Day 8 Marker 1074 to Marker 1022 (and some)

Both of us were up at first light packing up, consequently we were on the water by 7.25 am. I started out by paddling across the river to some swallows’ nests opposite our campsite. My sister Anne had commented her enjoyment of the previous photo of swallows’ nest from a few day ago.

Another beautiful morning, not long after we passed Jell’s Island which had a rocky outcrop nearby.

Our first stop was at Wemen 8 km down the river. There is a Petrol Station/Shop here so we were hoping it would be open for some treats and some fresh water. We climbed out at the boat ramp which was 500 metres away from the shop. Unfortunately it was only 9.15 am and the shop wasn’t going open until 10.00 am.

As an alternative I tried a tap near the petrol pump, the water stunk of petrol so I had to tip it out. I could see the neighbours were outside behind their house so we wandered around and asked if they could help us with drinking water. The family were Fijian, grandparents visiting from home, daughter and son-in-law and grandchild. They were happy to help us. They even offered us ice with the water. The Son-In-Law told us he was working at “Chambers” on wine grapes. He also confirmed there are shops at Nangiloc.

We set of again and paddled for 90 minutes and then pulled into a small beach for a break and some Scotch Fingers. There were some fisherman in a boat nearby. Oddly despite the heat we didn’t go for a swim.

Just on Noon I suggested we pull into a sandy beach and take a break in the shade as we had slowed down and the sun was beating down. We had lunch and a swim before heading off. At lunch an examination of the map revealed an unexpected bonus, an apparent shortcut saving us 6 km from marker 1036 to marker 1028 (we only had to paddle 2 km). The river on the map wound round an island but to our eyes both entries were blocked with overgrowth.

We had another swim just before Retail Cutting (the shortcut) and then paddled on to Deep Bend where we set up camp.

The highlight of the day was seeing some emu by the side of river. We also saw lots of feral goats, some kangaroo and as always lots of bird life.