Day 10: And more Gum Trees! (48kms paddled)

Just before leaving Erbil, there was the possibility of a third traveller. Hi Z! I remember her mentioning that she looked on the website to view pictures of the scenery along the Murray River and commenting on the lack of variety. I am certain had she come, she would be saying, "Oh look! More gum trees!" (Note that that would be delivered in a somewhat sarcastic tone).
I would love to paint a lovely picture of kayaking the Murray... about the spiderwed lack connecting the trees on either side of the bank... of them sparkling in the sunlight... but it is a little overly romantic and divorced from some of the realities. Z would be right... there ARE a lot of gum trees along the river... and muddy/mucky banks to try and bank the kayaks on... banks mucky enough that my Haviana flip flops get so stuck that the little gold plastic strap between my toes gets pulled right out of the rubber bottoms and have to be threaded through again. I give my Havianas one more week on the riverbanks before I need a new pair! (And I have started disembarking barefoot).
Anyway, the highlight of Day 10 was a wallaby sighting (again by Dirk... he is faster at spotting the wildlife).... and a dinner of penne pasta in salmon cream sauce! I am getting better at cooking on the one metholated spirits burner that we have to cook on. The whole of day 10 was pretty lonely as we travelled through parklands... only one camper on the riverbank spotted us (and vice versa) and he called out to ask if we were students from a local public school. Apparently once a year, they send the trouble-makers of the school on a wilderness paddle to give them a chance to straighten out.

Continuation of the 9th Day: Post-shopping

After leaving Tocumwal, the kayaks were so overpacked that we had to pull over to the side of the river and repack. Dirk actually had water splashing up over the back of the kayak and collecting in the space where the bags were strapped.
At the riverside, while waiting for me to update the blog, Dirk also met some fellow "river rats", a couple travelling in a tinnie (Oz-speak for small aluminum motorboat with a 25 horsepower engine... well, that or a can of VB beer). These travellers were also travelling from Albury to the mouth of the river... or as far as their tinnie would take them. They are able to travel a little faster than us at about 40-55 km per day. I wonder if they are living it up in Swan Hill right now (this update comes from Echuca).

Day 9: Clear the Mind, Rebuild the Body, Refresh the Soul

Dirk Embery, 2011
The title of this post is Dirk's motto for this trip. I am not certain for sure that my mind is clear yet, but I am working on it. Certainly the second part is true. I can already feel my cardiovascular system rebooting and my lungs functioning better than they have in over three years!
To boot, we have paddled over 300km until now!

In any case, I am in Tocumwal at the moment and must run off to refresh our grocery stocks. Take care all... and PLEASE post some comments!

Day 8: Southern Cross

There is no photo for this post as I couldn't take a photo of what was really memorable about Day 8... It wasn't the town of Cobrum (which I didn't get to see... I sat on a chair by the bridge while Dirk hiked into town for more provisions), or the single paddle boat we saw abandoned at the side of the river... it was the sky!
The last couple of nights on the river have been freezing and in town, Dirk actually brought back a pair of pink flannel pyjamas that I can wear over my other ones (and under a track suit). But this doesn't mean they aren't beautiful. We camped right on the edge of a riverbank... so close that if we stumbled getting out of our tents, we might tumble into the river. In any case, there were trees to one side, river to the other... and the stars overhead.... The were the most magnificent I have ever seen. Not like the sky in Canada,, but positively awash in stars... like sombody tipped over the jar of silver sparkles.... strewn across in one big arc in the sky with a few brighter ones here and there.
And this morning... more kangaroos!

More on Day 7: Kangaroos & Campfires

OK, so all these photos are of kangaroos and none are of campfires, but we had one... I swear. Every night these days, we are trying to camp outside of towns so that we can build fires to keep the mozzies away. The "beach" we camped at on Day 7 was also the campgrounds for these critters. See below for pictures of tracks. It was amazing to see them in the wild!

Day 7: Yarrawonga

In an internet cafe in Yarrawonga, but realize Dirk is likely getting anxious to set off so I will sign out now and write more later! The end of today will signify one week on the river... One more week and Dirk has promised me Abs of Steel!

Day 6: Milestone Markers

So how am I charting our progress? We are watching the river markers. Mostly, they are posted to trees alongside the river... but in Lake Mulwala, they were on trees in the middle of the lake! This one is not the significant one... it was the next marker we spotted, "1998". This was significant as it marked that we had paddled 200 km! On this, the 6th day, we didn't travel too far as paddling on the wide open lake was not easy. The water was extremely choppy and we were paddling against the wind that was plowing us backwards each time we stopped paddling. We only did about 20 km (I expect we are somewhere around 1988 now).
In any case, it was a day of a lot of firsts. We woke up to find shrimp and yabbies in our trap and tasted our first river yabbies. It was also our first lake... and our first portage. We had to cross a weir to get to the next portion of the river and had to remove the kayaks from the lake, pack up all the stuff inside the kayaks and leapfrog carry (does that make sense) the canoes about 1km to the campground in Yarrawonga. Luckily, a lady from the information center, Pamela, offered to drop off our bags for us at the campground around 5 (after work).
We had a great dinner at Yarrawonga hotel that evening whil I recharged my camera. More pictures for this day coming later.

Day 5: Lake Mulwala (Sea of Dead Trees): 50 km today!

Started the day off with another kangaroo sighting! Gray ones this time. The most significant point of Day 5 is that we paddled nearly (or slightly over) 50km!!! I must be getting stronger... especially as the water nearing the entrance to Lake Mulwala was getting choppier and there were tons of waterskiiers everywhere. Although much of the river is a no-wake-zone (soil erosion), this portion is definately NOT. On this, the 5th day, I learned to turn my canoe so as not to be tipped over by large waves.

The most impressive thing about Day 5 was reaching the lake... it was bizarre and spooky as it was akind of underwater dead forest. I was so tired when we finally reached the lake that we pulled into the first place we could see fit for camping. We camped directly under a sign by the Water Governate admonishing us quietly. "No Camping".

Day 4: Only as fast as the weakest paddler

Nothing to write yet other than we have moved the canoes to the better camping grounds... In the Corowa Library, where I have been told it is lunch time. More from another town later...

Day 3: the Last Match (110km)

On this, the third day, I woke up with every muscle aching... not to mention the annoying itching coming from multiple swollen mosquito "kisses". Why do they love me so much? Anyway, I tried hard not to complain too much lest Dirk leave my by the wayside. Seems however, both of us were having a bad start as he got out the stove and matches for tea/coffee only to discover that we only had 2 matches in the box... and the first one didn't light.
Luckily, we ran into some campers... a group of guys from Melburne celebrating the 11th of their yearly boys' camping weekends along the Murray. One of them gave us a lighter.
We didn't travel as far this day as we were hoping to stay overnight in the campground of a town... access to Internet and a hot shower! We ended up at the river and paddled back upstream to a campground abut 500 meters from the bridge. As it turns out, the camping grounds were still about 3km from the town and there was a better caravan ground a fair bit closer... Live and learn! (Sorry, it is trite, but am under a time crunch and can't think of anything clever to say!)

Highlights: Saw 3 kangaroos by the river's edge.

How long to Howlong? (aout 80km total)

This is to be a short post... as you can see, the second day was rainy!!! We awoke to a brief reprieve in the rain (which started in the night) and to the loud and persistant squaking of the cockatoos. They are pretty to look at , but not so nice to awaken to. They seem to do little all day but fly in great numbers from tree to tree "talking" to ach other. On this, the second day, we were continuously wet, but Dirk more so as he switched canoes with me. The orange canoe paddler sits in a constant puddle as water comes up from underneath (this is because of the way they are designed... don't worry, no leak). On this day, we got up early and paddle (with several breaks) as we knew there was a town coming up... unfortunately, it was fuirther than it looked on the map and at every corner we kept loking for a bridge which never appeared... well, almost never. At about 2:30, we finally found it. We hid the canoes in a mozzie-infested swamp under a bridge and hiked the 2km into town for some provisions. All in all, it was a good day - we covered about 47km!!

First day on the River (33km)

 The first day of the trip was magical. I stayed at the park with the canoes (kayaks) while Dirk returned the UTE (half-ton pick-up) to the Albury airport. We floated/paddled by weeping willows, gum trees (eucalyptus), ducks, cockatoos, crows... and cows; completely motionless cows which did little besides follow us with their eyes as we sailed past them... likely the weirdest thing they had seen in days.

We finally camped in a pasture at the side of the river. It appeared to be on the edge of a farm as 3 kids, 2 teens on horses and a kid on a dirt bike came by. The girl told us she'd let "Al" know we were camping. We cooked on our new camp over - green veggie curry and rice. All in all, not a bad first day. As there was already a pit, we could build a fire to keep mozzies away... We didn't start until about 1:30 in the afternoon, but managed about 33km down the river.

First sighting of the mighty Murray

Yesterday, we arrived in Albury, passing through Corryong ,the pastoral town of Dirk's birth... Discovering his aunt's house on the way (by means of a remembered driveway), we were able to gain valuable advise regarding the best way to get to Albury - the long route following the Murray River - the waterway which is to be our home for the next 5-7 weeks. Fot those of you who don't know Dirk, he is my ex-colleague (from a uni in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq), Top Gear enthusiast, and now... friend and paddle guru (not because he knows all there is to know about paddling, but rather because he paddled the length of the Mississippi and knows about the poisonous snakes and spiders of Australia)!

As we have not yet started, there is little to write, but the canoes have been purchased and we will pick them up and start tomorrow.

Stay posted for photos from my large and awkard to use Nokia!