I bought a kayak! After trying my cousin Catie’s kayak I really wanted to get one of my own but where to store one in our motorhome? Catie stores hers on the roof of their car as they have a 4WD and caravan. I don’t think I could get one up on the roof of the motorhome.

I did some research and discovered inflatable kayaks. I found one on Amazon for $120 and thought what have I got to lose? It looked like it would pack up neatly and maybe would fit in one of our outside bins. Not sure that Richard will happy to ditch the Webber but I could only ask. Turns out he was OK with that as we have our Bidgee BBQ if we want to cook outside. So the bin that used to house our Weber BabyQ now houses my kayak.

The kayak arrived in quick time from Amazon. It is an Intex Challenger and comes complete with collapsible paddle and hand pump. It is quick to inflate and the whole set up takes about 15 minutes to have it ready to put in the water. It has a detachable skeg that you put on last thing before you get in the water.

I tried it out on our dam at home and thought it was a lot of fun so next thing is to try it on a real river.

There was a good launching spot not far from our campsite at Yarrawonga Common so here I am on my first paddle on the Murray river.

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I paddled for an hour, up to the weir where the water from Lake Mulwala enters back into the river. I got right up close to the buoys and the noise of the water as it comes across the gates was very loud. It is very peaceful out on the water and although there were a couple of fishermen on the bank and one in a little fishing boat, it was really only me and the birds on the water.

Great flocks of Corellas swarmed overhead as I was returning to camp. They are such noisy birds! I was glad to see Richard at the bank as I returned as I dont think I could have got it up the steep bank on my own. Back at camp her had the fire pit going and it did look inviting.

It took about half an hour to deflate the kayak, towel off the water and pack it back into its bag. By this time it was dusk and I was cold, wet and had sore arms. A hot shower was very welcome before I joined Rich out at the fire.