Well, the season has turned, along with our bend in the River last week.

We arrived at Morgan nice and early, and it was about 12deg with a light to moderate wind from the South – a bit ominous as that is the direction we are now pretty much heading!

We passed the Morgan Ferry just before 8am. and started making our way into about a 15km/h wind.

I didn’t take a lot of photos for the next 10-15km, but this was a remarkable bit of river for a brand new reason – Houseboats galore parked up for the first 6-7km – must have been well over 100 of them.  The River Shack – I don’t think that there is enough room on the eastern side to fit another shack with river frontage!

We found the wind took it’s toll and kept us at a pretty steady pace – while working pretty hard to make some progress.

We did have the odd bend with the cliffs and this was about where the River Shacks started to make way for the typical lowlands – but if you look carefully, on the bend, yes, a shack!

We started seeing some cliffs that were not directly on one bank of the river, but if you look at a map in these parts, there are quite a few lagoons that are not visible when paddling, but over the river bank and between the cliffline.

It wasn’t too long before we experienced a bit of other boat traffic – but being the Easter Weekend – it was always going to be there!

Just past Murbko, we had a small reprieve out of the wind, but up ahead, a cliff signifying a bend in the river – and of course more wind!

The river varied quite a bit, with some narrow sections as we came around bends to much wider sections as well.

296 – was not the first marker we saw today, but they were few and far between – of course, I was on the lookout for 300, but alas didn’t spot it.  This was both a good and bad marker to see – it meant we had only done a bit over 20km so far and at least another 20km for the day!

At the 30km mark we were looking for somewhere to stretch the legs for a few minutes and I had a call on the radio literally a minute later from the land crew telling us where they were.  This little spot – Sinclair Landing was a most welcome couple of minutes standing up and getting the blood flowing again.

After we left the landing, we both commented that the wind seemed to have dropped a bit and was under 15km/h – very pleasant, but another cliffline, and other bend, and yes, more wind in our face!

As we progressed down the river our land crew was able to access the cliffs – and this photo puts the size of the cliffs into perspective – see that “little person” standing on the clifftop – yes, somewhere between 40 and 50M high as we passed the 280 Marker.

The boat traffic was increasing as we approached Blanchetown – a few close calls, but we (well I) made it and kept mostly dry!

With the Blanchetown bridge in sight, and the Lock only another 1km downstream, we just had to get past the boat traffic – lots of ski and wakeboarders and jet-ski’s to contend with.

Under the bridge as we approached our last River Lock – Lock 1.  Today, we dropped 2.4m and the Lock Master asked us about our journey for his log and informed us that we only had 274km to go to reach the mouth.

The as the Lock opened scene today revealed the Town of Blanchetown and a river-front house.

By this time, we again did a review of the river access and we knew that the next 27km doesn’t offer very much – as it is a section we have both paddled several times – this is where the Marathon Canoe Club Christmas Race used to be run.

We made an executive decision, and after 6hours of paddling into the wind, mostly in the 15-20km/h (more in gusts) speed range we decided to call it a day with a bit over 47km for the day.

I found a small amount of time to pull out a bit of video from Day 8.

I wanted to share a small snippet of what we see as we come around a bend in the river, not really knowing exactly what we will see, then watching it unfold over a few minutes as we paddle past and on down the river.

If you look carefully, you might notice that the 2nd photo from my day 8 blog post features the same cliffs.

Take a moment to experience the river how we do.

We arrived back at Qualco boat ramp around 7:30am and started to prepare for a 1/2 day of paddling.  It was a perfect paddling day – the temperature was 10deg when we hit the water and the winds were light – and mostly on our backs!

It was again a very peaceful river that we set out on today just before 8am  This part of the river is still a series of relatively short sections that then twist and meander around, with yep, you guessed it – more cliffs!

We came around a corner to be greeted with the lighter tones of sandstone that have been carved over a millennium by the river, and the early morning sun hitting them.  The cliffs define the direction the river chose all that time ago.

A few km further on, we had yes, you guessed it, yet another cliff – this one was quite long and curved around.

Eventually the cliffs fell away and we wandered thru more lowlands.

Before we knew it we had done 11km and arrived at Hogwash Bend – the start for the last leg of the RPM 100, where we take a quick break.

Until now we had not seem any of the now familiar blue signs and the first one we saw for the day was 348 on a tree in the flat-country.

We wandered along with the river now not twisting and turning quite as much and decidedly wider.  Yes, a cliff in the distance is always a welcome sight as it means a change in direction coming up.

The 18km just seemed to fly past and before we knew it the Cadell Ferry was in front of us.

We took a short break at Cadell after going around the corner, before getting back onto the last 11km for the day.  Now this is a section of the river I am very familiar with, having paddled upstream from Morgan to Cadell several times of the last 5 years or so.  Yes, I still love the scenery, with cliffs and lowlands along the way.

Now, we knew that this was a special bit of the river and we were on the lookout for a Marker and yes, it was there!

326 – what is so important about this? well it signifies we are 1/2 way from our stating point in NSW to Goolwa!

Just a little further on we came to, yes, you guessed it another cliff and another bend in the river, but again a significant one.

The left turn at the Morgan Cliffs are the end of our Westward journey, and now we are on our run South to the coast, and also, it reminded us we had just a few more km for the day.  It was also where we hit some other’s out enjoying a day on the water and contended with a few people skiing – and as we move southward, we know that there will be more and more river traffic – especially on the weekends when we are paddling.

You can make out the Historic Morgan Wharf  – the dark bit in the photo – and in the distance the Morgan Ferry.  We didn’t cross the ferry today, but stopped just short at the Morgan boat ramp with 41km under the belt for the day and only 319km left to go.

What a difference a day makes!

I’ll leave it to the picture to explain!

Today, we started out from Wigley Flat, which is about 2km from where we got to yesterday, before turning back. As you can see, the conditions today were a return to stunning – with the temperature around 18 when we left and the wind about 10km/h.

I knew that today we would be (finally) seeing one of my favourite parts of the river – Telegraph Cliffs  and I was not disappointed!

Before we knew it, we were at Devlins Pound – a place that anyone who has done the RPM will know about – the start of Day 2 for the RPM 100.

Now, even though I have paddled this section, I could only remember a little bit about it and doing this section again today was different than I remember – much much nicer to tell the truth.

I suspect that Brad just might pinch this photo for his Facebook profile!

These cliffs went on for around 5 or 6 or 7 km – much further than I remember. today, the km just seemed to fly by and before we knew it, we were at Lowbank, where we stopped for a few minutes to stretch the legs.

Now the 12km from Lowbank into Waikerie is one that I have not many fond memories of! When paddling the RPM 200, you get to here and it is a mental barrier, that there is still 12km till the end of the day – and you sort of block out most of the details about this leg just wanting to get to Waikerie.

Well, today totally changed my mind about this area – it is every bit as good as many other parts of the river!

As we get to the end of Maize Island Conservation Park the river takes a turn and narrows – all I remember about this is that it is dark and cold! But today, with the sun still on the cliffs, it was really good!

And before we knew it, we could see our first hint we were getting closer – and 1 more bend, 1 more cliffs and we were at the Waikerie Ferry.

We stopped for a bite to eat and stretch the legs in the Riverside Park, where the RPM Day 2 ends.

The last leg for the day – the 20km down to lock 2 is an interesting bit of river – both Brad and myself have paddled this section but never ever seen anything!  Well, we have paddled the first 10-12km in the dark, and the last bit with the sun rising in our faces!

It has some really pretty sections – some more cliffs, bends, lowland and our first real sign of the River Shack (or palatial mansions in some cases)

Ramco Point is about where we first start seeing a shape in the pre-dawn light and the indication that we turn right for the run down to the Lock.

Somehow this leg seemed longer than I remember, as after the run at Ramco, it is a fairly long almost straight as the Ramco cliff falls away, then we have a few km of small turns and a few smaller cliffs before we get to Lock 2

Inside the Lock, and we are dropping a further 3m today.

It is always a special moment when the doors open and you see what is in store for the next leg.

Well for us, we did the last 2km down to our finishing point at the Qualco boat ramp – with a respectable 56km for the day, where we now only have about 360km to go!

Well, it had to happen! After such a great run weather-wise, today was one of those days we should have just done something else!

With a big storm front coming thru on Thursday evening, and another at about 3am this morning the weather reports were conflicting, some said light winds some said strong winds…. Well we found out which ones were right.

Well, we hit the river at KOM at around 8am with the temperature in the high teens and the wind around 15-20km/h. It was not too bad

and made our way the few km around to Lock 3

And again inside the lock chamber

We dropped down 3.8M – the highest drop so far.  Now the astute would notice that we are sitting inside a concrete bunker, that is protected all around – but the wind was playing havoc – and yes, even in the lock chamber was showing it’s effects.

It is always a bit special as the doors open and we see what is waiting on the other side.  Again, it still looked OK.

But at this point we were certainly noticing the wind was stronger than earlier.  It was not the millpond of the earlier days, but still nothing to worry about.

We kept going down to the Overland Corner boat ramp.

After we hit the river again, we were directly into a bit of wind, and we see our first cliffs that are not the distinctive red we had become accustomed to seeing – the first of the yellow cliffs.

As we progressed along the straight the wind and fetch were getting a bit stronger – and within about 1km, Brad had pulled away a little from me and after passing a red buoy in the river, then passed it again as I was blown backwards! – yep, I thought I was paddling forward, but the GPS was showing 2km/h while I was going backwards in the wind! I decided to pull over and make a decision as to what to do.

When I checked, It was about 25 minutes to paddle just over 1km!

The photo doesn’t do it justice – the wind was well over 30km/h and gusting probably to 40+ and more than several times I was burying the front of the boat under the fetch (Fetch – the waves generated by wind on a river or lake).

Brad noticed that I was not with him and he had stopped on the other side of the river about 500m downstream.  He came back to where I was and we literally watched the water for a while to try and decide if it was abating or increasing – and hence go on or turn back.

Well, it did die down and we hit the river again and made another 1.5km or so before the gusts were again increasing and we stopped, yet again.

Yet again, the photo doesn’t really show how strong it was – and we were about 1.5km from making a turn in the river, but I was right on my limits in these conditions and no matter what we have to consider our personal safety above making the distance.

If you look at the rushes you can get a bit of an idea about the wind, they normally stand straight up, not bending nearly to flat!

With the wind still blowing in the 30km/h+ and then the gusts even stronger, we made the call that the 3km back to Overland corner was probably the right choice today.

Of course, Brad, who is an ocean paddler loved it! wind at his back and rolling waves to “surf” he was loving it!  But, I was feeling a little on edge and it still took a bit of effort to keep the wind to my back and not take an unplanned swim!

We made it the 3km back in about 20 minutes – what had taken us about 45-50 minutes of paddling into it!

Conspicuous by their absence  we did not see a single river marker today.

This part of the river – especially the high red cliffs we could just see is what I remember from this part of the river and something I was really looking forward to!

Well, the weather reports for tomorrow are for winds under 10km/h – so lets hope we can get back out there and get more than another 15km down the river tomorrow.