Day 7 - Back on the river!

Somewhat reluctantly after a relaxing morning of fishing it was time get back in the drivers seat and get moving once again. This evening I only intended on travelling to Bundalong (approximately 20km). The Everglades upstream of Lake Mulwala are a mess of channels and wetlands and I had worried I may struggle to navigate through her on the following day. Furthermore, Lake Mulwala is a drowned forest and full of large snags. On the short stint in to Bundalong I suddenly encountered significantly more boat traffic. In fact, it was the first time on the entire journey I had to cross the wake of a moving craft. Just upstream of Bundalong I came across 6 blokes in 3 tinnies hooning around. Was a little concerned about being swamped but managed to get some good local knowledge from them regarding camping grounds around Bundalong. This was extremely useful as the river banks in that area were generally covered in thick vegetation with very few sand bars. I had been making best efforts to avoid camping close to towns but in this case it was the only practical option. In the end Bundalong was a very sleepy town and apart from the sound of dogs barking and distant street lights it was a reasonably peaceful nights sleep.

Another nights camping along the Murray River

Sunset on the Murray

Serenity on the river

Current location

Day 6 - Time to take a break

After a steadily increasing workload over the 5 days previous, I was very happy to have the day off and a small sleep in. This was made easier by a few passing light showers. A negative side to this though was a large drop in temperatures and strong westerly winds. To date I had been lucky with minimal windy days. I spent the first half of the day just hanging around waiting for Kristian to arrive. When he did we grabbed the boat and took off to try and catch a few yellowbelly. Unfortunately we only caught 3 Murray Cod (closed season) about 40cm long so they all went back. More than anything it was just brilliant to have the company. Although my body was coping well and becoming stronger with the workload, I was struggling more and more everyday being away from friends and family. When I leave tomorrow it will be difficult as I know it will be another week of solitude. It was enough to convince me to bring forward my finish line to Echuca on the following weekend. I accepted simply that although the trip is interesting and challenging, it is an experience that would be greatly enhanced if not done solo.

Camping at Brimin

My first Murray cod for the trip

Bait yabbies and shrimp

The river rabbit - not the first european carp I have caught!

Day 5 - Finding rhythm

After a very slow and tricky start to the trip it seemed I had built up some real momentum. Today was another example as I clocked up another 51km and pushed through from upstream of Corowa to Brimin where I was meeting Kristian the following day. There was enormous incentive to push through the pain with the carrot being a full day off. Prior to my trip I had only completed approximately 100km of paddling in the last couple of years. Brimin would be approaching 200km in just 5 days. A full day off would prove extremely beneficial in allowing the usually lazy muscles a chance to recover and become stronger. It was an extremely challenging day though. The river become a wider slower channel around Corowa and proved reasonably easy to navigate. It is there I crossed paths with my second snake. This was another black snake but substantially larger than the first. Again it was swimming across the river but I always maintained a keen eye for the moving snag. Approximately 15km upstream of Brimin the river changed dramatically. It suddenly branched off into numerous faster moving channels. The channel I followed was very difficult to negotiate with snags crossing the majority of the channel at many locations. A few bad split second decisions were made but I managed to avoid the big snags and stay dry. It was true to say I had more than a few hairy moments very similar to Day 1! That day truly helped my decision making process with regard to the remainder of my journey. I would speak with Kristian tomorrow to establish an exit strategy.

Photo from the pilot seat

Few friendly Cockies hanging out at the snag

Black snake number 2 (perhaps 1m long)

Lunch break and chance to escape the blazing sun

Finish location for Day 5

Day 4 - Finally a change is in the air

Overall, the first 3 days on the river have been carbon copies. They start with a frost, followed by a clear warm day and the temperatures plummeting 5 degrees in 10 minutes as the sun disappears. Day 4 saw the first sign of change. The NW winds were up and some high cloud began streaming through. Finally...no frost tonight! Some rain would have been nice but not too much that would flood my tent. What eventuated was around 10 spots which was perhaps fortunate given my tent location. The river has continued to settle down over the last 2 days with reasonably slow flows but occassional spots where snags have to be negotiated carefully. At least now the flow is slow enough that if I make a bad decision on path I can hit reverse and change my approach. Today the big first was seeing a big Wedge Tailed Eagle give the other birds hell. It landed on a snag perhaps 15m away. They are an awesome sight to behold from close range! More solid progress today as I managed an early start and over 45km. Body still feeling fine with the increased workload. I will keep pushing the envelope to see if I can manage my initial long term goal of 50km/day as an average.

Lunch break and a chance to finally get the pfd off

Camp for night 4

River covered and camp site for night 4

Day 3 - Much a muchness!

Yet another frost overnight. This time I thought I would at least take a photo to demonstrate what I am dealing with. My sleeping bag has been alright but even fully clothed I find myself shivering through much of the night. Yesterday was a dramatic improvement on day 1 but I need to up the km/day sharply to begin making some real progress. Today I stepped it up a little further to cover 42km in the day. The body is not loving it. Although I feel the paddling rhythm improving with every day, the heat has taken a lot out today and for the first time have been seriously contemplating pulling the pin on my trip well before Goolwa. Today was a day of firsts. First roo, first snake and first fox. It was only a small black snake, perhaps 40cm and swam 2-3m in front of my kayak. I did see it some time before that.

Scratching the ice off the kayak in the morning

Taking a photo each morning to see the changes to general appearance

Late in the day passing by the cliffs around Howlong

Camp site at end of Day 3

Overall progress map

Day 2 - Much to plan...

After the trials and tribulations of day 1, I was certainly hoping for a change in fortune with respect to river conditions and greater kms travelled for day 2. I was greeted with the second frost in as many nights but I had prepared myself for being very uncomfortably for however long was required. From Albury the river generally changed to a slower flow and greater width. There was still an enormous number of snags throughout the river but generally much easier to navigate. Today I had my first encounter with a Platypus in the Murray River. The kayak is very quiet and I was able to sneak within a couple of metres before it took a dive for deeper water. Apart from that there has been significantly less wildlife than I had thought. Also far less boat traffic than anticipated. I passed no boats on the river at all today. A consequence of low river levels and closed season on Murray Cod and Crayfish. Another 38km travelled today. Hard work but rewarding. The shoulders were sore but overall the body was holding together well. Certainly it was very liberating to strip off at the end of the day, hook up the hot water bag to a tree and have a reasonable wash off.

Lunch break and looking very classy in my hat

Camp setup with tent on sandbar

Camp site at end of Day 2

Day 1 - This was not on the brochure!

The previous evening my mate Kristian and I headed for the Hume Wall and finalise the start point. We then continued on to camp just off the Omeo Highway heading towards Mitta Mitta. Another beautiful day up there but clear days seem to be followed by frosty evenings!

Due to the cold and damp conditions we made a late start and did not arrive at the start point until after 10am. Unloading the kayak from trailer, packing it will all the essential equipment, and then finally setting off took another hour plus some. Finally after much preparation I was on my way. The first day was not what I had anticipated at all. It was less than 1km downstream of the wall before I passed under a bridge where the water was so low that i bounce the bottom of the kayak over a large boulder. After the bridge there were snags absolutely everywhere and a straight stretch of river had to be treated like a slalom course. Through the course of the first day I took one wrong turn into a dead end, smashed into one snag which destroyed one rod and reel attached to the top of my kayak, hit another snag side on which swung me perpendicular to the flow and I thought for sure into the river and several times became stuck on the shallow rocky bed. The common river scape was for bends with wide unpassably shallow rocky sections with the slightly deeper areas loaded with snags. I wish more photos were taken but I was honestly too concerned with trying to make the most kms possible in difficult circumstances.

Later in the day I came across a group camping along the river. With channels going everywhere I stopped to confirm I was still on the main Murray River channel and to see how far on to Albury. They were extremely hospitable and invited me to camp there for the night with Dave, Dom and Jack. Thanks again guys...after that horrid first day bouncing all over the river it was good to have to company. Only 21km of the proposed 2225km covered. It was an enormously challenging day.

Arrival at Hume Dam Wall

All loaded up and ready to hit the river

Stumps Day 1 - Very happy to be off the river

From left: Dom, Dave, Jack