The Mighty (?) Murray
Tim picked Nic up from the airport in Melbourne after her very fleeting and really rather secret visit home to meet new nephew Ishan George. Because of such a late arrival we had rented a cabin in a caravan park, this time it had a little bit of history!
It is not a bad ploy… it makes you feel better about spending good money to stay in such a utilitarian and depressing park-home! There was a hastily repaired hole in the wall above the bed, which got us to wondering who had stayed in it? Romanian shot-putters perhaps?
We headed north via Bendigo and then onto Barmah Forest just east of Echuca. We loved being on the Murray, it’s a bit of an Australian icon isn’t it? Even if it wasn't looking quite so mighty. Parts of the river looked very low indeed – we thought drought, drought, drought. But after talking to a few people in Echuca we realise that the current level is not actually the lowest of recent times, and the fluctuating levels are more to do with irrigators taking water from it, rather than solely being caused by the drought.
In Echuca Nic was able to check out all the old paddle steamers, and relive her teenage passion for All the Rivers Run - the book and the mini-series with Sigrid Thornton and John Waters.
Tim has been able to put in some serious fishing time on the Murray. But same old river problem – too many wee little fishies and not enough of the eating size ones! Murray cod were in plague but not keeping proportions. But at least the fishing is right next to our living – Tim got to sit on the riverbank in a very civilised fishing style. And a brace of silver perch saved the day.
We had a bit of fun being on the Vic/NSW border, looking over the bank at the green lawned caravan park in NSW compared to the State Forest bush camping on our side. But it did pale into comparison to our experience (so many years ago) on the Mekong River looking at the jungle of Laos compared to the developed Thailand.
It is not a bad ploy… it makes you feel better about spending good money to stay in such a utilitarian and depressing park-home! There was a hastily repaired hole in the wall above the bed, which got us to wondering who had stayed in it? Romanian shot-putters perhaps?
We headed north via Bendigo and then onto Barmah Forest just east of Echuca. We loved being on the Murray, it’s a bit of an Australian icon isn’t it? Even if it wasn't looking quite so mighty. Parts of the river looked very low indeed – we thought drought, drought, drought. But after talking to a few people in Echuca we realise that the current level is not actually the lowest of recent times, and the fluctuating levels are more to do with irrigators taking water from it, rather than solely being caused by the drought.
In Echuca Nic was able to check out all the old paddle steamers, and relive her teenage passion for All the Rivers Run - the book and the mini-series with Sigrid Thornton and John Waters.
Tim has been able to put in some serious fishing time on the Murray. But same old river problem – too many wee little fishies and not enough of the eating size ones! Murray cod were in plague but not keeping proportions. But at least the fishing is right next to our living – Tim got to sit on the riverbank in a very civilised fishing style. And a brace of silver perch saved the day.
We had a bit of fun being on the Vic/NSW border, looking over the bank at the green lawned caravan park in NSW compared to the State Forest bush camping on our side. But it did pale into comparison to our experience (so many years ago) on the Mekong River looking at the jungle of Laos compared to the developed Thailand.
posted by Tim and Nic at
10:10 am
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