Darling River 2024

February - March 2024

A solo kayak trip down the Darling River starting at Brewarrina NSW and finishing at Renmark SA (if I have the energy) or Wentworth (if I don't). The journey is about 1900 kms and should take about +/- 9 weeks. Read more

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Traveler Darling River 2024
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- Feb 9, 2024, 4:21pm
- ☁️ 33 °C
- Altitude: 112 m
- Australia New South Wales Brewarrina -29.947901, 146.7438429°56’52” S 146°44’38” E
Day 2
Day 1
February 9 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C
Hi All,
Another year, another river trip! This time the Darling River in outback NSW.
Arrived in Brewarrina this morning after a long 2 day drive through Broken Hill and Cobar. A big big thankyou to co-pilots Claire and Will in getting me up here and helping me set off.
The river is flowing at about 2000 ML/d which is great considering it has only been around 300 the last few months. Sounds a lot, but not as much as the 5000 the Murrumbidgee typically has and the 10000 the Murray typically has (and up to 150000 in flood).
Brewarrina has the Aboriginal fish traps which are an arrangement of large rocks in the river bed to trap fish. At 30,000 years old they are the oldest recorded man made structures on earth. We couldn't see them unfortunately as they were underwater with the high river flow.
I am on the Barwon River at the moment. It becomes the Darling at the confluence with theCulgoa River down near Bourke. It is only about 30 metres wide but mercifully free of big snags so far.
Goats, pigs, cattle, sheep, emus and alpacas all seen on the riverbanks. No humans!
MarkRead more
Traveler Nice start - Mark - all that live stock r saying ‘did u see that one human’ !!!!
2/10/24Reply
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Traveler Darling River 2024
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- Feb 9, 2024, 4:23pm
- ☁️ 34 °C
- Altitude: 111 m
- Australia New South Wales Brewarrina -29.925919, 146.72829129°55’33” S 146°43’42” E
Day 2
Day 1
February 9 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C
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Traveler Darling River 2024
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- Feb 10, 2024, 4:23pm
- ☀️ 36 °C
- Altitude: 108 m
- Australia New South Wales Brewarrina -29.952949, 146.64665129°57’11” S 146°38’48” E
Day 3
Day 2
February 10 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C
Not so hot last night which was a relief. Everything going OK so far except breaking the strap on my new All Terrain crocs while trying to extricate myself from glutinous mud, and major leakage of Tiger Balm into my drybag!Read more
Traveler Love the photo of the goat looking 👀 between the division in the tree trunk
2/13/24Reply
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Traveler Darling River 2024
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- Feb 10, 2024, 6:28pm
- ☀️ 34 °C
- Altitude: 116 m
- Australia New South Wales Brewarrina -29.955738, 146.59014929°57’21” S 146°35’25” E
Day 3
Day 2
February 10 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C
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Traveler Darling River 2024
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- Feb 13, 2024, 5:30pm
- ☀️ 31 °C
- Altitude: 99 m
- Australia New South Wales Darling Shire -29.98265, 146.02969129°58’58” S 146°1’47” E
Day 6
Day 3 - 5
February 13 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Distance to Wentworth 1497 kms
Next town: Bourke

All going well so far although I am still getting back into the rhythm of kayaking and camping. Paddling about 5 to 6 hours a day, covering 30 - 35 kms which is pretty exhausting given the minimal amount of training I did.
Passed the junction with the Culgoa River yesterday which makes the end of the Barwon and the start of the Darling. Still super quiet on the river. Saw my first human this afternoon on Day 5, and quite minimal signs of development apart from the odd shanty, windmill or pump.
Very hot out on the river even the the maximum temperature is low to mid 30's. I think it is a combination of the high humidity and sitting in the sun all day. I stop every hour or two and sit in the river for 10 minutes which helps.
A major electrical storm last night with lightning, heavy rain and lashing winds. Quite a different experience when you’re inside a 1 man tent!
Looking forward to Bourke tomorrow and devouring a pizza and cold beer!
MarkRead more
Traveler Bit late to the party- off to a good start- pity about the malfunction with the crocs! Hope you have a spare. Love your photos and reading your commentary. Good luck for your current adventure. Xx Breda
2/13/24Reply
Traveler Thanks Breda. Bought a pair of Crocs knockoffs at the Bourke Pharmacy for $25 and they are way superior. Lesson learnt!
2/14/24Reply
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Traveler Darling River 2024
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- Feb 14, 2024, 4:32pm
- ☀️ 35 °C
- Altitude: 104 m
- Australia New South Wales Bourke -30.087175, 145.89474630°5’14” S 145°53’41” E
Day 7
Day 6
February 14 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C
1459 kms to Wentworth
Next town Louth

Made it into Bourke after a long paddle into a headwind. I was planning on having a rest day here but I have reprovisioned and discovered all the towns charms so I will move on.
Fred Hollows' grave would have been interesting if the cemetery wasn't so far out of town. Although he was born in NZ he said he wanted to be buried under a coolibah tree in Bourke and apparently he was.
Carrying enough water was problematic on my other two trips. I now get a bucket of river water, stir in half a teaspoon of alum, leave it overnight and the next morning the water is perfectly clear with all the sludge at the bottom. I then syphon off the clear water into my Grayl Geopress filter and it is ready to drink. It has a slight mineral taste to it but otherwise not much different to tap water. Works really well.
Camping at Bourke weir tonight. Could be a pretty spot but unfortunately strewn with broken glass, litter and carp carcases!
MarkRead more
Traveler Hey Mark. How was the pizza and beer at Bourke. Sounds like a long way between drinks up there. Keep it up.
2/14/24Reply
Traveler Hey Scott. I had a pint of Balter XPA that went down like a fat kid on a see-saw (hope that isn't politically incorrect??). I have a small supply of home made gin on board for the occasional tipple between towns.
2/14/24Reply
Traveler Finally realised Penguins is up so great to read about the first five days. Do you have gaffer tape to fix your crocs? Rather you than me in that heat ( and in the kayak)!!
2/14/24Reply
Traveler Hi Michele. Had to buy some new Croc lookalikes and they are actually far superior. The heat is really challenging and may have had so.e minor hea
2/14/24Reply
Traveler Hey Scott. I had a pint of Balter XPA that went down like a fat kid on asee-saw (hope that isn't o
2/14/24Reply
Traveler ...minor sunstroke so planning to start earlier 7am not 9am and rest longer in the middle of the day.
2/14/24Reply
Traveler Realise now that replies are limited to 100 characters!!!
2/14/24Reply
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Traveler Darling River 2024
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- Feb 15, 2024, 5:21pm
- ☁️ 32 °C
- Altitude: 94 m
- Australia New South Wales Ram Paddock Island -30.183479, 145.76601230°11’1” S 145°45’58” E
1 1
Day 8
Day 7
February 15 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C
1429 kms to Wentworth
Next town: Louth

Had to portage around the weir this morning, and another weir coming up tomorrow. Exhausting!
I am amazed that the weir had no warning signs or line of yellow "danger" buoys. It was also positioned just around a corner, so if you were in a power boat travelling at speed, or even in a kayak and not paying attention, you would go straight over it. If you didn't drown you would most likely lose your boat.
Jimmy the Wog (as he introduced himself) came past on his mountain bike. Lived in Bourke for over 50 years after emigrating from Italy. Quite a talker and philosopher. Married to a beautiful woman 25 years his junior (no details given) and proclaimed himself the fittest 77 year old in Australia. Said he was heading down the track for a ride and always has a few beers and a couple of cigarettes at the half way point (this is at 7.30 in the morning!). He gave me a couple of insect repellent sticks out of his backpack after watching me swatting flies. A nice bloke. Easy to pre-judge people. Photo attached.
Lots of rain this afternoon so thankfully much cooler.
MarkRead more
Traveler Nice photos Mark. Looks like some good scenery around there. And Jimmy🤣🤣.
2/16/24Reply
Traveler Hi Mark, A belated 'Bon Voyage'! Some of the aerial Google imaging is so good we could almost be there!
2/16/24Reply
Traveler Looks pretty nice - bit far to travel from Adelaide
2/17/24Reply
Traveler Cool chair!
2/17/24Reply
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Traveler Darling River 2024
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- Feb 16, 2024, 7:38pm
- ☀️ 32 °C
- Altitude: 90 m
- Australia New South Wales Dead Horse Creek -30.264698, 145.61655830°15’53” S 145°36’60” E
2
Day 9
Day 8
February 16 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
1389 kms to Wentworth
Next town: Louth

A long day, with another portage around a weir which took a couple of hours, then hard to find a campsite until a suboptimal one came up about 6.30pm.
A massive electrical storm last night which scared the wits out of me, with some lightning strikes seeming to be less than 200m away. Storms are great spectacles when you’re on the back verandah but not so good in a tent in the middle of nowhere!
Lost my combination cutlery utensil somehow, but still had a teaspoon which I use for the alum, so able to eat my 2 minute noodles and tinned tuna, but no knife now, so the start of fishing will have to wait a bit. Otherwise all going well. Feel a bit of paddle fitness coming back which is great.
MarkRead more
Traveler Yes Australian darters or sometimes called snake bird. Thanks to Pizzetti and Knight bird app!
2/17/24Reply
Traveler that is Pizzey not Pizzetti!
2/17/24Reply
Traveler One of yesterday’s brainwaves questions was where do the Darling and the Murray meet - we go it right due to your trip so thanks!
2/17/24Reply
Traveler Yes, they look like a snake when they swim, with just there head and long neck above water.
2/19/24Reply
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Traveler Darling River 2024
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- Feb 17, 2024, 5:02pm
- ☀️ 36 °C
- Altitude: 94 m
- Australia New South Wales Darling Shire -30.383667, 145.54007830°23’1” S 145°32’24” E
1 1
Day 10
Day 9
February 17 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C
1355 kms to Wentworth
Next town Louth

Still very quiet up here. I thought there might be the odd fisherman or two in a tinny, but not yet. Haven't seen a single person except in Bourke.
Only a few pigs and a couple of kangaroos today. Seems like the properties along the river here don't have goats, cattle or sheep.
Forecast to be in the high 30's for the next few days so I’m going to try and be on the water earlier than the usual 9am.
Hope the Fringe is as good as ever for you lot in Adelaide!
MarkRead more
Traveler Why is it there do you think? You wouldn’t want to be looking down!
2/17/24Reply
Traveler Quite varied river banks.
2/17/24Reply
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Traveler Darling River 2024
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- Feb 18, 2024, 5:11pm
- ⛅ 37 °C
- Altitude: 104 m
- Australia New South Wales Bourke -30.420974, 145.33396830°25’16” S 145°20’2” E
Day 11
Day 10
February 18 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 37 °C
1316 kms to Wentworth
Next town: Louth
Hi Mark, I have loved reading about your paddling adventure, it’s a very interesting read. Love the photos too. Back here in the big smoke I am enjoying the fringe, walks along the river and my garden. Claire, Joanna and I had a lovely catch up and saw a Night without Kate Bush which we all enjoyed. Rob is in Tasmania with Vanessa enjoying his sailing.? He will be there for 6 weeks. Stay safe and happy paddling. Hope you can enjoy a pub meal and cold beer soon. Lv Elizabeth and Rob x [Elizabeth]
2/26/24Reply
Traveler Hi Elizabeth. Thanks for the encouragement. Hope you're well and the temperature is a bit lower than the 45 degrees up here at the moment! Regards to Rob when you speak to him next.
2/27/24Reply
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