Day 8 1582km to 1560km

 Thursday 14 May = 1582 to 1560km = 22km
Total distance = 152km

Oh this is our 4th day kayaking and the arms are really feeling it, they are tired but seem to be able to paddle.  Fortunately today the wind was lighter - still cold and coming from the south west but probably the lightest it has been since we started a week ago.
It started as a clear bright day, but the clouds soon came rolling in so not much solar charging today.  Not alot happened today it was very uneventful for us while kayaking.  I am playing around with my new camera (very careful when it is near the water!) and it takes great selfies - although this one took 5 attempts ...

 ... I kept missing Neil!

So we pulled over at 22km for a break and realised that it was a great camp spot - although it was only 1.30pm we decided that campspots can be hard to find so we decided to stay put.

 It is a nice clear spot and someone has had a huge fire as there is a massive area for a fire and there was 2 nice chainsaw cut wood lying around so we decided that we would light a fire later on since we had plenty of time on our hand.

Mother nature sure is kind to us today - first providing lots of easy to find wood for our fire and also a stump with a hole in it that fitted my flexible bucket perfectly for me to do my handwashing!

 So I started the fire and thanks to Leannes' jiffy firestarters I soon got the fire going and as you can see my washing was in line with the smoke from the fire - so I have smokey shorts and towels!

 Once Kouta had his afternoon nap he soon came over to see what we were doing and pretended that the fire was our gas heater at home!

 I tell you we were so warm and although not as cold as yesterday it was nice just sitting there with shins and feet almost on fire themselves it was that hot.

We cooked dinner beside the fire and let it burn down and poor Kouta was beside himself as it was getting dark and our routine of eating and washing the dishes and then going into the tent was broken and he desperately wanted to go in the tent and not really sit out there watching the fire burn down.  

so eventually we went into the tent as the clouds came over and so blocked out all the stars - I seem to be reluctant to go out at night to look at them as it is too cold and the one night I stay out to watch them the damn clouds come over!
So tomorrow we will do another 22km and will be about 14km from Barham so we are hoping we will get internet!

Day 7 1606km to 1582km

 Wednesday 13 May = 1606km - 1582km = 24km
Total distance = 130km

I tell you 2 things I am over and that is this damn cloudy weather and also the damn clay!  That clay just sticks to everything - every morning I clean my kayak and then I look over to Neils and there are huge clay streaks where his feet are and there is clay on his foot pedals ... if I wasn't always last to get ready I would go over to his kayak and clean it!
So this morning is probably our first real cold morning but we are still tucked in out of the south westerly winds that are still blowing - today they aren't so strong only in the 20km per hour range!  Funny enough the air temperature was about 7 degrees yet the river water is warmer than that and it was a relief to put your cold feet in the warm river!
So I am struggling immensely with this clay and my ability to load up the kayak with jandals on to protect my feet from the stoney, rough ground (I need Brendas' feet mum!) I am slip sliding everywhere and it a slow process that is really beginning to annoy me ... I know dad you would be saying right now that I should have gumboots to keep the feet warm, but this is not 2cm deep clay this is clay that sinks you up to your mid calf and sometimes up to your knees so gumboots would not work!  what I am thinking is very tight aqua booties that won't get stuck in the clay when you move your feet - Neils aqua shoes are loose and they constantly stay in the clay while his feet come out!  Jandals don't work as when you walk up to get your gear your feet slide right out of them and you end up walking on very hard, stoney ground.  So we have until next year to sort this problem.
So we were off just before 9am and the sky looked promising with more blue sky than grey so we were hoping to charge up the batteries.
I tell you there is not much wild life around, for some strange reason I thought there would be more around - especially bird life but I suppose we are only covering 20km a day so not much wildlife can fit in that short distance compared to cycling where we cover a greater distance.

The birdlife is small and hard to see at times, and the wallabies and kangaroos are more camouflaged that the Australian SAS.  Neil is now called David Attenborough as he spots them, here is a local wallaby which are not afraid of us at all and just sit there watching us

whereas the kangaroos tend to bound off when they see us.

Another problem I am having is my feet are freezing when I kayak - I think I will try socks tomorrow!  Mind you both mine and Neils feet didn't defrost until lunchtime - it was like having a refrigerator effect on your feet then the wind blows over wet feet.

Our lunch spot was excellent today and we were really hoping that our camp spot would be this easy and simple - it was a beach on the Victorian side which up to now have been crap and the NSW side has the better beaches but this one should be in Hawaii - it was all sand so there was no scraping of clay of the feet!

as you can see we were out of the wind and in full sunshine - Kouta loved it - it was a warm spot!
So going along this river it must be like a city along here in Summer - most of our camp spots have been regularly used and sometimes as we paddle along we can see the remains of camp spots - here is one

 we are not sure if they were left there for next time they return or they couldn't be bothered getting them down and have left them there as litter.

So our goal today was to get to a beach on the NSW side that was just after the 1582km mark - well that was a crap spot and we decided to go opposite it on the Victorian side which was nicer.  We look at wikicamps and see that we are camped on Gunbower island.  This is a massive island but at the moment the other river on the other side of it which I think is called the Gunbower river is not really flowing and is dried up in places.  Alas this is a nice camp spot but there is bit of a walk up to our spot but we need the leg exercise!

Decided that it was too cold to sit outside so we huddled in the tent sheltering from the cold wind.
Tomorrow we will attempt to go 20-25km again.

Day 6 1626km to 1606km

 Tuesday 12 May = 1626km to 1606km = 20km
total distance = 106km

The wind had finally died down yesterday evening but definitely returned last night as this morning we woke to it blowing hard again.  Fortunately our spot was out of the wind and it wasn't until we got around the corner that we realised we were in for a tough day!

but first we had some visitors this morning ...

 lucky for us we had just got some water out of the river to put through the filter and then they turned up - they were up river of us!

While we think there isn't alot of bird life around we do manage to see some and today we saw a bird of prey 

 it is some sort of Kestrel Neil reckons, me I just think it is a bird of prey eyeing Kouta up as it is probably sick of eating fish and sees Kouta as a delectable piece of red meat!  Speaking of Kouta he is a little more settled and we now put his jacket on him for the bulk of the day and he is one little hot dog but I suspect that he is happy to wear the jacket as it keeps him warm and as long as he is warm he is happy - maybe that is why he was so unsettled at Lillydale lake - maybe he was cold! Here he is sitting happily behind Neil ...

 Like I said previously todays kayak was exceptionally hard - we were going into the wind for the most of it with every now and then we get a stretch that is sheltered from the strong westerly winds.  On the radio the forecasted winds from 25 - 40km per hour and we had them alright!  They are swinging to a south westerly and right now I can feel the wind is a lot colder than what it was this morning.

This pelican thought we were following it ...

 we would catch up to it and it would fly off further up stream and again we would catch up to it and again it would fly off even further up stream ... I think it got rather pissed with us and eventually it flew back behind us!
I love the new camera it takes great selfies!

 What we were aiming for today was the 1600km mark and so doing a 26km day, however we weren't expecting this strong winds so we revised it to a 20km day but we had to hit our 100km mark which is at 1612km so here we let out a woo hoo!
 So all along here since we have left the weir we haven't come across great camp spots and if there has been some there has been no where to beach the kayaks or the embankment has been too steep for us.  so we were umming and ahhhing as to whether or not to pull up earlier if we find a good spot to camp and we did find one around the 1606km marker - we think we are around this spot as the 2km markers are far and few in between!

At first we thought to lug everthing up the embankment and I suggested why not this flat area right next to the water 

 as you can see it is not pretty but it is practical!  and the tent did fit on this spot ...

 in fact it is a better view from the top of the embankment
 If we did camp on the top of the embankment we would have a sensational view of the river in both directions but I think the spot next to the water is the best as it is sheltered from the wind whereas on top of the embankment is not.

Okay here is a photo of a somewhat motley crew

please bear in mind we haven't had a shower for 6 days and we only have cold washes - my hair has been washed once since we left Echuca!  Lets just say that Kouta looks a bit more presentable than us!
Tonight we are having a change for dinner - instead of curry again we are having spaghetti - Neil picked up 2 tins at Torrumbarry weir as well as a loaf of frozen bread and 1 litre of UHT milk.
The next few days are forecasted for south westerly winds so the temperature will drop and then warms up towards the end of the week.

Day 4 and 5 1649km to 1626km

 Sunday 10 May = a forced rest day due to very strong north westerly winds and rain!
Monday 11 May = 1649km to 1626km = 23km
Total distance = 86km

As you can see we had a rest day yesterday due to very strong north west winds up to 25km per hour and gusts well over 50km an hour and also heavy showers in the morning so we decided to have a rest day (the arms welcomed that!) and I was so tired that while lying in the tent listening to the wind and rain I fell asleep at 11am - I never fall back asleep in the morning usually if I was to fall asleep it would be in the afternoon.
So after lunch the weather broke and the grey clouds broke up to let the sunshine through so out came all the solar panels to charge up - while there wasn't alot of sun it was enough that we could read our books tonight!  We have had 3 days of no sun so the battery packs were getting low.
I also managed to wash some clothes as the wind was still blowing they soon dried quickly.

Monday 11 May
we woke to a lovely morning - the wind is still blowing but has swung around to a south westerly.  The clouds have broken and there looks like more blue than grey skies this morning.

Packing up this morning we noticed Kouta seems to be a bit more receptive to moving on in the kayaks today - first he went up to the kayaks and sniffed them and also all the gear as we packed them up then we knew he was back to his old self when he began to follow us around like he does when we are cycling - he follows us to remind us that we are not to forget him and leave him behind ... to really emphasise this point he makes a point of using my life jacket as a sleeping mat and my chair as a pillow - by lying on my life jacket he knows that I won't forget him!

 So just around the corner is where the National Channel is - which is a major artery for irrigation

and here I am a rare photo of me

 Now Neil is a lot better than I am at spotting wildlife - especially birds.  the other day Neil said he saw a kingfisher but they are so small for me that I always miss them but this morning there was one sitting on one of the snags just waiting for me to take a photo and I have to admit I am really happy with this photo ...

 isn't it the brightest blue and orange - it is such a pretty wee bird.
We saw another one this time on the NSW side just around the corner.
Looking at the map today the bulk of the day will be going north west which is good as the wind will be behind us on some parts and we can shelter from other parts when the wind blows - our only hard parts are the bends - they are always exposed to the wind.  We hardly see anyone now - mainly the odd fishing boats but no house boats for the past 3 days.

 as you can see it is a wide river now and there is no river flow as the weir is only about 20km away and there hasn't been any flow for the past 2 days.
There is plenty of sun this morning and you can see I am basking in the sun!
We were making good timing and our lunch spot is quite nice and sheltered from the wind - even Kouta loved the fact that we were in the sun and there was very little wind.  We are seeing a few more willow trees now, not alot but they tend to grow in groups but they are relatively small compared to the gum trees.

 Our lunch spot was about 2km before the weir and we decided that we would go through the weir if they would open it for us.
We get to the weir and our sun has disappeared so Neil tracked down the Weir Master and they say there should be enough water for us to go through.
Now no matter how much Neil describe what this weir is I could not get my head around what was going to happen - this is his description - you go into a lock and the water drops and you paddle out and right next to it is the dam wall sort off!!!!
What the heck is he going on about.

So we front up and all I can see is this wall and I can hear the water

 Neil tells me we are to go between the green and red buoys so here I am paddling and I can see in front of me that there is a section which is called the lock that will open its doors

 they open enough for us to go through
 just after you go through the lock doors you have to duck to go under the foot bridge - they didn't bother raising those since we could go under - but hell I had to kiss my knees to get under it - it was low!

you then pull over to the side and hold on to the rope

 the doors in front of me is where we will eventually paddle out of - in the meantime Neil is holding another rope behind me 
 meanwhile the lock master is above us chatting away and explains what will happen for some strange reason I think the doors will open and we will just drop! but no the water is drained beneath us.  I have this all on a movie and it is great to watch.
If you look back to the last photo - we are at the top of the concrete wall, as the water drains beneath us we go down with it, as it is draining you are suppose to let the rope in your hand slide through but some times I would swing out and hold on for dear life to pull myself back to the wall!
once the water has drained beneath us we have dropped about 10m from our starting point at the top of the concrete wall, the doors are then opened and all the water is swirling and the valves so to speak are roaring with water and I am still clinging on to dear life not wanting to let go - I can imagine that if I did let go it would be like going down a plug hole!
alas I had to release and paddle out through the doors - it is at this point where the doors are it is only 120mm deep for us to go over as when Neil asked them to open it they thought there might not be enough water for us but 120mm is enough for the kayaks - not for house boats or boats!

I had so much adrenaline and enjoyed it so much that I was willing to paddle to the next lock where ever it might be - although this is lock 26 I don't think all are inoperation and all are not as big as this one!

So we come out of the lock and paddle down stream a bit and I turn to get this photo 

 and you can see the doors to the left where we have just come out of.  To the right is the dam and the water is controlled through there.  If you think about it where the top of the dam is that is where we have just come from at that level and we have dropped about 10m.

From here the flow of the river is swift so we are moving along.  

 Our progress is fast as the wind has almost died down completely we start to look for a camp site and we find a beach but the gum trees are close togther and although there is clear ground there are just toom many gum trees over hanging and it is not a wise idea to camp beneath the limbs of a gum tree so we move on and just around the bend we come across this fella/sheila
 and he/she didn't seem to be phased by us what so ever, usually they bound off but this one just sat and watched us!
It wasn't long until we came across a campspot - this time on the NSW side and the 1626km marker is just around the corner.

We are very close to the waters edge as there is a legde where we can put the tent and the embankment is just behind us.

so tomorrow we hope to do a little more as we now have the assistance of the river flow and it is swift and we are also hoping for less wind as well.
Today we were happy with our progress and the arms were no where near as tired as our previous days - I was glad of a rest day yesterday to let the arms recover.
We are about 102km from Koondrook, Neil is hoping we can do it in 4 days at 25km per day so really it is only an extra few kilometers more than today.
I have to point out it is day 5 without a shower! the river water is cold but okay to wash in!

weak internet

just letting you know we went through the Torrumarry weir this afternoon, very very exciting it was!  internet is down to 2G far too slow to upload any photos so you will have to wait until Koondrook in 4 days time if the arms hold up!

Day 3 1670 - 1649

 Saturday 9 May = 1670km to 1649km = 21km
total distance = 63km

It was a warm night last night and we could hear the wind blowing for the bulk of it which results in a mild 12 degrees at brekky time.
We had a little treat this morning - we saw 2 kangaroos on the opposite bank in NSW.  We managed to get away at 9am again and no soon had we started we saw another kangaroo - can you spot him in the photo below?

 I did manage to get this great silhouette photo of it as it bounded off ...

 so the arms are a little weary at first and the wind is blowing from the west and unfortunately the bulk of todays kayaking is into the wind ...

we tend to kayak 6km first which takes us about an hour and then we get out to stretch the legs, the photo below is a good birds eye view of the loaded kayaks

 our next stop is for a cuppa at around the 12km mark - by this point I am tired and are greatful for a cuppa coffee and something to eat - the river is particularly wide now and there is not much flow as we get closer to the weir

 like yesterday around lunch time it is pretty miserable - very windy and cold and today we had a brief shower of rain - it is warmer to get back in the kayak and paddle!
After lunch the arms were really feeling it fortunately the route of the river changes and there is less into the wind like it was before lunch - but add to that we had some rain and oh my lordy it was miserable!  poor Kouta he should have complained less about his house with a roof and it would not have got wet at all today!
There was more willow trees along both banks and so it was difficult to find a spot to stop and shelter so we continued on in the rain!  Our target today was the 1650km mark - we had to go an extra 1km to find a spot to beach the kayaks.  We are not far from the National Channel which is a major irrigation channel - hopefully I can get a photo of it tomorrow morning.
So this spot is nice - not on a high bank which is a relief so we don't have to carry all or stuff up the embankment.  Clearly this is someones regular spot to camp as it is cleared and lots of handy nails in the big gum trees!
So we had our first Murray river cuppa - out came the filter ... this is Neil filling up the "dirty water bag"

 and we gravity feed it into the pot and our bladders ...

 the water is actually not that dirty but it is best to be safe than sorry!  The cuppa was lovely!
So here is our camp spot for night 3 ...

 there was a big board on the ground so we leaned it up against a tree and it provides us with a wind break ...

 here are where the kayaks are beached and next to it is a makeshift jetty that extends from the bank to a big log - someone has put 2 eyes on the log as it looks like a crocodile!

 not having the bikes we had to come up with an alternative to the trailer to put our collapsible bucket  on and Neil came up with this idea to use the frame of the Helinox chairs - genius!

so we have just had a major shower of rain so we are all in the tent - I wasn't expecting this sort of wind coming from the west - it is a very lazy wind and is cold to be in - I think I would prefer a freezing cold morning with clear sunny skies than this lazy cold wind!  Lucky we have our warm woollen clothes with us.
Tomorrow we will camp just before the weir and go through it on Monday morning.