Pushed on to Echuca arriving about 11.00 am, We had a look around and then went to the supermarket and the Beechworth Bakery. Tasty pies before our big trip. It was still raining and we didn’t want to pack up wet. The radar suggested it would clear so we set a deadline of 1.30 pm to get started. Joe parked his car at the Echuca Tourism Centre and this time left his details with the staff in side. On a previous trip the police were called about a lonely abandoned car.
Finally on the river at 2.00 pm . It was 12 degrees and windy but we were happy to get away. The distance marker showed 1712 km to the sea, only 304 km to Swan Hill. There had been talk about the recent floods. The water level was up from last year and we were going with the flow but it was not as fast as you might have thought. Passed some paddle-steamers and some houseboats going the other way.
The riverbanks near Echuca are populated with holiday cabins and houseboats but as we got further downstream we saw more forested areas. The wind was gusting strongly particularly on some stretches making paddling hard work.
After 2 hours we pulled over for a short break. The river banks were very muddy and slippery making exiting the kayak are bit tricky. As you can see Simon was having fun getting back into his kayak and Joe was on standby with his camera in case he fell in. After a couple of scotch finger biscuits we were on our way again. Another 2 hours and we had covered 25 km and found a campsite at Thunderbird Lake. It had toilets and a nice grassed area.
After setting up we cooked soup and sausages for dinner. The mozzies started to get hungry so we were in our tents by 8.00 pm. It was windy all night and there was a shower of rain around 3.00 am.
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