Raring to go after our lay day and a good dinner at the Tintaldra Pub and with the river level rising, we hit the road early and headed up the river to Clarke Lagoon Reserve, the put in point for today's section. Arriving about 8.15am we found the group of blokes who had spread themselves all over and beside the only 'beach' in the reserve still fast asleep. Trying to be as quiet as possible we set about unloading the boats.
It wasn't long before one of the blokes, very grumpy (the empty tinnies strewn around their fire perhaps the reason why) emerged from his tent and had a go at us for stopping there. Unfortunately for him, we believed he didn't have a leg to stand on and feeling feisty we gave as good as we got. The exchange woke the rest of his mates, one of whom wandered over, listened for a bit and quietly said to his friend 'give it up mate' and the protagonist retired, pouting, from the lists. With plenty of empty secluded areas around the reserve, if it was privacy and quiet they were after they shouldn't have tried a Lindsay Fox.
With the boats unloaded V and I were left to guard our gear while the car shuffle was done. Other than the odd passive form of intimidation been undertaken we were left alone; happily, on my part, pondering pithy comebacks in case grumpy oik returned to the fray.
Upon the return of the shufflers we were soon on the water and
at 9.10 our last adventure began.
To give you an idea of how fast the water was moving watch this video L took during our lunch break
With less roiling water needing attention and the current moving us along quite fast there was time to take in the scenery. With a light cooling breeze on alternative bends it was a perfect day for paddling.
who even more happily didn't follow my lead down this gravel stretch where I had a tippy minute or two as I grounded and bounced, grounded and bounced and grounded and bounced my way down the gravel race.
L was having a fabulous day, following the foam and letting the river do all the work.
Approaching the U bend where the river almost doubles back on itself, the rounding of which made for a very strange sensation when my sense of location told me I was heading back to where we'd come from. Pine Mountain (in the background), S&V have learnt from their reading up on local attractions, is a monolith bigger than Uluru!
About 10.20am we pulled in at a handy beach for morning tea. We had poddled 7.2kms in and hour and ten minutes!
While we munch on our snacks L played with the Gaia GPS ap he had downloaded on his phone and set it to record our track.
At 10.50 we returned to the water.
Round another couple of bends and we're looking at Pine Mountain again but its further away than it was when we last spotted it!
For the next few kilometres the river required concentration and
the time flew by. This beach was too good to pass by, so at 11.55 we pulled in for lunch. Looking back upstream. As I was scooting along beside the beach I disturbed a 40cmish Murray Cod, to escape it had to swim alongside my boat in the shallows so I got a good look at it - first one I have ever seen and very exciting.
While we lunched, L regaled us with his GPS readings: Average moving speed: 6.4kph; max speed: 10.5kph. Distance covered since morning tea: 7.58kms. Time taken: 1hr 05mins.
Woohoo, we really were flying down the river, and loving it.
After the mandatory CKC stint of PM and Polly bashing we pushed off and continued our journey downstream.
Having negotiated the ruffle above and to the left of this sandbar (one of 3 possible routes), S yelled "we've lost V" . Eddying out we searched up river in vain. A few anxious moments ensued and then through the trees on the island behind the sand bar we saw the flash of a paddle blade at work. It seemed an age before V appeared, calmly following the foam.
Paying attention now, V has started to change direction to avoid the lurking log ahead.
The above pic and this one are a good example of how early you need to change course to avoid a hazard when the current flows toward it.
Together again V explained that due to a lack of concentration she had been sucked sideways into the current flowing behind the treed island and down a ruffle before managing to straighten up and take command once more. Luckily the unsighted route was clear of hazards. Does anything phase this gal?
We paddled on; here looking back for a last glimpse of Pine Mountain. Somewhere along this stretch, what I thought was the top of a log hazard popped up close to the boat. As I put in a frantic sweep stroke, thinking how did I not see that, I realised the 'log' had legs and was in fact a freshwater turtle with green algae growing on its shell. I had no idea they grew to such a size; guesstimate the carapace was over 20cm wide.
All too soon we saw our take out point in the far distance,
at 1.15pm our Murray adventure was sadly over.
It is a small world - the couple L is talking to are the Oyster farming side of Wheelers in Merimbula.
A last lingering look upstream before
heading back upstream to collect the other car. We all felt remarkably fit and chipper, not tired as after the other two paddles. We thought we easily had another 10kms or so left in the tank. We certainly hadn't needed to work as hard as on the first paddle - mainly paddling on the backed up waters of the weir; or the second paddle when a lot of sweep, back and draw stroking seemed required.
The old ladies all agreed that L's plan to ease us onto this type of moving water was a wise and sensible one. All his coaching and guidance on the first two paddles gave us the skills (though still rudimentary) and confidence to relax, cope with and thoroughly enjoy this day. So much so, it has shot up the charts and straight into our top ten paddle list.
We arrived back at Clarke Lagoon beach to find S&V's car unmolested and the blokes gone. Perhaps it was my parting shot to grumpy oink that we would be back for afternoon tea that galvanised them into an early departure :) In fairness, other than the fire place and wood left behind, they did leave the area clean and tidy. I must say tho', all the camping areas we visited along the river were clean and tidy, unlike many of the ones in NSW we have seen.
So that is end of our Murray trip. Try as I did, I failed dismally to talk the others into staying an extra day for another paddle. Of a possible 120 odd kilometres paddling along this stretch of the river, we only did 53 (Col did more than that in one day!). Perhaps another time - the tricky bit is having the water levels and weather align.
Trip Notes:
River Levels: Brigenbrong Bridge 1.5m, Jingellic 1.8m, Hume Weir 98%
Put In: Clarke Lagoon Reserve
Take Out: Neil's Reserve
20kms
4hrs 5mins
River Level Monday 14 February 2022: Brigenbrong 1.695m , Jingellic: 1.926m
ML/Day approx between 8.00-9.00am each day:
Brigenbrong Bridge Jingellic
9 Feb 2022 4,700 7,500
10 Feb 3,700 7,000
11 Feb 2,500 5,550
12 Feb 3,000 4,600
13 Feb 4,200 5,100
14 Feb 4,200 6,300
