Pushed to get to literally the best camp between Barham and Swan Hill and found it empty. Enough time for a swim, cook tea, clean up and get into my tent before the front arrived. Hopefully it'll clear overnight.
Day 11 Swan Hill, 2 Nov GPS 85.9 KM (total 891.8) BM 1522–1433 (89 KM)
Partly cloudy & hot 36°C. Not too busy, mainly just the odd fisherman. Lots of roos, few wallabies & my first tiger sighting in the Riverina. Usually cool, this 1 looked angry
Day 10 Barham-Koondrook, 1 Nov GPS 91.4 KM (total 805.9) BM 1617–1522 (95 KM)
Sunny. Small flow assist below the weir. Pushed to Barham for water River's a bit muddy to drink. Couple more young red-bellies & lots of wallabies. Campers eased but crazy busy again around Barham. Melbourne Cup week.
Effectively lost the current now, even the ducklings are cruising up against the main flow. I think they're holding it back for a bigger release in 10 days time to allow a larger boat to come upstream. Sigh. Maybe some assist once I get past the weir.
Day 8 Wharparilla (DS Echuca), 30 Oct GPS 66.2 KM (total 651.4) BM 1756–1687 (69 KM)
Mostly sunny. River was quite bar for houseboats & paddle steamers @ Echuca. Nearly every campsite had at least 1 camper. Skipped an OK site only to find the next 10 busy, ending up with a poor site. Duh.
Day 7 Barmah, 29 Oct GPS 100.9 KM (total 585.2) BM 1861–1756 (105 KM)
Sunny. Fairly quiet. Met 2 kayakers that I past before at Picnic Pt. Saw 3 red bellies swimming, 2 juveniles. They have that chilled but don't mess with me vibe. Good to do Barmah in a day. Good flow but low compared to before.
Flow's dropped. Easy to paddle US now. I think the level has increased slightly but the flow is less. It could be the choke holding water back? Hoping to push at least 1 or 2 more long days before expected decrease in distances around Echuca.
Day 6 Tocumwal, 28 Oct GPS 102.8 KM (total 484.3) BM 1986–1861 (125 KM)
Sunny. Lots of campers, 6 school canoe groups & 1 tinnie. Great platypus sighting; swum in front of the yak, then fairly quiet other than being a backup assist helping free some kids that got their canoe stuck in a snag.
Day 5 Yarrawonga, 27 Oct GPS 105.1 KM (total 381.5) BM 2125–1986 (139 KM)
Sunny, fresh SW headwinds.
Long day. Took the cutting to Boiling Down Ck & around Snake Id, multiple SC on the lake finishing in the dark. Supplies & portage. Met Kevin who's doing 6 weeks down the river from Albury.
Half dozen platypus sightings before the river got busy with fishermen past Ryans Ck. Supply run at Albury & then it was quiet to Howlong other than some weekend canoeists. 5 tinnies below Howlong. Weekend outings.
Fresh SW winds started as I dried my tent & I had to battle headwinds right down to the dam. I had hoped to get to Albury but it fitting end to the upper section camping in the same spot as last Fri below the dam.
Total of 5 days up, 2 days down, with 1 day on the lake each way.
Day 2 Hume Dam, 24 Oct GPS 69.3 KM (total 185.6) BM 2325–2225 (100 KM)
Mostly sunny. Woke to heavy fog. Limited visibility made for a cautious first hr or so. Cleared & good conditions from the head of the lake to Granya within the old river channel (lake's 51% fill).
So much nicer going down, averaged 10 kph & clocked my second longest day since starting. Also was able to stick in the main flow rather than ferrying from side to side. The map image shows the different tracks, red upstream (6 ferries), yellow down.
Khancoban is 12 km from the junction, so just 11 km more to go further upstream than the rower. Maybe 1 full day US before heading back. Bit low on food.
As an aside, I can't imagine taking 3 months for the last 2.5 days worth of paddling, his portages must have taken forever!
Heavy rain after Towong. Still raining at Bringenbrong Br. I decided to continue. Joy to paddle the start of middle Indi, ~750 ML/day. Indi Br was the target, but the rain cleared & a beach beside an area of freshly cut grass beckoned an early camp.
Most walks were done in the first 2 hrs before the river eased. Flows noticeably higher & current faster (1.85m/6.2GLD up from 1.6m/4.5GLD).
Close call with a bad snag ferrying. Missed by 1m. Result would have been a 500m swim on sweeping bend through willows. It would have likely been fatal.
