Following the Murray from the source to the sea

On the last day of February 2017, my husband and I paddled in the icy cold waters of the Murray River at Tom Groggin camp in the Snowy Mountains, as far up towards the source of the river as we could get.

With a few diversions here and there, we followed the river most of its 2,508km, criss-crossing the border between New South Wales and Victoria before heading down the last 315km leg in South Australia.

Here, the Murray turns into Lake Alexandrina and then becomes a series of shallow channels and treacherous sandbars before spilling through its narrow mouth to meet the huge waves rolling in from the Southern Ocean.

Camping by the river all along the way, we explored the historic paddle steamer port towns, learnt about the series of locks, weirs and barrages that control the river flow, seen flood levels marked high up on the Red Rivergums and marvelled at the irrigation system that turns the semi-arid countryside into one of the great food bowls of Australia. 

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We heard tales about the first intrepid explorers, the incredible feats of the early farming and river pioneers, and seen how the modern communities use the river not only for water supply, but also for the thriving tourist industry and recreational activities. Over the course of our journey, the Murray almost became part of our family as we meandered along together. We missed it if we didn’t see it for a day or so.

The best bits of our journey include cruising on a paddle steamer at Echuca; camping by ourselves in a Red Rivergum forest enjoying the bird and animal life, the spectacular sunsets in the evening and the serenity of an early morning coffee, watching the river flow by as the sun rose. Above all, we enjoyed meeting the many interesting people and new friends along the way.  

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On May 22, we finished our journeying with the Murray, paddling at the water’s edge in sight of our final destination together. From Goolwa, we travelled on a boat down through the Coorong National Park and into the actual mouth of the river, we stormed through the gap in the sand hills and then surfed back into the river and very nearly became stuck on a sandbar.

As we cruised back to Goolwa, the setting sun lit up the flocks of seagulls and pelicans against a dark and threatening sky. It was an awesome sight as the birds followed the boat, swooping down to catch fish churned up in its wake. And the seals were catching the last of the sunshine, wallowing at the lock beside the barrage that keeps the sea water from going upstream and tainting the pure waters of the mighty Murray.