Murray River Paddle 2016 Day 8 Langi Oonah Station to Timeout (Tocumwal) Oct 23

Langi Ooonah Station to Time Out Resort downstream from Tocumwal (58km).
Overnight the river dropped another 10cm leaving wet sleeves around the bases of trees and muddy edges along its banks. It continues to flow very quickly, meaning that I had to be conscious to give snags and trees an even larger berth than usual.
There were many more fallen trees than yesterday, however the current has pushed most of these so that they lay parallel to the banks. This should actually help reduce further bank erosion by slowing the current down in future. In a sandy section, about 6km upstream of Cobram, the river took at least 2 metres of bank away in front of some houses and further undermined some of the older trees. A no wash sign has been erected, but unless something is actually done to protect the bank the owners risk losing their property. I feel that along most of the river we should take a more active role in protecting what is there. More care is taken along our roadside verges than on our rivers and yet these deliver the water we need to drink, irrigation for our crops, and water for forests and wildlife. It seems disproportional given the value of the asset.

Palm trees along the river bank mark the site of Seppelts Winery.

The river was quiet again today. I saw one couple in a tinny, but other than that saw no-one, until I surprised the manager at Time Out Resort. They weren't expecting any customers, having been shut off for 6 weeks by the high river, which reached major flood level in Tocumwal. The manager (Jacki) said that they had actually had three separate flows, each bigger than the last. She also told me a sad story: a mob of kangaroos had been found drowned 36 in all, in a big pile. Though kangas are good swimmers they must have not known which direction to go and stayed on their ground until submerged.

Tocumwal bridge. The central span was designed to be raised to allow paddle steamers through. 

On a more positive note, the first of the beaches are emerging. Fresh, clean sandy spits were beginning to show at Cobram, and many of the larger beaches near Tocumwal: these should be a real treat this summer. New growth is emerging on the trees, giving them hints of red and a light green, which seems to glow when the sun shines through it.

Forgotten caravan on a flooded beach near Tocumwal.

Being on the water, you are able to see things that people left in hurry, or forgot. On the town beach at Tocumwal a caravan had been forgotten and going off the markings had almost been completely covered. It must have been tied down, otherwise it would have been washed away. On another bend, a campervan had become bogged, before being abandoned. I guess that they could have been international tourists, out of touch with daily news and warnings. it would have been a rude awakening. i hope they had insurance.The nicest was a home built houseboat with an extension on two plastic drums, wedged amongst saplings for protection from the wind. Someone seems to live on their. i wonder if the back room is a fishing hole.

Home on the river... could the back extension be a fishing hole? Just lift the boards and fish...

The current continues to flow strongly, averaging around 4-5km/hr, but up to 7.5km/hr. This will make the Murray Marathon this year a fast race, however the high river has also made the Murray wide and its low banks offer little protection from the wind, so I hope that the weather is calm for those paddlers. I have had two days of headwind, though today was not as bad as yesterday. At the moment often only one bank is above the water on the river's edge, so paddlers are going to have to look after each other. It can be a long way to swim, and with nasty snags in some places, it will be important to look after each other. Although we can expect the river to drop another metre before the race, it will still stay higher than usual because the catchments are so wet, so it will be important to plan for safety.

There were a lot more fallen trees today. I saw and heard many fall in yesterday's big winds.

I chose Time Out as a flood safe destination. I did not know that a friend owned a caravan their. Rather than tent, he put me up for the night, meaning not only creature comforts, but also that I will be able to get away earlier in the morning. Thanks Barry :).

Kilometre marker.

Tomorrow I hope to find a patch of ground at Yielma Station, which is just before the Gulf in the Barmah Millewa Forest. From there it will be a short day to Tarragon lodge, before a leapfrog to Echuca. The forest is like home territory and i look forward to seeing it full of water. Should make for some good photos too I hope.

Murray River Paddle 2016 Day 7 Yarrawonga to Langi Oonah Station Oct 22

Yarrawonga to Langi Oonah Station 48km.

The winds were wild today. There were several times that I almost couldn't turn around because the wind caught my bow, but most of the time my boat broke through the waves it whipped up comfortably. I was an hour late on getting off because of issues with the gps, so I pushed hard to make up time. From the foam at the base of Yarrawonga weir every westerly stretch had white capped waves on it, however the river made up for this inconvenience with good current averaging about 5 km an hour.

The high water had left debris into the edge of the caravan park and around some cabins. It scoured the bank in places and left others relatively untouched. There were signs of collapse, but without a lower water level it is not possible to tell how much has crumbled into the river. There are stories of trees falling in, but disappearing below the surface because the river is so deep. I actually saw very few fallen trees, perhaps because of the depth of the river. They may be revealed when the river falls, or some may yet fall. The further down the river I went the lower the banks tended to become. I think that they might be totally be under by Tocumwal: they have had a very big river.

The trees were in great condition, with the exception of some of the older trees, which seemed to be really struggling in some patches, but doing very well in others.

I experienced several squalls and rain showers, the stronger of these made a noise like a jet aircraft approaching. It made the trees bend and shake. There was a high chance that some would fall in, so I kept to the centre of the river. The river is so wide at the moment that no tree would have reached the middle. It made me extra cautious about my camping site. With such strong winds it was not going to be anywhere near trees, that was for sure.

Squall coming through... had lots of wind today... headwind with more predicted for tomorrow.

Why aren't my land crew here yet #murraymarathon #oldDay1checkpointA

At about 25km, I paddled past 'checkpoint A' for the Massive Murray Paddle (Murray Marathon), after first stopping at the original alpha. The tree at One Tree Beach, which is usually a refuge from the hot sun, was well out in the channel in over 2 metres of water. I pulled over in front of it take a photo #whereismylandcrew! The new checkpoint is just downstream, at Redbank station, which like all of the stations around here is situated on top of an ancient Sandhills.

Fences help understand how much bank is collapsing.

I pulled into Langi Oonah station, just after Boonamoonana Station and following Cobrawonga Beach (someone had fun with those names). I remember paddling past Langioonah once before, seeing the B&B sign and the homestead set in its attractive gardens and thinking that this would be a nice spot to stop. I did a big sweeping circle to pull into shore and gave the number on the sign a call. I thought that either I would be allowed to stay, or I would be allowed to camp on their land. Turns out both would have been ok, however I decided for the experience of staying on at the old farmhouse.

I'm glad I did. It really is the most exceptional place. John, the owner, a man of exceptional strength helped pull my boat up the bank before banishing the cows from the paddock it was in for its protection. He gave me a lift to the house in his 4 wheeler and, after a cup of coffee in one of the biggest cups I have ever seen, gave me a tour around the property, showing how the water moved through the forest, where the platypus after which the station is named lived and where 4 metres of bank had fallen away in the last 6 years. He told me how the beach on the corner was moving downstream and had formed a new beach opposite the property and how he had discovered that there were layers of different kinds of sand in his sandhill, each from a different period of geological history. Sands of different colours could have come from floods in different tributaries. Coarser sand following wet years and clayier sand following dry years. John asked the question, "Why can't people, or groups adopt a stretch of river, to look after, in the same way that groups adopt a stretch of highway?" Sounds like a good idea to me - putting it out there.

Although strictly a B&B, John fed me a beautiful meal, washed down with a few glasses of red in front of his wood fire. We talked for hours, which is why this post is so late. Definitely a place I would like to return to with Ruth and a friendship I would like to foster.
John, who had been a horticulturist before moving to Langi Oonah, had also noticed what was happening to the trees. Without prompting from me, he also thought that it might be root rot (a soil fungus called Phytophthora, also known as cinnamon fungi), because of the way previously healthy trees suddenly lost condition and died. I have been watching trees like this too, it is different to die back caused by insects, drought, or prolonged flooding. The trees behave differently. Recognising root rot is part of horticultural training. In Germany it was part of my training as a landscape gardener, my former profession. It spreads through soil particles, on shoes, boats, cattle, it can even move in water: virtually unstoppable. If the death of the old trees was caused by cinnamon fungus, it would explain why the older suffering trees were clumped, why the trees next to water did worse than those a little further back on higher ground and why they often had so few roots. You can learn something from every step in life and from all people.

More on dieback caused by cinnamon fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi
https://www.environment.gov.au/…/24666…/files/p-root-rot.pdf

When John's wife (who was away at the time) heard that I was doing a study to help look after the river, she said "make sure you look after him". There are nice people in the world. These are two of them.

Tomorrow I make for Tocumwal in search of a dry campsite. I thought I might try Time Out Resort. It seems to be flood protected. Perhaps I can camp on their land.
If anyone reading this post had stories, or pictures of bank collapse, or tree decline (particularly river red gums), I would love to hear/see them.

Murray River Paddle 2016 Day 6 Yarrawonga Rest Day Oct 21

Yarrawonga rest day today. A chance to catch up with Ruth, meet locals and to go to the library to see what this area of the river used to look like in the early days of settlement.

Transporting my gear around the weir.
Its a long walk so worth calling ahead to the canoe club to see if they might be able to help you out with the portage.

The river is so important to people here that it seems everyone has an opinion or a bit of information they wish to share. Tom, from the yacht club told me how he is editing a book on natural history of the Yarrawonga area and what he has learnt in doing so; about the sand dunes that form on the north western side of bends in the river and how these are millions of years old. Tony from the motel who told me of what it was like in the 93 floods. He is sure of the date because he got engaged the day before over 300,000ML a day as passed through the Yarrawonga weir. This is nothing compared to that he said. There was an older gentlemen who thought the MDBA was to blame for the high river. He had friends who live in Tocumwal who were worried about the high river. He thought that all levels were controlled by people and was angry. He did not realize that most of the current flow at this point of the river comes from two unregulated rivers, the Ovens and the Kiewa. It is easy to blame. It's sometimes difficult to accept that we cannot control everything, let alone the weather. We may have regulated the Murray, but it is still a wild river. It is something to be proud of, but also respected, there are consequences. We can no more stop all floods than we can all droughts. The variation in river height drives river and forest health. River towns and farmers have learnt to live with the risk this presents. It is something to be proud of, not attacking each other about.

Historical records of what Yarrawonga was like before the weir. The weir defines the town, but its history and the memories of the people who live there began long beforehand.

I took these photos from Chinaman's Island, where there is a lovely interpretive walk about lakes environment. The red sky heralds unsettled weather for the next few days. Looks like more jumper days - and in Late October!

Tonight I am enjoying a night in a motel and a meal out. It's been great by the lake but I'm ready to move on. Next stage: 5 days into Echuca. Will be awesome pre-paddling the marathon course. Lots of memories.

Murray River Paddle 2016 Day 5 Collendina Forest (u/s Taylor's Bend) to Yarrawonga Oct 20

Today began with sunrise over the forest. My campsite was wet from dew, so I trampled paths to move on and stay dry. It had been a cold night and my summer sleeping bag managed to keep me warm if I tightened the hood until there was just a hole big enough to see and more or less breathe through. So after a cold night, I stood outside my tent and watched the sun rise over the forest next to me.
I had once again camped on one of the ancient river banks, high above the river. It is a bit like being in a tree house, except with grass. I cooked up a nice hot porridge for warmth and tried to work out how I could carry everything down to my boat in one go to get as little wet as possible. Down below mist rose from the river's surface. It does this when it is warmer than the air. It looked magical.

Once packed I pulled my boat back into the water. I always get wet doing this, so i don't know why I made such a fuss earlier. I guess I just felt clean and wanted to hold onto that for as long as possible. No sooner was I in the water than the current got hold of the boat and turned me into the stream. It was good to be on the way again.

The days paddle started off with the high bank which I had camped on, but with a steep crumbling face and trees on top. Who knew for how much longer. It then passed into the narrow bird filled canoeist's paradise I had paddled the day before. It is pure pleasure to paddle in such a pretty river. I found another camping site which would be suitable for canoeists just after Taylor's Bend. The farm has riparian fencing, like many others in the area, to keep stock off the river banks and help them to regenerate. It is an initiative of the local catchment management authorities and landcare. For paddlers, or fishermen, it leaves room to camp. This bend had a gentle sloping bank and some majestic old gums, but you could go further back to be out of the way of their branches. After about 8 kilometres I reached the main flow. The river was twice as wide and twice as fast.

I was a little confused though. Something didn't make sense. Pulling to the side of the river I realised that according to my map, the river should have been flowing the other way. So much water was passing through the anabranch I had seen the day before that the river had changed direction in this section. I decided to have a go at paddling against the current to try and reach my survey points. After initially attacking it at race speed, I realised that if I use the eddies it was not so difficult after all. It also gave me a good look at the bush - and a workout.

Once at the other end I turned into the original course of the Murray around 'snake island' (sounds like an inviting place to camp), where I experienced a similarly slow and narrow river to earlier in the day. Reeds reached halfway into the river and were so full of reed warblers arguing with each other about who had the nicest voice that I was able to sneak right up on one, before it realised there was a 7 metre red boat with a human in it within arms reach. Suddenly it was no longer so brave and disappeared.

Approaching the Ovens River water levels rose to the top of the banks and spilled over in places. I could see, however that they had been higher. Remarkable how fast the grasses and reeds recover after having been underwater for so long. The closer to the Ovens and Lake Mulwala, the thicker and more frequent the reed beds became. Above me two sea eagles circled causing a ruckus amongst the cockatoos in the trees below them. I began to see swans, one family with signets in tow, the parents trying to hurry them up and keep them swimming in the right direction.

Entering Lake Mulwala via the old river channel, I paddled past an ibis rookery. These don't smell the best, but the sight of so many birds nesting in one place and the way they took off and circled in waves was both music and symmetry. Honestly, I tried not to scare them. Lake Mulwala is full of logs. The recommended path for canoeists is along the southern shore, however you need the eyes of an eagle to spot them. If you go paddling here, be prepared for unexpected jolts. No wonder they want people near the shore. The banks are almost entirely filled by houses, some simple, some grand, each different. The way people interact with water says something about them. Perhaps that is why I used to enjoy walking along the shores of the lakes in Europe. This reminded me of those times.

There are only a few potential camping places that are accessible by canoe on the southern shore. There are two or three boat ramps, where you can pull out, or put in, but the only free ground with a gentle slope are at the furthest south point on the lake. The farmland at this place looked inviting. If I had not prearranged with the Yarrawonga Yacht Club Commodore to camp in their grounds I would have stopped there.

There are advantages to being in the bush. Just as I was trying to get changed, a yoga class who had booked the facilities arrived - lots of laughs (from them), but they let me in, which meant I could take a shower, which was So nice.