Yambuna Bridge - Moama

Yambuna Bridge - Moama (52 km)

This trip was timed for the end of school holidays which fortuitously coincided with Inter-valley Trade where water from the Goulburn system was being sent into the Murray River. Therefore, there was a good flow of about 2180 Ml/day with a water level of 2.1 m upstream at McCoys Bridge. The current assistance was about 1 km/h. During the two days on the lower Goulburn I did not see any other river users.

30 January 2018

We based ourselves at "Moama on Murray" which is about 5 km upstream of the Echuca-Moama bridge. Monday 29 January had been a very hot day but a cold front came through bringing rain and cooler temperatures. It was raining lightly when I launched at 10 am at Yambuna Bridge and the air temperature was about 16 degrees. In contrast, the water temperature was 29 degrees so when my hands felt could I would dip them into the river. Mist was rising off the river. Whilst it is nicer to be dry whilst paddling, the rain did bring out the colours of the bark on the trees. By about midday the rain had stopped and a southerly breeze picked up. After about 18 km I passed what is marked as a "naturist resort" on my Hayman's Map. My research (purely for the benefit of others who may wish to stay here!) reveals that this is now River Bend Caravan Park and there is no indication on their website that it is still a naturist resort. I had short breaks at about midday and 2 pm and arrived at Stewarts Bridge at 3:30 pm. According to my GPS I had paddled about 36 km at a moving average of 7.9 km/h. Christine was waiting and the easiest spot to disembark was just upstream of the bridge on the true left. No televisions were seen in the river today but there was a clothes dryer (or washing machine) a bit downstream of Yambuna bridge.

31 January 2018

A strong southerly breeze was blowing all night but the rain had cleared up. I launched at Stewarts Bridge at 8:10 am and made good progress. Whilst on the Goulburn the breeze did not have too much of an effect because the river is relatively protected, it being narrow with only short reaches. It was only 5 km to the Murray-Goulburn confluence. The Murray, being somewhat wider with longer reaches, was more of a challenge to paddle when it headed in a generally southerly direction. Usually one side or other was more protected than the other or than the middle so a lot of effort can be saved by picking the best side. Being the end of school holidays the river was relatively quiet with only a few boats seen in the 10 km to my end point at "Moama on Murray". I arrived at 10:30 am after paddling 16 km.