On the banks of the Menindee...... must be a song in there ....

At Hay we heard the forcast for the following days to be quite warm and sunny so we hit the hardtop and headed for Balranyld and Mungo. Stayed at Turlee Station with very good toilets and showers in the camping area - for you homebodies this probably sounds very mundane but the older I get to more important these little things are. A really nice place with lots of firewood,beautiful sunset and a starry sky. Next morning we headed to Mungo which is also amazing but they had quite a flood in February and no longer let people wander out on the walls, one needs a guide, whiich one only finds out about when you are out at the viewing platform - the road around the back of the lake is also still closed, so we only got to view the Walls from the platform. Still worth the drive.
There is moss growing amongst the vegetation. Lots of tiny flowers also.
Tonight we are in a caravan park on the top end of the only lake that is accessible (because of all the rain) in the Menindee Lakes. After a spectacular sunset tonight we hope to paddle tomorrow on a lake that is 100% full........

Darlington Point

We headed out of Narrandera a couple of days ago and meandered along the northern shore of the river looking for campsites. The Landrover Club ACT has a CD with campsites around the country and we have been documenting some, the ones we can find, as we travel down the Murrumbidgee. The MIA State Forest runs along the northern shore and has many places to camp. The river often has sandy beaches, most sites are good but no facilities, though at this time one can light fires. Usually they are too shady for us, as generally the days are around 15 degrees, sun is good, as is a fire. We stayed overnight at Gogeldrie Weir and continued to Darlington Point the next day. We were on very muddy slippery roads and the Landcruiser is covered in mud. We leave litle piles of mud -Christian scraps off the mudguards- at the campsites.
Today we were planning to paddle until I found a mouse in the car, have you heard that the farmers now have a mouse plague to deal with, so we totally emptied out the car and treated it with peppermint oil - the locals say it stops all critters, lets hope so. We have seen a couple of mice and they are very cute, tiny little things.
Tomorrow we will head out towards Hay, there are more State Forests along the river bank to check and hopefully find a nice sunny one to stay in.
Tomorrow will also be the start of our third week, only 606k of river to go.

Today was cold but with clear blue skies

We have been waiting for the weather to improve and it did. We had a lovely morning paddling looking at all the beautiful birds, including spoonbills!and a Great White Heron (I think) - cormorants, black swans, ducks, many ibis etc. it is amazing to see so many birds.
Tomorrow we leave Narrandera and our little warm cabin and head out along the river on the northside. There is a large state forest with quite a few places to camp and paddle so we will check it out on our way towards Hay.
It is a good time to travel, not many people around as it is cold. Many Victorians heading north for the winter...I wonder about their numberplates that say Victoria, a great place to be.....ummmmmmm!

Nerandera - Lightening and lots of rain

What a nice town Nerandera is, the locals seem to be very proud of there open spaces, lots of autumn colours and beautiful gardens. We are staying here waiting for good weather to paddle on Lake Talbot, in a caravan park overlooking the lake. The lake has wetlands up one end and we would like to paddle up there. It has good access for Noodle.
We were in a powered site when the storm hit yesterday with lots of rain and lightening at around 4pm. We ended up climbing into the back of the Landcruiser around 5pm and watching DVD's, waiting but it just got worse. This morning it was terrible so we have now booked into a cabin here for 3 nights, to dry out and wait for the fronts to go through.
We are spread out relaxing....dry and warm and comfortable............

Only 6 days travelling for us to reach Wagga

Living up to our name...today we arrived in Wagga, overnighted in Gundagai but did not paddle. Met the Murrumbidgee at Gundagai. After staying in a couple of great free camps with terrific facillities on the banks of the Murrumbidgee we launched Noodle and paddled very hard upriver...(it was running quite fast) We paddled for about 1/2 and hour, we were stuffed so turned around and drifted back down. It was really nice - only have another 900 kilometres of river to paddle - when possible. We had both camps to ourselves - it is cold at night but we had fires both nights.

Now in a terrible caravan park on the Stuart Highway at Wagga...it would be minus many stars if it had any....
Tomorrow we will head back along the northside of the river towards Narranderah. The forcast is not looking too good,hope it is not too cold and rainy, if it is we will move a cabin.
It is great to be back on the road again......

Gundagai

We drove from Tumut to Gundagai via Brungle, another beautiful drive through rolling hills and valleys. We have met the Murrumbidge and will now follow down and paddle when possible.

A great fun paddle on the Tumut

After the fog lifted and the sun arrived, we did warm up though and feel like heros surviving -3degrees! It was not so bad with the heater and hot food.
We headed back up the river to Jackson Park and launched Noodle. I took lots of great photos and I can say they were great because I then lost them when downloading.....bloody technology....drives me crazy.....anyway it was the first time I have been paddling in a fast flowing river, probably 8+ knots steering around logs, rocks and bends, it was fun. We were more than 1 hour - it was only around 5k to ride the bike back but the river wound around lots of bends before returning to Tumut.
We were able to land at a small beach in the park and trolley Noodle back to the car. It was a truely great day. Tomorrow we are off the the junction with the Tumut and Nimbo rivers.

Tumut, Day 1 Murrumbidgee Meander

Finally left Canberra yesterday with cold, blue skies....how will it be sleeping in the back of the Landcruiser in 0 or less degrees....but it was OK. We are in a caravan park (hot showers and power to run a small heater) are great, Ones bladder really improves when it is so cold outside and one has to walk 100 metres to the loo! But it was OK, we waited for the sun, a beautiful foggy morning,now it is 11am sunny and warming up. First time ever I slept in a beany!
The river looks great, fast flowing but only very tiny rapids AND there is a launching spot 5 kms, by road away, here there is a small beach we can land at and then ride the bike back to get the car. The river looks very beautiful.
Tomorrow we will head out northish to meet the Murrumbidgee, which we did see leaving Canberra, but from tomorrow will follow down.

Getting Ready Again...............

Time to start again....nearly a year has passed....in fact I have declared 12.May as DON'T JUMP day. Remember, DON'T JUMP!
We will meander down the Murrumbidgee, starting at Tumut then meeting the Murrumbidgee and paddling when we can.