Reflections off still waters

Maps

Online Map

The online map has markers every km starting from 0 at the confluence where the Darling meets the Murray. At the Culgoa and Barwon confluence these separate out marking both the Culgoa to Condmine and Barwon to Macintyre systems to their respective sources.

Zoom in to see all of these markers. These do not correlate with any existing numbering system on the river.

The mapping of the NSW Water Authority blue signs and the numbering system is closely aligned but differs slightly:

Blue Sign
Mine
70
70.3
60
60.2
48
48.1
40
39.2
Blue Sign
Mine
34
33.5
28
28
16
16.3
4
3.9
Darling River Distances (from Brewarrina): KML / SHP / JSON / CSV / GPX / WKT
Darling, Barwon and Macintyre River Distances: KML / SHP / JSON / CSV / GPX / WKT
Darling, Culgoa, Balonne and Condamine River Distances: KML / SHP / JSON / CSV / GPX / WKT

    Geoscience Australia provide downloadable topographic maps

    The Federal Government's National Maps is a useful online topological map with lots of additional data providers like the SRTM 1 sec DEM data set.

    New South Wales (NSW)
    Free PDF downloads or browse online. Mostly 1:25K, some 1:50K maps.
    Queensland (QLD)
    An online tool QTopo that allows you to generate custom topological maps. These do lack some important details like the map's declination.

    It was difficult to accurately navigate using the maps for Condamine, Balonne and Culgoa rivers due to the frequent twists and turns and complete lack of things to take a bearing on. A GPS device is strongly recommended as an additional navigation aid if you want to accurately track your progress.

    Condamine Maps

    Balonne Maps

    Culgoa Maps

    In high flows, the river covers the floodplains. Navigation is mainly based on tracking the river gums. I found it best to check my GPS when the river split and the main channel was difficult to distinguish.

    Darling Maps