Boy Was It Cold

What a day yesterday was, so cold. We were just upriver from Albury in a camp spot that was OK but no fires and it was cold. The bank was a bit steep so we cooked dinner in the raft. Baked spuds, peas and lamb chops. When we go up after a good nights sleep in Johns camper and looked around it was still very cloudy and cold. After checking the weather radar we decided to stay there as it looked like rain was on its way and there was a strong wind. By about 11am the rain threat had passed and the wind dropped a bit so we took off. Within about 400m we had to go under a low bridge and I do mean low. A bloke watching us on shore held his fingers up showing us we had about 100mm of clearance. From where we started to Albury there were a lot of underwater snags and we hit two big logs but no damage. The water is very cold and it was the last place we wanted to be. We also hit the bottom in one shallow stretch, the motor that is. After passing under the freeway bridge and rail bridge we pulled up in riverside gardens in Albury, very cold. John was waiting for us here and he and Geoff went and got some take away and coffee for lunch. After a warm up we tried to find a place on the map were we could pullover for the night and John could get his camper in too. The first place we chose he could not get into so we settled on a place further downstream as it was the only river access point. This meant we had a lot of kms to do to get here and all we were looking for was fire to warm up with. It was about 6.30 by the time we got to the camp spot and we soon had a fire going to warm up as we were very very cold by the time we arrived. By the end of the day we had motored just over 50 kms with an average speed of 8 kmh. We did need to do a refuel  on the move as the little outboard uses about 20L per 40km.  The only problem we have had with the little motor is we broke the pull start cord but with 3 old motor mechanics on the job we soon had it fixed.

Looking for Snags

John O'Grady by the Fire

Our camp site in the morning