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Lower Murray
Fun -
Lawrence Greed, Christopher Greed and John Di Nucci
It's a bonus to have white water so
late in the year, the water is warmer and the weather is good.
A day off mid-week and the Avon a little low, but with water
in the Murray it was too good to pass up for a spontaneous
playboat trip. I would have liked lowish water for Christopher's
first trip on the Lower section and at 1.3m (at Baden Powell)
it was too low for a good Middle Murray, but decent rapids
on the Lower Murray that still had some bite. It's been a
few years since I'd done this section and it was great to
paddle with John again and also satisfying the old trip adage
- "less than three, there should never be" (ideally
four or more). We planned to paddle about 6km from Scarp Pool
to Gobbly Guts and walk back up the hill and back to the car.
The start of the trip was a little late as John had three
sets of spare gear to pack into the car, and at least one
set to later cram into a small playboat. I'd forgotten about
paddling with John! Anyone who has paddled with him, or been
led or taught by him will know he's unique amongst paddlers.
Many are eternally grateful for his dedication to anyone on
the river, and his talents at retrieving lost gear are legendary!
While I was concerning myself with the small mountain of John's
gear taking up most of my car, I'd forgotten some of mine,
so I can't complain when John produced a spare pair of paddling
shorts, bright blue lycra, and two spare thermals in more
subdued colours.
A view of the river
The water was relatively warm for the
Murray and the first few rapids were just right for honing
some stopper and wave surfing skills. The water was not big,
but there was much more force than anything on the Avon. Talk
to Darryl and Neil Long and they'll tell you tales of the
Olde Days paddling DR boats in huge water blindfold, with
half a K1 blade C1'ing it and doing tail stands all the way.
All true (except the blindfold bit). It's much easier in short
plastic playboats. We reached the first major rapid - "Mad
Dog", the dog has since long gone. The rapid is a good
playspot and John found some air having fun. Tricky Dickies
lived up to it's name, a fairly veritcal drop with two converging
currents at the bottom, just don't lean back on the way down
or over you go in a tailstand, which is just the predictable
way it happened for me! Fast Eddies was next a water slide
and a sharp right had breakout to stay safe, John dropped
in, caught an edge and rolled up, Christopher and I went in
clean.
Christopher surfing a
stopper
Columbines was running nice and John
paddled the main drop and followed it up with a surf, although
he did not have have any Columbines to unwrap and eat while
surfing as was tradition. Here I led Christopher around the
chicken chute, as it was his first time. The next major rapid
was the Steps - a great ride with an eddy half way down. It
looked meaty, but it was a great 40m or so ride. John and
Christopher had a play in the stopper at the bottom as it
was relatively friendly that day. We were within a few hundred
metres of the end of the trip, although the last few rapids
could be trouble. We all paddled the "Good, Bad and the
Ugly" with no trouble, although I couldn't remember which
channel was which, they all looked a bit ugly.
Christopher at Columbines
John surfing at Columbines
We then went straight into
Gobbly Guts. This rapid is always a little deceiving as it's
a steep double drop of about two metres over seven metres
or so, with stoppers on each drop, there's an eddy on the
left, not the easiest to make. The water then flows into a
right hander with a stopper on the left and an airy boil on
the right. Right after this rapid is a chute that drops you
into a large eddy and pool - Pancake Pool. The stopper and
boil at the bottom of Gobbly Guts gets me 50% of the time,
and again I rolled up just before the chute. Christopher reverse
looped, went for a roll, but had a poor paddle purchase in
the boily stuff, bailed and swam into Pancake Pool, safe in
the eddy. John paddled without a problem. Another 50m dropping
through some decent rapids and that would have been the end
of the trip, except for John chasing Christopher's paddle
and boat that decided to make their own way to the finish
spot. John's amazing prowess in retreiving gear was again
revealed!
Lawrence just about to
stick his bow in the wave and do a double somersault
We finally clambered up the bank and
started the 3km walk back to the car, the Murray Valley was
spread out in front of use with the fantastic view from the
top of the Steps to Below Gobbly Guts. It's a beautiful vista
of green, rock, and flowing water that I've just gone in to
photograph the scenery before as a walk and not even paddle.
The walk was steep, and the boats getting heavier, the sun
was out, the view fantastic, excuse enough to take frequent
breaks. The final score was six rolls, one swim for the group,
nothing lost - a successful trip! A great river, one I always
treat with respect, and one not to do unless you have a good
roll!
Christopher and John
resting before the walk back up the hill
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Spencer King
Spencer King trying out
his son's, Mason's K1 on a beautiful Spring morning
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