One of the good things about driving all day is that you sleep well at night. I had wondered how my body would cope with all the driving but it has been better than expected so far.
After breakfast, we drove along the main street of Mildura and came across this building. It's a former Methodist church that was built in 1912 and sold to a private owner in the 70's. I can't find more info on the web.
We then drove to a park on the Murray River.
Wharf. Note the man at the left.
It's a beautiful peaceful location.
The bloke turned out to be a fisherman and he had just hooked a large carp. He fought it for a few minutes but the fish was so heavy that it exceeded the weight limit on his line and escaped. In typical fisherman fashion, the fish had already grown to 2' 6" but my estimate was about 1' 6". It was fun to watch the battle.
We then drove to nearby Wentworth where the Darling River flows into the Murray. In this photo, the Darling is in the foreground. If tributaries are included, the Darling is Australia's longest river and extends well up into Queensland. It's in poor health since so much water is extracted for irrigation.
The rain in outback Queensland during the past twelve months has improved things. This video shows the excitement of people living in a small town just North of Midura as water started to flow in the river.
There are weirs and locks along the Murray to aid shipping along the river. In the distance is lock #10.
It's a lovely spot and I'm glad we visited. Another tick on the bucket list.
Marianne had discovered that the Perry Sandhills were close by so we decided to visit. Initially, we were a bit underwhelmed.
However, I climbed to the top and Marianne soon followed.
On top of the dunes.
From the top of the hill, the view was tremendous.
Don't mess with this bush,
There was a large rain puddle by the parking area and for some reason or other, there were three small melons.
To get to Wentworth we had to cross back into New South Wales. We then needed to cross back to Victoria over the Murray to continue to Adelaide.
It's a single-lane bridge.
The Murray snakes along close to the road to Adelaide so there are several crossings.
We had crossed the border into South Australia and decided to have lunch at the tiny town of Blanchetown. Bringing fruit into South Australia is illegal so all cars and trucks are checked at the entry point. Our back seat was searched as well as the boot / trunk. We had dumped some mandarins the day before.
Weir #1 at Blanchetown. We managed to find a place that sold meat pies and while we were eating them, we started talking to the lady who served us and her teenage daughter. I asked what it was like living there and the daughter piped up immediately with 'boring'!
We continued on to the Barossa Valley where we bought some wine at this winery. I've been there several times and know the wine is good. It's not available where we live so I decided to carry some back to Hervey Bay.
The winery is very picturesque.
Just before arriving in Adelaide, we stopped to view the Kangaroo Creek Reservoir. I've visited the dam for over twenty years and it's always looked like it could use a lot more water. It's part of the water supply for Adelaide so it looks like the good people of Adelaide will be drinking their own urine soon. I suppose they are used to it.
It was a wonderful five days traveling from Hervey Bay to Adelaide and we are so glad we took a more indirect route as a change from the shorter route via Broken Hill. However, it's wonderful not having to get in the car today and just spend time visiting my sister,
No comments:
Post a Comment