Day 32, Morgan – Blanchetown, 13 Nov

Tony

I’ve got the wind in my face all day, it was really bad for the first 10 – 15 km after I turned the first bend - heavy going! There’s no sharp meandering now, instead there are long, much straighter sections so the conditions stay the same for long periods.

At midday I stop for lunch and my arms are suffering so I lie down and the next thing I know, there’s a chopper overhead, I thought I was back in the army! It woke me up and I must’ve been counting sheep for half an hour. Revitalized  I plough on and I’m relieved when I see the bridge on the horizon at Blanchetown. I pass under and straight afterwards is lock one, and you know what that means – all locks done, woo-hoo  It’s good to get past these weirs holding the water back but everyone keeps telling me the flow isn’t much better once you’re clear of them – shame!

Pan’s been talking and selling raffle tickets to some folks at the caravan park from Adelaide and it’s great to have them clap and cheer me into the beach at the bottom of the park – I feel like I’ve just run a marathon… no, make that a hundred marathons! Just time for a quick beer with my welcoming committee before we drive back to Waikerie for our barbecue with the Lions there.

Distance paddled: 44 km

Pan

I drive off and get set up at Blanchetown Riverside Holiday Park – thanks to Nick & Lou for donating a site to us. At the bottom of the park is a little beach and I meet some other guests and organize to get them down to welcome Tony as he arrives just after passing through lock one.

Tony’s really been motoring along the river, with his inexhaustible muscles that is - he doesn’t have an outboard attached to the back, although sometimes he says he’d like to! So we’re currently two towns ahead of our revised schedule but we’re still having our official end event in Murray Bridge this Sunday, 17 November. So we drive back upstream to Waikerie for a barbecue with the Lions there, have some brilliant steak sangas, local peaches and a good laugh with the gang. Ryneisha Bollard from local rag The River News comes to cover our story – good work Ryneisha, thank you! We go home for the evening the same way we started the journey, fully loaded with uncooked snags and other doggy bags – that’s lunch sorted for a few days! 

"Ladies & gents, keep watching closely..."

"... ta-da!"

"How about that for a trick!"

We drive to back to Blanchetown through dusk and twilight, a brilliant array of colours playing over the bush, but it feels darker than midnight with a new moon, the headlights just don’t seem to illuminate the road at all and I’m just waiting for a roo to jump out and spoil the evening!

Thanks again to the Lions Club of Waikerie for organizing the meal and for their donations.