Bikerafting the Goulburn River near Alexandra, Victoria
There is a public holiday in Victoria held on the 2nd weekend in March: Labour Day. For those who aren't up on history, it is in celebration of the 8-hour working day. This was an opportune time to get a group together to join me for a multi-day adventure on the river. My plan was to trial bikerafting, as well as work out the logistics of shuttling between my van and the exit or entry point on the river.
I put out an invitation on the Packrafting Victoria Facebook group and two other people: Matt and Tonya responded and confirmed their interest.If you are hankering for some packrafting, Matt and I are doing the Goulburn river over the long weekend. Bikerafting. There is a handy rail trail following the river. Feel free to come along one or more days. We're nutting it out now, it will be flexible according to circumstances. Be self-sufficient with all your gear. Bike not necessary, but ability to get from A to B will be.
On Friday (11 March) Matt will be catching the train to Tallarook then riding as far as he is comfortable with along the rail trail (around 60km). I will be driving to Brooks River reserve, leaving around lunchtime. I'll do a bit of reconnoitre of the various exit points.
On Saturday we aim to be at Walnuts Reserve near Eildon Pondage at 10am (ish) . This depends on our ride time in the morning.
The distance covered on the water will depend on the flow rate of the river and any stops we make, intended or otherwise. It is around 28km to Brooks River reserve. With the bikes we could ride if need be to cover the distance, or simply camp on a pleasant bank.
If 28km is deemed comfortable, the next day we can get to Molesworth which is about 25km. Further downstream, the distance is extended between exit options. From what I can discern, there is Killingworth River Reserve and Ghin Ghin reserve.
We are keeping this flexible, we could cover more or less distance. There are a few ramps and escape options via the rail trail or roads. Regardless, it is useful to carry a tent or tarp and dry gear should a camp out be desired or required. Insect repellent and sunscreen - oh and a puncture repair kit for bike & raft !
Matt caught a train up from Melbourne on the Friday after work. His intent was to ride the Great Victorian Rail Trail | Tallarook to Mansfield , starting from Tallarook to Molesworth. My intent was to park the van somewhere near Molesworth, perhaps in the caravan park. Matt unfortunately drove a hole in the sidewall of his mountain bike tyre. He had a spare new tyre but was having great difficulty getting it on without pinching the tube. Tubeless tyres are hard to remove or put on at times, and this was one of them. A rescue mission was implemented and we decided to solve the problem in the morning.
No stress, we found a good spot to camp the night and enjoyed a nice piece of steak that Matt brought along as a special treat. The el-cheapo grill wasn't quite up to the task of rendering the steak beyond 'blue' as opposed to rare, but I'm not one to complain: I like my meat that way anyway. Special treats on a camping weekend are what makes camping fun, and so what if it's not cordon bleu.
Tanya met us at around 10:30am in the morning at Alexandra. She had dramas too, working out how to glue on tie-downs to act as anchor points for the bike on her packraft. I suggest that she rub back the surface with emery paper, clean with an alcohol swab then apply glue to each surface. Once they are pressed together, tension the raft material and apply a weight overnight whilst it is curing. Having only Aquaseal as adhesive proved inadequate to deal with the stress and a couple detached on the trip. Luc Mehl explains on his
blog the correct adhesive and primer to use.
We went to Alexandra early, only to discover the bike shop was nothing more than a gift shop with a couple of tubes, not even Presta valve for the 29er. Luckily, the attendant was in the know and recommended that we go to Yarck as there is a
bike / hire shop there. What a gem, the owner was very helpful and assisted us quickly. He is a retiree, planning to run it 3 days a week: guess what, it's seven ! This rail trail is popular and one of the better ones in Australia, but not very well-supported with bike shops along the way, so keep this place in mind ! (Mansfield is, but unfortunately it's at the end of the trail).
At about midday, we are ready for our adventure. We've sorted the teething issues out and ready to roll. I was originally planning to leave the vehicle at Brooks River reserve and exit from the river there. Upon a rendezvous on Friday, I decided that our ability to spot that exit point from the river would be marginal, and there was very little chance of paddling upstream due to the current.
After a group chat over coffee (coffee in Alexandra by the way is on country time, so order early), we decided that a better choice is to park at the boat ramp in Alexandra. It's a shorter distance - which we needed given the time we have left and much easier to spot, given that there is the ramp and also a bridge. We assemble our bikes and ride off at about 12:00.
I quickly note that we are very different cyclists with very different bikes, so in order to maintain a sense of cohesion and fun we organised the ride as follows. 1) we keep together on the flatter sections 2) ride up or down the hills at our own pace 3) stop at the top of long hills and allow time for rest for the slowest of the party. 4) stop at any turns that could be confusing. This way, we all arrived together at Walnuts Reserve, enjoyed the ride and got to know each other better.
The ride was quite pleasant on a single country road. It was however a bit busy with the holiday traffic and the odd impatient soul that goes with it.
We arrived after about an hour, have a bite to eat and at about 1:30 we are off on the water to do our paddle leg. Matt and I have Alpacka Caribous and Tanya has an Alpacka Scout. All the vessels performed well, even the little Scout. I had the cleanest stroke as the entire bike fitted within the pontoons - in fact I'll probably add another couple of tie-downs closer to the bow as the bike is so compact. Matt and Tonya's bike handlebars and wheels hung over the edges.
I was not exempt from issues. On a forum post, I pooh-poohed the useof battery operated pumps in preference of the using the inflation bags. Mainly due to the pumps often having flat batteries and not being that much faster. Last laugh: my brand new, second day of use Alpacka Caribou and lost its connecting ring, so I was unable to use the inflation bag ! Luckily for me, Matt had and Tanya had a compatible bag, and, for some reason, I carried the pump anyway. (fully charged !) Not happy Alpacka bag, happy Kokopelli pump.
Secondly, the valve on the vessel leaks, I am sure of it. After about an hour, the packraft goes soft, and I need to blow it up again. I experienced this on my first test on the Yarra river, but never got round to investigating it further. When I get home, I'll check it more thoroughly.
The river level was at about 2m according to the bureau of Meteorology, so the water flow was pretty good. We managed to average around 5km/h and arrived about 7pm.
There are a few ripples here and there and the odd fallen tree, but overall the river journey is basically a float and enjoy the scenery adventure.
Apart from the teething issues at the start, we had a good time and were all in the right frame of mind. A pearler of a day helps, and it set the tone for the rest of the long weekend.
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