Day 4 - Marker 730 to Marker 694 The mouth of the Mulroo

A slow start to the morning as yet again I had to dry gear out before setting off. I was a bit chilly so I made breakfast and ate it sitting in the tent with the sleeping bag wrapped around me. I decided as a treat to eat “dehydrated cooked breakfast” which was left over from the “Great Ocean Walk” 6 weeks ago. At the time Michael and Simon and I weren’t tempted to try it. On this occasion I enjoyed it as it was hot and filling – I am pretty sure I will never eat it again as commercial dehydrated meals sold in camping stores are very poor value compared to other options.

The weather was warmer and I enjoyed paddling until after 26 km when I spotted a picnic table by the side of an inlet. As I pulled up I discovered there was a 4WD with a trailer parked there but there wasn’t anyone around. The inlet was the Mouth of the Mulroo which is an “off-take” of the Murray. Water was being let flow through a small lock. Presumably this was only for “environmental” purposes because the Mulroo is entirely within the Murray Sunset National Park.

As I was eating lunch Joe and Liam returned from fishing in the Mulroo upstream. They are a father and son from Adelaide. Liam was about 10 years old. His father Joe was impressed with my trip and we had a good chat. He has an ambition to paddle the Darling from Bourke to Wentworth which is something I have thought about as well. It would be a far more difficult logistically due to greater distances and it is far more remote in places.

The mouth of the Mulroo

It was while chatting with Joe that I realised I was only a kilometre from Lock 7.  Passing through each he lock feels like   significant milestone stones in my trip as they are about 50 km apart in this part of the river. 

Approaching Lock 7

I was able to paddle straight up and into Lock 7. There seemed to be a bit of work going around  the Lock and as I exited I discovered it is a popular stopping point for the fishing/grey nomad population. There was a fishing boat waiting to go upstream as I came out of the Lock.

Curious Emus

Just past the lock I drifted past a sandy beach on the Victorian side. As I was passing a family of emus came walking down the beach as if the check me out. It was a magic moment and I was able to get a few shots on the camera. Absolute privilege to engage with these emus in that moment.

I paddled on until just before 694. I was feeling pretty tired and decided on an early finish even though I should have kept going to get the extra distance however I decided I needed slow down and smell the roses. I found a great campsite with a sandy beach but nice shaded clay base in the trees.

After setting up camp I stripped off for a swim. As there was no one around I went the “full” Monty and enjoyed thinking that I could tell my Adelaide colleagues that I had been skinny-dipping in their water supply. It was lovely and warm.

After dinner I walked down river to the next marker which was visible but just too far on the other side of the river to actually read.