Tuesday 9/2/2016 - Bama State Forest to Echuca

1744km - 1710km

A normal start to the day at first kookaburra and everybody now has a routine and goes about it without much talking. At 7:30 we set off for the short paddle to Echuca and a rest day. 

Nice paddling today as the river once again gets twisty. Sarg and Tony are paddling out front and they manage to set a new speed record, a little competition they have start. As they round a bend they see a couple of young wallabies playing in the water like kids. 

The river widens as we pass the junction of the Goulburn river and the bends are almost 180 degrees. We stop on one of these for a break and as we stand there we see gas starting to bubble on the surface of the river, and then the bubbles turn to a mushroom of gas coming to the surface (about 8 metres across) which brings with it a lot of leaf matter.  Looks very strange. 

As we get closer to Echuca we see lots of house boats moored to the banks and more river traffic. We soon pass under the Echuca bridge to pass the Port of Echuca. I was surprise at how many paddle steamers are in Echuca. We pass a couple on the river as we head to Merool caravan park. We are also joined for this short part of the journey by Tony, who is planning a similar trip from Echuca to the mouth next month. 

We spend the afternoon sorting and washing before Janice and Kerryn arrive from Albury. It is great to see them again. Tony decides to paddle back up the river to Echuca to go shopping (not sure chat he was thinking, I think the heat is getting to him). 

The day ends with dinner at the RSL club.  We all enjoyed it and Thomo did well to have two deserts before Kerryn stopped him having another. 

Taking a break under the high banks

Port of Echuca

Paddling past a paddle steamer. So much nicer than the Wakeboard boats.