Blog 2023

Jugiong to Sandy Beach Reserve

This was my first time on this stretch of the river above the Tumut and it was a stunning and challenging paddling experience with a fast flowing river. The river flows between high golden hills added to the overall experience.

The first real challenge was only 500m from Jugiong where there was a couple of fallen trees nearly blocking the entire width of the river. Luckily, I made it through bouncing up over a log while ducking another low branch avoiding what would have been a tricky in stream portage with a very fast flow. From here, it was mostly long waterholes with a good flow separated by fast flowing riffles with a scattering of granite boulders and occassional snags to keep you on your toes.

About 14 km from Jugiong there was a fun little grade 1 rapid, followed quickly by a steep drop around a log that saw a fair bit of water into the cockpit from the wave train. The only other technical part was from taking a smaller outside channel beside the cliff in a tight bend just 2 km from the bridge at Nth Gundagai. This had a particularly strong swirling eddie that would easily catch a smaller boat (eddie wall was about 25cm), but I managed to steer the yak safely past. These and the occasional strong sweeps into the willows would definitely be challenging to those without much flowing river experience.

Stopping at Gundagai for supplies, I saw what was probably the largest red-bellied black that I've ever seen, but it was camera shy and disappeared before I had a chance to react. It did make me ponder about my shoe choice again, thongs...

Paddling was much easier below Gundagai and I pushed on until dusk, clocking my first 100 km day this year, mostly due to the flow rather than my old plastic tub. However, I don't expect this to continue. The 'bigdee is notorious for its diminishing flow as water is taken out for irrigation; this and all of the weir portages.

Sandy Beach Reserve to Kolhagons Beach

Up early and on the water before sunrise, I was keen to continue paddling the great flow. The river was wide and mostly clear of any obstacles, any snags were easily avoided. About 3 hours averaging nearly 12 kph, there was a slight but distinct slowing of the flow about 40 km from Wagga Wagga. This also marked where the valley opened up, the western edge of foothills of the great dividing range and the transition to the characteristic river gum floodplains of the Riverina started to slowly emerge.

The river felt alive with all of the birdlike, black cormorants, ducks and cockatoos being the most common. Seeing flocks of cockatoos feeding and drinking never gets old. After a day of just sheep and cattle, it was good to finally get some roo and wallaby sightings. A large flying fox colony at Wagga was a surprise, their daytime chatter was surprising loud considering it was well past their bedtime. However, the highlight was a platypus sighting just 10 km above Wagga, a fat little boy floating on the surface until I was only a boat length away before it disappeared with a flick of it's tail. Very unusual to see these guys around noon in sunny weather.

After a stroll around Wagga, I pushed on, 38 km to the next reserve. Even as the strong south westerly headwind kicked in again, I made it with plenty of time left to set up camp and have a look about. Second 100 km day!

It was a busy day on the water with two tinnies.

Kolhagons Beach to Berembed Weir

Another early start in cool and calm conditions, awaiting on the hot windy conditions forecast for later in the day. The foothills are nearly gone and the river gums are starting to dominate the casuarina trees (she oaks), however these continued down all the way to the weir, much to the delight of the flocks of cockies that favoured these over the gums. The willows were also slowly disappearing, at least until the reach of the weir. There they lined both sides.

I had the first route dilemma of the trip today, to take Beavers Creek that turns into Old Man Creek or to stay on the 'bidgee. The anabranch had an excellent flow but it didn't seem very wide. Mike had part of this recently and had told me it was rather snaggy. I was rather enjoying pushing myself in on the main river, it was almost meditative. For the first time in over a year, I decided to stay on the main stream. As the river started to meander, I did start to question that decision slightly, more so after the westerly headwinds started to kick in.

The river was still fairly quiet with just one tinnie although there were a lot of holiday makers scattered along the banks and farmers tending to their stock. In the higher flow, good secluded camps were uncommon. This didn't matter too much to me, I was aiming for the weir and my third 100 km day. I'm not sure if it was the flow or heat / fatigue, but I had to push harder for most of the afternoon, though I made it with enough time to have a look around. Bundidjerry Creek was flowing well, a distributary that you can do a long difficult portage back to the 'bidgee. I wonder if I'm feeling OK, I easily resist the temptation to try.

Today's highlight was a pair of sea eagles that followed me for about a km, gracefully circling overhead in a dominant fashion. Well until they circled too close to a nesting honeyeater that chased them away. It's remarkable how a bird that tiny can shoo off one of our biggest birds of prey, although in a way it's understandable having felt the wrath of an angry magpie.

Berembed Weir to Gogeldrie Weir

Another early start to try to avoid the wind as much as possible, but sadly this didn't come to much as the wind started almost immediately after sunrise. At least I had a good flow still.

The paddle to Narrandera was rather uneventful but this was negated by the small but striking red sand banks. Narrandera was a charming country town with it's old architecture, but I didn't spend too much time looking around. It is set back a fair way from the river. While the camping ground was fill, a sole camper had an entire beach to himself, on what was the nicest beach that I've seen all trip just 1 km downstream.

The river was oddly quiet, the birds must be off feeding. This made for rather a quiet afternoons paddle other than the occassional camper. Yanco weir was deserted as I past on by.

I decided to push on to Gogeldrie Weir, making it there just on dusk. The wind died as I reached the weir pool, just in time to see the cockies to come back to the river to drink and roast. It was a pleasant way to finish the day.

A fourth 100km day in a row, but I am having to work harder to do it.

Gogeldrie Weir to Yarradda

Wind had shifted from predominantly westerly to a strong southerly today. At least that gave some respite on the downwind northern and mostly sheltered western stretches of the river. The wildlife is slowly diminishing as I head west, but with larger reserves beside the river, swamp wallaby sightings were reasonably frequent. Paddling wise, I still had a good flow, paddling a couple meters below the banks that were lined with river gums and surrounded either by farmland or stands of red gums.

An early stop at Darlington Pt was fairly uneventful, so today's highlight goes to a large murder of crows seen, well over a hundred birds of all ages that took to the air as I paddled past, circling overhead before settling back as I drifted past.

A 75 km day today, a tad slower and shorter than the last four days. Looking forward to a good nights sleep on a nice sandy beach to let my body recover from the last few days.

Yarradda to Campbell's Reserve

Large numbers of roos along the banks early, most watching me pass rather than running off. These were upstaged by a young swamp wallaby that went about its business after failing to notice me as I drifted past. It continued nibbling grass and herbs on the banks, sniffing the air between mouthfuls for dangers that could be around. Cute little guys. Also saw my first emus of the trip, a big mob in the distance that quickly disappeared off into the bush. But like previous days the river quietened as the sun rose and I was mostly paddling by myself along the river. Just a single group camping and a couple fishing on the water.

A couple of short shortcuts and my first longer sidetrip down Deep Creek, albeit this was only 1 km long. Unlike the Murray, these seemed to have a clean entry and no significant lagoon at the bottom. Being a similar width all the way down mean log jams could happen anywhere but they seemed more common towards the very bottom.

The other thing I noticed was that river banks seemed a lot lower today, and it reminded me slightly of the chokes in the Murray, but without any distributaries so I guess it would only be limited floodplain buffering. Also a lot more stags in the river, not problematic but you had to keep an eye out for them. I must have caught the very small flow peak I was chasing since I had started, but I can now see the signs of another larger one. Some mud low down, but it isn't too deep or problematic yet. I'm still able to cook with the river water, but I wouldn't use it for drinking water without something to flavour it with.

Today's highlight was going to be a long canoe scare seen fairly high up the trunk, however this got bumped as I found the largest flock of whistling kites roosting at the camp I intended to stay at. About 100 of all sizes, roosting in just a couple trees and these took to the air and circled overhead as I paddled close. Luckily there was a beach just opposite and I made camp there.

Campbell's Reserve to Hay

A long but mostly uneventful day. The river was still quite considering I was fairly close to Hay, with just three tinnies, a powerboat and a couple of farmers fishing. There was still a bit of wildlife about, but nowhere as abundant as it was upstream. Likely the best paddling weather to date, blue skies, cool conditions and a rare easterly wind.

While originally I was intending to camp about 20 km upstream of Hay, I decided to push on. The reach of the weir really slowed the flow close to Hay and the sun was set by the time I finally made it; the longest day in the yak to date, 13 hr 30 min. Although I quickly regreted this decision after discovering how far Sandy Pt camping ground was from town and the lack of drinking water here. It would have been easier to camp upstream and to access the shops from the boatramp a couple km before the bridge. Live and learn I guess.

With no moments sticking out, the main highlight was the transition to the more arid landscape typical of the outback, with black box becoming common and saltbushes and other herbs common outside of the farmed land.

400 km to go to the Murray.

Hay to Abercrombie Reserve

The river height was consistently high for the last four days of paddling on the 'bidgee with the main variation being high banks below the weirs, and these slowly reduced in height as I made my way down to the next weir. This did make finding campsites a bit harder if you wanted to avoid climbing a steep bank. With just the two towns along the way, it is one of the more remote sections of the river, but in saying that, homesteads were still fairly common, so it didn't feel as isolated as some of the other rivers that I have paddled in the Murray-Darling Basin.

This was a fairly short day and it was the last day I aimed to finish at established camps / reserves.

The Hay Weir pool was high, masking almost all of the flow assist, but this was negated by a few shortcut opportunities that allowed me to get to the weir by lunch.

A moderate flow assist with high banks below, and I finished early on a small beach to enjoy the afternoon sun and a quick swim in the river.

Abercrombie Reserve to KM 265

It didn't take too long to get to the reach of Maude Weir, but while the river slowed, I never fully lost all of the flow assist. Even though it was the most remote town on the river, it was surprisingly busy with five tinnies on the weir pool, the most of any section. There were plenty of easy campsites here with low banks.

After portaging the weir and looking around "town" (about a dozen or so homes, a caravan park and small general store), I continued downstream. I pulled up on a small low shelf, leaving the yak moored there and camped on top of the banks.

KM 265 to Yanga National Park (KM 188)

Fairly consistent paddling with 1 to 2m banks. The only two significant landmarks were the Lachlan River confluence and Redbank Weir.

You would likely miss the Lachlan if you weren't tracking yourself on a map. That river effectively terminates in the Cumbung Swamp with only a few small outflows when in flood.

Redbank Weir is one of the more problematic portages. Options include:

• taking out early and portaging down a private road to a gate that could be locked

• a hard bank climb before the bouy line or an easier exit near the weir itself to either:

  • find one of the three 2m gates unlocked, in which case it isn't too bad, or
  • lifting your yak over a 1.2m fence to a narrow ledge, dropping it down a steep concrete slope
• a long portage on the left, no path and lots of undergrowth
• swimming or roping it under the weir gates if these are fully open

Maybe worth calling NSW Water for assistance getting through this one.

Today was D-day in deciding to push myself to reach the Murray on either Thu or Fri evening. Finding less flow assist below the weir, I ended up deciding to finish a day later and stopped a bit earlier than I originally intended.

Yanga National Park (KM 188) to Balranald Weir

The day started out better than expected, making good distance in the morning and I flip-flopped my earlier decision and decided to try and finish a day earlier. This lead to my second marathon day, paddling from dawn and finishing in the dark. Very consistent paddling with 1 to 2m banks and the only stop was for a couple of supplies at Balranald. The reach slowed the assist for the last 20 km above the Weir, but this was more to do with the reduced slope as the weir was almost submerged with all of it's logs removed. No boats in the river, with a couple campers in the lower sections of Yanga Nat Park.

Balranald Weir to the Murray

Paddling was similar to the earlier days with only a few homesteads to be seen along the river. The flow slowed even more as the river started to meander more, decreasing the already tiny gradient. I later discovered that the Murray was also high, forcing the 'bidgee to get banked up from below. The azure blue waters of the 'bidgee barely pushed in around 10m into the brown waters of the Murray, almost as if it wasn't flowing at all. I averaged around 7.5 kph for the first 40 km before slowing to under 6 kph in the last 25 km. I was really starting to feel the effects of the long days.

I finished in time to have a spectacular sunset over the Murray, a rather fitting way to finish.

Murrumbidgee Junction to Boundary Bend

Yet another perfect morning and a high flow made for a quick trip down, even after taking the long way around Passage Camp cutting. 14 km averaging 9.2 kph. Note, it's only about 12 km if you paddle the cutting.

Plenty of time to have a shower before the bus car shuffle; bus to Albury where I had left my car at the train station before a night drive back, finally getting back to camp in the early hours of the morning.

It was great to see a reasonable amount of wildlife on the river. It isn't as abundant as what you see in many of the other rivers, but it felt like the system was healthy and watching roos and birds was a pleasant distraction from the long paddling days. One of the key indicators for a healthy system was frequent sea eagle sightings, at least a couple every day. A good sign that there is plenty of fish. A couple of the more special moments were watching a large flock of pelicans using the thermals to gain height before gliding off along the river searching for new feeding grounds and noisy encounters with some of the largest flocks sulphur-crested cockatoos that I've seen.

Overall, it was an excellent paddle.