at Towong camped in a nice riverside park. We headed into Corryong for dinner at the pub.
This morning we were up early and dragged the kayaks down to the river under the Towong
Bridge. Another bloke came down to see us off and to offer advice. Fortunately we launched
without drama into the fast running current.
We quickly discovered that this was no gentle paddle in a quiet stream. The Murray at this
point is an Alpine stream with strong current, shallow gravel races and deep bends with
willows waiting to tip you out of your kayak.
45 minutes into the trip Simon was tipped out on a river bend and had to drag his kayak to
the shore before relaunching. Shortly after he was swept into some willows on a river bend
and had to bail out again. This time I had recover his kayak and tow it back to him. I had my
drama too as I got turned around in the current when my kayak got caught on a branch.
After this we made good progress until Tony tried to go around a submerged tree in a river
bend near Ferrar's lookout. At the last moment he tried to go in front of the tree and got
sideways to the current which tipped him out and pinned his kayak against a submerged
branch. He was able to scramble onto a the tree stump to safety only after getting his PFD caught on the rudder of the kayak with the pressure of the full river current trying to push him under.
.
Simon and I were some way behind Tony so we were not able to provide any assistance initially. We were able to get a rope to Tony using my paddle float launched upstream so that the current took it to him. By this time the kayak was bent in two. Tony tried to dislodge the kayak from the tree but although he managed to move it it remained stuck in the tree. Eventually he jumped into the river behind the tree and allowed it to take him downstream to the bank.
We made a number of unsuccessful attempts to recover the kayak. Noticing there was rain on the horizon I set up my tent and boiled the hilly for some cups of soup. We took cover while it rained before making another attempts to recover the kayak. It became obvious to us that without a 2nd rope we were destined for failure so Tony rang the local police for assistance.
Shortly after a police van appeared on the other side of the river. Unfortunately the policeman (Troy ) couldn't get to us from that side so he had to drive around to the other side. This was quite inaccessible and he couldn't find his way so he rang a local farmer (Matthew) for assistance.
Matthew found us after riding around on his scramble bike. He still had to walk around a kilometer to get to us. He was then able to direct the Troy to where we were. Once we had an extra rope we were able to drag Tony upstream in my kayak to his marooned kayak where he was able to able to attach the 2nd rope. It was then possible pull the kayak free. This was mainly due to the work of Matthew who could be best described as a strong country lad.
Matthew was also telling us that the river was low at the moment as there was no call for electricity in the big towns so they weren't releasing any water. Apparently they need a spell of hot weather to drive electricity demand for Snowy Hydro to start their turbines.
It was clear Tony wouldn't be able to continue as his kayak had borne the full force of the Murray river so he was driven back to his car by Troy. Troy also mentioned that it was not uncommon to lose kayaks and small boats in this part of the Murray. Food for thought but the scenery was too good to stop the trip before it had really begun. It was now 5.00 pm so Simon and I set up camp.
While we waited for Tony to return Simon and I undid the seat bolts and engaged in some panel beating to straighten the kayak (we jumped up and down no real science). For various reasons Tony wasn't able to return until the next morning. I suggested that he come to the other side of the river and I would tow the kayak over.
We made a number of unsuccessful attempts to recover the kayak. Noticing there was rain on the horizon I set up my tent and boiled the hilly for some cups of soup. We took cover while it rained before making another attempts to recover the kayak. It became obvious to us that without a 2nd rope we were destined for failure so Tony rang the local police for assistance.
Shortly after a police van appeared on the other side of the river. Unfortunately the policeman (Troy ) couldn't get to us from that side so he had to drive around to the other side. This was quite inaccessible and he couldn't find his way so he rang a local farmer (Matthew) for assistance.
Matthew found us after riding around on his scramble bike. He still had to walk around a kilometer to get to us. He was then able to direct the Troy to where we were. Once we had an extra rope we were able to drag Tony upstream in my kayak to his marooned kayak where he was able to able to attach the 2nd rope. It was then possible pull the kayak free. This was mainly due to the work of Matthew who could be best described as a strong country lad.
Matthew was also telling us that the river was low at the moment as there was no call for electricity in the big towns so they weren't releasing any water. Apparently they need a spell of hot weather to drive electricity demand for Snowy Hydro to start their turbines.
It was clear Tony wouldn't be able to continue as his kayak had borne the full force of the Murray river so he was driven back to his car by Troy. Troy also mentioned that it was not uncommon to lose kayaks and small boats in this part of the Murray. Food for thought but the scenery was too good to stop the trip before it had really begun. It was now 5.00 pm so Simon and I set up camp.
While we waited for Tony to return Simon and I undid the seat bolts and engaged in some panel beating to straighten the kayak (we jumped up and down no real science). For various reasons Tony wasn't able to return until the next morning. I suggested that he come to the other side of the river and I would tow the kayak over.
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