.
Day
34-
29/6/07
-
Getting
Closer
To
Dirranbandi
Bruce's
Report:
Cheered
Sam
and
Marj
on
their
way
and
took
Steve
out
to
his
starting
point.
He
was
soon
on
the
water
above
the
Wyenbah
Bridge.
Kerrie
and
I
went
to
Wyenbah
Station
and
Tom
and
Laura
Sevil
took
us
downriver
to
the
weirs
on
the
Culgoa
and
Balonne
Minor
where
we
met
Steve.
After
admiring
one
of
Steve's
water
gates
on
the
weir
he
set
off
cross
country
to
find
the
Dirranbandi
road.
Kerrie
and
I
called
in
on
Don
and
Laurel
Fraser
at
"Hastings"
who
very
kindly
took
us
out
across
the
property
to
find
Steve.
We
came
across
a
very
tired
kayaker
who
had
slogged
through
some
tough
territory.
We
finally
made
the
road
and
after
an
hour
or
so
Steve
called
it
a
day
after
a
tough
23.59
km
day.
The
final
straw
came
when
we
found
that
the
new
wheels
and
bearings
had
arrived
in
Dirranbandi
AND
.................,...
they
didn't
fit!!!!!
Rod
Lehmann
and
partner
Shirley
arrived
to
save
the
day
with
wine,
Guiness,
cheese,
a
Guiness
stew
and
dessert.
Steve's
Report:
This
was
a
great
day.
Fancy
finding
the
penstock
we
supplied.
The
Balonne
splits
into
the
Balonne
minor
and
the
Culgoa.
There
are
weirs
on
each
a
few
hundred
metres
downstream
of
the
split.
They
are
called
the
bifurcation
weirs
and
they
regulate
how
much
goes
to
each
place.
So
it
was
a
great
paddle,
a
tough
walk
and
then
a
sprint
down
the
dirt
road
towards
Dirranbandi
We
went
to
the
newsagent
to
pick
up
the
errant
bearings
and
guess
what.
They
do
not
fit!
This
is
the
fourth
attempt.
They
say
16mm
but
they
appear
to
have
a
5/8"
bore
which
is
slightly
less.
 |
 |
| The
Ballonne
MInor
weir |
A
really
tough
cross
country
pull
to
get
from
the
weirs
to
the
dirt
road.
This
was
the
hardest
pull
on
the
trip,
worse
than
the
Toowoomba
range.
This
is
a
worry
for
the
bad
bits
in
NSW
after
Bourke |