Day 1 Mildura to 6 km past Wentworth

Last night was interesting. It was still 32 degrees at 8.30 pm but it started to rain so I had to go into the tent and put the flap down. It was stifling inside but I was able to drift off to sleep. Later the wind got up and the tent was flapping. Later the showers turned into steadier rain. It finally cooled down around 3.00 am.

                                                      At the launch site - Apex Beach

I was awake at 5.45 am and started packing up. In the interests of getting under way I decided to leave breakfast until 2 hours down the river. Even with this I didn’t launch until 6.45 am. This is my favourite time of day to paddle as the bird life on the river bank is just waking. Just out of camp there were a number of kites. Getting a picture is frustrating because I am never near enough.

The bird that was most frequent today was the Australasian Darter. There was barely a fallen tree in the water that didn’t have 1 of these remarkable birds. With their long snake-like neck, sharp pointed beak, chunky body and duck feet they are quite oddly proportioned. They spear their fishy prey and swim with their whole body under water.

I stopped at Merbein Common for breakfast after 2 hours. Porridge and coffee – filled me up and got me going. Progress was not fast – 6 kph with very little current. 20 km in I was able to save 9 km with an excellent shortcut that included pelicans!

This enabled me to reach Wentworth by 2.30 pm well ahead of schedule.  I pulled up in park just short of Lock 10 and rang the Lock Master and arranged to go though the Lock at 4.00 pm. I thought this would give me plenty if time to go to the supermarket and bakery.

Not long after I landed I got into a conversation with a couple who had come the view the junction of the Darling and the Murray (known as “the confluence”). They were impressed with my endeavour and I mentioned I was more of a cyclist than kayaker. Turns out he was a “cycling” journalist. I explained my other adventures cycling around the mainland.

They offered me a ride up to the supermarket in their car which save me a 10 minute walk. There wasn’t really anything I needed but I bought some lamb steaks and potato salad for dinner. I bit of a treat really. I also got a pie and donut from the bakery before heading back to river. I still had 30 minutes to kill so I did some stretching in the park.


I got back in the kayak about 3.50 pm and paddled towards Lock 10 and got the green light to enter the lock chamber. I had a chat with the Lock Master and he identified a shortcut that would save me 500 meters at Snaggy Island about 4 km downstream. When I got there I went the long way because the angle of the cutting seemed wrong and I didn’t want a detour. In any case it was only a minimal saving at best.

Not long after Snaggy Island I decided I had enough for the day and pulled up on the Victorian side on a high bank among the the red gums.  I set up in small clearing and enjoyed my treat dinner before crashing out in the tent.