Another hot night, even hotter than last night. Only Thomo had a good sleep as he does not feel the heat. Up at 6 to see the moon low in the west and soon we see the glow of the rising sun in the east. The strong wind has stopped and it is a pleasant paddling morning.
Around the first corner we see the first big red cliff for the day. It is still in shadow so it is not as spectacular as it could have been. In the last two days we have started to see goats on the banks and today is no exception. We pass a big billy goat and EJ thinks it is related to Sarg. We continue to see Sea eagles and as we pull in for our second stop of the morning we pass beneath one just sitting on a branch not far above our heads. We pass many more Pelicans now and they are also a majestic bird to watch.
To our surprise this part of the river has many islands and outcrops in the middle of the river. We pass through some which create a swift current, More of this would be good.
We reach Weman at lunch time and it is now very hot, but still no wind. We pull up at the "boat ramp" and walk 1km to the only shop in town. Walking on the red sand reminds us that we are close to the desert country and the only thing making this area fertile is the water being pumped from the river.
We have a good lunch of pies, hamburgers, chips, potato cakes, dim sims and flavoured milk. It is amazingly what this paddling does for your appetite, especially when you know tonight will be Uncle Bens rice again. After lunch we all use the "sit down" toilet, what luxury and beats digging holes.
Back on the water with stomachs full and beer fridge stocked with cans and ice. I don't know where Tony keeps it all. Tony's boat is now known as Bar 580 and is open for happy hour some evenings.
The minute we get on the water the wind swings from south to north-west and really starts to blow hard. It is like being in a fan forced oven and given we are heading north-west it makes for a very hard afternoon. Big waves and strong gusts to rip the paddle out of your hand.
We have had enough by 6 and find a sand bar to camp on. It is still very hot, but a bit protected from the wind. After setting up camp the wind once again changes to come from the south. Gusts rip through the camp, Tony's and EJ's tents go flying and we struggle to hold everything down. The good news is that it is now cooler and we head for bed, both for a cooler night and to use our bodies to hold the tents down.
Bad news, the moon is rising and my tent is facing east. Another night with the car headlights on.
The setting moon before dawn
Love those red cliffs. Each one has a different character.
Afternoon nanny nap time (scan). Thomo is reading. We thought of some captions for the photo including: Thomo has had backed beans again, or Thomo's bed time story time. Send me your suggestion.
Options: He's calorie-counting the pies, hamburgers, chips, potato cakes, dim sims and flavoured milk had for lunch; OR he's doing a SECRET blog
ReplyDeleteYou are correct about the calorie counting. I still think it was wind
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