Wilcannia to Menindee 310 km
11/8/22
I left home at 7:30 am stopping to pick up coffee at Huff cafe. Next
stop was Kilmore for a pee break, then Elmore and Echuca. I went for a walk around
the Port of Echuca before having lunch in a café.
I drove to Deniliquin calculating that I had enough petrol
to get to Hay however after 40 km I turned back. The fuel gauge was plummeting with
the big yellow kayak catching a lot of wind on top of the car. After refilling
at Deniliquin I drove on to Hay where I found a motel room. I had planned to
camp at the Sunset Viewing spot on the Hay Plain but the weather had turned and
it started to rain while I was in town.
Dinner was Lamb Shank and Mash at the pub.
12/8/2022
Wilcannia to 20 km downstream - Got up at 6:00 am and drove to Wilcannia via Ivanhoe. I stopped at the Sunset Viewing spot where it was very muddy and very cloudy. My decision not to camp there had been right.
I arrived in Wilcannia at 11:00 am and went to Warrawong
Caravan Park and paid $5.00 a day to leave my car for a fortnight. After that
it took me 45 minutes to pack my kayak and put it on it's trolley and drag it
down to the river. A couple of crusties offered me some useless advice about
where to launch to avoid the mud – clueless! (Crusties are grey nomads. I have mixed views on crusties as in many cases they seem to have no purpose and are touring in absense of having anything else to do).With the river in flood there are
no places to launch without mud.
I pushed the kayak through the mud and into the river and set off downstream about 1:00 pm. Lots of darters, kites, and baby ducks. I struggled to find a spot to get out after paddling until 4:15 pm.
I was very slow getting dinner organised – it started to rain
before I finished cooking so I retreated to the tent and finished my dinner
later when the rain had passed.
13/8/2022 20 km downstream of Wilcannia to 65 km downstream of Wilcannia
Up at 6:00 am – the rain overnight made everything damp so
it was a slow start. On the water at 6:35 am. Nice early paddling but at 11:30 am
it started hailing. I quickly ran the kayak into the bank and jumped out and
wrapped myself in a tarp. A few minutes later it stopped and I got back on the
water.
Later I found I had placed the deck bag back in it’s place but failed to secure it to the kayak. Fortunately it sat there all afternoon
without falling into the water. I would have been distraught if I had lost it as
it contained all my electronics including the newly purchased Spot X GPS
device.
I finished early so I could dry all my gear out. After
setting up camp I set about filtering water from the river. It is not as efficient as
I would like and I was sorry I hadn’t brought all my water tanks. With three 5 litre tanks I would have had sufficient water for 5 days and only had to filter water for the remaining days. I had decided previously to bring just 1 tank and to filter water to reduce weight and increase storage in the kayak.
14/8/2022 65 km downstream of Wilcannia to 105 km downstream of Wilcannia
Last night I could hear rain on the tent but all was dry when I got up to pee at midnight. I got up at 6:00 am and had breakfast. On the water just after 7:30 am. It was cloudy with a south westerly wind all day.
I saw a white kangaroo on the bank, not albino as it's paws and nose were normal colour. Not bright white but creamy like siamese cat colour.
Lots of baby ducks, egrets and white necked herons, Lots of darters also and a large colony of pelicans, Must have been 100+. Paddled to 3:00 pm. Filtering water is a pain, missing my water tanks.
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| Wind and Solar |
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| Lunch spot |
15/8/2022 105 km downstream of Wilcannia to 150 km downstream of Wilcannia
Halfway to Menindee – Breakfast at 6:00 am – 8:00 am on the
water – A grey cloudy morning that turned to sunny breaks by 10:00 am. No wind
early that which meant easy paddling until lunchtime. South west breeze kicked
in again but not as bad as yesterday. It turned turned grey again mid afternoon. I got off
the river just before 3:00 pm as it was threatening to rain.
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| Loo with a view - worried about where it flushed too! |
Found a good site and was set up by 4:00 pm with water
filtering under way and a fire crackling. Bird hightlights: Lots of egrets and pelicans as well as families of hatchling "diving" ducks. They are a treat to
watch. Passed a couple of sheep stations but saw no one.
16/8/22 150 km Downstream of Wilcannia to 200 km Neli Gari Campground
At last a sunny day – Cold breeze hung about but the sun was lovely. Good paddling all day – scenery very much the same. Lots of egrets and spoonbills – cormorants now appearing, plenty of pelicans too. Makes me think that they may be fish for the birds to feed on.
Passed some crusties setting up camp on the river bank, they either ignored me or didn’t see me. Probably the former, such is crusty life – shoot me if I ever become one. After 50 km I pulled up just past Neli Gari campsite. No fire tonight as there is no firewood – crusties have cleaned it all up.
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| White bellied sea eagle |
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| Old Boiler |
17/8/2022 Wedding Anniversary – 36 years – 200 km past Wilcannia to 245 km past Wilcannia
On the water at 7:45 am. Sunny all day with little no breeze. The current seems to have slowed possibly due to water backing up from Lake Wetherill.
Some lovely wetland areas today. A couple of shortcuts advanced my cause before lunch but afterwards I seemed to be going nowhere.
Lots of egrets and pelicans again. Almost no baby ducks today which is inexplicable as they have been very common the last few days. Lots of cormorants and darters today.
Only
65 km left.
18/8/22 - 280 km downstream of Wilcannia
The map suggests 35 km to go to Menindee however the distance markings seem to reflect straight line distance on Lake Wetherill. I can understand why it has been done as it would be impossible to measure without GPS tracking of the river channel through the lake. It is simply not possible to paddle straight across the lake or along the shoreline as there are trees lining the path of the river bed through the lake.
From the starting point at 245 km to the 280 km point where I camped on the bank suggests 35 km paddled however I think 50 km would be closer as I was going back and forward as the channel loops back and forward and loops back on itself.
At one point I was convinced I was going in the wrong direction
but the GPS knew better.
Fortunately it was a lovely day for paddling. Highlights: a
large kangaroo splashing through the wetlands, white bellied sea eagles (I saw
3 pairs in different sections of the river), a pair of spoonbills nesting, and
a par of kookaburras sharing a moment. I think one kookaburra was offering the
other something to eat – it was sweet moment.
Lots of pelicans, spoonbills, egrets, cormorants and
darters. Really enjoyable to see. Although Lake Wetherill vexed me, I am so
glad I paddled here.
19/8/22 Menindee
Not sure how far I paddled today although it was probably
40+ km. After a lot of rain last night it was a lovely sunny morning. On the water
at 8:30 am. Again tried to follow the river channel through Lake Wetherill but
eventually gave up and headed directly toward the weir and river entrance.
Fortunately I was spot on and I was able to land at the boat ramp adjacent to
the weir.
Some “helpful” crusties suggested I paddle around the corner
and drag my kayak out closer to the next put in. Aargh! I followed their advice
to only discover I would have to drag the kayak up a steep 5 metre bank with no landing
point. I paddled back to the boat ramp and put the kayak on the trolley. I
relaunched on the other side of the weir with some help from one of the
fishermen there. He almost tipped me out in his enthusiasm.
At one point I passed a bloke standing in the water off the bank fixing a pump. His dog jumped up when it saw me. The bloke wasn't aware I was nearby and he abused the dog yelling "get down ya dirty effing c". I decided to keep paddling without further interaction.
From the weir it was 28 km downstream to Menindee. The last few km seemed as long as the previous 20 km. The town is on the river but mostly via Crick Park which was under water. Fortunately there was a boat ramp just next to Maidens Hotel.
As I pulled up there was a group of crusties
standing watching the river. They had just had lunch in the pub and were able
to tell me that the pub had both accommodation and meals.
I booked into the pub, no single rooms so I got a double. It
was a small room with a bed and a dresser and shared bathrooms outside. However
at $80 per night it was an improvement on the tent. At this point I was feeling
positive however that swiftly disappeared.
1st issue: Pub management was not friendly and wouldn't
allow me to leave my kayak inside the courtyard of the pub so I had to leave it outside on the street. I didn't really want too leave it there while I travelled back to Wilcannia to get my car.
2nd Issue: the bus that goes to Broken Hill only runs Monday
to Friday at 7:00 am. So I was stuck in Menindee all weekend unless I could find
another way to get to Wilcannia
3rd Issue: No mobile coverage or internet here. I tried to
buy a Telstra SIM at the post office but they don’t allow payment by tap. My
cards were in Wilcannia so I couldn't insert them in the EFTPOS. Aargh!
So I was totally stuffed! I decided to move to the motel across the
road on Sunday where I could access wifi internet.
20/8/2022 Menindee to Wilcannia to Menindee by car
What a difference 12 hours makes. Last night has dinner in
the bar of the pub and had a nice chat with Darryl, a local. Learnt a bit about
the town. Bangers and Mash with lots of overcooked veggie but all good.
Overnight I resolved to make most of being stuck in town by
walking to historic sites nearby. Started the day by walking out to the grave of Dost
Mohammed, a camel driver in the Burke & Wills expedition. Menindee was the
last town Bourke & Wills saw before they disappeared. Their last campsite is just up
the road near Menindee Weir at Lake Wetherill.
After that I planned to walk to the Menindee Cemetery but
saw that Red Sands café was open so I stopped in there for breakfast. While there
I chatted with the owner/manager and told her about my transport problem. She suggested
I go and talk with Joy at the Tourist Info bureau.
Joy was a delight. She confirmed that my public transport
options were limited however she offered to ask anyone who came in whether they
were going through Wilcannia and if so whether they would give me a ride. She
gave me the Wifi password for the pub and took my phone no so she could call me
if I got a ride. I went back to the pub and started catching up on my email and
social media. 45 minutes Joy rang to say she had found me a ride.
The 1st people Joy had asked were happy to give me a ride.
They were 3 NSW school teachers who had been on a 9 day camel expedition in the
Flinders Ranges. It was a very pleasant journey as our politics and life views
were well aligned. Luckily the West Wilcannia Rd was now open so we were able
to drive the most direct route to Wilcannia. Although road was in pretty good condition it
took 2.5 hours to travel 160 km to Wilcannia.
I offered to pay the teachers petrol which they refused but I was
able to buy their lunch at the Wilcannia Roadhouse (not a great culinary
destination) which was the only thing openon a Saturday afternoon.
They dropped me off at Warrawong Caravan Park where I quickly
jumped into my car and headed back to Menindee. It was enlightening to see the
plain above the river bank on the western side. It was quite green due to the
flooding and recent rainfall but I wouldn’t want to there at the height of
summer.
I arrived back at the pub about 5:30 pm and loaded my kayak
and gear into/onto the car and then went for dinner in the pub dining room. I enjoyed
my dinner chatting to some crusties who were travelling through.
21/8/22 Drove home via Ivanhoe, Hay &
Echuca. 205 km of dirt from Menindee to Ivanhoe and then another 180 km to Hay
had me watching the fuel gauge again. I got to Hay with the fuel warning light on.
Next time I drive the Hay Plain will carry an extra jerry can of fuel.
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| Sunset Viewing spot outside Hay |
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