Monday 31 January 2022 The Murrah

 A 2 metre high tide at 8.13am at the entrance allowed us to start our paddle with a foray upstream.

By 9.15am we were on the water and

heading upstream.

At least I was - having realised there was silence behind me I turned around to discover no progress had been made by my fellow paddlers. Too much chattering!

I poddled along quietly against a slight current, enjoying the solitude until the other three caught up before the sharp left hand bend of The Murrah .  Instead of heading up the river we proceeded straight ahead into

Arnolds Gully.

The peacefulness and reflections silenced everyone and 

we cruised along absorbing the ambience of the surroundings.

Having gone to the right around the reed island we passed a bank of shrubs

festooned with 'Spanish Moss'.

Back out from our path round the reed island we were hit with more mesmerising reflections.

So many vistas to catch the eye.

Having reached as far as we could go up Arnolds Gully,

we turned around and headed back downstream, under the bridge and

passed a big male kangaroo

who after a good look decided we didn't pose a threat.

As you will see from the map we wended our way down to the mouth of the river (for pics of the lower section see previous Murrah blog entries), during which we entertained by a variety of raptors checking us out: one, which may have been a Swamp Harrier, Whistling Kite or Little Eagle which gave a long downward note whistle as it flew overhead; a couple of Sea Eagles and a pair of Wedgetail Eagles circling low over the wetland.

We spent a lazy 50 minutes over morning tea down near the entrance before beginning our steady paddle back upstream against the now outgoing tide. Arriving back at the bridge at 12.25pm we found appreciably less water than when we put in. Another glorious time on the water was over.

Trip Notes:

Put In/Take Out: Murrah River Bridge

Tide at Entrance: 8.13am 2.0m

9kms

3hrs 10mins