Day 2 Hogwash Bend to Morgan 31 km

It started to rain around 2:00 am and it continued to around 5:00 am. Fortunately the tents were dry by the time we got out of bed. The wind settled down so it was still and dry while we were packing up and having breakfast.

 Simon tried his hand at Duck Whispering with a couple of Australian Wood Ducks that came wandering through our camp. They seemed quite comfortable with out presence.

Hogwash Bend is a conservation reserve and is home to a colony of Regent Parrots although I couldn't spot any.

We were on the water at 7:30 am. Our progress slowed when the wind rose. After 2 hours we had paddled 11 km. We looked for a spot to get out for a break. We came to a small sandy beach but it was being hammered by the wind. Simon got out and pulled his kayak up but I wasn't keen. I was not happy to pull up on a lee shore in the strong wind. In the end Simon got back and followed me 1 km up the river to an old boat ramp.

Another hour punching into the wind it was time for lunch. We landed at a boat ramp near Cadell. We walked into town but could not locate the General Store. Eventually we realised we had walked past the turn-off to the store. When we found the store we went inside to order. There was bloke inside smoking which is something unusual these days when smoking is banned in food service areas. We got pies and coke before walking back to the kayaks. I didn't get any photos in Cadell.

After lunch we made better time and arrived outside Morgan around 2:30 pm. The last 3 km were into a strong headwind. It was as if the river didn't want us to get to Morgan. We landed at a large boat ramp next to the ferry and  walked across to the caravan park and booked an unpowered site.

Dinner was spaghetti and meatballs at 1 of the 2 pubs. Apparently we could have had beer and a meal at the roadhouse too. At the pub we were in we had a couple of beers chatting with the barman (Ben) who wanted to get into an Information Technology job having done Cert 4 in Networking and IT Security at the local TAFE. Sadly there wouldn't be many opportunities in a town that small so he would really have to move away to have any chance of getting that sort of work.


 Later other campers told us the other pub was really lively and good fun.