Tilpa to Wilcannia 275 km

 

Day 11 (22/7/22) Tilpa to Campsite 55 km past Tilpa

Very dull day – Started packing at 5:30 pm and on the water by 7:15 am. River was much the same, spreading out into the wetlands. Good progress – 30 km by lunch at 11:30 am. Tired in the afternoon. Knocked off another 25 km to be 10 km ahead of target. Found ok campsite right on 3:20 pm so pulled in and set up camp. Nice to kick back early by campfire. Nice day 20 degrees.

Bird Highlights:  Pelicans soaring in formation and disturbing very large flock of Nankeen  Herons from their roosts in Eucalypt branches overhanging the water.




There were a couple of collapsed windmills along the river near here



Day 12 (23/7/22) Campsite 55 km past Tilpa to Campsite 100 km past Tilpa

Cloudy day with some sunny breaks. During the second hour I seemed to lose distance because I was 5 km behind by 9:30 am. After that the day was fine

Bird highlights: White Necked Herons, Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos

Fond best campsite yet on nice bend in the river.







Day 13 (24/7/22) Campsite 100 km past Tilpa to Campsite 153 km past Tilpa

Lovely sunny day – on the water at 7:30 am. Made steady progress throughout day.

Bird highlights: Pied Butcherbird song – Also seeing a kite landing on a branch and immediately being assaulted by a smaller bird that hit it like a rocket.






Day 14 (25/7/22) Campsite 153 km past Tilpa to Campsite 202 km past Tilpa

Beautiful pre dawn – quite mild – really enjoyed breakfast – cloudy morning – sun threatening to break through – surprised a couple of Darters on their nest just above the water – saw black swans for 1st time on this trip. Afternoon turned sunny and quite warm – found great campsite – some mozzies for 1st time on this trip.

One of the numerous feral goats along the river

Lots of feral goats on plain behind campsite that also thought my campsite was great. On dusk they arrived to camp in the trees behind my tent. Fortunately they were content not to come too close and apart from some noise they didn’t bother me. 

I tried my water filter for 1st time mainly as an experiment as I had enough fresh water to get me to Wilcannia. The filter certainly removed the particulate matter efficiently. The filtered water appeared cleaner than the water I got from the park at Louth. I also used the Steripen on the filtered water just to be sure of killing any bugs. With the cool weather I haven’t been drinking a lot so nearly all the water I have consumed on this trip has been tea or soup at morning tea and at mealtimes.








Day 15 (26/7/2022) Campsite 202 km past Tilpa to Campsite 246 km past Tilpa

Strong cold breeze all day although sunny. A bit slower after “the night of 400 goats” – Lovely morning of paddling – Best excitement was rescuing a microbat from the river. Not sure how it got there but it was happy to climb onto my glove where it sat and dried out for 15 minutes before flying off.

It was a very lucky bat - normally it would have been spotted by one of the many Whistling Kites and have become a snack. My presence probably discouraged the predators. The bat was struggling to swim to shore in the strong wind and strong current. It was quite difficult to turn the kayak in the wind and against the current to get close enough to rescue the bat. 






Day 16 (27/7/22) Campsite 246 km from Tilpa to Wilcannia


On the water 7:00 am - Lovely morning, sunny and calm conditions. Arrived at Wilcannia and landed at closed flooded caravan park which was a mistake because the township is on the other side on the river.

I was putting my kayak onto it's trolley when some people pulled up in their car. I chatted with them for awhile describing my trip. I hadn't spoken to anyone since Tilpa so they got an ear bashing.

I dragged the kayak over the bridge into town and found the motel where I had a room booked. Then I arranged my transport back to Bourke using NSW Link buses. Not ideal as it was going to take 13 hours the next day. 





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