By Kevin Neild
I recently had the chance to spend a few days paddling down one of Australia’s iconic waterways, the Murray River. The trip was a 5-day camp and canoeing experience where we enjoyed 3 full days on the water with the first day spent travelling to the river and setting up our gear. We were able to enjoy some local attractions en route.
The plan was to journey down the Murray River from Burmah to Moama and finish in Echuca. Camping each night on the banks of the river, cooking dinner, and sharing stories on the banks of the mighty Moorundie.
The first night was spent at the Burmah Caravan Park with clean toilets, hot showers and cooking facilities set in picturesque surrounds before our 3 days of water adventure as we drifted along with the currents and savoured the environment from the water’s edge as we escaped the city for the week.
The weather was generally good to us throughout the trip, as were the currents on the river, particularly on Wednesday and Thursday when we travelled 17km and 21km respectively without much fatigue. We witnessed plenty of wildlife along the river as well as the occasional cluster of moored houseboats… we were even overtaken by a number of small powerboats on our journey.
The last night was spent at a caravan park across the NSW border, in Moama. It had great facilities such as toilets (remember we had been roughing for two nights) and steaming hot showers, an indoor kitchen with heating and a table for recreational activities like cards and eating. That night we had a pub meal at the Moama Bowls Club which was a real treat as it was warm and dry in comfortable surroundings with good food and soft drink to go around.
All participants and staff worked and communicated well together with everyone pulling their weight on the river and in the camp including unpacking and drying gear back at Kensington. It was a great group of people and one of the best if not the best planned and executed trips I’ve experienced with Out Doors.
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