Murray River multi day paddle from Corryong to the Hume Dam
Paddling the length of the Murray river has been a teenage dream of mine. This trip is my personal official start of what I hope will be many journeys to reach that target. Every excursion I've had on its waters has been a pleasure, this trip was no exception.
My buddy Livio agreed to come along with me for this paddling adventure. He had fond memories of paddling the Hawkesbury river with me, and so he was glad to take the opportunity to come on this trip. (See Brooklyn, NSW: kayak trip , Hawkesbury, Macdonald River, NSW: kayak trip)
On this trip we are having a multi-day paddle from Bringenbrong bridge near Corryong to the Hume dam. We will be doing this with the creature comforts by the support of my van and car, shuffling from one camp site to another.
The weather was great during this month of May. The water levels were perfect giving us a steady flow which meant for easy paddling all the way. We kept our paddling duration between 4 to 6 hours meaning that we had a nice relaxed camp and time to shuffle the vehicles in comfort.
There are campsites accessible by car along the length of this river section. All are in good condition and relatively litter free. As we chose a non holiday period, it meant that there were few campers at each site and usually a non partying group.
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There are numerous birds and farm animals as well as the odd kangaroo to be seen. We said hello many a time, but social discourse with humans sitting in kayaks for them is not something they indulged in for long - keeping their distance and maintaining a healthy one at that..
River gums are ever an artistic pleasure. Their branches and trunks in sinuous shapes, ravaged by fire and insects or the odd axe, they are nature's survival experts.
Eerie is an apt description for the entrance to and within the Hume dam. Drowned trees strike a ghostly post of a skeletal emblem of what was in the valley of the river gone.
It rained towards the end of our trip, so we elected to spend a day and night in Tallangatta. This gave us the opportunity to have a decent shower, clean our clothes and enjoy a beer /meal at the pub.
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We also explored the nearby historic migrant village Bonegilla. Still, what is there is a memory of thousands of people of different ethnicities migrating to Australia. Here they learnt the ways of Australia before being allowed to integrate into the country. Times were pretty austere in those days, no insulation, group accommodation, and an almost prison like environment.
The village is in good repair, fortunately not completely demolished in the name of progress and perhaps an effort to diminish an perceivable dark era of our history with its overall size. It was a shame that the earlier nissen huts are gone. (my family stayed in a Nissen hut when we came to Australia in 1965 at Villawood). The restored accommodation, even with the more conventional structure was extremely hot in in summer and very cold in winter. Bedding, I 'd say was more comfortable on the ground outside.
This section of the Murray river is sublime, with it charming bucolic river scene, animal life, and - well not always guaranteed: great weather. I am looking forward to further trips with the goal to paddle its length in a similar way.
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