Hello autumn, I think summer still has a sting in the tail. Looks to be a hot day. We start the day the same as yesterday with an 8am appointment at lock 10. This is just past the Darling river junction.
A beautiful morning with an orange sunrise over the water as we paddle slowly through the junction. The river is huge here and almost looks like a lake. The reflections on the water are stunning. We can only imagine what it would be like if the Darling actually was flowing. This is the point where most of the water from NSW, Norhern Vic and southern Qld comes together. In a flood year the amount of water coming through here would be huge.
We wait for the lock door to open and in we go. This is the biggest lock so far and is the standard size from here on down. Before long we are on our way toward the next lock in almost still water.
The first hour of paddling is always stunning and is my favourite time of the day. The colours, animals, contrasts, reflections and temperature all come together in an amazing show.
Today after the first hour is over it all goes downhill. It is getting very hot, the scenery is only good in patches and we have to plug through those kms. We stop for lunch at Fort Courage, a fishing club camping and meeting area. We thought that there may have been a shop, but there wasn't. No ice cream today.
After lunch we keep slugging away. We are now in some very arid red country. A stop at an old decaying paddle steamer produced our first goanna for the trip. He kindly ran up the tree we are under. The best part of the afternoon was the old trees on the banks. Very interesting shapes, contorted, struggling, half dead with new life and surviving.
We hit the 50kms we need to do at 6pm and we then look for a camp spot. This is not so easy on these lakes and the closer you get to a lock the harder it is. We settle for a dry dirt spot. It is hot and the river bottom is full of green goop so we can't swim. Quite disappointing after the lovely river we had before the locks started.
It is very still and hot, and always hotter in the tent.
The Datling and Murray junction
Typical country away from the river.
Another nice sunset. We
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