Sydney to Canberra - from surf to snow!

Thomas had a last day play with Finn at the beach in Sydney

 

That was Saturday and by the next Thursday, he was playing in snow!

 

 

Since Tom's trip to europe in 2011, he has been obsessed with mountains and their prospect for snow.  When we went to the Blue Mountains with the Kettley/de Mars family, he kept asking about whether it snowed there and whether he might see any.  Alas although cold, no snow.  When we were driving to Canberra he was thrilled with the mountains we saw in the distance, asking all impossible questions that I was unable to answer except to say, "Look at the map".  I didn't know what they were called. When we arrived in Canberra, I knew they were the Brindabellas and the first question he asked Pat and Colin, our Canberra hosts was - does it snow here?

From then on, he constantly was consulting the maps, the internet, the weather etc and begged me to take him to the Snowy Mountains.  I resisted but finally relented and agreed to drive to Thredbo to stay overnight at a campspot about 8 km from the resort.  I kept saying that although the forecast was -3 it would not guarantee snow.  I have never been so cold in all my life.  My sleeping bag is rated to -10 and it was certainly colder than -3!  Upon arrival, there was no snow.  But soon after, hail appeared and rained down on us for about 20 minutes which worried me as I had no idea of how I was going to drive on icy roads - no chains, no experience of driving with chains etc.  He was disappointed that although it hailed there was no snow.  I told him it might snow overnight given how cold it was and YES! in the morning, there was snow on the peaks.

At first Tom was too reluctant to use the chair lift to go to the summit to see Kosciuskzo but finally after trying to walk up, agreed to do the chair lift.  We hired some snow boots and he was wearing various layers of clothes including a thermal top of mine under his shaggy jacket.  As you can see he was in seventh heaven.

We had a 24 hour pass for the Snowy Mountain National Park and so we departed by midday on Thursday.  Coming down the chair lift, it was still incredibly cold and there appeared to be more snow coming.

Canberra for me, was more than the trip to the snow.  It was the opportunity to catch up with friends of long ago and see some of the national monuments.

There were  no parliamentary sessions and I couldn't interest Tom in going to see the building, he wanted to see the Prime Minister in full flight but she was not available.

At the war memorial, the displays were fascinating. We found the Victoria Cross of Throssell from WW1 who was married to Catherine Susannah Pritchard whose house is now a writers retreat and is next door to Tom's cousins in Greenmount.  We experienced sound and light shows of the RAF in both world wars that were extremely well done, feeling like you were actually part of the battles the way in which they were executed.

Tom's picture above was with Weary Dunlop, a larger than life figure not just in bronze.

We finished off the week with a trip to Questacon and to the Australian Institute of Sport before Tom flew home last Friday.

I then took off for the coast at Batemans Bay and wound my way down the south coast of NSW which is so beautiful I feel I have been shortchanged by WA with its dry landscape.  I am presently in Victoria at a little town called Foster and my next blog will emanate from here.

Sydney

As forecast all arrived in Sydney - Myles and Thomas on Thursday 18th, with Myles returning home on the following Sunday.  Thomas and Myles went to the football at the SCG on Friday night and as both Harriet and Bill were working Friday, Myles, Thomas, Finn, Hannah and I went across to the City on the Manly ferry.  It was very windy and the sea was rough but the boys enjoyed it.  Hannah was a little nauseous but we managed.  We spent several hours walking around, looking at the Opera House and the entertainment at Circular Quay.

The top two photos are evidence that Tom's desires were met.  He wanted to see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.  The bottom one was completely unexpected and certainly not desired by Myles who is the nefarious looking character on the right wrapping the street entertainer up in chains.  The children wanted to watch this entertainer as he started his act.  He first of all did some impressive handstands and so forth, then he wriggled his body through the frame of a tennis racquet.  When he got stuck half way through, he came up to me and said "Mum, you bought the wrong size again!" much to the childrens' amusement.  Then when he wanted helpers to wrap him up in chains, padlock his hands behind his back etc he called for volunteers.  When he didnt get any, he chose the two biggest blokes in the audience, one of whom was extremely reluctant to be part of the act, but Myles was pressured to do so and so he did.  He did not enjoy the experience.  The whole show went on for ages and of course the entertainer succeeded in wriggling out of the fully padlocked chains and unpicked the handcuffs with a hairpin from a girl in the audience.

 

 

 

After Myles left on Sunday, we went for a picnic at Manly Dam which is a short walk through bushland near Harriet and Bill's house. This was the intrepid three who were stopping at this point for emergency supplies which were being managed by Hannah and maintained in her back pack.  They had been walking by then for about 4 minutes with about another 4 to go before arriving.  Bill drove around the block to get there carrying all the chairs, food, drinks etc.  We met other friends of the family who were there with their children and all had a great time.  Finn and Tom went fishing with no luck had, and Hannah and her friends found an area where clay abounded and they made lots of figures from clay.

 

Luckily I bought two computers with me, my little notebook and a laptop which is identical to the one that Hannah and Bill have.  The three children book time slots for them all to play a game and they get thoroughly engrossed in it for limited times allowed.  Hannah gets bored with the boys games and she ends up playing with patterns or one game which takes her shopping where she can buy all sorts of weird clothes.

I have tried to flip this photo but it wont work.  It is flipped in the original.  Hannah, Finn, Bill and I went to Luna Park on Wednesday when Harriet was at work.  It was what I would think pergatory would be like.  I have hated the Royal Show since I went when I was about 16 and havent been back and it was worse!

 

 

Anzac Day we took off early to the Blue Mountains and to Scenic World which is where you can catch a funicular up or down to the Valley at the bottom, ride a cable car up or down and also a sky train across the valley which was 270 metres below.  My vertigo has been somewhat numbed by the number of bridges and mountains I have driven around and it gave me no trouble at all.  It was very cold as can be seen by how rugged up everyone but Bill is.  He left his jumper at home!

 

Tomorrow, Tom and I head off to Canberra where it has been very cold of late and Tom is hoping for snow.  I dont think that 0 degrees at night is going to get him snow but we are still hoping for miracles.

Inverness to Glenn Innis and Yamba

The road through the Great Dividing Range was testing with its sharp bends and inclines but through truly beautiful country. The trouble was the road is so narrow that it was impossible to stop to take photos except at designated stopping areas.  This was one called Raspberry Lookout.

 

I was able to take this one from the van as I was stopped by roadworks where half the road had fallen off the mountain and so we had only one lane for a couple of kms.  You can see the lush growth of ferns, creepers and anything else that was growing.

 

This is a photo I wanted to put on my last blog of the little towns along the way.  Again, this is the Clarence River and the town was McLean.

 

My first sight of the Pacific Ocean.  I stayed with Lyn who I met at Blaze Aid in Yamba. She had left a week before me but invited me to stay with her on my journy.  Lyn's house was about 200 m from the Clarence River and she had been flooded out 5 times in 4 years. Each time it was designated a one hundred year flood. She was very fed up.  Lyn originally lived on the river bank but the council compulsorily acquired her house about 7 years ago due to flood risk and it was demolished.  She is a long way back now but says she has had more flooding than in the original house.

 

I am now in Sydney with Harriet, Bill, Hannah and Finn and will await the arrival of Myles and Thomas on Thursday evening.

En Route to Sydney

I have now arrived in Sydney and am able to get back on my blog.  I have not had sufficient internet cover for a few days and so have not been able to pass on my adventures.

After leaving Bingara, I moved onto my next overnight stay at Jackadgery Creek in New England on the road to Grafton. Again, I had a flowing river and animals to accompany me, albeit this time behind a fence.  A gorgeous morning with mist on the mountains followed.

 

 

Arriving in Grafton at about 8.30, I was desperate for a hair cut and while waiting for the shops to open, I took a walk along the levy bank. This is the Clarence River which had flooded twice earlier this year.  The levies were very high and I took this photo which includes a man rowing a boat leading a horse, and the bridge.  The bridge may not look very high here, but I almost passed out at the sight of it.  If you look closely, you will see that the cars are tiny spots on the top of the bridge, not within the engineering part of it.  The thought that I would have to cross it worried me enormously.

 

Having found a hairdresser who gave me a cut, I asked if there was any way to get across without going over this bridge.  She gave me a route which would take about an hour but was through pretty countryside and I decided that is what I would do.  She then asked me where I was headed, which was Yamba and she laughingly told me I didnt need to cross the bridge at all, just stay on the same side of the river for half an hour or so and I would get to Yamba.  I did just that.

 

I found lots of pretty sights along the river which is very wide, lots of fishing villages etc - prawns and fish are caught in the river and oysters seem to be farmed everywhere I went for the next few days.  I cant seem to upload the photos on this post, I will have to start again with a new one.

Leaving Blaze Aid

This morning I left Blaze Aid at Coonabarabra behind and headed off solo on my journey.  Before leaving I was treated to a poem reading at the morning muster.  The poem was about me. It was quite embarrasing as it told the story of my fencing career and then my kitchen/laundry takeover. It was however gratifying to know that my efforts were appreciated.

I learned a lot in my two weeks - not just how to erect an electric fence in putting in the insulators, plastic clips on the top two rungs and ceramic "cotton reels" on the bottom two and stringing 3 rows of barbed wire between which had to be twitched onto all the star pickets, and how to stack fallen tree limbs - but also how to wash up breakfast dishes for 70 people without a dishwasher.  Additionally, I discovered that the big 20 litre pink bottles labelled disinfectant which I used to clean the toilets and showers one day when the regular bloke went on strike actually contain detergent as well - there was froth and bubbles so high, it had to be hosed off.  I even took in a water colour painting lesson!

On leaving town, I took a 10km rough dirt track to see the Piliga Pottery which turned out to be well worthwhile, I nearly turned back several times knowing I would have to do the 10km back to the main road.  Everything rattled and when I finally stopped, all my careful stowing had been shaken loose.  However you will see from these pictures it was worth it.  Of course, I bought a jug.

The artist Julie gave a demonstration as to how she etches each pot before the glazers take over and painstakingly colour each section before firing.  Here she did a BIG jug with a bluebird picture.  I bought a little one with a blue bird. They were very expensive.

 

I then went on my journey through the Piliga Nature Reserve to Narrabri where I had lunch at yes, another lake.  Narrabri says it is the cotton capital of Australia.  There were odd shaped big bins that didnt look like wheat bins so I suppose they were for cotton.  No evidence of cotton plantings but later I saw some plants growing by the side of the road with fluffy white bits on them as I  turned North West and drove down a small road through the Mount Kaputar National Park.  Spectacular scenery, mountains that forbad me to look at the side of the road on the hair pin bends.

 

 

This was driving towards the mountains - the photo of the mountains is at the end, I cant seem to move it up here.  After the mountains I went through beautiful farming country - green as anything with fat black cattle everywhere.  That road came out at Bingara where I am camped by the riverside. When I pulled up to park, a donkey (or is it an ass?) was munching away right next to the van.  Most unconcerned as I got out and put up my pop top and my awning and then just wandered off.

 

I took this photo from the front of the van.  I am about 10 metres from the edge of the river, under paperbark trees.  Lots of birds chirping in the trees and ducks in the water. There are two other campers - about 100 m away.

 

This is a photo I took while driving through the mountains. Really spectacular scenery.  I just never thought that NSW would be so beautiful.

Tomorrow I am heading off towards Grafton driving through Inverell and Glen Innes.  That will be testing as I will be driving through the Great Dividing Range and three national parks.

A Change of Duties

Its been a while since I posted. Two reasons, the first is that I have been really busy but the real reason is that I lost my internet connection for about a week. I feel so stupid, having called for a person with computer skills to sort out my problem, I found that I had used up $180 worth of internet data in a month! This is because I had not been compressing my photos I put on the blog and the size of them gobbled up my credit.  I have now purchased more credit and am back in business.  Hopefully my reduced size photos are still in viewable form.

I remained on fencing duties until Wednesday morning.  Here are some photos at the farm owned by Arthur who had broken his leg in 3 places 4 days before the fire.  He had been on his quad bike and the dog ran in front of it, tipping him out.  He was laid up in bed and asked some friends to come over and draft some lambs from his flock.  When they arrived, the fire was heading his way.  He told the mates to forget the lambs, but to go up to the back paddocks and bring in his cattle.  They did so, but in driving the cattle towards the front of the farm, the fire was on them.  Helicopters who were using his dam to scoop up water could see they were in trouble and kept blasting the cattle with water and made a path for them to get through. They were all saved.

Arthur who has been ordered to stay off his leg, because he did more damage, continues to work harder than all of us.  He hobbles and runs and drives his tractor and does more than humanly possible.  He works for the national parks and has been trying to get his property to the stage where it can support him without working outside.  He has two teenage daughters, one of whom joined us over easter in doing fencing.

The little white blob on the skyline is the Sidings Springs Observatory.    The top photo is our mob eating lunch which is about the only time when we get a chance to take a photo.

 

After leaving Arthur's farm, we went onto John's farm about 40 km away from town and on the exact opposite side of those rocky outcrops.  I have photos of the observatory on the same hills from the opposite side.

 

These photos are of John and his son Robert (drop dead gorgeous 23 year old) who speak with such strong  Scotts accents that no one can understand them.  Robert's is less pronounced and he was born here, but obviously very isolated from other Aussies on the farm with mum and dad.  John bought the farm 26 years ago.  Here we did fencing, but also another woman, Mary and I got to pull up the rabbit fencing that was surrounding a house that was completely burnt and had been removed as it contained asbestos.  This was hard work because firstly the fencing was very old and had barbed wire through it and also to stop the rabbits had been dug in to the ground and had lots of old stuff blocking it in, like big rocks, old pipes, old pots and pan and everything.  It was very hard to pull out.  A lot of the farms can't be worked on until all the asbestos has been removed.

 

 

On Wednesday morning, as I was about to join my group at Morning Muster, an advertisement went up on the notice board.  Two positions vacant - one for mornings to do washing and breakfast dishes and clean up the kitchen post breakfast and the other to do evening duty to get the kitchen ready for the volunteer community groups to come and cook dinner and then to clean up afterwards and lock up everything. The first job was from 7am to 12 midday and the second from 5pm to 8.30 pm.  I asked if I offered to do both, could I please be taken off fencing.  (It had been a particularly had day on Tuesday with being in the sun all day and no logs to sit on).  My application was accepted and my lot in life was eased.  I now have a big break in the afternoons in which I can do what I like, which means reading mainly.

One of the kitchen girls said they had to take a photo of me in my work gear before I ceased to wear it and so here it is. Don't all laugh at once. I got my jeans and my workboots plus socks from the opshop that is operated here from all the donated clothes and goodies that people sent after the fire. It is quite chilly in the mornings. People other than me all complain.  It has been about 6 -12 degrees, I am fine with that, I just cant take the heat later.  Mostly it is about 25 in the afternoons which is OK.

I will stay here until Sunday working and head off on Monday 8 April to go a little further north and then head east to the coast to slowly wend my way down to Sydney to park at Harriet and Bills by Monday 15th and to meet up with Thomas who is coming over with Myles on 18th April.  Myles flys home on Sunday after taking Thomas to a footy match and Tom will stay with me at Harriet's for the next week with Hannah and Finn for the school holidays and then when they go back to school, Tom and I will head to Canberra for a week before he flys home on Friday 3 May.

Blaze Aid Coonabarabran NSW

I have been busy for the last few days and been unable to post on the blog.  I drove into Coonabarabran last Saturday and saw the sign beconning volunteers to Blaze Aid to park at the show grounds.  I was aware of what Blaze Aid did from watching Landline on ABC1 but didnt realise they were in this area.  The country I had driven through was spectacularly beautiful and I saw no evidence of flood or fire.  The other side of the town however was not so lucky and the whole of hte Timor valley was devastated by fire in January.  I joined up and within 30 minutes had signed the appropriate insurance forms, been allocated a space for my van, been connected to power and given a pair of leather gloves, a Hi Vis vest and some safety glasses.   It was however a day off because of rain. 

The drill is that you attend the kitchen area for breakfast at 6.30 and you can choose between cereal, fruit and yoghurt or a cooked breakfast or both.  At this time, you sign the insurance forms again which cover you for 24 hours following the time of signing, sign the dinner list to say you will be eating that evening, you pack your lunch from a vast array of meats, salads, boiled eggs, cheese, bread or rolls; grab a cake or muffin and fruit for morning tea and at least 2 bottles of cold water.  At 7.30 a morning briefing tells you what your team will be doing that day and you take off in one of the 4WD that your team members have.

When you arrive at the allocated farm, you attend upon the farmer who tells the team leader what work he would like done.  It varies from pulling out burnt fences, rolling up wire, cutting down trees overhanging fences that will be rebuilt, cutting down dangerous trees, putting in new fence posts and pulling wire.  Some folk have been task to cleaning out sheds and barns so new hay or seed can be stored in them. Some have done cleaning out of gardens that have been burnt.  Lots of houses were burnt, some farms the houses were saved but all the other outbuildings have gone.

The team I have been working with for 3 days were tasked with cutting trees off fence lines where regrowth is likely to fall over onto the new fences when built.  My job has been to pick up all the small pieces (with diameter of less than say 30cm and stack them ready for burning later. The bigger logs have been cut with a chain saw into lengths for hauling away by the farmer with tractors later.  It  has been hot and dirty work and it tires me out but I am happy doing it with such a good bunch of people. They are almost all retired, although there are a couple of younger people and one family who are travelling with their 3 children who they are home schooling.  The 13 year old boy has been in my team with his dad.

When you get back at about 4pm, it is head for the hot showers time and then a rest before dinner.  Dinner is served at 6.30pm and is prepared by one of several local community groups such as Lions, Rotary, CWA etc and they put on a 2 course meal and they have been very tasty, with generous servings and I dont think I have ever eaten so much in all my life!

Following dinner, there is a further meeting for all teams to have recorded what work has been done that day, what work is still to be done on that property etc. All that has finished by 8pm and then it is is into bed.  You can take your name off the list for any day if you want a rest and that is what I did today.  My hips have been a bit sore, but after a bit of a sleep in had quite recovered.  I went into the kitchen to see if there were any jobs that wanted doing and was allocated about 200 used plastic water bottles to wash, sterilise and refill with water and put in the fridge for the next day.  I also managed to get my own washing done.

 

This is out of sequence but was a garden that I saw on my way into town that I thought was pretty amazing.  The whole front yard was filled with varieties of cacti.

This is the countrythat I saw driving into town.  The hills are the Worrumbungles which is where the fire started in the national park, but did not burn this area.

 The first morning I went out was Sunday and it was very foggy.  Visibility was low in leaving the camp ground but upon arriving at the farm we were allocated, it had lifted somewhat.  I could not however resist taking this photo. The mist layer at the back hides the burnt hills behind the house which survived and the white frosty looking grass is something that has come up since the fire - within 2 months it is up about a metre high and is flowering.  The white is a fine flower that turns into little seed pods like dandelions.  The grass is so high that the first day I wore my joggers not having any work boots and I was wet up to my knees with my feet squelching in my socks until lunch time when I took them off and the hot sun in an hour dried both my socks and shoes.  The next day I wore wellies that I had bought to use in Gippsland in June until morning tea time and then changed over.

 

This is Timor Rock which is on the edge of the property we were working on.  All timber on it and the hills behind the house were completely burned and are all dead.  All the grass in front was burnt and has regenerated.

This is John Hunter from WA with whom I was working.  He was cutting the trees down and I was cleaning up. John is 74 and an old farmer.  Unfortunately yesterday he had a very bad accident and I had to call an ambulance.  In the end it wasnt as bad as it looked.  I saw torn skin over his foot with his ankle bone poking through.  The 2 paramedics called for a helicopter to take him to Sydney. They said he had an open compound disclocated fracture and were concerned about the infection risk given the environment of dirt, soot, woodchips, sawdust etc.  However they took him to meet the helicopter at the local hospital who after an xray said there was no fracture. They manipulated the ankle bone back into place and are keeping him in for a few days because of the infection risk and pumping him full of antibiotics.  They gave him loads of morphine on site before moving him to the stretcher at which point he passed out.  We all had to lift him onto the stretcher.

I had more  photos to show but the program wont let me so I give up. More another day.

Just to reassure you all, I am being very careful.  I am mindful that I am not used to this work and I watch those trees and logs very carefully.

Wild life at last

No, not camels, kangaroos, wombats or koalas but emus were the first and only wildlife I have seen on this journey of now nearly 4,000km.  A great flock of them had taken over the wheat stubble but by the time I located my camera it was only the brave that remained and stared me out whilst I took the photo. The rest had run away.

I was however travelling through the land of the long paddock and there were lots of areas with signs saying cattle on road for next 5 km, they seemed to come in 5 km stretches so that in fact there were cattle there for 20 km or more.  Thousands of them.  The first ones I had to stop to let them pass the road and later thought, I should have grabbed the camera, but I was too busy making sure that they actually crossed and didn't stay on the road to block my way. This lot had already gone through.

This is Lake Cargelligo where I stopped for lunch - as I say, lakes abound!

No lakes today, I am at a tiny place called Caragabal which is about 70 km south of Forbes in NSW and will be at Dubbo tomorrow.  I stopped at another camping spot earlier but it was so noisy with huge interstate trucks whizzing by.  Another van pulled up to use the toilet and told me of this spot about 24 km off that road and it is very quiet so far although I am next to the railway line.  Last night I camped at a tiny place called Tillibegeal next to the railway line where there were not only clean toilets but showers and water and power all for free. That all looked pretty good but a a train which was some freight but 3 big diesel engines pulled up about 100 m away and the engines kept running and running and running without moving and that went on for FIVE hours, I am not kidding.  I was so annoyed and wanted to know what the hell they were doing, but one of the drivers came and used the toilet and he looked like what Myles and Richard call boguns - shaved head and big bushy beard and very big and I thought better to leave well alone. Eventually another train went by and then they took off. So it seemed that they were waiting for this other train all the time, but they could have turned the bloody engines off - I cant imagine how much fuel they wasted.

It started to rain when I arrived here and it continued until about 2 minutes ago.  Its not a problem with rain and its better than heat.  I haven't actually seen any for about 2 weeks now.  I have been cooking a beef stew in my dream pot so I hope it is cooked by tea time.  It should be, I got it together at about 12.30pm in the noisy spot.

When I drove into Tillibegeal there was what I thought a very odd sign.  It asked trucks to stop to dislodge the dust from their tyres before proceeding into the town.  Along the stretch where trucks were to stop there were piles of red dust.  I didnt understand how this could be, all the roads are bitumin. This morning there was a very high wind, in fact it was so fierce I had trouble pulling the pop down in my van but eventually on the third try got it down and had to hold it tight while I put the straps it because it kept blowing up again.  As I drove out of town, I got the gist of what the dust thing was about.  The wind had whipped up quite a dust storm from all the rich red soil that was bare after ploughing for miles around and the dust was thick in the air.  I reckon this must be a fairly common occurrence.

The Hay plains

After leaving Renmark, I drove through Mildura and on to Robinvale where I camped at Lake Bananee.  This land is amazing with what seems to be lakes everywhere which are fed by the Murrumbidgee river and they all have lots of water in them.

There were a couple of other campers here, all caravans.  We all parked under the peppermint gums which was lovely.  There were also shade shelters, toilets, water, bins and barbecues, all for free.

Tuesday I drove onto Hay across endless flat plains.  Just out of Balranald, there was a sign to Yanga station indicating you could take a tour of the homestead at 10.30 am.  I was about on time and drove in.  I was the only person taking the tour so I got the personal approach from the ranger Mon. This was a huge property, at one stage the largest in the southern hemisphere, taken up by squatters in the early 19th century and had some famous owners along the way such as WC Wentworth.  The State government had bought it in 2005 from the Black family who had it for a century.  They were absentee landlords who remained in England and made their way out for inspections from time to time. Some time before they sold it, they emigrated to Australia and now live in Melbourne.  I checked out the web and it said that the government was rumoured to have paid $38million, but that was pooh poohed by Mr Black who wouldnt say what they paid.  It was an interesting tour going through the homestead, the kitchen, cooks sitting room and the main areas of the house where the manager was allowed to live unless the owners were arriving, then he had to move out to one of the outbuildings.  The structure was interesting, the newer part made with split white ceder pine logs and the older part with wood slabs.

The property comprises of sheep farming with some cropping but the spectacular part and obviously why the Parks people now have it, is because of the Lake - which is HUGE.  I was told it was over 20km in length and had lots of bird life and fish.  It however was bone dry for over 5 years in the recent drought and has been filling up from the floods up north over the last 5 years.  The Lachlan river runs into it.  I assumed it was irrigated from the lake, but was told no, the water they use comes from the Murrumbidgee because the Lake is dry at least once every 5 years.  Photos in the exhibition included lots of huge murray cod being caught in the lake.

I then drove onto Hay and camped at Sandy Cove on the Murrumbidgee river again a lovely spot with lots of river gums to shade, toilets, water and bins.  There were a lot of people here and most had been there for a few days.  All those I spoke to were from NSW and gave me ideas about where to travel next.

It wont let me add any more photos - it thinks I have had my quota - I am going to have to publish this and then start a new entry to put any more photos on.



The mighty Murray

I left Adelaide this morning and am now in Renmark parked 4 metres from the Murray river.  It is a beautiful day with a maximum of 24 and minimum of 7 forecast.  It certainly isn't any hotter and I hope it doesn't get any cooler tonight.

I stopped along the journey at Blanchetown which was my first glimpse of the river.  There were signs saying home of Loch 1 and I had no idea what that meant so went into the town off the highway to find out.  It is indeed where Loch 1 on the Murray river is located.  I took photos but the sun was in my face so not so good.

This last photo is to show the flood levels at various times.  Given that the water was many metres below the bank and very wide there would have been an enormous amount of water flowing through in any of the floods.

I then stopped at Waikirie for a coffee and could see boats on the river.  The River Queen which is now used for weddings etc and endless houseboats for hire.  I thought of the many times I have been houseboating with Catherine and Peter on the Murray River in WA.  You could not see the end of the row.

Off tomorrow into NSW via Mildura.  Probably will stay in Robinvale camping next to Lake Benanee.