Kayak 4 Earth

Day 92 - 26/8/07 - Starting Down the Murray

Steve's Report: A short day on the Murray (25km). Access is difficult due to locked gates so the trip has to get split into where Jonathan can get to the river. Not knowing the area is a problem because I seem to see lots of local on the banks.

The river is about five times as wide, the straights are really long and the bends are about five times longer. I had some strong headwinds today (about 20 knots) and on the long straights the waves build up enought to rock the kayak up and down and make me wet. What would normally give me nearly 9km/hr gets knocked back to about 6km/hr but then the wind drops and up goes the speed again. It really was great to have water moving around underneath me again.

Allen and Mary came out yesterday afternoon from Shepparton. It was terrific to catch up with mates and sit by the river. Because Allen is in the water industry upstream from here it was good to share information on his area and what I have see.

Jonathan's Report: Last night Steve and I enjoyed the company of two fellow AWA representatives (Allen and Mary) who drove out to support Steve and spend the night on the river at Wentworth.

The next day after Alan had enjoyed his bacon and egg breakfast he paddled next to Steve in the spare kayak and later wished him all the best for the remainder of the trip.

Steve is now 25 river kilometres downstream of the Murray and his feet can finally relax as there obviously won’t be any problems with water for the remainder of the trip.


The Murray is wide	Steve and Allen enjoying a morning paddle

Surely they aren’t racing	Nope just cruise’n’