Quite often the fishermen will see things that I haven't seen, because they have been still and quiet. As my two companions were not fishermen and had had enough of camping, i wondered where they might be spending their time. To their credit, when I arrived at lock 4, the lockmaster said he had been inspecting me. Two tinnies had said that a mad bloke in a kayak was still coming and to keep an eye out.
Day 23: Scar tree. The shape of the canoe was cut into the wood and then the sap wood was pried loose from the tree using wedges. This was then shaped and hardened using fire.
There is so much to see on the Murray. It is not possible to write about it all the time, or to photograph or film it. It just happens all around you. I find each bend changes from the last and my friends who have paddled this stretch before tell me on seeing my photographs that it has changed so much since they came through. The bush changes with the seasons, in the early summer I am travelling through the gums are flowering and the air is full of the sounds of bees. At night frogs take over, happy to have reeds to hide in and rich mud nourishing the insects and larva they feed on. The trees still have birds sitting on nests, although most of the young have left. I saw a couple of young darters yesterday, their plumage white and downy. They had very fat tummies - full of baby carp no doubt. Unable to fly away, they dropped like stones into the water and did not resurface until I was gone. Ducklings were doing the same thing around Barham. It is amazing how well they can swim underwater being just a few days old.
Day 23: Wilabalangaloo wildlife reserve. Managed by National Trust, the reserve contains remnant native Mallee vegetation and wildlife habitat including specimens of the rare Blue-leaved Mallee (Eucalyptus cyanophylla), Native Jasmine (Jasminum didymum ssp lineare) and 9 species of rare birds. http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/sa/wilabalangaloo-reserve
Day 23: Dead tree reaching for the sky in front of cliffs near Berri.
The river level changes too. Six weeks ago it was a metre higher. I can tell that on the island I am camped on tonight, the sand is still hardening. On the beaches, many young trees fall over in the big winds as this young soil, like the mud at my campsite in Murrabit, just has no strength to it. The shallow cutting coming in to Robinvale had been a raging torrent with rapids when Rose Fletcher paddled through in it in October. I don’t think the river is actually the same any two times you travel down it.
Day 23: Can anyone remember where I put my boat?
I think that whenever and however one travels the Murray, so long as you spend enough time, you will see things. Today I saw a water rat emerge from its burrow. The first time I had even seen one do that. It snuck along behind the tree roots till it thought that I could not see it anymore. Swans leading me away from their young, protected in the shallow billabongs are a common sight. I get a thrill when they take off, their long necks stretched, legs racing to help build speed and to push off the water, their wings beginning to whistle as they build up air speed. And pelicans! No wonder it used to be a derogatory term to be called a pelican. I love them, but they are funny, and awkward. They begin their flight effort with strong two legged hops, thrusting their heavy bodies forwards and upwards, building momentum, assisting their huge wings. Then, in order to gain the height they need to clear the river red gums lining either side of the river, they need to turn in tight circles at least three times, all the time beating their wings strongly. All when they need not have taken off at all. My boat was no threat - but they got nervous - and then had to do all this work. They really must be at the limit of how big a bird can be. Yesterday, I saw a family a wedge tailed eagles, with the young ones in flight training. I thought they might be little eagles at first because of their size, but then I noticed the adults calling the shots.
Today's scenery continued to be punctuated by the most majestic cliffs. There were long straights and generous reaches, which, if into the wind called for patience. I passed through Berri and spent a cool restful lunch at Martins Bend, where the lawns are beautifully cared for and the camping is free. The caretaker, who lives on site, had a large cut-out Santa Claus and so many reindeer, each with their own name pulling them. How cool! I am a sucker for Christmas things and have been missing the lead up. I seem to be well ahead of schedule now, so getting back on time for Christmas with the family will not be a problem.
Day 23: River landscape near Berri. The constant water levels from the weirs help create ideal conditions for reeds to grow.
Tomorrow I will aim for Kingston, or perhaps even to go through Lock 4, a journey of 64 and 69 kilometres respectively. The next location after that is the overland corner after 75 kilometres of paddling, but I don't know much about that at this stage.
Really enjoying the journey!
More from this expedition:
Google+ Murray River Paddle Echuca To The Sea Photo Album
Day 22: campsite at dawn: Wilkinson's Cutting. — at Wilkinson's Cutting.
Another early start today hoping to avoid any winds that might develop and also to enable me to get as much out of the day in Renmark as possible. I packed camp, took the time to have a civilised shave and a cuppa tea and hit the water at 6:36 am. The sun had just risen over the cliffs of Wilkadene Station and shed the golden light that is so wonderful at this time of the morning on the water. It was virtually wind still, which meant that as I paddled off, my wake formed geometric waves, which themselves caught the light behind me.
I had hardly gone a kilometre though when conditions began to change. The thunderstorms which were predicted for last night may not have eventuated, but now here came the southerly change. It built quickly from a fresh breeze into a strong gusty wind. It seemed to come a little more East of South than due South, but any bends or straights which were at all close to this direction caught and funnelled the wind. On longer straights and near to cliffs the river was a virtual wind tunnel.
Day 22: Sunshine on the river.
There were several short kilometre long straights and two kilometre bends which were so gusty that water sprayed up over the deck. When wind came from the side I had to be careful as it could catch the paddle, trying to catch me off guard and tip me in. These were actually trickier than the head winds. I slowed my stroke rate in the head winds and paddled strongly but calmly, using lots of body and not much arm, taking care not to paddle too high because of the strain on the wrists in gusty conditions and because the wind can catch your paddle and throw you around. I dug deep and concentrated force in the later part of the stroke so as not to pull air in between waves and to have a more consistent stroke. With each stroke I levered the boat steadily a bit further, maybe not as fast as normally, but steadily, that was important.
Day 22: Headings Cliff.
After sixteen kilometres I pulled in and put on my ocean spray deck. The wind was getting stronger and I had a big six kilometre straight and reach into Renmark ahead of me - all of it directly into the wind. I paddled the 36 kilometres without break as a test as to how I would handle wind on Lake Alexandrina. Though, only a taster, it was good to see. Normally, when you get tired you can stop paddling, or pull into sure for a break. In windy conditions on a lake you cannot, you need to keep going. I considered this training.
Day 22: Too good to last, the fresh wind became stronger until it was gusting round 50 to 60 km/hr.
Approaching the corner above the long straight, I could see it had been good to be prepared. Waves were surging around the corner. I set my video camera going for the record. Some people think the Murray is always calm. I would have evidence today :). The waves built up all the way along the straight, so the end I was about to enter was where they were at their worst. Challenging, yes, but what a lot of fun. I made progress forwards. My waterproofing was holding. The solar panel could have been tied on better, but it was holding and was waterproofed. The bow broke through one wave, rose and crashed down on the next. This happened so many times in short succession that the boat was more like one of those rides at the show grounds, more bucking up and down, than cruising. Cruising we were though, in through some wild Murray weather.
Day 22: PS Industry in Renmark.
Murray Princess.
Renmark Big4 Caravan Park.
I was in Renmark by 10:30 am, after four hours paddling and was stoked. No injuries, no soreness and the boat handled beautifully. Now I had plenty of time to resupply for the next five day section and relax. I purchased a copy of the Murray River Pilot, which replaces the Murray River Charts from Renmark to the sea and began to read it over a locally brewed dark ale in the Renmark hotel. Whilst quite different, the things that unite them are greater. They were both made by people who love the river, have built up knowledge over a lifetime, and want to pass it on to others. I have a lot of respect and gratitude to both parties.
Back at the caravan park I discovered that it has a pool with a heated sauna. Ahhhhhhh. :)
Renmark Big4 Caravan Park.
More from this expedition:
Google+ Murray River Paddle Echuca To The Sea Photo Album
