Cobram and the Murray River

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We had a nice 3-day trip north of Melbourne. Not the kind of area many tourist would find themselves in. As you leave the coast and head north out of Melb, it gets flat and very agricultural. Loads of orchards, pastures and wheat fields mixed with the remnants of the eucalyptus forest. It's a bit like driving across the flatter parts of southern Michigan. About 3 hours north, you hit the Murray River which is the biggest river system in the country. It starts way up north and swings through this area on its way to Adelaide and the Southern Ocean. By the time it gets to this region, there is little water left: irrigation and reservoirs upstream take their alottment regardless of the drought conditions and needs downstream.

We camped on a huge beach together with, get this, 67 other people. Holy cow. The organizers set up a kitchen that matches any army troop canteen! Pretty impressive. The 43 kids were served first followed by us adults, who all enjoyed a sit down meal with fine wine both nights. A finely stewed beef with potatoes on Friday and very tasty selection of Chinese stir-fries on Saturday. Like I said, pretty impressive.

The surrounding wooded floodplain, with its sandy ground and huge gum trees, was fun for a walk on Saturday morning. But if I were to come back, I think we would round up some canoes and do a few days of paddling instead. The river is slow and wide and fairly shallow. Aside from the big snags from downed trees along the sweeping curvy banks, it's benign and would make for a pleasant float.

No crocs to worry about here, just very noisy, screechy sulfur-crested cockatoos, or cockies, as the locals call them. God, these things are verbose and they hang out in huge flocks. Dozens and dozens of them come screeching along the river and do their thing, whatever that is. It's loud, that's all I know. We also spotted a tawny frog mouth and the usual possums.

A rare and much needed cold front came sweeping through on Saturday eve brought rain to the area. I doubt they've seen that much water from the sky in these parts in many a month. Lucky for us, and the rest of the crowd, it started late in the evening and hardly put a crimp in the fire-side conversations. Though it did make for some soggy packing of gear in the morning.

Back in town last night in time to clean up and take a stroll on Dendy beach before dinner. It is getting chilly here now. No more evening dips in the bay. The cold front brought the temps way down into the 50's with a cool southerly wind. You can definitely tell that summer is gone and the Southern Ocean, not the Outback to the north, now sets the tone in terms of temperatures. Sailing on Wednesday this week will be a different game...

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