Australian solo paddler Scott Towner has put another seven days of paddling behind him, dropping out of Mildura and slowly grinding his way down to Renmark — and ticking off a corner of the country very few river anglers get to see.
In Episode 7 of Scotty Does the Murray 2026, Towner covers days 43 through 50 of his self-supported descent of Australia's longest river. He started the leg out of Mildura on day 43 with a seven-day estimate to Renmark, no clear idea of how far he wanted to push, and one immediate logistical headache — the Tinny Rally fleet was about to overtake him.
"I've got the Tinny Rally which starts tomorrow from just the other side of the Madura we here," Towner said before launching. "They will catch me pretty quickly. So they're going to swamp me and take up all good camping spots."
Day 44 brought a more emotional anchor for the leg. "Today would have been my dad's 85th birthday," Towner said as he set out. "If you're looking for my inspiration on why I'm out here — that's it. He did conquer the river in his own way. Not quite the same way I did, but he did do it, which just set the seed for me to get here when I had the opportunity to. Also to finish off what he didn't finish, which was the upper Murray."
The same day, he reached Wentworth — and the iconic Murray-Darling junction. "This is where the two rivers merge, the two biggest rivers in Australia," he said. "And here they are."
Conditions through the leg were unforgiving. With almost no flow and consistent headwinds, Towner was logging seven-and-a-half-hour days for low-30s of kilometres. Day 45 ran 39 km. Day 46 added another 40-odd. By day 47 he had stopped trying to plan distances and was just trying to start before sunrise. "I really don't want to paddle in pitch black. I really want to set up camp in the afternoon before it gets dark."
The leg's emotional high came on day 48 at McCabe Corner — the surveying anomaly where New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia almost meet.
"This is one of the highlights I wanted to do since I started this trip," Towner said. "This is the point at which the three states meet. Behind, just in front of me there, is where New South Wales ends and South Australia starts. Victoria will continue on for a little bit longer. The reason for that is, if you actually look at the map, you'll see there's an error. So it's a case of survey error. The surveyors that came from the north and the surveyors that came from the south, they didn't quite meet up. So and they never fixed it."
Day 49 was a Victoria-versus-South-Australia bank-by-bank affair, with Towner pointing out the contrast in vegetation as the boundaries shifted.
"If you have a look over the side over there, it's quite clear grass," he said, pointing across the bank. "It's not here anymore. The red gums there, there's nothing there."
Day 50 was a wet one. "Last night had probably one of the best views of the trip so far. Was right across from some red cliffs and a nice sandy beach. Couldn't get any better than that, except the heavens decided to open up last night… It was a little moist."
He pulled into Renmark for a hard-earned rest day, marking 45 paddling days on the water from his original launch and the third state of the trip ticked. The next leg pushes deeper into South Australia, with the wine country and the Coorong now firmly in front of the bow.