I start my long odyssey down the Murray River by first going upstream for 105 km. The designated ‘official’ jumping-off point for cyclists doing the “source-to-sea” Murray trip is the bridge at Towong, still 70-odd km further upstream, but I’m not quite that purist!
Thursday 12 October 2017. Tallangatta · Nell’s Bend |105 km|
Continuing on from my trip around Victoria’s High Country (it’s not so high, btw – only about 1,200m), the idea was to go up-river from Tallangatta, then cross over the Murray River at some point and come back down the northern (NSW) side as far as Albury, and then to continue down-river as far Blanchetown and head over Adelaide.
It was tough going heading up-river, especially the 20km up Granya Pass. I had a tail wind in parts but it was mostly an annoying strong cross wind, and quite hilly too most of the way.
I came across the as-yet-to-be-completed High Country Rail Trail once more but it petered out after 15 km this time and so it was back onto the Murray River Road (C546) again. I stopped at the quiet village of Walwa (and managed to buy a couple of drinks at the general store – they had nothing much else on offer!) and pushed on to a designated free-camping spot on the Murray River called Nell’s Bend.
There was a large 2-family group already camped there, but I was able to set up in a secluded spot about 100 m away from them. They never bothered me at all, nor I them, but the mating koalas and wombats kept me amused all night long with their growling in close proximity, even though I had a roaring fire going all night that keep them out of “my” trees – maybe that’s what they were growling about.
Friday 13 October 2017. Nell’s Bend · Cottontree |116 km|
I went a little further up-river as far as the one-horse town of Tintaldra where there is a bridge I could use to cross over the Murray and come back down the NSW side. The one store in Tintaldra really did have nothing to sell, but the nice old lady owner was just happy to have a long chat out the back in her lovely garden overlooking the river.
I duly crossed over into NSW to come back down-river. However, it was a horrible rough old road composed of loose chert, so at the first opportunity – at Jingellic – I switched sides again back to Victoria.
[Factoid: Did you know that, except for a tiny stretch of 40km (that is miles away near Mildura where the surveyor made an error), none of the River Murray is actually in Victoria? The state boundary was set at the water-mark on the Victorian bank, and not mid-stream].
I was completely knackered after only 116 km for the day, and so made a 5km detour to Granya Mountain National Park when I came to the turn-off – I’d gone past it two days ago – to free-camp in the National Park at Cottontree. I was the only one there, though there was an occupied farmhouse outside the park boundary only a couple of hundred metres away from my campsite.
Saturday 14 October 2017. Cottontree · Albury |57 km|
Next morning, it was then an easy 2½-hour run down into Albury via the Hume reservoir and across the 1928 bridge. I noticed there were a few ideal-looking camping spots I missed yesterday by making my detour into Cottontree: the Granya pub grounds, for example, only 300m past the turnoff, and plenty of likely river encampments further along, as well as at the touristic-looking village of Billbridge right next to “The 1928 Bridge” (that’s the bridge’s actual name).
Sunday 15 and Monday 16 October 2017. Albury |no cycling|
I tarried for 3 nights altogether in Albury, staying in the el-cheapo-by-quality (but not by price: $99 per night) Elm Court Motel. My long stay was mainly on the promise that phone repair man, Leo, made on Saturday afternoon about my replacement phone screen arriving from Melbourne on the Monday. But that never happened!
I remarked (but just quietly in my own head, ok) that, boy, Albury sure did get its share of fat people. Also, the whole downtown area has an air of quiet desperation about it.
The big drawcard on a Saturday night is the Commercial Club, a registered club venue (meaning gambling machines are allowed) that is the epitome of gaudy tastelessness and a fitting monument to the horrors that poker machines have wrought on society in this part of the world.
I was there in the Club. I had a cheap, but massive and uninspiring, meal of ‘chicken parmi’ and watched Liverpool play Man U to a 0-0 draw on the big screen, all the while keeping a careful eye out in case the milling throng of inebriated, argumentative and unattractive patrons decided to start a free-for-all.
I got the trailer properly welded up by Mark (Riddell), a friend of Dermot who I met in Bright (and who, incidently, I happened to see again just that morning coming out of the Anaconda camping store carpark as I was going in). I also tried (unsuccessfully) to get my phone screen fixed, out of action since Tallangatta, and I refilled my 5l petrol container for the first time since Bright, 480km ago, and thus established that I can count on at least 100km/litre in very arduous conditions with zero mains power availability.
Tuesday 17 October 2017. Albury · Kyffins |122 km|
And so it was that on the Tuesday, still phoneless but with a nicely-welded trailer, I was off again down the mighty Murray River. I didn’t get away until 11.30 because at that point I was still hopeful my phone repair guy Leo might yet be able to do his thing, but it wasn’t to be because his supplier failed to deliver the promised replacement screen in time.
After 122 km out of Albury I was totally blown – I’ve never felt quite so depleted of energy before or since (I put it down to ‘not enough calories in’) – and pulled in to a designated free camping spot called Kyffins, and after a bit of umm-ing and arrh-ing, I decided to set up camp there alongside Lake Mulwala.
I was a little put off by the very large snake tracks crossing to and from the water’s edge about 3m from my tent, and became very nervous about collecting firewood in the vicinity – luckily, I already had a lot of wood by the time this occurred to me!
The birdlife was spectacular (all night long). I cooked up a sumptuous meal on my Jetboil based on the “‘Back Country”-brand freeze-dried packs that I had picked up in Albury – veggies, mince and couscous – and made a resolution to carry more potable water in future. All-in-all, my equilibrium gradually begin to restore throughout the evening – good to be back on the trail again!
Wednesday 18 October 2017. Kyffins · Ulupna Island |91 km|
I’d had no near-neighbours at Kyffins, but next morning on the way out I had a good chat with Australian-Serb couple, Steve and Irene, who regularly set up their caravan there for a couple of weeks at a time. They were well aware of the snakes, but rightly considered them not to be a problem.
I only got a further 10km along, as far as Mulwala township, when a passer-by outside the store pointed out that my trailer tyre was flat, so I bought the drinks and snacks I’d gone in for and hunkered down at the town’s lakeside reserve to ‘repair’ it, or so I thought. I plowed on along the lake shore for 5 km to Yarrawonga township and crossed a bridge back into Victoria again. Yarrawonga has a pleasant vibrant feel about it – it is quite a big town and I did lots of shopping at the Woolworth’s supermarket there, feeling it safe enough to leave my bike and all its load completely unattended in the trolley area outside.
At 15 km past Yarrawonga I pulled in to Rich Glen Olive Oil Estate and noticed that the trailer tyre was down again, so this time I changed the tube rather than attempt another repair. And I have to say folks, it’s worthwhile going in to Rich Glen just to savour their rather swish toilet! 😁
It was a flat and straight road then all the way on to Cobram, where I had a counter meal in the pub (beef schnitzel and salad plus pint of beer, for $18) after falling into conversation with a likeable guy on a mobility scooter who had a severe speech impediment – anyway I got it right that he suggested the pub and so it all turned out ok. I also bought a new heavy duty ‘puncture-resistant’ tube at a bike shop while I was in town. But there is no such thing, in my vast experience.
I rode on out of Cobram for 13 km to Strathmerton, then took what turned out to be an unrewarding 20 km detour north onto an island called Ulupna in the main river channel that supposedly had “sandy beaches” all along the river.
Yeah, well, the beaches are all on the other (NSW) side of the river, aren’t they, and I had to content myself with setting up camp on a dry, tussocked, and probably snake-infested, bluff overlooking that lovely sandy beach on the other side, complete with its frolicking kids and relaxing parents.
Thursday 19 October 2017. Ulupna Island · Torrumbarry |136 km|
Well, I reached Torrumbarry but had a very exhausting day of it in doing so. It had been uncomfortably hot and humid out there all night long at Ulupna, with patchy rain to boot, and so not much sleep. I left early accompanied by showers that turned into a good soaking, but even so made good progress for the first 3 hours, at 24 km/h average speed (in ECO mode, 9th gear, in case you’re interested).
The wind then turned around to the SW, however, and with me heading ENE, for the next 60 km I was down to only 19km/h average in TURBO, 7th gear – quite a dramatic turn-around in performance. A front tyre going flat, that I didn’t pick up on until 10 km before Echuca, probably didn’t help much either.
I couldn’t for the life of me find the puncture, so, outside the Echuca Information Office where they let me recharge the batteries, I replaced the tube with one of the brand new ones – which then promptly blew out at the valve stem while inflating it for the first time. Zero kilometers on that one!
So, leaving my bike unattended, I trudged on over to “On Your Bike” cycle shop in town, where Paul there replaced the tube plus tyre, which was quite worn and probably contributing to my puncture woes. I got another spare tube too, and all for $130 – a good deal, I thought, so thanks Paul. I finally got away from Echuca at 3.45pm, but only went as far as Torrumberry, 34 km further on, where I had a quiet night in the pub for $50.
Friday 20 October 2017. Torrumbarry · Swan Hill |136 km|
Same sort of pattern today – a 7.30am start in clear but chilly conditions, and managing 26 km/h in ECO mode, 9th gear until, after only 20 km, the wind turned again and I had to batter my way for the next 116 km to Swan Hill against it. It was stressful too, because even though the road was straight and flat there were lots of trucks to worry about, and little or no shoulder or verge to escape to most of the time.
Over the past couple of weeks I had made arrangements with the trailer manufacturer, Topeak, to collect a new ‘Journey’ trailer in Swan Hill to replace the welded-up one, and I ambled in to their Swan Hill dealer – Power Products, which caters mostly for motorbikes – just before closing time. Apart from lending me some tools, the workshop staff were downright unhelpful, just standing around watching me as I frantically laboured to quickly unbox and reassemble the new trailer before they all shoved off for the weekend. Thanks guys!
Saturday 21 October 2017. Swan Hill |no cycling|
I had a rest day in Swan Hill, staying at the Jane Eliza Motel in the centre of town for 2 nights. My stay was made the more interesting by the vast conclave of Black Uhlans motorcycle gang members who’d converged on the town, and the antics of the huge contingent of police aiming to dampen proceedings.
The dog squad were accommodated in rooms either side of mine, and their nasty vicious German Shepherds housed in the cages of the paddy wagons parked just outside my door barked excitedly at every passerby – even us non-bikie ones. On Saturday, I sent 4.6kg of excess baggage – mainly winter clothes – back home from the Post Office ($16.80), had a good breakfast (included in the $115 room rate) and generally lazed about all day.
In the evening I ate an OK lamb roast at the RSL club a few doors down from my motel, and the highlight had to be watching the Wallabies beat the All Blacks (a rare event, worth writing about) in a hard-hitting close match. [That’s Australia v New Zealand at rugby, for the uninitiated].
-ends-