No I haven’t become slightly affected – it’s the confluence of the Murray and Darling Rivers at Wentworth. The Darling is Australia’s longest river.
Farewell to the Murray
As you can see the Murray River is a better colour here in Mildura and there’s a lot less mud.
The tourist park across the river at Buronga (NSW side) was very busy as it’s the Easter holidays but it had some of the best facilities we’ve seen in a park – roomy grassy sites, a car washing facility, a dog washing facility, a free pet laundry, nightly movies to keep kids amused/quiet and plenty of room to sit and relax along the riverside.
Tomorrow we’re saying goodbye to the Murray and heading north to spend Easter at Broken Hill. Tonight we’re watching ‘Mad Max’ in preparation for a visit to the Mad Max Museum at Silverton.
A bit more history
Our path often seems to cross with the route taken by explorers Burke and Wills. They crossed the Murray River at Swan Hill and there are some commemorative markers around town.
The Mighty Murray
Thank you to Kim and Peter for having us to stay for a couple of nights at your lovely house in Bunbartha. Winston especially says thank you for letting him have some sofa time and also to Oscar for letting him play with his toys.
We headed North to Echuca/Moama on the Murray River. There are a few of these twin towns either side of the Murray, as it forms the border between NSW and Victoria. Echuca is a large modern town but it feels as though you’ve stepped back in time when you walk through the Port of Echuca Precinct.
The main attraction though are the paddle steamers which cruise up and down the Murray all day.
Winston has learned to be a bit more careful when running down to the river for a dip after he sunk into some thick oozing mud and had to have a bath!
Whale fishing in Victoria
I popped into the local fly fishing spot to get a recommendation for the best fly to use on the Murray River and they sold me this!
Just for comparison, the titchy little thing below is the actual fly (now looking a little frazzled) that landed a magnificent 40cm Brown Trout which fed us for two days. By my reckoning, based on that scale, they have sperm whales in the Murray. Funny, I thought that they lived in the sea.
They tell me that the true target, Murray Cod, are basically a huge mouth with a tail and will happily consume unwary mice, rats, coots and small possums that are foolish enough to go for a swim. This I have got to see!!!
It’s beginning to get messy!
It was all going nicely through Qld and NSW – A lovely linear (well slightly weaving) progression between towns for the first few weeks. And then Victoria happened!
We are loving this state with so much heritage and a great abundance of farm fresh produce to enjoy, however Victoria is a higgledy piggledy mass of towns and villages all close together with no obvious route between them. Our map has suddenly become distinctly less tidy than before as we meander across this lovely State. It’s going to get worse too as we will be giving this fine region a second go later in the year on the return trip.
Happy Birthday Jonathan
Jonathan’s birthday present was a day at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne.
We spent his birthday evening watching ‘Stargazing Live’ at SDM HQ aka Peter and Kim Read’s house. They laid on an excellent port and cheese spread.
Ariba! Ariba!
Cactus Country near Cobram in Northern Victoria looked a little bit cheesy on arrival with cartoon cacti on the walls and sombreros to wear but walk through the entrance and you’re in the largest cacti and succulent garden in the Southern Hemisphere.
The trails are thoughtfully laid out with plants from different regions.
Lake Mulwala
An eerie place with all the river gums submerged in this man made lake.
Smoke from the burn-off across the lake, produced an intense orange sunset.
The Black Dog Brewery near Glenrowan
We only really stopped here because of the name but we had a great time tasting hand crafted beers and a selection of their wines, and having a yarn with this gentleman whose family planted the vineyard a hundred years ago. Their Cabernet Sauvignon was a perfect accompaniment to the slow cooked lamb shanks we had for dinner.
