Road Trip 2016 - Day 18 (25th July) - Overnight in Barham - another spot on the Murray!!

After a bit of a wild night again we enjoy breakfast in the warmth of the camp kitchen at Buronga Riverside Park - then head out making for Barham.

This is a little out of our way - but I have read that it is a nice little spot along the Murray River. 

The campground there also has an open fire in the camp kitchen - they light it each afternoon in this colder period.

Not hard to see a pattern here!!!! -  if we are not having to cook and be outside in this current shitty wet and wild weather - then we are happy to escape it where possible!!!! I think it's called adapting!!

Driving from Buronga to Barham today we cross back and forwards across the border (the Murray River) several times. 

We pass lots and lots of small vineyards and orchards along the roads we travel this morning out from Buronga. 

We also go through one section where there is just kilometre after kilometre of almond trees. They look lovely - but would live to see them in bloom. That would really be a stunning sight.

The properties all belong to Select Harvests - apparently the third biggest almond producer in the world.

Tooleybuc (just on NSW side of the border) is our lunch time stop - another pretty little place on the Murray. Yes we keep dropping in and out of states again today - Vic to NSW to Vic to NSW. 

Seems we just can't leave NSW.

Tooleybuc - really where do they get some of these names???

We have to cross the Murray again to get to Tooleybuc - an historic one lane bridge still spans the river here. 

It was once required manual operation and was manned by the local Bridgekeeper living here just by the bridge.

Many kilometres later today - we are on another one lane bridge, over the Murray, into Barham. This one is being replaced - it's done pretty well though as it is over 100yrs old. 

It is similar to the one at Tooleybuc - as it is also a lift span bridge - designed to allow the paddle steamers to pass through in times gone by.

Checking into the park in Barham I find they are forecast to get extreme high winds tonight - so we ask for a site that will not be too exposed. All the unpowered sites are on the beautiful riverbank above the Murray - amongst the River Red Gums. We don't think this is a good idea with the current forecast - so we accept a powered site well back from the river and much more protected from the winds.

I was quite disappointed that they charged us the hefty fee for a powered site ($32) - when we would not be plugging into the power and they had plenty of powered sites available - especially since it was already 3pm - and the girl said herself that they would not be expecting to get anyone much else now today. 

We setup and then take a walk around this little town - stopping in for a drink in one of the "locals" - a nice pub with a fire. It really was too warm - I know that is hard to believe - but they had the air con on as well - it was stifling.

It's a lovely walk back to camp - along the river side amongst the River Red Gums.

Some interesting info about the River Red Gums is found on this signboard on the riverbank -

Also along the riverside walk there are great wood carvings - all done by a very clever guy with a chainsaw. They are all carved from the local trees and are of things representative of the area.

The Murray Cod depicted here is renowned to be Australia's largest freshwater fish and is prevalent in the Murray-Darling system. They can live to be 50-60 years old and have been known to reach upto 1.5m in length.

This lovely parrot flew down and just sat nice and still for me to get a good snapshot. Isn't he a beauty!!

The camp kitchen had a a fantastically warm raging red wood fire - as "Wiki Camps" had told me (the application we mostly use for picking campsites these days). 

We prepared our dinner and ate in the camp kitchen -  and then sat around the fire chatting with some other campers. Can't get better than that - warm, dry and a good social night.

We are lucky and the high winds do not arrive tonight as forecast - it's a very calm night with just a few showers of light rain.

 

Road Trip 2016 - Day 17 (24th July) - Overnight in Buronga - a nice warm Camp Kitchen

Thank god we did not not get those huge winds again last night - it was all pretty calm - totally different from the previous night we experienced here in Mungo NP.

It is very very cold when we get up this morning and a bit overcast so the sun is not warming us as effectively as yesterday. That makes it hard to get motivated to get going - especially when you would rather just snuggle up with doona and read in bed.

We are packing up this morning and heading off - leaving Mungo - as the weather forecast is looking bad again - more really windy and wet weather on the way in the next couple of days.

The journey back along the same road to Buronga is drier than when we came out - but we find it a bumpier trip because now you feel the corrugations in the road.

We again see lots of big kangaroos and emus along the way.

Now just check out this "Rest Area" - not bed.  Has television, sattelite dish, lounge and more. 

We had passed by this on our way out to Mungo - but decided we would stop on the return journey.

Amazing the trouble some people go to to create some fun out here!!!

Even has the toilet out back!!

We reach Buronga and check into the Riverside Caravan Park - where at the office I purchase bag of beautiful fresh ripe tomatoes from a local farm. About a kilo I reckon - for $3!!! We will use these for a yummy tomato based dish for dinner tonight - can't get fresher meal than that!!

The site we are given is on the river front looking across the Murray River to Mildura. We hope the winds are not too bad tonight!!

Then it's into Mildura for lunch - not much to choose from on a Sunday afternoon - but we find a nice bakery - lovely & warm -with great coffee and food.

We are just settling into our lunch when it starts to pour rain - not happy Jan!!!!   - we have put the bath towels out on the line to dry after having a much needed shower before coming across the river to Mildura.

Being around Mildura- we are seeing lots of vineyards and orchards - even quite close around the town. They are just everywhere!!

We finish up lunch and head into the supermarket for some supplies - and the rain just keeps coming down.

A great bonus with this caravan park is that we are located straight across from a very well equipped camp kitchen - fully enclosed and with a gas heater. It is soooo warm - a bit of luxury for us tonight.

We cook and eat dinner in this luxury - and even watch a bit of television. Lucky Moores!!!

I even washed a few undies and - much to Moores disgust - had them drying on chairs - along with the now damp towels - around the gas heater. Lucky no one else was using the camp kitchen tonight.

By bedtime the wind is blowing up pretty strong - and again I spend the night waking up periodically listening - and wondering how the canvas tent part of our tvan is coping with this hammering. But - all is good and tvan does not let us down.

I must say that we have not been cold at all in bed in the "cocoon" that is our tvan bed. Once in bed and under the warm doona we are "snug as bugs in a rug"!!!

Really the coldness has not been that big an issue either during the day. I like the crisp cold air of winter down here. As long as you are dressed for it - you can be quite comfortable.

It's the really strong cold winds that are annoying and uncomfortable for us - and rain in this cold makes it miserable being outside.

We have therefore decided we will head to Echuca and have a look around there and then head north hoping to escape some of this weather.

Road Trip 2016 - Day 16 (23rd July) - Exploring Mungo National Park

The After a wild night of very very gusty strong winds we are up and about getting ourselves sorted for the day. The wind has gone this morning - but it is very cold and we opt for warming porridge for breakfast.

By the time breakfast is ready the sun is on our campsite and we are able to sit in its glow to warm ourselves somewhat and encourage us to get organised to go exploring around Mungo.

Today we are going to do the Mungo Track -  a 70km loop from the visitors centre (yes we are driving it- not walking it)

The first point of interest on this track is the "Walls of China" lookout. From this vantage point you are able to get a view of some of the iconic landscape features of Mungo NP. You are only able to go beyond this point, and walk out onto the area, on an organised Aboriginal Discovery tour which we were not able to do at present.

Here are some of my photos from this vantage point - it's a pretty weird landscape.

It was out on the "Walls of Chna" that the bones of a young aboriginal woman were found - "Mungo Woman". This discovery led to the the finding of two aboriginal men- "Mungo 1" and "Mungo 2" - coated in red ochre - this is th worlds earliest known use of pigments in burial.

From here we drove to "Red Top Lookout" - which I found a much better vantage point - here you are much closer to this interesting landscape.

Here's a questionable pair - a selfie of us at the Red Top Lookout!!

We had to keep moving along and did not stop at all the points of interest on this track as the weather was looking to detiorated into rain again - the dark clouds were again looming over ver us and we were getting a light spattering of rain in parts.

The track from Red Too a lookout is one way and very narrow in parts - but it widens out in the area of Vigars Well where we see are getting close and closer to white sand dunes.

Then we come to the relics of Zanci Homestead.

Mungo and Zanci stations were both sold to National Parks and Wildlfe in the formation of Mungo National Park.

Zanci Homestead is very much ruins - except for the Woolshed where there is a a major interpretive display that traces the pastoral heritage of Willanda Lakes from its origins in the 1850s amidst the outstation back-black properties that st ended settlement beynd the Darling River.

 

The relics of the homestead have a well preserved "dugout" - an underground room that was built as a coolroom and refuge from extreme heat in this area in summer if required.

There is also the old stables building - which makes for a great snapshot

We arrive back at the Mungo Woolshed - our starting point for the Mungo Loop.

It's been a great day exploring and driving the tracks around Mungo NP.

We head back to camp for a late lunch and then back outside the park boundary to scavenge more wood for a fire tonight. 

So far the strong winds have not sprung up again today and we are hopeful that we will be in fo a much calmer night tonight.

Another short walk from the campground this afternoon takes us out to Mungo Lookout - a view across the expanse of what is now the died up Lake Mungo. It's view too hard to describe - but looking out you can start imagine what it must have been like to inhabit this area when the lakes, fish and plentiful birdlife abounded for the first inhabitants of this country to survive on.

Tonight after dinner - sitting by the fire - we again are taken in by the huge expanse and immensity of the stars above us.

For me this has been the best of the best for viewing the starry night skies. Indescribable!!  You just have to be there to appreciate it!!

Road Trip 2016 - Day 19 (26th July) - Jeez it's cold here in Echuca!!

Today is the coldest morning we have had so far I think. We both shower up as soon as we rise - to get the towels on the line and hopefully dried a bit before leaving this morning.

We have our breakfast and cups of tea over in the camp kitchen and meet up with another couple staying in the park.

As can happen this did slow us down this morning ---- as we we enjoying chatting about our respective previous travels and exchanging some info. C'est La Vie!!!!

It's a damp pack up - and we are then on our way making for Echuca - only about 100 km away.

It is interesting that the scenery along our travels today has changed from the vineyards and orchards - to dairy cattle farming.

We make a few stops along the way exploring some of the little places we pass through - but we are in Moama (the NSW side of the Murray from Echuca) camp all set up and soon heading into Echuca for a late lunch.

We find a lovely little cafe for lunch - at the old Echuca Post Office - and thankfully it's nice and warm. Outside in Echuca this afternoon is damm freezing!!

We then spend a bit of time to explore around the Historic Port of Echuca 

Check out the wooden wheels on this cart for transporting logs!!

The historic Port of Echuca has quite a number of restored and replica paddle steamers that are in use for the tourists - to gain some idea of travel on the rivers in days gone by when the inland waterways were heavily used as a transport mode for transfer of goods to market.

These markers - on the tree - indicate where previous floodwaters have risen to.

The highest marker is 1870 - then 1975 and 1974. All certainly well above the current water eleven here in the Murray in Echuca. 

It's then off down town to explore some more of Echuca - it's a very old town - with numerous old buildings

With a coffee break calling - we find our way to the Bakery

--- and at the rear of the bakery -overlooking a creek - there are two beautiful parrots just waiting for their photo to be taken

With the coldness setting in late in the afternoon we make our way back to our campsite in Moama - at Merool on the Murray.

We are lucky here to have a fantastic camp kitchen all to ourselves - and it's air conditioned - so warm we are stripping down to t-shirts in there. 

So dinner is cooked in the camp kitchen tonight and we hang out there reading and me catching up on the blog.

Road Trip 2016 - Day 14 (21st July) - Exploring Wentworth!!!!

'Today we are enjoying quite warm weather again - as warm as you can expect here in winter.

First up we are out looking for a tyre place - we are suspicious of a slow leak in one of the back tyres. It was down a fair bit compared to the others when I checked them in Menindee - so we have been keeping an eye on it since then. Although it has not really gone down any since we have been checking it daily  - we decide to go into Willys Tyres here in Wentworth to have them check it.

We leave the ute with the guy there and walk a couple of blocks back to the main drag for a coffee. 

Turns out he could not find anything wrong with it - nothing in the tyre and the valve stem checked out okay. He was really nice and did not even charge us for his time.

We will just have to keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

Some interesting facts about Wentworth: 

* It was named after the explorer and politician William Charles Wentworth

* Wentworth is a very historic town with respect to trade along the rivers in the past - being located at the confluence of Australia's two great rivers.

Both rivers opened up for trade and Wentworth became the first river port on the Darling.

* By the late 1880s Wentworth had become the busiest inland port in Australia.

In 1885 , 485 vessels were recorded as passing through the Customs House here in Wentworth - with 31 in one week alone.

* For many years Sydney was the only port in the country to handle more cargo than Wentworth.

* So prominent did Wentworth became that it was one of three places considered for the "Capital" of Australia at the time of federation.

And another couple of shots from another vantage point - of the confluence of the two rivers - Murray and Darling.

Below is the view looking back up the Darling from the bridge over the river at Wentworth. Looks lovely doesn't it!!

BUT - I have been wondering how come there is so much water here at Wentworth in the Darling River - when there was such pitiful little water at Pooncarie and it did not seem to be flowing there.

Well today I found out - apparently the weir just downriver from the confluence of the two rivers (Weir/Lock 10) - causes the water to back up along the Darling for many kilometres (not exactly sure how far) - and that is why Wentworth always seems to have water in the Darling River.

We purchase some pies and sausage rolls for lunch and head out the short distance to Perrys Sandhills.

In places these sandhills are upto 12 metres high and they span over 400 acres.

The dunes are believed to be at least 50000 years old - given the presence of fossils giant extinct animals - mega fauna - found amongst the sand dunes.

The trunk of this RIver Red Gum - called the God Tree (not sure how it has come by this name) - has been buried over the years by the dunes - and now you are able to stand, on the dune, in the canopy of the tree. The tree is believed to be many hundreds of years old and that 4-5m of the trunk is buried in the sands.

You could almost imagine yourself in the Simpson Desert out on these dunes - except you can see the 

green of the surrounding plains.

After this we thought we would have a look at the Pioneers Museum. 

As recommended to us on entry - we take the time to watch a doucmentary recording the biggest flood they have ever had here in Wentworth - in 1956.

We were out looking at Lock 10 - one of the many weirs on the Murray - and the top of this marker, that Moores is pointing at, is where the 1956 flood level is recorded to have peaked.

Apparently these poor people suffered with the flood waters that just kept coming down upon them, for 6-7 months in places, before receding. Meanwhile the Melbourne Olympics were all the news in the "big smoke" - with not much mention there of the plight of these people being flooded for so long.

The film is a really interesting record of this event and how the town's were saved by the district soldier settlers using TEA20 Ferguson Tractors. They were tough little tractors that could handle a bit of water and were small enough to run along the top of the levee banks they were building.

There are memorials everywhere around town to the "Fergies" - they even have a big tractor festival every year

Also in the Pioneer Museum they have several life-sizedreplica of mega fauna that have lived in this area in the past----many fossils of which have been found in Perrys Sandhills.

I had to include this poem I saw in the museum -  

We have really enjoyed our couple of nights here in Wentworth - this spot on the river is just beautiful and relaxing.

This completes our journey down the Darling River Run - as here in Wentworth the Darling ends and flows on as the Murray to the ocean.  

Tomorrow we hope to find the roads okay for us to journey into Mungo NP. Fingers crossed!!!