Riding the Scorpions Tail

With my arm apparently better, and a four day weekend coming I decided I could resume the trip. Logistically it was complicated. But not impossible. Drive to Carrathool. Leave car at pub. Walk back to kayak at river. Paddle. Take kayak to caravan park in Hay. Catch the early morning bus to Carrathool turnoff. Walk the 7km back to pub to get car and drive to Hay to retrieve gear. And that is sort of how it happened. I arranged to stay at the Carrathool hotel on the Thursday night and to stay at the Big 4 in Hay on the Sunday. This would work as long as I could travel the distance in 3 days. In the pub I spoke to Shaun the publican, and a tractor driver Don, who liked Trump, didn’t agree with environmental water, and thought there was no such thing as climate change. I slept badly in the donga out the back of the pub, and at dawn drove down to the river, pushing the loaded kayak halfway down the bank, and locking it to a tree root. I then drove back and parked my car near the donga and...

  After the Carrathool trip, I had a tweaked arm, diagnosed as Tennis Elbow (when it correctly should have been called ‘paddled too hard to get away from the storm elbow’). I then complicated this in some way working on my house, painting above my head and climbing ladders, which gave me a sore shoulder on the same arm. With all the driving back and forward from Wagga to Echuca (see https://herofukutu.blogspot.com/2024/12/time-place-pace.html ) I did not have the time nor money to see someone for a diagnosis, or a remedy. Finally in December, I got into a physio in Echuca and they recommended some exercises that I have been trying to dutifully do and both the bicep and shoulder are feeling better. In a test to see whether I could paddle without pain, I took my kayak down to the boat ramp near where I am living and took to the waters of a different river, the Mighty Murray – mighty fucking noisy and muddy. Being the Christmas break there were people set up with gazebos and eskys on...

 I'm cheating a little, because I'm including my original long trip on the river in 2011. A big black snake was lying close to the water on an old gum tree trunk. It did not move as I paddled past. This and a collection of rainbow tree eaters are two of the memorable moments from my first long canoe trip on the Marrambidya (Murrumbidge).  I was living in Leeton at the time, working as the area’s inaugural Regional Arts Development Officer, and in the afternoons I would often go out to the river and go for a paddle. I had an inflatable canoe which though slow was very portable. I would paddle for an hour upstream against the strong current, and then turn and be back at the car in ten minutes. Eventually I grew weary with the job and I applied for a residency in St Louis, Senegal. Before I left the Riverina, however, there was something I wanted to do. Perhaps a macabre thing though. On the Murrumbidgee upstream of Narrandera there is an island, called either Murdering Island ...

  January 2024 Organising a calendar to allow   6 days remote paddling is a difficult thing, but in mid-January 2024 I was mostly able to do that and get back on the river at Narrandera and head down stream with the intention of heading for Hay. Just out of town I see a black snake lying on the sand, half of his body in the water, as if to regulate its temperature. It does not register my slippery passing. The first destination was Yanco Weir which is roughly 16km down the river. The weather hot but paddling was pleasant. The portage at Yanco in the heat of the day not so much, and I had to make several trips carrying all my gear and then put the canoe on wheels to bypass the gates and weir infrastructure. It took about an hour and then I was back on the river with the intention of finding a campsite before dark, within paddling distance of Middle Beach near Leeton, which I figured was a good place to get reception to receive a call from Create NSW about a funding reject...

  Jugiong to Gundagai – 15 th November to 16 November 2023 544km   I have been keen to get back of the river to resume my Riding the Scorpion’s Tail project after a year of work and a year where a lot of the river was in flood, which I assumed would be above my boat’s capability and my skill level. I logged on to Gumtree one day and saw a sit in kayak was for sale in Tumblong, only 90km away so I arranged to buy it. Having the possibility of a couple of days between commitments I chose a relatively close section that was easy to access. The River Heights website https://www.waterwaysguide.org.au/river-levels said the river height was 2.33 metres on Thurday 7 th November which was close to the ‘good’ level. Almost not close enough unfortunately. And when I check again, it has been updated on the 17 th November, today and is 1.35 metres and below the minimum required and just above ‘stay home’. Peita drove me to Jugiong and dropped me off. I camped in the area opposite...

    Mid March 2022   The Shadow of Birds I drive down to Deniliquin via Leeton to see a friend’s exhibition. At Deni I meet with the Executive officer of the art board for that area, Southwest Arts. Kerry-Anne Jones who has very kindly agreed to paddle the last leg of the Murrumbidgee with me and then take me back to my car in Balranald. I am hoping to have a zoom call about another project so check in to a local Caravan Park. In the morning I get up at dawn and drive to Balranald, to a very nice Caravan Park right on the river. They agree to let me leave my car there for the four days. I pack and am on the water at noon. The first marker is Balranald Weir which I am told is 12 km downstream. It is a beautiful day and the river in carpeted with blossoms (acacia -?), bark and leaves.  They swirl and twirl and move slowly along with the current. The whole way to the Murray there are thousands of white Egrets, White Faced Herons, White-necked Herons, Nankeen Nig...