Top of the river
From the junction of the Culgoa and the Barwon to North Bourke
There is 85 km of the Darling River above Bourke. Officially the Darling starts at the confluence of the Barwon and the Culgoa. This seems arbitrary to me as the Barwon appears to contribute most of river flow although it may be different at other times.
In my earlier forays to the Darling I ignored this section as the logistics were too difficult by myself. Lisa and I were travelling to visit relatives near Parkes and we had a few days to spare. Lisa was insistent that I take the opportunity to tick off this section. She dropped me off on the Kamilaroi Highway where it crosses the Bogan River at Beeremy.
Access to the river was a bit sketchy. I had to drag the kayak through some muddy pools to the waters edge and then paddle past some fencing in the water. Once launched it was all about navigation as the course of the river was not obvious. Stopping every 200 metres to check the GPS I eventually found my way to the Barwon River. I had to portage 100 metres through some scrub to relaunch. The Barwon was flowing fast and I arrived at the start of the Darling right on noon.
It was a warm sunny afternoon and the strong current meant that I was enjoying myself so I kept paddling until 5:00 pm. Along the way I saw emus, kangaroos, goats and a very large mob of feral pigs.
A lovely bird chorus woke me predawn. I had an uncomfortable night. I must have fallen asleep in an awkward position. During the night I woke with my right arm aching enough that I considered getting up and walking down to the kayak to get pain relief from the First Aid kit. After lying there awake for a while I drifted back to sleep. In the morning my arm was fine. I was pretty stiff and weary from the big day of paddling the day before.
On the water at 7:30 after having muesli and coffee for breakfast.
My examination of the map suggested that I could be at North Bourke at 12:00 noon four hours earlier than I had told Lisa to expect me. I messaged her with that information. As the morning wore on I realised that was overly optomistic. I had expected foolishly that the map representation of the river would be reflected by reality. Of course the map is nothing like the river in flood.
In one area the river became a large lake with no flow and it was hard to determine where the river was. Similar to crossing Lake Wetherall near Menindee. It might have been possible to take a direct route on a compass bearing if I knew where the exit actually was.
At 11:30 I messaged Lisa saying my ETA was more likely around 1:00 pm. The last 5 km was a slog as I ran out of energy. I didn't have any snacks left
.
Passing Kidmans Camp just before the finish was a relief. Their Paddle Steamer Jandra sat in the water with its passenger gangway in the water.
Lisa had been waiting since 11:30 am so she was a little grumpy. It was nice to see her in any case. I was tired and hungry so went off the Port of Bourke cafe for lunch. Another section of the river completed.
Bird highlights: 1 Sacred Kingfisher, some spoonbills, lots of darters, some kites and pelicans. Lots of fairy martens.
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