How Australians experience a place such as the Murray River has been extensively shaped by our colonial heritage. Colonial notions of how the river ought to behave and be utilised have contributed to the transformation of the river physically, ecologically and culturally. Colonisation has also left behind an intellectual legacy in the way Australians conceptualise "nature". At a practical level, outdoor education experiences of the Murray that do not make reference to the particulars of the place, such as the current declining ecological health of the Murray, might well be read as an act of colonisation. In order to decolonise encounters with places, I suggest that outdoor education pedagogy develop experiences that are place specific and responsive. In this critical reflection on practice, I draw on student encounters with the Murray River to highlight ways of placing personal experiential learning into a broader cultural context in order to counter colonial understandings of ënatureí and foster deeper awareness of our relationships with the river and the land.