Tributaries also collect water far up north.
In South Australia the Murray is at its most regal, flowing wide and proud through the dry land that it has turned into gardens and orchards. Cruise boats like the Murray River Queen and Proud Mary plying their way up and down the river. One can live onboard for a week or so, or maybe take a lunchtime cruise. There is a smell of eucalyptus. You are bushwalking on a trail through the mystical Flinders ranges.