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| The Mighty Murray River near Barham; running a banker (photo taken in 2013) |
As the northern
hemisphere’s United States shivered through a January polar vortex (a large-scale cyclone located near the arctic) with
temperatures as low as -38°C, down in our southern domain, Australia
sweltered through a week-long heatwave with temperatures in the mid 40s.
Beating the heat is a
summer pastime for many Australians, with water being one of our favourite
remedies. Coastal folk head to the iconic sandy beaches that surround our vast
continent while inlanders head for their local pools, rivers, lakes, ground
tanks, irrigation channels or just a sprinkler on the lawn.
Last Thursday, in the
middle of a string of 44°C days, I along with my friends, Astrid, Maxwell
and Trish embarked on a morning float down the Murray River on our lilos
(inflatable air mattresses).
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| Breakfast of champions... and floaters |
Armed with our lilos,
hats, sunscreen and water bottles, we started our day upstream at Little Forest
Produce; home of 12 Good Eggs the
organic, free-range chook farm that supplies Barham and towns far and wide with
magnificent nutritious eggs. Mardie, Glen, Rose and Hugo invited us to join
them for a delicious breakfast on the riverbank before we descended into the
silky mud and beautifully cool Murray River water.
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| Maxwell and Hugo heading for the river |
At 2,508km the Murray
is Australia’s longest river and the third longest
navigable river in the world, after the Amazon and Nile. Starting high up in
the Kosciusko National Park it marks the border between New South Wales and
Victoria and flows all the way to the Murray Mouth in South Australia where it
empties into the Southern Ocean.
The river height had
dropped dramatically since Christmas and one of the first things we noticed after
we had successfully clambered aboard our lilos (no mean feat for some of us…), was
how much weaker the current had become. This caused Trish and I some mild
concern as we both needed to be home by lunchtime to start work in the afternoon.
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| Hugo, Annie and Maxwell |
We spent some time
experimenting with the ideal lilo positioning; I found lying on my back,
meandering along in the slow-moving current to be the most comfortable, with the
occasional flip into the water to swim and cool down.
For those of you who
have yet to enjoy the marvels of floating down a river somewhere, I can highly
recommend it. Soothed by the cool water and gentle current, we drifted past the
massive river red gums lining the banks and enjoyed watching and hearing the
abundant birdlife. Kookaburras, ibis, kingfishers, blue wrens, Nankeen Night Herons, sulfur-crested cockatoos, darters, various
breeds of ducks, Australasian Bitterns and water hens are just a small selection
of birdlife that can be seen when you float along the river near Barham.
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| Nankeen Night Heron |
Floating down the river on a weekday morning
can also be recommended, as there was very little river traffic. We passed the
occasional holidaying family, recreational fisherman or woman in their tinnies
and just one barbie boat of friends out enjoying the morning before the intense
heat set in later in the afternoon.
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| Astrid, Trish, Annie and Maxwell floating away down the Murray River |
Nearing Koondrook and Barham, it sounded as
though there was a flotilla of speedboats heading our way. Rounding a bend in
the river we discovered the source of the noise was in fact the historic
Arbuthnot Sawmill; working away on the edge of the river as it has done since
1889.
Trish and Maxwell had floated on ahead of
Astrid and myself and waited for us at the sandbar near the beautifully kept
Barham Caravan and Tourist Park. From there we floated on down, under the 1904
lift-span bridge that links Koondrook (VIC) and Barham (NSW) until we reached
Willow Bend. The float had taken us about three and a half hours; getting out
of the water in time for me to have a quick shower and lunch before starting
work for the afternoon.
Feeling inspired? On Australia Day (next
Sunday, 26th January), at 10.30am you can register at the Koondrook
Boat Ramp for the annual Great Aussie
Lilo Race. Organised by our local Koondrook Barham Football Netball Club, the district’s most colourful
aqua event is floated, swum and paddled (in varying degrees of competitiveness)
from the Koondrook boat ramp, downstream on the Murray River to the Barham boat
ramp. Although perhaps not quite as tranquil as our three and a half hour float last
Thursday, the Great Aussie Lilo Race
is excellent fun and a great Australia Day tradition in Barham and Koondrook for locals and visitors alike.
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| Floating down the Murray River... how's the serenity?! |
