Tony
It’s
another good morning, the wind didn’t hit me until 11am. I take in the scenery
a number of times – great hillsides and much greener than upstream.
Unfortunately, the down side is there are long straights and I can’t see the
end of some of them!
I stop for
my smoko before Mannum at a marina full of houseboats. When I get to the town,
I see motor cruiser boats and paddle steamers, including the Murray Princess –
what a beauty, and a serious monster, her deck is barely a foot above the water’s
surface! I float backwards as I stop to take loads of pictures – great detail
on these old machines, you don’t get craftsmanship like that anymore.
I met some
people on their holiday houseboats, a gang from Perth and Phillip from Clayton Bay,
where I hope to continue paddling through to get to Goolwa after this weekend
to complete the length of the mighty Murray! They all donated to our
fundraising - thanks heaps, guys!
With about
10 km to go, I turn a corner and the wind is impossible, I turn to head to the
other bank for shelter but I can’t make any headway, so I have to get out there
at Sunnyside Reserve. Pan comes to get me and after a coffee and a sugar hit of
biscuits, I talk my burning arms out of stopping altogether and get back in at
Avoca Dell to cover the distance between here and Sunnyside Reserve in the
other direction, heading upstream! It’s still not easy but I go full steam
ahead and cover about 9km in around an hour which is good going.
I see
another seagull and I dream of getting down to Goolwa, the southernmost point
you can paddle to. It’s impossible to go out into the sea as there are barrages
blocking the way, which are there to stop the saltwater coming up, maintaining
the freshness of the River Murray as far as Wellington.
Distance paddled: 52 km
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