The Murray River

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Since Lake Hindmarsh dried up many many years ago, we have since been camping along the Murray in seek of places of seclusion. These photos were taken over several different trips in several ‘secret’ locations. I’m known for taking random photos so here we go!

The Sunsets:
I’m no romantic, but the sun setting on the Murray is something spectacular. It must be the way the colour of the sky changes as the sun sets or the reflection off the water… It’s truly breath taking.














The Bush:
There are a lot of trees, but they are often overlooked or taken for granted.






The Water:





Now for the random photos I’ve taken during our trips:
Various camp setups:








Amazing, a tree growing out from a tree that had been chopped down


Icy winter morning brings frost on everything



Prado launching a tinny off the bank



Ute launching a tinny off the bank then getting bogged
A group on the other side of the river had a ute bogged at the rivers edge. They spent most of the day digging and snatching without any luck. The rear wheels were already under water and the chassis had bottomed out. The next day they had the 3 cars daisy chained in an attempt to pull the poor ute out – which failed. They later tugged on the ute directly from two different angles. Both cars were kicking up a lot of dirt as they slid left and right in desperation. They must’ve thought I was crazy when I let out a WOHOOO from across the river when the ute got out of the bog.


Weird hookup
He was missing half a tail but boy did he swim fast when we released him.


Fire!
No trip is complete without a campfire with glowing coals


Water crossings
After Victoria got hit by flood waters, it created some water crossings on the tracks and on the bitumen. I guess I could say my camry has done a puddle crossing :lol:



Went to town for some supplies and spotted this when returning to our cars. It was definitely worthy of a photo!



Hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them

Cheers

[Fungi2003 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fungi2003]

Re: The Murray River

Where are the Murray Cod pics?

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Re: The Murray River

The third sunset shot caught my attention... really lovely shot!
thanks for sharing.

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: The Murray River

Where are the Murray Cod pics?

Of the 6 Murray Cod caught that season, this one was the largest, measuring 125cm and weighing in at 28kgs - that's after it spewed out a whole fish when it was landed.

The third sunset shot caught my attention... really lovely shot!
thanks for sharing.

Thanks Snaga, I can upload the original if you like.

Cheers

[zerosecta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zerosecta]

Re: The Murray River

Hi William,

Awsome Pics Mate - Very Jelous, I moved to Aus 4.5 years ago have just about settled and recented aquired a Jayco Swan Outback so Hope to be doing the same very soon - Perhaps we should organise a Mini Prado GTG up the murray for us west siders - And anyone else who'd liketo come of course :-).. Also Love fishing BTW.

Thanks for Sharing

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: The Murray River

Thanks Gavin

The best months to visit the Murray are the colder/wetter ones which would be around June to August. The trade off is: BUGS (flies/mozzies/ants/giant moths). Trust me, those 4 bugs can annoy you all day and night for COLD - I'm talking sub zero temperatures on some nights, rain, winds etc The upside is that you have a better chance of hooking up a Murray Cod and larger yellow bellies during those colder months.

Though, with the recent rise in river water due to the flooding in Victoria this year, I'm not too sure what the cod fishing will be like, especially since the current runs so fast. Hopefully they'll slow the water down by next year so I can take the kayak out there

We caught a 2.2kg Yellow Belly a couple months ago, only slightly broke the record for us at the Murray. Fish in the Murray put up a good fight, especially on light tackle. I found it funny that there were two kookaburras laughing after we picked up the 2.2kger.




Love fishing?? Okay, going a little off topic here, but check out this Snapper we picked up yesterday in the bay (3.5kg, 68cm):






Enjoy the pics

[zerosecta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zerosecta]

Re: The Murray River

WOW - Nice Snapper and off the Hobie I guess. Very Very Nice.

I am keen to get my self a Hobie as well but as you know they not cheap and I think i will stick to spending on the Prado for now :-) - Snorkel and Lift Next

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: The Murray River

WOW - Nice Snapper and off the Hobie I guess. Very Very Nice.

I am keen to get my self a Hobie as well but as you know they not cheap and I think i will stick to spending on the Prado for now :-) - Snorkel and Lift Next

Actually it was off a friends boat, about 1.5kms out from the Altona boat ramp. 1.5kms is doable in a Hobie, but I wouldn't want to go out there alone. So I hope my brother can find some time soon so we can paddle out together. I actually took the Hobie out on the bay the day before yesterday and managed two 46cm Salmon which put up a great fight.

The Hobie was a pain to get on the roof of the Prado, I can't imagine how hard it will be after the lift. I might need to bring along a ladder or something. We're actually contemplating building a trailer for it... Damn, should've gotten a tinny instead!

Yeah, I'm waiting on new shots of your build-up!! Where are you getting your snorkel and lift done? Western 4x4?

[zerosecta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zerosecta]

Re: The Murray River

Tinnie? mmmm mabey thats an idea instead of Yak and a bit cheaper for an oldy on ebay anyway :-)

I will usually give everything a go myself before resorting to paying exstorshinate labour costs first. So with Snorkel I'll have a good think but pretty sure I'll do this myself.
As for Lift deffinately DIY, Its easy as and all that needs to be done is get a wheel allignment done post fitting...

Here's a pic of my previous car and I did every bit of work myself in my garage, exept fitting tyres. Its has a 3.5" lift with new arms, coils, Shocks, 35" tyres - the lot, even Glind Power shower.
Notice the height of the tyres in relation to my hips :-) The picstures simply don't do it justice
I do miss it but it just was'nt daily driver\family material at the end of the day :-(

Sorry Mate don't meen to hijack your thread.

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: The Murray River

Not problem mate, thanks for posting the pics! That's one sexy lookin' jeep. Red makes it go faster :lol: I think I saw it at point cook town centre parked in front of coles some months ago? Sure got my attention...

Thats a true fact about labour costs. I'm paying somewhere in the vicinity of $500 for labour on the rear air locker alone. The mods are out of my league, so I had to leave it with the pros! I guess I'm paying for their expertise as well as their time. I will however, be installing the tow bar myself :wink: I too would rather do mods myself, as I reckon the quality would be better as I can take my time to do things right.

Wheel alignment post fitting suspension? If I knew arb had to do that, I wouldn't have asked Toyota to do it in the first service! Which will be two days before the trip to arb. You seem very capable with cars, are you an engineer/mechanic or just picked it all up as a hobby?

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Re: The Murray River

Nice pics of the Murray. When we stayed at Mildura earlier in the year we went on a Murray recon drive and waypointed a bunch of great camping spots.

Fishing rods on the kitchen table :shock:

Good effort on the Red, I'm 0 from 2 this season

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: The Murray River

Nice pics of the Murray. When we stayed at Mildura earlier in the year we went on a Murray recon drive and waypointed a bunch of great camping spots.

Fishing rods on the kitchen table :shock:

Good effort on the Red, I'm 0 from 2 this season

Thanks D4D, it's hard to find a good camping spot along the Murray. Word spreads around too fast and before you know it, your "secret" fishing hole becomes a tourist attraction lol. I generally look for:
1: no widow makers hanging over
2: good fishing waters
3: steady slope where a boat can be launched
4. Sand bar where I can go in for a dip on hot days
5. Wood or downed trees that can be chainsawed for firewood
6. Not too far of a drive from a local town

Rods on the kitchen table isn't that bad. I had to give them a clean after salt water fishing. If you were able to look to the right, there's a whole pile of camping gear in the living room. We've been camping so often that we don't bother packing the gear back in the shed

The season's not over yet! you should go out on the bay. We bagged out on the trip 2 days ago, 9 of them between the three of us and I'm sure we could've gotten more if we casted out again. Everyone seemed to be bagging out, the gutting tables we're packed! I'm looking to get out there again this weekend will post more pics if you like.

[zerosecta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zerosecta]

Re: The Murray River

Wheel Alignment - on IFS the caster angle will need to be re-adjusted which will result in the toe-in\out having to be slightly corrected as well. On the solid axle rear there is nothing to be done with a 2-3 inch lift but any higher and you need replace the panhard Rod (the rod that centers the axle left to right under the car) otherwise you will end up with one wheel sticking out further on one side of the car than the other. In fact this will happen on your lift but not noticeably. Then there's also having to add adjustable lower or upper control arms to correct the angle of the drive shaft in the diff (pinion angle) again not required below 3" lift.

I'm a Technology Project Manager in the Finance Sector - I'm by no means an expert in anything, just enjoy learning and get a little carried away when I start something... Plus like you say - If you want something done right - Do it yourself... I took my jeep to ARB to get lockers put in and they totally stuffed it up and I had to take it to another joint to get sorted (something I wasn't keen to tinker with - I do no my limits :-) ) So I am a little skeptical about letting ARB at my Pride and Joy - Great Products but quality of workmanship leave some to be desired.

$500 per Diff is standard for locker install and its a bit of an art working on Diffs so not to bad a price on that if done by someone who who's what they are doing.

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: The Murray River

Hah, it seems we're quite alike. I'm beginning a career in the finance sector and have a background in technology lol :lol: Also know a thing or two here n there, but sadly didn't pick up enough on cars! Anyway, you're getting me worried here, I hope your lockers weren't fitted at Western 4x4! My brother got his OME kit put in by them on his Cherokee without any problems. I'm hoping it goes smooth for me too

[zerosecta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zerosecta]

Re: The Murray River

Hah, it seems we're quite alike. I'm beginning a career in the finance sector and have a background in technology lol :lol: Also know a thing or two here n there, but sadly didn't pick up enough on cars! Anyway, you're getting me worried here, I hope your lockers weren't fitted at Western 4x4! My brother got his OME kit put in by them on his Cherokee without any problems. I'm hoping it goes smooth for me too

It was actually ARB in Richmond and I'll never go back there...

I was going to get it done at Western but they told me that they would'nt actually be doing it in house but rather sending it somewhere else to get done - This turned me off - Perhaps because it was a Jeep, Who knows? I ended up at a place in Sunshine called "On Track 4x4" they did a great job and good guy to deal with to.

Where are they putting your Compressor and Switch? Have a look at my build thread I've added a pic of where I installed my compressor switch on the weekend, you may like it. Also pay a little extra (if you arent already) to get the larger compressor, this way you can use it to pump up tyres as well.