727km - 657km
The night finally cooled down to allow us to sleep. A good breeze also helped in the tents. My air bed had a malfunction and now has a big bubble in it. Something else to sort out in Renmark.
An early morning gets us on the water before sunrise again. We are keen to knock out the 30km to lock 7 where we were promised better flow by the lock master at lock 8. More of the same scenery on these river lakes except that we are now seeing more emus. They have been running off when they see us, but today they are more content to stay near the water as we float past.
We hit the lock at 11am and make the small decent. Directly following the lock there is the junction of the Rufus river which flows from lake Victoria. The lake is fed from the Murray before lock 9. The flow did increase and for the first time in a week we felt like we were on a river again.
This part of the river has groins which are timber fences used to keep the water to the deeper channels around corners and were used in paddle steamer days. The groins are now decaying but do still remain a navigation challenge. Follow the signs and all is ok.
We all enjoy the extra flow, corners and the need to work your way down the river. The sandbars are back and all is good. After lunch we start to see big long hills and as we get closer we see that they are bare red dirt cliffs and hills. We are now in desert country and does it show. The cliffs at Devil's Elbow are remarkable with the colours and layers in the decaying walls.
It is again very hot this afternoon and it must once again be over 40. We struggle to find a camp spot and once again find a spot late in the day that we can't swim at. A big day with 70km knocked over.
Another hot night with little breeze. I am in my tent with sweat dripping, I hope it will finish soon.
Devil's Elbow
Typical river scene in this area
This s guy came down for a drink as I was taking the last picture. We say just a few meters away waiting for me to leave.
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