Murray River By Boat!

Hello Gryphons.
Not having done the trip you are doing,"i'm jealous"but in saying that i have spent countless hours sitting "fishing" out of tinnies the only advice that i could give is get the most comfortable seat possible cheers Bill.

A couple of years ago there was a kayaker who did the whole length. He put up some good blogs on here, but they cant be opened as he is apparently no longer a member. Have a look here for an account of that trip.

Cheers,

Val

Hi Gryphons

I was only speaking about this yesterday morning with my hairdresser. We were speaking about great trips to do and then told me about his great 3 days on the Murray.

He travelled with his mate from Berri down to Morgan. By road it is well under 100kms, but it was a leisurely 3 days and 200 kilometres on the water. They had their swags and they had a ball, setting up on the banks each night.

We met one chap a few years back at the Old Customs House north of Renmark and he was travelling solo down the River and had been on it then for over 3 months. I asked him why it had taken so long and his answer was simple. He was in no rush and when he found that perfect camp spot, he would spend up to a week there and see nature at its best.


It would be a trip of a lifetime, half your luck and all the best with your planning.



Cheers



Stephen

the abc did a doco on this a while ago you can get the dvd here
http://shop.abc.net.au/products/two-men-in-a-tinnie

It is something I have wanted to do, but have not realized yet... LOL..

Go for it.

I purchased a booklet called"River Murray Charts" by Maureen Wright, from Westprint. I am sure they will still have copies. This booklet (slightly smaller than A4 size, about 60 pages) has lots of details about navigating the river and heaps of extra info.
regards

Time of year?

October through to April are warmest so prevent the need for as much cool weather wear but that said, there's plenty of fire wood along the banks to get a nice camp fire going, prior to Fire Ban Season which started yesterday.

There's lots, and lots of people that do it each year. Quite often you'll see groups of 2 or 3 tinnies winding their way.

As everyone else said there's some good maps available and depending on your tech abilities - we use our iPhone's GPS trackers to help us where the river is in flood!

Have fun! We're spoilt by having such a great river system only 2 hrs away, we enjoy it all the time!

A mate and I motored down the Murray from Yarrawonga to Swan Hill in February 2010.

Once I got past the first two hours of the trip - "I'm gonna go nuts at this speed..." - it was a quite amazing experience.

There is a considerable amount of information available to help you plan this trip - from charts, books, and of course a big blue sign on the river bank every two kilometres showing you how far you have to go to the mouth. Don't laugh, the blue signs really help with navigation on a river which can be quite bendy.

The really interesting thing we found was a relic from our colonial days. The New South Wales side of the river is most unfriendly, because some property boundaries go as far as the river, some extend to the centre of the river, and a few extend to the Victorian bank. Interesting. Lots of "no camping", "keep your boat off" etc. signs. On the Victorian side of the river is a two chain (about 40m) easement where anyone can beach their boat and camp.

All in all you get a very different view of the pace of life, you meet some really interesting people (Terry at Lock 26), and you get a very different view of the towns and settlements you pass through.

Have a great trip!

George_M

I,ve always wanted to do a trip down the river. Spent 40+ years holidaying on the Murray in SA and the closest we,ve come is a few big day trips and one overnighter.a mate and I are planning to travel a stretch. Don't forget to check out the backwaters.

Where you starting from?

A bloke called Sturt did it about 150 years ago, grab his journal for a fascinating read on the river then.
Two men and a tinnie spring to mind in more recent times.
Would be a great trip and I reckon any time would be good.
MM

Gday Gryphons,my brother and i have just spent a week paddling a canoe down the tumut and murrembidgee rivers.Paddled about 220ks camped on the bank each night ,caught a couple of nice rainbow trout and had a ball.Thoroughly recommend a while on the water for a bit of excitement and a bit of relaxation.

Hi Gryphons
it should be a great trrip with some homework. We travelled mid Jan last year ~270km in 5 days in a 4.3m boat with no land support. We averaged 2.5km/L at 15kt with a current of 2kt. I parked the car/trailer in the caravan park at Kingston on Murray and then boat toMannum Marina where I left the boat and then a caught a bus to Adelaide then back Kingston on Murray to get the car.

There are some good resources. Camping and Caravanning Guide to the Murray River River (Lewis & Savage)has details on campsites. The River Murray Boat Owners Association have a great website with a good members guide for voyage planning and water levels, links to fuel companies etc. The Boating Industry of South Australia produce the SA Waters Atlas which is brilliant. It has great charts and photos so you can pick campsites on sand banks, away from homesteads with cliffs facing the right direction for sunrise or sunset viewing. We tried to pick fuel stops with petrol stations at river level and used a fold up trolley to carry jerry cans. Try to get GPS for your points of interest (eg wineries) if you want river entry as there is very little signage on the river as most people come from the road.