Day 47: Happy 100 Year Anniversary to the PS Industry

I am not entirely certain, but I think P.S. stands for Paddle Steamer. In any case, the PS Industry was moored right in front of the riverfront bordering the main stretch of Renmark. We made our way into to town for our 10:00 booking for free internet at the Renmark library... As you can tell, I wasn't able to catch up on blog postings.
At about 11:00, we wandered back to where the PS Industry was moored to look around the exhibitions, tour the Industry, and enjoy the general hubbub surrounding the festivities.

In the afternoon, I shopped a bit more in Target (the horror... it is now the only place I shop in besides Grocery stores and Priceline Pharmacy) while Dirk read his paper in the coffee shop. Then  we bought groceries to get to the next town (only a short paddle away to Berri) and returned to the caravan park where we cooked dinner in the camp kitchen next to a large group celebrating a birthday.

Note: As we go along the river, Dirk has been tearing pages out of the map book and using them to light fires... it also marks our passage as he burns (of course) only those pages of river map which we have already covered. Today was significant as he discarded the last page in the book. Guess we need a new book now to get us through the final stretch: Renmark to Goolwa.

Day 46: Renmark

 Above is the "Settler" from the Remnark Club. Below, Dirk checking out the engine of the Settler.

 Below is me with Robyn, the lady who (along with her husband) owns the boat.

The night of Day 46, we camped on the river where it met with a largish creek. Easrly in the morning, Dirk set off in an empty kayak (we hadn't packed up) to explore a possible shortcut to Renmark. Unfortunately, it ended in a large pond and it was too difficult to know which way to go to meet the river again. However, on his way, a large red kangaroo jumped into the creek in front of him, got a little flustered, but made it's way to the other side. (I missed this as I was still slowly waking up by finishing off "The Lost Dog"- book my Australian author?).

Although we had only about 14 km to go to Renmark, we took a short mid-way where we encountered another kangaroo... slightly bedraggled looking, but with no fear of humans. It allowed me to walk right up as it went on eating from a bush.

We arrived in Renmark at about 11 and stopped on the grassy river bank to rest and look around. Shortly after, the paddlesteamers we have been trailing all week arrived as well. We then paddled on to Big4 caravan park.It was the most expensive camp we stayed at, but was really very nice. Later that day, when wandering around town, I ran into the ladies from the PaddleSteamer "Settler" in Target. They invited us for a drink on their boat later in the evening. We went after dinner in the Renmark Club (the boat was mored only steps away). It was lovely... The couple that owned the boat had built it mostly from scratch. They were travelling with 2 other couples and while we were there, people from other boats and the neighborhood dropped in.  It was a late night seeing as we are usually in the tents before 10:00pm. I like Renmark.

Houseboat Hopping (or "Oh, Ye Mighty Yabbie")

At the start of Day 45, we set out just after the Emu and the Shiralee (paddlesteamers) passed and before the other 3. Dirk was careful not to take any nasty shortcuts for at least the first part of the day. Later, we passed some creeks joining the river and saw those two steamers again. No sign of the others. The progress throughout the day was good... until the mid-afternoon.

It was mid-afternoon when we encountered the Brown family on their rented houseboat. Mr. Brown called to us to come over for a beer. We paddled up and enjoyed meeting him and his grandsons. It seems 3 generations of Browns were there enjoying a little fishing. One of his grandsons, a 16 year old, was particularly happy as he had just purchased his very own tinny with savings he had from his part-time job as a supermarket cashier. The family was from Adelaide, where the grandkids were undoubtedly missing school!

After pushing off, we saw another Houseboat named "Scoundel". Jokingly I told Dirk we should stop there for round two... but in fact it happened that they did also call us over. This group invited us onboard where we met the entire staff of a lighting corporation which were on the river for "training". I believe this if the training means in catching yabbies, drinking and speeding around in tinnies.

In any case, these guys were really hospitable and not only provided us with spiked lemonade, but also threw a couple of handfuls of yabbies into our bucket for us to take away for our tea (dinner).

We camped a little late that night, but enjoyed yabbies and garlic in olive oil pasta for dinner, while listening to Renmark's radio station - 5RM. Every 10 minutes or so, there is the anouncement for the "Mighty Yabbie Competition" where people can take the yabbies they catch in to an official measuring depot and be considered for a prize... one for the biggest yabbie of each week... and one for the largest overall. Somehow, seeing as we are fishing for yabbies with a largish shrimp net, I doubt we will catch any truly big ones.

Day 44: South Australia

Well, if you were wondering, the paddle steamers DID pass us again. In the morning around 9 as we were breaking camp, we heard the rythmic thud thud thud of the paddlewheels turning.
After setting out, we paddled hard, as it was neccessary to travel the 44 km to Old Customs House before it closed. We did about 22 km by 11:30a,/ At about 3:00pm, we left New South Wales on our right... and slightly after, Victoria on our left, leaving us completely in South Australia! Mission Complete... almost. Now we have the new goal of Goolwa at the mouth of the river (or somewhere thereabouts).
A few kms later, we reached Old Customs House which used to be used... yes, seriously for customs between the Australian states. We met up with the paddlesteamers again here as they decided to dock for the night here. We only stopped for bread, water and... grogg (oh, and two eggs). We camped at about 6km after the shop. On this day, we ended up covering about 50 kms!

Day 43: "Short Cuts"

Above is a postcard I stole from the internet of a place along the Murray called Devil's Elbow. Unfortunately, I was too frustrated when we passed this beautiful spot (the highlight of the day) to take a photo...

The day started out well enough. In the morning, we paddled to Lock 7, where we med the lockmaster Sid, a gentle-mannered aboriginal man with a deeply lined face and quiet demeaner. He was accompanied by Maggie, a 13-year old black and white chihuahua blend who was certainly happy to see us (as was Sid). Likely leading a lonely life as Lockmaster for Lock 7, he invited us for tea and a bikkie (spelling?).

We took our first "short cut" of the day after leaving Sid. Instead of continuing over the weir (which was out) and past the lock, Dirk decided it would be good to follow a channel of water streaming behind the lockmaster's dwelling. It was probably well intentioned as I am a little scared of going over the weirs... but it was a challenging paddled. On the way down the stream, the water was gushing over logs which we had to negotiate over and into a large swamp-like area. This area was filled with dead bushes one had to paddle around and was dotted with areas so shallow the kayak would get stuck and require pushing off with a paddle or actually getting out and moving the kayak over it.  I was starting to get frustrated as I could see no way out... and no gong back. Finally, Dirk found what he thought might be a way, tied my kayak to his and drug them both thtough a thicket while I trudged behind grumbling. We got through! Hooray... but it was the last of such "short cuts" for the day. Sigh.
By the time we had got through the last of them, I was frsutrated and started paddling hard... bypassing a NICE short cut which Dirk was able to take, l;eaving him waiting for me on the other side. It was after this that we passed devil's Elbow and the paddle steamers from the day ebfore who had decided to camp there for the night. I wonder how many more times we will see them as we are heading to the same goal... Renmark by April 1.

Day 42: Happy Camper

 If you lock closely at the fuzzy picture above, you should see the shadow of an emu!

 Above is Darb enjoying a tinny on his tinny. Note Dirk's stylish "river shirt" - a $3 special from Salvos.

ABove photo, is us, stick in an agricultural canal - NOT a shortcut!

At the time of writing notes for this post, we had travelled 108 kms since Wentworth, with onlyy 80 to go to Old Custom's House, after which we would truly be in South Australia! (When we first started the journey, whenever anyone asked us where we were heading, Dirk would simply answer South Australia. At the time, in our tiny plastic kayaks, the mouth of the river seemed an almost unbelievable goal).

On this day, I am not sure why,. but I was truly happy. Paddling - the same thing we had been doing every day for the past 41 days... past the same scenery (gum trees, meandering river), I had a rare sense of contentment. Everything was all right with the world. Not worried about the fact that I have no job lined up for afterwards. Not sure if I would get into grad school. No thoughts about papers to mark or anything that needed doing. Ordinarily, I would ahve to attend a grueling Bikram yoga session to actually be able to clear my head of anxieties like this. But this was like Bikram... without the heat or pain.

Anyway, as a day, it was pleasant. Dirk spotted an emu (my first), wild pigs, kangaroos... and we met again with "Darb" (Steve Darby - Lockmaster) on his tinny. As I was paddling, a tinny came right at me full speed. Seems he recognized us from the day before when crossing the lock and came to let us know of the status of the locks to follow. In addition, he also offered us a refreshment. We pulled up to his tinny, cracked a few tinnues and chatted as we all floated down river together. Nice way to spend a while. He also advised us of a few short cuts. Unfortunately, we took a wrong turn on the first one and ended up in a agricultural canal of some sort. Trying to get out, I slipped on a rock and fell on my butt in the river. Swimming mid-day is beginning to become a habit for me.
Later, we ran in to 3 paddlesteamers on their way to Renmark (like us!). They stopped before the lock and invited us to stop with them, but we continued on, passed the lock by about 8 - 10 kms and camped. We swam in the river that evening... ON PURPOSE!

Day 41: Leaving Wentworth

It was a little daunting leaving Wentworth, knowing (as we did) that it was going to be the last long stretch without any real towns... about 190 km... and the stop after that 190 would be just a store, not a town... and then another 68 or thereabouts. We started as per usual on the first day of these long stretches, with the kayaks riding low in the water.
After our first break, there was a mishap. After pushing off from the bank, I leaned over to wash my shoe in the river and didn't see a log which was bent over the water. I started paddling and struck the tree sideways, putting out my hand to soften the blow... but the current draggin on the tree was strong, so my hand held me in place, but the kyak went "pop" and slipped under the tree, out the other side and continued down the river. I was dumbstruck for a moment (hanging on to the tree), but then grabbed the paddle and swam after the kayak. Dirk paddled over and held the kayak while I got back in (a tricky maneuver in the middle of the river), then he went on after my flip flops which had floated away.
Anyway, that was the big event for me on Day 41. After lunch, we passed through Lock 9... I know, the first was 25 or 26 and seems like we should have passed through a lot, but many of the proposed locks were never built. (Below is a rather sad photo of the lock).

Note: This day was the frist day of Formula 1, so Dirk was pretty excited to set up camp and listen to the radio.