Day 63: the END!!!

Sorry for neglecting my duties and not letting you all know sooner that the Great Murray River Paddle is OVER! The day after the last post, we finished! Day 62 ended at the spot below... as had been the norm in the last few stints, we had trouble finding dry land which was far enough away from a road or house to camp. This spot below has the Murray River on the right, and a flooded field on the left. The remaining strip of land was narrow, but a nice enough spot as it was not easily accessible from the land on the other side of the field. Additionally, we were able to watch swans gliding across the flooded field. 

 On Day 63, we got up early and headed towards Murray Bridge (the bridge below). It was a little anti-climactic to be honest... and a little worrisome as we had no onward plans. But as things turned out, it was easier that might have been expected. After locating a Telstra and recharging the cell phone (and checking email), it turned out that there had already been responses to the ads for the kayaks on GumTree... and we were able to secure a sale that very day!

 After a dinner out in a hotel in town, we headed back to the caravan park to wash the kayaks, but before we were able to finish, the new owners arrived. Below are 3 of the children of the new owners! They arrived by Toyota Landcruisers, strapped on the kayaks and left, leaving us feeling just a little be devoid of purpose. I mean after 2 months of constant paddling, what would there be to do on Day 64?

Now it is almost a week after the last day of paddling.

The day following the sale of the kayaks, we headed by bus to Adelaide (where we stayed 2 full days NOT in a tent!!!!), picked up a rental car and drove two days to Canberra, backtracking through many of the towns we had approached by river over the last couple of months with an overnight in Euston. Bye Bye Blanchetown, Midura, Euston, Robinvale and all the other notable river towns. It was fun, but I am happy to be in Canberra. Can't speak for Dirk, however. You will have to ask him what his new purpose in life will be (as it won't be paddling the Murray). 

Days 61 & 62: Mannum

On day 61, we started early and discovered we had already paddled 40 kms the day before and had only a little ways to go to Mannum. We reached there in the morning, but it being Saturday, we weren't able to get to the lbrary. It is a good thing the local club had a computer with free internet in the bar (where I am now... on day 62).

Mannum is a pleasant town and much bigger than the others we have been passing through with over 2000 inhabitants. Unfortunately no Telstra and no Flight Center, so I have not yet bought my onward tickets or charged the phone. But we did manage to post ads on Gumtree and the Trading Post to sell the kayaks.

In a few minutes, we hope to have lunch and be off to the last town on our paddle. Murray Bridge. Only 38 kms on the river from here, we will have an easy paddle with some tonight and the rest tomorrow morning. I think both of us are getting anxious to finish, but also worried about what we will do after we have no more paddling to do.

More from Murray Bridge tomorrow or the next day.

Day 60: Purnong, Bow Hill & Young Husband

Yep, all the names listed above are those of the towns we visited... likely none of them with a population of above 250. Purnong was said to have a store, but we reached there midmorning and discovered... nothing but a ferry crossing... and a public restroom. We crossed over to use the facilities and chatted with a couple who had actually chosen to camp right there next to the public restroom... not on their way to somewhere, but for the upcoming weekend!
Bow Hill was a little better. Part of the riverfront was flooded, but there was a nice little warf and a shop at the top of a hill... a pretty stone shop where we bought lunch... Pie again for dirk, but a butterfish burger for me... and the man behind the counter kindly filled our water container from his rainwater tank in the back.

 After Bow Hill, we continued on to Young Husband... where it was again getting decidedly cold. (Picture below included in case you don't believe that this really is the name of the town). Young Husband even had a caravan park, but we didn't stop as we wanted top get a little closer to Mannum.

 The bottom picture is a closer one of some of the older chicks of those "belly flopping" birds I suspect to be cormorants.

Day 59: More Small Towns

On Day 58, we left Blanchetown (as you know) at about 11:00 am and reached the next small town, Swan Hill, in the afternoon. Swan Hill is famous for a hotel on a hill on the cliffs, but it was already getting cool when we reached there and we didn';t have time for much more than a quick drink in the historic hotel bar while we watched renters of Houseboat Unforgettable trying to dock. Their efforts were indeed unforgettable and I thought about yelling out additional instructions (which they would undoubtedly not have appreciated). From the hotel, the ferry was also visable. As mentioned, there are a lot of ferries in South Australia and fewer bridges. Waikerie, Morgan... and later Swan Reach, Walker Flat and Mannum all have ferries (Mannum with two that cross in the center even though the river isn't very wide). And all of these ferries have cables they stick up out of the water quite high, requiring us to wait until the ferry is on the other side before crossing.

On Day 59, we got an early start and reached Nildottie, the next small town, early. As mentioned in our map, it truly did have panoramic views. We bought meat pies in the grocers and ate lunch in the park, admiring the view of the red cliffs in the distance... cliffs we would later paddle past. The cliffs have all sorts of nooks, craneys and alcoves eroded into the softish rock and Dirk kept noting all the cockatoos huddled into the little holes, sometimes two to a tiny one.

After Nildottie, it got even better as we could also take our mid-afternoon break (and an ice cream!) at another table in another small town - Walker Flat. It was like Moorook in that it had a grassy bank by the river and a little store up from that. We camped shortly after that as the days are getting shorter and colder. We (I?) are finding is necessary to build a fire as quickly as possible on camping. We camped opposite a moored houseboat on land that was hard to find a spot flat enough to pitch tents. It was again Freehold property... not sure how it differs from private property, but in any case, it means "Keep Off".  

Days 56, 57 & 58: Blanchetown

 The symbol for Blanchetown is a paddlesteeamer with a pelican over it. As you can see from the pictures above and below, we saw both here. Both photos were taken from inside Lock 1. Picture 1 by me, picture 2 by Dirk.

Below are some campers at the caravan park on the other side of the lock (where we spent the second night). They rented kayaks and were paddling around. Envy... these kayaks wouold be faster and easier to paddle than ours.

Yes, it is true... we have slowed down. The weather is cold, rainy, windy and paddling is hard. But we intend to start up again today. We reached Blanchetown yesterday and had to spend the night (which we did camped in the fenced off area of a houseboat mooring area)... another prohibited spot I suppose. We had to spend the night as we were too late to pass through the lock, Lock 1, after perusing the local sights. The is significant as Lock 1 is the final lock. In addition, we had to share the lock area with two paddlesteamers, the Marion from Mannum and the Oscar from Goolwa, both of which were stationed in Morgan while we were there. But the days of chasing paddlesteamers will soon come to a close... we hope to take only 1 more week to get to the end! Today is day 58 (we took yesterday off) and we will leave Blanchetown in about an hour, but have taken another hour at the internet cafe to search for flights and other such details we will have to work out at the end of the journey.

More to come soon.

Bellyflopping Birds!

 Above, a nest with chicklets of some sort in it: below, an adult. Commorants of some kind? If you know, please inform in a comment.

Over the last week or so, as the afternoons wane, we start paddling closer to the shores and looking for the "belly flopping birds"! It is a most unusual spectacle. As we pass under the trees, birds just hurl themselves most ungraciously into the water, making huge splashes. It looks most uncomfortable. They don't seem to be fishing... If we sit quietly and wait, they poke their heads from the water, look around and go back under. It also doesn't make sense that they are only hiding as why would they draw attention with such loud water entrances?

Then we noted that in every case, there is a nest above with chicks in it. Large white fuzzy chicks. Interesting and quite a spectacle. If you know what birds these are, please let us know. The adults are white and black with long necks... cormorant-like.

Days 54 & 55: Morgan (another small town)

old house in Morgan; below, another historic building

Above, the road overlooking the river. Hotel and antique shop...

Below: leaving Morgan: kangaroos have free reign around flooded houses (some inaccessible by land due to flooding)

Final picture: Dirk proudly flaunting that he can camp wherever he damn well wants to! Note the fashionable "river shirt" ($3 from an Opp Shop)

On Day 55, we arrived in Morgan to a pattering of rain - the first time in ages. Even so, we managed to pass through Lock 2 early in the morning (which was closed incidentally and involved skirting through a construction site and paddling within the area closed off by yellow buoys) AND paddle 44 km!

Morgan, while small, is attractive. It used to be quite important historically as it was the end of the tracks for the rail to the riverland. Hence the cargo would be unloaded from the train and loaded onto paddlesteamers here. Although the day was cold and wet, it was a good day. It ended in the Terminus Hotel with a dinner that was relatively inexpensive and not bad for the price paid.

On Day 55, we took off rather late, dilly dallying (me) in walking around, shoping for a new book (I got one by Robertson Davies) and stopping again for Sunday Roast at the terminus. Mmmm. After that, we continued on the the face of wind in our faces and waves actually pushing us backwards, despite current moving forwards. We didn't manage many kms at all past the flooded "shacks" on the riverbank. (Some of the shacks looked like rather expensive holiday homes). We camped only about 10 km out as both of us were sufferent from freezing hands and feet.

As you can see from the final picture, Dirk has not strayed from his penchant for camping in places which should be off limits. It started ion Yarrawonga and continues. We left the campsite in pristine condition, however, and with a little gift left behind (a durable contraption for making coffee... since all our coffee wasfinished  anyway). In addition, he also has persisted in his search for "short cuts". The short cut he took on Day 55 (only 6 km before Morgan) was designed to cut off a corner. I decided to paddle around and sat after the corner waiting for him as he paddled into pond after pond and had to portage between them.... 3 times! Glad I missed that one out.