Wimmera and Mallee, Victoria. Part 3.

We met up with some like minded travellers during our second stay at Lake Lascelles, this fact caused us to change our travel itinerary and stay on for an extra two nights. The Happy Hours proved too good to miss out on. As we had already booked the caravan in for a service at Halls' Jayco in Mildura there came a time when we had to leave.

This is the final section of our loop through The Wimmera and The Mallee Regions of Victoria. We only needed to pass through Patchewollock, Walpeup and Ouyen on our way through to Red Cliffs Caravan Park. Following the caravan service we travelled on to The Merbein Common. While there, we had planned to meet up with Mick and Bev and camp beside the Murray River for the final time on this trip. As rain was threatening, we were only going to stay one night. We thought that the rain was going to be the following day but it came early, fortunately only reasonably lightly. Even so, we were doing a fair amount of slipping and sliding moving up to the 'all weather track' from our river bank camp site. Heavier rain was predicted later that day, if we had stayed any longer we would have been stuck in river side clay for many days.

This is the most obvious sight as you drive into Patchewollock. The sign refers to last years festival, it hasn't been upgraded as yet, but I am led to believe there will be a festival in 2014.

This is the remainder of the Main Street of Patchewollock, although there is a Post Office General Store at the far end of the street. (behind me) The Hotel Proprietor is the Prime Organiser for the Music Festival and the hotel is booked out already. It's caravans and tents for anybody else.

The Mallee is home to The Mallee Fowl. These two specimens are thriving in the environment. A typical mallee fowl mound is situated between the two here. The mounds are usually 5 metres across and about 1 metre high. 

Behind the Mallee Fowl display is the rail line, silos and not much else.

Walpeup, on the Ouyen to Pinnaroo Road is another very small Mallee town.

Walpeup does have a very good RV camp. Well grassed and good amenities for a nominal fee.

Echuca, Victoria.

We haven't travelled a lot of distance since our last Blog Entry but there was a fair bit going on! Our best thought out plans were going astray one after another. Well, it makes life interesting doesn't it?

After Barmah Lakes we had planned on going into Christies Beach, not far out of Echuca. On our drive into the river we saw a camper whom we had met earlier in our travels. This fellow camper advised us that Christies Beach is a beautiful position on the river but is marred by several groups of feral permanent campers who run amok at night. Sadly destroying the harmony for peaceful temporary campers. 

After looking at other Free Camp sites around Echuca that also weren't suitable to us, we drove down to the Old Field Days Site near Elmore. This is a large well looked after camping area alongside The Campaspe River. We had a couple of days to fill in before our Mazda BT50 was booked in for a Service at Echuca.

We eventually booked into a Caravan Park in Echuca as we needed to meet up with some friends we had when we lived in the area. We also had a surprise meeting with Judy's Brother, Lindsay, and Sister-in-Law Linda. They didn't know we were in Echuca and we didn't know that they were going to visit either.

Echuca is known for it's old port area and it's Paddle Steamers. This is PS Emmylou with PS Hero passing in the background.

PS Canberra tied to it's wharf.

PS Pevensey also travels the waters of The Murray.

Linda, Lindsay and Judy alongside the old Barge, Alison.

Walking through the Old Port Area of Echuca takes you back to another era. Coach Rides are available for Hire.

Cutting and Milling River Red Gums was an important industry back in history.

One of the old Iron Archways from The River Murray Bridge. Just outside the Echuca CBD.

Barmah Lakes, Barmah State Park, Victoria.

Called into Cobram for some minor supplies then went for a longer drive for a change. The camp areas become a little sparse along the river for a while therefore we are moving onto Barmah Lakes Camp Ground. I put the camp co-ordinates into the GPS and then we were treated to a wonderful scenic drive through gravel roads finally entering the State Park via the back gate, or so it seemed. We were travelling on 4wd tracks to reach the Camp Ground. This was no problem in the dry season we are now experiencing but it would have been impossible after heavy rain.

We got talking to a couple of our fellow campers in the Camp Ground, Graeme and Sandy,  after several hours of general conversation we discovered that we came from the same town, Drouin. I knew Graeme and his passion for Hot Rods at the time. This was about 50 years ago, we had not seen each other in all that intervening period. Another couple, Bob and Teddy pulled into camp and we had a great Happy Hour, or more!

It was vastly different here at Barmah Lakes, it was very quiet. No ski boats and no Corellas, bliss.

The Murray River at Barmah Lakes.

The smaller of the two main lakes in the State Park. The other, Moira Lake, is much larger.

There is even a small steam powered Paddle Boat moored in the river.

If you double click on this photograph, you will see that there are two Pelicans perched on the dead tree on the end of the island eyeing off the tourists in The Kingfisher sight seeing punt.

Gunbower, a house boat owned by Bill. Judy and I went aboard Gunbower and sat on the front deck and had a long chat with Bill. He was moored here to get away from power boats for Labour Day Weekend and Easter. He can't get past Torrumbarry Weir until there is more water in the river.

There are some great old and gnarled River Red Gums in the park.

Another River Red Gum.

Yet one more River Red Gum.

Green Bank, Murray River Reserve, Victoria.

From The Police Paddocks we moved along the great distance of 65 km, passing through Yarrawonga. We are not particularly interested in larger towns, preferring to stop at the small towns with some character and history. We weren't sure where we would end up camping. Our plan was to pull into each River Camp in turn until we found someplace satisfactory for the Victorian Labour Day weekend. The first Murray River Camp Ground was Green Bank, only 5 km west of Yarrawonga. This is a large area with a boat ramp, picnic facilities and toilets. There were loads of people and camps but we found what seemed an excellent camp site for the four days. We were able to walk into Yarrawonga along a river walk, this was a shorter distance than going by road. The exercise from the walk enabled me to have a Yarrawonga Bakery beef pie for lunch, that was my argument anyway.

Of course we had to contend with ski boats and Sea-Doos roaring up and down the river all weekend, but even worse than that, we had about 5000 Corellas camped with us. They are noisy, destructive individuals. They love nipping the new shoots off the river gums and dropping them on whatever is below. Our car and caravan was buried under all this Corella Trash and worse. A daily chore was to remove the Corella Shit off the car and caravan.

The Murray River bank here is quite high so we had a commanding view along the river.

Every type of water craft was on the river this weekend.

At 4:30 pm each afternoon it was drinking time for the Corellas. Fallen river gums made ideal perches for this afternoon routine. This was also my signal to open a stubby of beer.

Look out when something disturbs the flock. All the Corellas take-off en masse careening in all directions with their raucous screeching and droppings raining down on everything below them.

There are several River Gums defying gravity along the outside bend of the river that have been undermined by the current. Surely the River Gums will drop into the river soon!

Burrowye Reserve, Victoria

Having visited the township of Jinjellic in NSW many years ago and having fond memories of the place. We wanted to return and stay there again, camping on the Murray River behind The Jinjellic Pub. But, reports that we were hearing from other travellers was painting a gloomy picture, not what we were recalling from an earlier time. I think it took  me all of 17 seconds to see that 'Paradise' was ruined and continued driving to our back-up destination. The Jinjellic site that was once an open area is now contaminated with Picnic Shelters and entry tracks. The small open area that remains has Caravans and Motorhomes lined up as in a Caravan Park. NOT FOR ME. We then continued on to Burrowye Reserve, ah, this is the way it should be! A very large area with many camps but they are spread out, great views and camped directly on the river bank.

Looking downstream from our camp site.

We had a rain shower while camped here, the clouds rolled in over the distant hills.

The grazier on the opposite river bank pushed his cattle across the river for them to graze the Reserve Area on the day we were leaving.

Clarke Lagoon Reserve

This terrific camp area on the Upper Murray River was recommended to us by a fellow traveller and it was beautiful. The water here is crystal clear. Camping here we are blessed with the sounds of birds of many species but particularly the raucous cries of the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo that are here in great numbers. There are also cattle grazing in the Reserve to keep the under growth in control. What they don't eat they trample under foot. One must be careful to avoid the many "pats" they leave scattered around.

The magic view looking Upstream.

It is also a magic view looking Downstream.

There was a large fish of some type living around this clump of trees on the bank. The fish was continually jumping and didn't seem to travel very far from this spot.

A gnarled old branch on this Gum Tree.

This is Aquarius the water carrier. Collecting water to refill our Caravan Tanks.

It was a little bit of a hike to the Caravan. Took about eight buckets to top up the tanks. I pumped the water through a filter and it was fine for us to use. Tasted OK too.

Murray River, Sunraysia District Part 2

On leaving the Merbein Common we travelled all of 13 km to our next camp site at Buronga CP. Located on the NSW side of the Murray River and overlooking the Mildura Port Area. We were able to secure a riverside camp site at Buronga and had the magnificent view of The Murray and Mildura Port for four days. The weather turned out fairly good for us considering we are now into the Winter Season, cool nights with mostly clear sunny days. One of our fellow campers at Buronga had a Bocce set, one evening an impromptu tournament occurred on the grassy banks of The Murray behind our line of caravans.

Our Jayco caravan was required to undergo a 1000km service and we were very lucky to be able to have this done at Halls Jayco, Mildura. The service date was 8th June, the friday before the Queen's Birthday long weekend. Halls kindly stored our van in their maintenance yard for the duration of the long weekend and we made a quick dash down to Geelong to visit with family.

On our return and picking up the caravan we travelled on about 84km Robinvale CP. Yet again we were fortunate enough to secure a grassy riverside camp site with some friendly neighbours. The evenings were spent around a camp fire talking of our respective travels and experiences.

Due to the cooler weather and as we are Queenslanders with an intolerance to that type of temperature range, we have decided to abandon our Murray River excursion at this point and travel eastwards and northwards towards better temperatures. We fully intend to continue our Murray River odyssey at another time.

This was the view from our caravan site at Buronga CP. Moored at the Mildura wharf area is the PS Melbourne, the only steam powered paddle boat at Mildura.

We chose a perfect day to go on a cruise aboard the PS Melbourne. This is the wood fired boiler aboard the Melbourne, seems in pristine condition with fresh paint and polished brass gauges.

Situated above the boiler is the two cylinder steam engine that drives the paddle wheel shaft through this reduction gear set. The PS Melbourne along with this original boiler and steam engine will be celebrating it's 100 year anniversary come September this year, 2012.

Also moored at Mildura is the PS Coonawarra.

As is the PS Avoca.

Approaching Loch 11 at Mildura. Loch 11 is unique in that it is the only loch along the Murray River system that is accessed by a diversion channel. All the other lochs are situated alongside the weir and within the river banks.

The PS Melbourne is in Loch 11, the water level has dropped 2.5 metres and the exit gates are opening to allow us to travel down stream.

This is truly riverside camping. Our camp site at Robinvale CP with the Euston bridge in the background.

Our camp in the centre, a Tasmanian couple on the left and Michael and Sirpa from Mount Gambier on the right side. Michael and Sirpa had an Aussie Pig fireplace and along with John and Ellie from Queenscliffe, we spent two fantastic nights around the fire swapping yarns and helping the wine industry.

We had a regular visit from this fellow looking for a meal but unfortunately he doesn't like toast crusts too much.

Jude and I went for a 3km stroll into Euston and along the way we walked beside water that left is behind in the wetlands from the high water levels that came down the river earlier this year.

One of the very old River Red Gums still standing alongside the wetlands.

On our return walk from Euston, coming across the bridge we were presented this view of the Robinvale Caravan Park. Just beautiful!

Murray River, Sunraysia District Part 1

The distance from Renmark, the last town in South Australia's Riverland Area to Merbein, the first town in Victoria's Sunraysia District is 134 km. It only took about one and a half hours to switch camp sites, but we had to go into a different time zone and lost half an hour there too. We had been told of the Merbein Common early in our travels so this was to be our camp site of first choice.

A houseboat navigating the Murray River, here passing one of the 25 Merbein Common camp areas.

We had to wait a few days but we eventually got into a front row camp site at the Merbein Common. This was "our" view from the caravan and we were able to take this in for 9 days at zero cost. It is only 3km into Merbein Township to replenish fresh water and food supplies.

While camping at the Merbein Common we made a day excursion to Wentworth. This is the Darling River from the front of The Wentworth Club

The Darling River and the Wentworth Port area from the top of the bridge in the previous photograph. 

A model Paddle Steamer located at a Museum in Wentworth. A visit to this museum is a must-do for a visitor to Wentworth. All the models are built onsite in a work shop at the rear of the museum. The apprentice to the model builder is aged 80.

These three models are all of the same PS, Marion. Different owners made individual modifications to the vessel. The PS Marion actually began as a barge in it's early life until an early owner added a boiler and steam engine.

Wentworth is where the Darling River meets the Murray River. The Darling is in the foreground and the Murray beyond. It is not evident in this photograph but the waters of the two rivers are very different in colour, the Darling carries a yellow pigment while the Murray is more of a brown colour.

Fergie Park is a tribute to the little tractor that made the installation of the irrigation system in the Sunraysia Area possible.

Located at Loch 10, Wentworth, is this diagram of the vast Murray-Darling River Basin and it's associated water storages. This diagram does not show that a large part of the Darling flow originates in Queensland.

There once was a 'Hermit' nick-named Possum who lived along the Murray and Darling Rivers. This bronze statue is in recognition of Possum's life in the area and is located at Fotherby Park, Wentworth. Possum rarely visited towns but lived his life in isolation. Apparently he was never idle but was continually helping out the farmers of the area with free unrequested labour. Repairing fences and the like. In return for this assistance the farmers left out parcels of flour, tea, sugar and clothes etc. to help Possum survive in his self imposed exile.