The second part of our trip from Sydney via Victoria and South Australia from 2.2.2012
Thursday 2/2/2012 - Sunday 5/2/2012: We left Sydney via the M2 and M7 motorways then took the Hume Highway and headed to Robertson in the Southern Highlands where we spent four days with our Sydney Wanderers CMCA chapter for the 25th Anniversary of the Sydney Wanderers, the chapter who started the CMCA. We had a lovely weekend with everyone, playing cards, going to the local Bowling Club for dinner and an Anniversary Dinner on the Saturday night. We had rain on the Thursday and Friday and the temperature fell to 14 degrees inside the Coaster at night you would not think it was summer time. We managed to get the disk bowls comp in on Saturday as it was fine and sunny.
Sunday 5/2/2012 - Tuesday 7.2.2012: We headed across to Kiama to catch up with Margaret and Phil and play cards, also caught up with Cheryl and Gordon who are over from NZ and in the process of having the bathroom renovated in their unit, we went out to dinner in a Vietnamese Restaurant with Marg,Phill, Cheryl and Gordon and had a lovely meal with lots of new tastes as it is the first time we have tried Vietnamese food.
On the Tuesday morning before we left Margaret gave us a ring when Michelle was up and ready to have visitors and we called in to say hello, she looked good even though she has lost a bit of weight, she told me she has been on the trip with us following our blog, so I hope she enjoys the next four months.
Tuesday 7/2/2012: Travelled down to Culburra to visit Aunty Iris, who was hard to find, eventually we found her getting all glammed up by the hairdresser, after hearing all about the new Great Granddaughter Lilly, we headed south down the Princes Highway until we had had enough of driving and stayed at the Big 4 Bungalow Park at Burrill Lakes, it is a lovely park on the edge of the lake and we had a bit of sun for a change.
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| Lake Burrill |
Wednesday 8/2/2012; We continued down the coast to Batemans Bay and turned up the Kings Highway through Nelligen and Braidwood to Bungendore where we stayed in the Showground, it was very quiet with only about six caravans and motor homes and no lights.
Thursday 9/2/2012: We drove across to Yass then down the Hume Highway to Jugiong where we stayed the night in the showground, another lovely quiet peaceful spot, we had more rain that night.
Friday 10/2//2012; We continued on down the Hume Highway to Albury and stayed in the Albury Caravan Park in the town with a road at the front and the back and lots of lights, but the owners were very nice and helpful.
Saturday 11/2/2012: Drove across the Murray River to Wodonga and turned right onto the Murray River Highway and drove across through Rutherglen to Yarrawonga where we headed up river about 6 kilometers and found a lovely camp site at Bruce’s Beach we camped beside the river and could see another vehicle down the river and another up the river, so we were not entirely alone, it was a beautiful spot with lots of river red gums, the water was flowing quite fast and every now and then a fish would jump out of the water making a splash
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| Bruces Beach |
Sunday 12/2/2012: Temperature very hot and sunny mid 30’s. Woke to the sounds of birds all around us, there was a mist on the river before the sun came up, just beautiful.
Drove along the Murray Highway to the Barmah State Forest and stayed at the Barmah Lakes Campground, again we stayed beside the river with lots of big old red river gums around us, we had one other camper not far away and we saw next morning he was in his swag. The flood levels can be seen by the dark marks on the tree trunks.
Monday 13/2/2012: Very hot sunny day, temperature in the mid 30’s. After enjoying our beautiful spot we took our time to leave, then headed for Echuca where we were amazed at how big the town is, the last time we toured along the Murray Valley Highway in 1971 it was a lot smaller, we stayed in the Echuca Holiday Park. We set up the coaster and then went for a walk along the river edge checking out all the river boats and paddle steamers, it was a beautiful sight and lovely to walk along the edge past all the boats moored among the red river gums. We walked along the port precinct and saw all the old shops with blacksmiths, newspaper printers, wood turners, candy shops, wine tasting etc. very touristy and quaint.
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| Port of Echuca |
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| Thong Tree |
The farms out here are primarily fruit, vineyards and vegetable properties all fed by water from the Murray river. There are multiple irrigation channels criss crossing the countryside and the quarantine regulations are quite stringent.
The temperature was very hot but we walked into the town and were amazed we had to walk about five or six blocks to find the post office, then we had to walk all the way back in the heat, at least we had our exercise for the day. When we walked past the river boats we noticed a Valentines Day Cruise for dinner the next day, so we booked in for dinner.
Tuesday 14/2/2012: Very hot temperature in the high 30’s. We slept in then took ourselves along the river edge again and along the wharf precinct and went into all the shops with air conditioning, it was lovely to be cool for a while.
Our dinner cruise started at 6.30 pm and we had a lovely table beside the window, it was so nice just to go slowly down the river having our dinner served to us and looking at all the houses and resorts along the river, the captain turned the boat around then we headed down the river to where the Campesee River comes into the Murray he then headed back to Echuca. The three course meal was delicious and was cooked and presented beautifully. We were amazed at the many boats along the river with many of them worth half a million dollars according to the captain.
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| houseboats - half million $ each |
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| Holiday cabins |
On the weekend they are expecting crowds for the annual Music Festival and all the van parks are booked out.
Wednesday 15/2/2012: Another very hot day high 30’s. Drove to Swan Hill about 150 kilometers, bought some fresh fruit and vegetables, then headed south for five kilometers to Pental Island which is the land between the Murray River and the Little Murray River or the Marraboor River. The Van Park is a 160 hectare irrigated property which enjoys 3 kilometers of Murray River frontage lined with river red gums, and the owners have made the camping area very nice with lush green grass which they keep watered every day, they also have log cabin accommodation and pioneer style function room where they have wedding receptions, and a lovely open fire which all the holiday makers can enjoy, it is a very peaceful place to stay.
Thursday 16/2/2012: A lot of cloud cover temperature mid 30 degrees. We decided to stay another day and have a rest, spoke to the owner who told us they were expecting a crowd on the weekend as there is a fishing competition.
Friday 17/2/2012: Temperature in the high 30’s. Drove into Swan Hill to the Pioneer Settlement and spent the day checking out the pioneer village , we had a look through a paddle steamer, but we could not go for a ride as the passenger ferry was in dry dock having repairs done, we saw old pioneer homes, shops, schools, churches, blacksmith shop, and many more building depicting the pioneer style of life.
We left Swan Hill and traveled 27 kilometers to Nyah where we stayed along the banks of the Murray River under the shade of the huge River Red Gums. The Nyah Harness Club, come cricket ground was nearby we watched a horse with sulky attached trotting around the oval doing his paces.
Saturday 18/2/2012: Temperature high 30’s. Watched the cricketers on the oval, then left Nyah and drove along the Murray Valley Highway to the Mallee Highway traveling 170 kilometers to Underbool where we stayed in the Recreation Grounds. There were quite a few families playing tennis and they ended up staying to about 11pm, they were a bit noisy after the peaceful spots along the Murray. The farming properties now are all wheat and barley crops the fields are huge.
Sunday 19/2/2012: Temperature about 30 degrees with a lot of cloud cover which we drove out of on our way to Tailem Bend 230 kilometers away, we checked into the Rivers Edge Van Park which is high up on the cliff above the Murray River and there was a beautiful cool breeze blowing, very refreshing.
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| Sunset at Tailem Bend |
Monday 20/2/2012: Temperature about 30 degrees with humidity, unusual for S.A. apparently the monsoonal conditions have come further south. We drove along the highway to Old Tailem Town, which is a pioneer village built with streets consisting of old wooden and plaster houses, dung houses, wood and tin houses, which have been bought by the owner from many places in S.A. and reerected to recreate a pioneer town with authentic homes, hotels, movie houses, police station, school, church etc. very interesting to see the original old places.
Drove to Murray Bridge and stayed at the Rivers Edge Van Park which is very close to the Murray, walked down to the river and checked out all the house boats moored along the river bank.
Tuesday 21/2/2012: Cool morning about 17 degrees to low 30’s. Drove back to Murray Bridge town and had a look around, then drove to Mannum which is a quaint little village on the Murray River. We stopped at the Information Centre and went through their museum and an old paddle boat of three levels which we could wander all over, we checked out the cabins, the dining room, the lounge and the wheel house, you can still book to go for a cruise down the river. The museum also had lots of interesting information about the town especially the 1956 flood which was very high and flooded all the houses along the river. We decided to stay at a small reserve on the oposite side of the river called Bolto Reserve for a small fee it was worth it, having no lights, being on the river and under shady trees, just beautiful. Wednesday 22/2/2012: 17 degrees to 30 degrees, with cloud and sunshine. We were woken by paddle boats and had breakfast watching the river traffic go by and the antics of the birds and ducks. Decided we would proceed up to the Yorke Peninsular then come back and go to Kangaroo Island.
