Up early-ish today , thought we might just go for a paddle in Morley Creek . We arrived at the boat ramp and unloaded & away we went .
The water was warm , not really that clean , but still okay for fish & cattle . Paddling up to the free camp spot and beyond , we had a head wind that slowed us up a bit . Temperature was good - around 24 degrees , but we stayed with the shade when we could get it . River red gums were all around the place , and even with a bit of wind , the reflections weren’t bad.
There were many fallen trees in the creek , and I thought our paddle was being brought to a premature halt a couple of times , but we managed to find a way through , or slide over the submerged branches & tree trunks .
The creek narrowed down and the trees were covering most of the water . Then we found our immovable object - a farm culvert !! It looked like they’d built it up over the years with whatever they could lay their hands on - some pipes here , box concrete culvert there , there’s some timber behind the shed , lets throw that in there as well , bit of concrete , a couple of more pipes and Bob’s your uncle , we’ve got access to the paddock and don’t have to worry about the creek flooding too much !!
After turning around , and heading back toward the ute , we found a spot to pull over to the bank . Time to go for a little walk - there was a dry creek bed , so I wandered off through that , then up into the paddock , cows & calves wondering what this guy was doing walking through their paddock ??? About 300m away from the kayak was a gate and another 100m was the Murrumbidgee River . Now , there wasn’t too much of Morley Creek for us to paddle back in , so the next brainwave was to carry the kayak across and paddle down the Murrmbidgee to the park and get out there , ride the bike back over to the ute and drive back !! Easy , I walked back over & discussed our planned adventure with Lyn and away we went . Through the electric fence ( safely ) and carry for about 30m before it turned to grass - long dead grass - so I dragged the kayak along , saved carrying it !! Through the gate and a bit of a carry , before having another drag down to the river . A nice flat spot to get in , all’s good , then - one foot into the water - hmmmm - what happened to the warm water - oh that’s right we left that 400m away in the creek !! The water temperature here was cold , BLOODY COLD , it’s that way due to the amount of water coming into the Murrumbidgee from the Tumut River , which is fed from Blowering Dam and Talbingo Dam , which are usually filled by melting snow and kept cool by the alpine climate !!
The water was flowing fast , with eddies and rapids making for an interesting paddle . The river snaked it’s way back and forth , past river oaks and snap willows . The snap willows are taking over , courtesy of the way they propagate themselves - any time a branch falls off and floats away , usually where it stops , it will sprout roots and grow into a new tree - quickly too !!
The blue sky was a perfect backdrop for some jet stream clouds - looked impressive .
We came to a section of the river where it did an S bend , complete with rapids , tree trunks to avoid and strong currents to avoid - I chose to walk down this section holding the kayak via a rope , so we could avoid tipping over - would not have been pleasant in this cold water !! After a few minutes of walking in this water in anything thing up to my knees , my feet started to complain , my ankles didn’t seem to want to work properly and I thought it’s time to get out and warm them up . I got back in the kayak and we continued on .
We could see the buildings associated with the showground and race course and knew we were getting close to the park . Rounding another couple of corners , the road bridge came into sight , then the rail bridge appeared - we needed to get out in between the bridges somewhere - it was doable , just a bit steep here & there , but nothing we couldn’t get over .
The bank is approx 5m above the water and about the same in horizontal distance . We got out and dragged the kayak up the bank onto the green grass above , and we were done - back to the van !! After a drink and a change of shirt I rode round and got the ute - all done before lunch !!
After lunch and when the wind had eased up , we headed back over to the Prince Alfred Bridge with the drone . Just the one photo of the bridge , but also a video , enjoy !!
Apologies if the video doesn't work , try back again later ( don't know whether that will help )
Here’s a map of our paddle , carry , drag , paddle : - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1txNm-Tj02W211rKkSXNj5O8roo8&usp=sharing
Friday - not a lot done today , only rode the bikes down the street , had a milkshake at the Niagarra Cafe - it was like stepping back in time , with the old cafe style seating , art deco counter and curved glass windows either side of the timber & glass front doors - the only thing that wasn’t old , was the price of the milkshakes - they were served in the metal mixing cups though , not paper cups !!
The temperature today was 34 degrees , so we sat and relaxed for the afternoon .
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