James and Mirandah's Murray River Tour - Xmas 07
After spending a few days in Sydney with the family Mirandah and I packed up and headed west with the old boy's tinny in tow. Sadly we had to leave our old friend Mary at home, but Harriet had her first real holiday run. We didn’t get away until after lunch so we had a leisurely first days drive. We did manage to pass through Wagga Wagga on the way and Mirandah insisted on us revisiting the spot where we first met – the 10th tee at Wagga Wagga Golf Club. After some reminiscing and a quicky we continued on to a spot beside the Murrumbidgee just out of Narranderra. From here we drove on through Hay and Balranald to Mildura.We spied a nice reserve just out of Mildura and decided to check it out. We put the boat in and went for a cruise and a swim. It wasn’t a bad spot but it was pretty boganised. High powered ski boats were a plenty and many of the camps we saw featured tents with extension cords leading out the door to a well placed generator just a few metres outside. Not to mention houseboats with generators running permanently to power the air conditioning. We found a spot away from the engine noise and spent the night there.
The next morning we headed toward the Murray Sunset National Park but stopped at Wentworth on the way to check out the join of the Murray and Darling rivers. We put the boat in and motored from the Murray up the Darling to the centre of town and then back to the boat ramp. On the way back I took a shortcut from the Darling to the Murray River through a small channel through reeds and water plants. I was paddling through using the oar when Mirandah drew my attention to a turtle that was swimming in front of the boat. I could see a head out of the water but it didn't belong to a turtle, it belonged to a rather large brown snake. It was making it's way across the channel in front of us. I tried to stop the boat but we had too much momentum and we got bloody close to him. As we got closer he reared up and considered having a go at us but luckily turned again and kept on his way. Luckily we were only 50 metres from the car so relief in the form of toilet paper was close by!
The junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers just downstream of Wentworth. At this point i noted that we were probably sitting in our sewage from Moree, Dubbo and my stuff from the snowy's last winter.
Mirandah driving the boat near the junction. Scary stuff!
Back in safe hands. Captain James steers the boat in front of 'The Ruby", an old paddle steamer moored at Wentworth.
Further down the road on the way to Murray Sunset we passed miles and miles of reddish sand dunes on the way and plenty of bright sparks had attempted to grow wheat in the moist conditions – probably crying poor at the same time. Wheat paddocks gave way to the Murray Sunset National Park, which was mostly red sandy desert like countryside with the odd area of scrub. The temperature was around the 40 degree mark when we arrived and it was even hotter in the sandy areas as I found during a small walk to the outdoor shitter. There were plenty of roos and emus. Most spent there day parked in whatever shade they could find. We startled plenty whilst driving around and had a few very close encounters.
Luckily there was a river out there somewhere and the desert like countryside gave way to a wide belt of floodplain with a bit more shade. We crossed a wooden bridge to Lindsay Island and headed off to the Kulkurna Cliffs.
Harriet and Bob on the bridge over Mullaroo Creek to Lindsay Island.
As with many of the nice spots we encountered on our trip the best spot along the river was occupied by a houseboat with generator in full swing running an air conditioning unit for those that were locked up inside. We considered reciprocating by spending the night in the car with the engine running and air conditioner on but we came up with a brilliant alternative idea for keeping cool – to jump in the river. Who would have thought it?
Mirandah at Kulkurna Cliffs. Boganised house boat was just around the corner from here.
Just prior to xmas we purchased a couple of floats, one lilo and one floating beer seat complete with stubby holder. Both floats allow the occupant to be partially submerged in the water while remaining comfortably above the surface. We spent a couple of hours floating around and checking out the cliffs and bogans from the river. After that we drove back to the edge of the island and camped along the Mullaroo Creek that flows around Lindsay Island. The creek was a dinky die aussie inland waterway surrounded by big red gums, full of snags etc… This creek bypasses Lock 7 on the Murray and the resulting gradient provides for a very steady flow of water down the creek. After finding a nice spot in the twilight we launched into the creek on our floats and had a peaceful float around a few bends near our camp site.
Near where we camped on Mullaroo Creek. This was the launch point for many floating laps that finished about 1.5km downstream.
Floating down the creek proved to be so much fun that we decided to spend our fourth day in the same spot. It was like one of those tube rides at Wonderland or Mt Druitt waterworks but natural and because there was no noise we were able to watch all the action happening along the creek which was mostly birds but also featured a goanna in action trying to raid a nest. We did have to paddle occasionally to avoid the snags. A walk of around 300m from our camp site gave us an easy float of around 1km (1.5hrs) down the creek. By lunchtime it was getting bloody hot. The BOM was reporting 42 at Mildura but we were surrounded by exposed grey soil so the temperature had to be well above that. We got through it by repeating our float several times fully clothed. Our wet clothes proving to be a very effective evaporative cooling unit between floats.
Near our camp site on Mullaroo Creek in the morning.
Near our camp site on Mullaroo Creek in the morning. This is one of the bits we floated down on the lilo's and is a good example of how nice it was.
When the temperature cooled we put the boat in on the Murray and went to check out the lock. That was followed by a new campsite near the mouth of the creek that featured some rapids for more floating fun in the lilo’s.
Safety Sam in her lifejacket sporting man hair. She was driving so i had one on also! Note that the lifejacket is recommended "For Persons Of Mass 40kg and Over" - definitely a category we both fit into after a lazy few months. Lock 7 is the blurry structure in the background.
Where we camped next to the start of Mullaroo Creek. The Murray is the body of water in the background right of photo. There was an old weir just left of this photo that had good rapids for lilo's and a return eddy to get you back for another go.
We packed up early and headed further down the Murray to Renmark.
The Lindsay River on the way out of the park. Another top aussie.
On the way out of the park we had a great experience with an emu. Just the day before Mirandah had asked me to race an emu in the car so that we could see if they really could run fast. I told her i'd do my best. Wouldn't you know it we had one run in front of us on the road out of the park and rather than run off the road to the side he ran like crazy up the road in front of us. He was doing 40 km/hr comfortably so i accelerated to 50. Still no worries. I started catching him at 60 and that's when i took the photo below whilst driving. He ended up realising he could get off the road after about 1km or so and probably had a cardiac arrest in the heat shortly after. Natural selection at work.
Emu racing us out of the Murray Sunset National Park at around 60km/hr.
We spied an awesome stretch of river just north of Renmark at a place called Headings Cliffs, and decided to spend the afternoon and night there.
View downstream from Headings Cliffs
We loaded the boat up with our camping gear and motored down to a nice shady spot with a view of the cliffs. It was even hotter this day with near by Renmark reaching 43. Needless to say we spent most of the afternoon on the lilo’s tied to the boat so we could float down the river and motor back to our campsite. We were treated to an awesome display of colours on the cliffs late in the afternoon.
Have you ever sat on a tree? No. How about a root? Mirandah "Cooling Off" with one of my Coopers at the base of a tidy Red Gum that kept us in shade for the afternoon.
Nice colours on Headings Cliffs.
Near our camp site at Headings Cliffs.
Mirandah on her lilo taking in the afternoon colours on the cliffs. We spent a fair while in this position. Luckily my float was a seat with built in stubby holder.
Another early start as we headed back to the boat ramp to get the car and continue down the river to the Coorong, the mouth of the Murray. Below Renmark the river takes on a different style with a narrow floodplain bordered by rocky cliff bands, and the river is overall much straighter.
Typical seen on the lower Murray. The river has carved out a well defined valley in the rocks in this area and is pretty different to the flatter areas upstream.
We stocked up at Murray Bridge and headed to the Coorong, which stretches out over a fair distance. It was the hottest day so far and we were in Murray Bridge at the time the BOM reported a maximum temperature of 45.
Unfortunately the area was very different to how I had imagined. What looked like a nice estuary on the map turned out to be a pretty skanky fresh water lake on one side and a shallow hypersaline salt lake on the other. I'm sure it would be nice is there was good flow coming out of the river but it was pretty ordinary when we were there. The beach dunes did look really spectacular so we decided to head in that direction. We crossed the salt pan at Tea Tree Crossing and ditched the boat at the campground to have a shot at the beach. Harriet only has road tyres so our first attempt was unsuccessful. We decided to give the beach a miss until the morning. We settled for a night by the salt lake and we in bed by about 10pm. A very roudy NYE indeed.
In the morning we let the tyres down without a gauge and hit the beach. It was a nice beach but was very wild looking in terms of rips etc.. so we didn’t venture anywhere near the water. I spoke to a few fisherman who said the jewfish were going nuts but we didn’t have any gear to have a shot at the title.
Harriet enjoying the beach.
Harriet and Bob taking on the stinky salt pan at Tea Tree Crossing.
Mirandah at one of the pink salt lakes near Tea Tree Crossing.
We decided to have a go at some estuary fishing near the mouth of the Murray but by the time we were sorted the weather had turned to shit. We ended up going for a short walk to check out one of the Barrages that separates the fresh water Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert from the salty Coorong.
Salt water to the left, fresh water to the right. Mirandah on one of the Barrages that separates Lake Alexandrina from the Coorong. This day had been sunny not 30 minutes before this photo was taken. Around the time we were ready to go boating a stinking southerly kicked in chopping up the water and covering us with skanky salty air, which isn't great when you haven't showered for a week.
I had the shits with the place so we decided to ditch the Coorong and give the River another go. We drove back to Renmark.
Wheat stubble on red sand dunes. You get used to seeing this in South East South Australia.
Once we restocked we decided to head to a spot on the river about 50km north of Renmark. On the way to the spot the thousands of kilometres, dirt tracks and high temperatures took there toll on the small wheels of the boat trailer and we had a blowout. Unfortunately I didn’t feel anything for a km or so and by the time I realised there was a problem the tyre and half the wheel had disintegrated.
The remains of the wheel after the tyre blowout and dragging 1km or so on a rough dirt road.
It was another very hot day with temperatures into the 40’s once again. It was a delight to change the trailer tyre in desert like landscape with no shade whatsoever. My shoes felt like they were going to melt into the ground. It appeared that the bearing grease on both wheels had overheated resulting in the blowout. Luckily only one tyre went so we were able to change it and limp back to Renmark for repairs. It was late so we found a nice spot on the river to camp just out of town. Another nice evening of floating on the river watching the sunset and having a bevy or two.
We headed into town first thing to source another wheel and tyre for the trailer. After a couple of hours of calling various manufacturers that were either closed for xmas or sold out we tracked down a replacement wheel and some tyres but they had to be couriered in the next morning. We were able to leave the boat at the wheel place and we drove back the camp site we were heading for the previous day. We found a nice spot on the river and had another evening of floating and camping on the river.
Watching the sun go down over the river on my float - did i mention that it has a built in stubby holder.
Our last camping spot for the trip. A nice way to end.
The next day we went back to pick up the boat which was ready to go by midday. We decided we were Murray’ed out so we drove the 800km or so back to Dubbo. Once in Dubbo we decided to get out of the clothes we had on for 9 straight days and have a shower.