5/4/2018.
Thursday. R & R were awake by
6:15am having slept heavily. As they had
planned all sorts of business down town, they filled in time for a while. RA registered for DOT direct so that she
would be able to pay the Camry rego when it was due and RL read. They showered and RA put up another
post. She was more than a little
disappointed that the pictures have a way of shifting and she did not know what
to do about it. Anyway, that nearly made
them late. RL drove out of the caravan
park at 9:45am with check out being 10:00am.
They popped into the information centre, filled a gas bottle, bought tap
fittings at Mitre 10 and got some cash out at the ATM. RL went to the railway station with the
intention of filling one of the water tanks but someone had the tap busy so
they walked round the op shops.
Surprisingly, they went to five and bought nothing! Finally, they were able to fill up as they
watched a long interstate train pull through Murray Bridge heading east. R & R headed for the river front park
about 12:30pm for lunch to fortify them for the task ahead. B, the financial planner needed a form signed
but having no printer they hoped that the staff at the library might help. The lady who attended them was extremely
helpful and they ended up with the task completed, signing in as a guest user,
printing, signing the paper and scanning it for forwarding to B; all done in
under half an hour and costing only 20 cents. They walked along the river
foreshore spotting white swans, a white breasted cormorant and a yellow beaked
minor before heading north for Mannum (31kms away) at 2:20pm. Here there is wheat and sheep farming with
some dairies and piggeries and irrigation on undulating countryside which
becomes hillier. RL diverted a couple of
kilometres towards the river to a settlement called Calcote which is a small
community of people loving living on the edge of the river. The earth along the
river is an orange coloured sand. He
followed the signs to Mannum Falls but they only had a coffee there as some
tourists had told them that there was no water.
R & R were in Mannum not long after, at school out time. RL was
lucky enough to pick up 3 western books for 50c each on the way to the
information bureau which was a real buzz.
Mannum is a lovely town with its main street, Randell Tce, running right
along the river on one side and built up into the hillside on the other. R & R set their sights on sleeping at Walker
Flat and let the Navigator do its job.
The drive north out of Mannum is picturesque with the river, reeds,
birds and big river gums lining the road.
It is easy to see why people might want to live here. After about 10kms the road rises steeply up
onto the hill or cliff top above the river and then veers away presenting a
view of mallee and limestone fenced but looking more like a native vegetation
reserve. Once again it opens up into
wheat and sheep farming before heading back down to the river flats below. R & R arrived at Walker Flat reserve (a
free camp with flushing loo) about 5:00pm but were keen to take some photos of
the cliffs (before dark) they had seen on the way. With light fading they
abandoned all, got on their bikes, armed with cameras, and rode back. By 6:00pm, they had set up and were thinking
about dinner. After another busy day RA
was just grateful to stop and … read or write for a while.
6/4/2018. Friday. R & R were awake and out by
6:00am but they sat around looking at maps and did not think seriously about
packing down until 8:40am. About half an
hour later, they crossed over the Murray on the ferry to the eastern side, up
and round, onto the ridge and out into farming land again for the 30km drive to
Swan Reach. They stopped and took
photos, messaged everyone a bulk email to say they were fine and had coffee at
Len Kroehn’s Lookout. At 9:40am, RL was
driving through the little town of Nildottie which has a general store and some
vineyards. If you ignore the fact that
you are spitting distance from the river and water, generally, the scenery
could be described as barren, desolate and remote. Big Bend Lookout is about six kilometres from
Nildottie and this lookout is half way between the two settlements of Nildottie
and Big Bend. From the lookout, the
cliffs clearly show the shape of a horse shoe where the height of the cliffs is
56.2m above the water level, the highest cliffs on the entire length of the
Murray. Here R & R chatted with a guy who does aerial photography with a
drone and he knew a lot about the river and its peoples and was working on a
project with local indigenous group. He told a most amazing story about the
year of the 1956 flood. RA had commented
on how dry everything is so close to the river and he agreed that between Swan
Reach and Loxton, about 90kms, it was dry mallee country and not very
interesting. He spoke of a cave locally
which could be walked into for about 200m but after that you had to crawl; and
he believed you could crawl to Loxton!
In the year of the 1956 flood, water came rushing out of that cave’s
mouth three weeks before it actually came down the river. Believe it, or not! At Len White Reserve in Swan Reach, R & R
stopped for a walk and coffee and watched for silver splashes from small fish
flipping to the surface of the water after insects and for larger darker
patched where the slower bigger fish broke the surface in search of a
catch. It was very pleasant. Shortly after 11:00am, they were on the ferry
(Water Hen 870-004) before heading west to Sedan, 30kms inland, in search of
the German influence in the area. The
Stott Hwy is straight and RL commented on the fact that some things are the
same everywhere. Burn outs! Early on this road there was a conservation
park where the mallee country was dense, but RA was right. Further out, this certainly had that look of
mallee country with no mallee and most unproductive. R & R saw a sign which boasted dry stone
wall country but they saw none. They
took some photos of old buildings but the place where they saw the greatest
German influence was the cemetery.
Interestingly, this cemetery had nearly as many baby and child graves as
adults from those pioneering days where the years 1920 and 1922 popped up as
though a disease had spread. Then RL
drove north with a range running to the west, where they saw a large enterprise
called the Fodder Shop which indicated that some patches might be productive,
then east on Sturt Hwy towards Blanchetown.
Here they saw another monument to Goyder and his line about productive
farming. It was very busy with a lot of trucks going both ways and a smoke haze
on quite a warm day. R & R had been
looking forward to looking at Lock 1 at Blanchetown but it was a little
underwhelming. Unluckily, there was no
boat in the lock so they could not see it at work. They had lunch and were lucky enough to see
the Model T Club with its vintage cars picnicking on their annual drive to
Waikerie. R & R climbed up the cliff
face to look out over the river and port by walking on the old highway
bridge. By 2:30pm, they were back on the
Sturt Hwy a few minutes before turning north to Morgan 35kms away. Again the
countryside looked desolate in places with few profitable ventures in between
as they drove on the top of the ridge with the river rarely visible on the
passenger side below. There are several
flats: Sinclair, Woods and Irwin and several smaller communities: Murbko, Kanyaka
and Pelican Point. Ventures that looked
like they were doing okay included an equestrian centre, poultry farm, oranges
and vineyards, and marinas. It is
strange that there can be a live healthy vineyard right next door to one that
is dead and abandoned in this yellow sand country. Driving into Morgan, the road goes right
through the middle of a picturesque lagoon.
Morgan is a lovely, very neat town.
Unfortunately the museum was not open but they were able to watch
someone working on the restoration of the PS Canally close to the massive wood
structure of the wharf built into the hillside.
On the waterfront there is a great children’s playground with a mock PS
Morgan for children to pretend they are steering a paddle steamer. The
Navigator directed them back to the ferry (Coot 870-005), across the river
headed for Cadell (10kms) to sleep for the night. The free camp on the river was no longer free
so they opted for the one at the show grounds which included a shower in its
fee of $20. Along the way two small grey wallabies jumped across the road in
front of them. R & R set up camp,
looked at the maps and church times to create a vague plan for the next couple
of days and had a welcome shower as the day had become quite warm. They rang
their boys, J and S, but both were busy and after dinner they rang their
daughter, S, and chatted quite a while.
Overall, it was a weird kind of a day … nothing looked quite like R
& R had expected … even though they didn’t really know what they were
expecting.
7/4/2018. Saturday. R & R were awake and out of bed at a cool 8*C with mist resting over the oval and nearby flats so they read for a while. RA started that “Left for Dead” book that RL had finished and promised not to spoil for her. About 8:30am, they gave each other a haircut. RA gave her husband a #5 and tidied with scissors and comb after which he gave her a #10 after which they both showered to get rid of any fine hairs that could irritate. R & R left for Waikerie (28kms east) about an hour later on the Cadell Valley Rd which runs south of the river. Along this road, in between the wheat and not so good sections, there are many very healthy vines and orange groves with big names like Caudo Wines and Oxford Landing which is a massive orange plant. Lining the roads the natural trees like gums, willows and conifers grow large. Five kilometres before Waikerie is Ramco which looks out over the river and lagoons. Waikerie is a very big centre. R & R parked near Nippy’s (which was not open for door sales on a Saturday morning) at the back of the information centre. The guy there was very helpful sending them on their way with a map. They walked round popping into op shops where RA found a lovely pair of thongs for $2; conveniently, because she had broken hers only that morning putting the tent down. They bought some fruit! They took a look out over the river from the cliff top. Just before noon R & R went down to the ferry and foreshore to have lunch and investigate the cost of a river boat tour. At 1:30pm, they headed east again on Sturt Hwy for Barmera which is about 50kms away. Along the way, they saw a gliding club, potato under irrigation right next door to dry seeded and rolled wheat and several large to very big vineyards including Thompson, Banrock, Conundrum and Kingston. By 2:00pm the information centre in Barmera was closed. It was 29*C and quite warm looking down the barrel of the next few days nearing the forties. Barmera actually means lake. It is on the shores of a very large freshwater lake called Lake Bonney where they eventually found the North Lake free camping area with flushing toilet by following Queen Elizabeth Drive which skirts the lake. By 3:00pm, R & R had set up, had coffee and were reading. RA decided that freshwater in which people were skiing would be fine for a swim so they both braced themselves for a dip. She could not remember when they last did that. They rang their daughter, H, and their son, S, before going for a walk to check out their surroundings before cooking dinner. S, rang back to tell them all about hitting the kangaroo on the way back to Perth the night before. RA felt a little more settled than she did the night before … maybe having no expectations means that you can’t be disappointed.
8/4/2018 Sunday. R & R woke at 7:00am to a warm
morning of 15*C with a promise of the temperature rising about 4* every hour
until it reached 36*C. Because she had
run out of data on the phone and maybe also on the dongle, RA did some notes
about working within your blog and RL read. J, their son, rang about 9:00am so
they chatted while he was driving to work.
About 10:00am, they headed back into Barmera and popped into the
information centre, which was open, to enquire about the Rocky Hall of Fame
opening times. Monday morning and $2
which instantly put it on the agenda!
They attended 11:00am Mass and set off for Loxton where they were hoping
to look at the Pines, an old home and open gardens, at 2:00pm. That meant driving through Glossop and then
Berri (which means bend in the river).
It was a winding road and quite hilly with lots of what they had
previously seen in the area: the river,
lakes and lagoons, vineyards, orange groves, nuts, potatoes and wheat
farming. Berri Estates is a really big
concern and is actually at Glossop though Glossop virtually runs into
Berri. At Berri they stopped and had
coffee on the foreshore before walking round into the only shop that was open,
a camping shop. RL is capable of
spending ages in one of these. At 12:40pm, they headed south over a bridge that
was arched in formation so you rose up and over and down rather than just
driving on the flat. It was quite
strange. This whole loop down to Loxton and back is around the river and a
series of low lying swamps, lakes and rivers and again the same farming
enterprises existed. R & R stopped
at the Loxton foreshore for lunch shortly after 1:00pm before heading for the
Pines. They had agreed that all they
were prepared to pay was $5 each but entry was $8 per adult so they just didn’t
go in. As RL drove out of town RA
noticed some wood cravings in trees and they enjoyed picking the best to
photograph. They continued on the loop
curving north where they stopped at Moorook (bend in the river) to sit under
the shade, have coffee and chat with S on her birthday while watching someone
learning to ski. Moorook appeared to be
the best all round free camping area they had seen, with toilet, grassed areas,
shade and safe swimming area. It was a delightful
break in the heat of the day when a warm southerly breeze had been blowing
powdery dry red sand from the patches of earth that no longer had
covering. R & R popped in and out of
Cobdogla (means land of plenty) which has a steam engine museum that they were
not interested in before refueling at Barmera and heading to the camper.
Napper’s ruins and bridge are just a few metres beyond the campsite so they
looked at them while they were in the car. It was much more pleasant on the
lake’s edge and after a little read, they had a swim, another read and a walk
before dinner. The breeze had made the
water wavy and it slapped incessantly on the little sandy edge just metres from
the camper door. After dinner they sat
and watched the stars over the lake looking south at the lights of Barmera on
the opposite edge. RL commented on the
fact that he and his father, B, frequently saw shooting stars on their way back
from the dairy and he hadn’t seen one for years … then he saw one … then they
both saw another.
9/4/2018. Monday. R & R woke at 6:30am and made sure they were ready and in town, leaving the camper behind, to be at the Rocky Hall of Fame at 8:30am when it opened. The lady, who was minding the display, had lots of knowledge about and was familiar with the characters in the Australian country music industry, personally knew Rocky Page. Apparently, he ran a music school in Barmera after a long career in the industry, including on the road touring with travelling shows and working in a radio station and died at the age of 70 from motor neurons disease in 1999. Outside, they have created a guitar on the ground around which there are handprints and a plaque indicating whose handprint it is. These include all the big and not so big, and old and new, names in country music. The display is immaculately presented and won’t break the bank ($2 per person at Rocky’s request). They will be holding their 40th SA Country Music Awards there this June. After a quick look through the op shops, R & R headed to Waikerie just before 10:00am, had a quick look through their op shops before boarding the MV Burrungal for a 2 ½ hour river cruise. Naturally they took heaps of photos.
Some of the things RA learnt on the river cruise
include: As a general rule of thumb:
height of cliffs = depth of river. Swallows
and pigeons live in the holes (river side apartments) just above water level in
the cliff face. Everyone knows about the
1956 flood, but there was a bigger one in the 1870s recorded by Europeans and
also evidence before white man’s recording of flooding of an even larger one. Originally the town dump was on a ledge above
the cliff wall. You can see an old car body there. There is a secret waterfall that runs 24/7 that not
even many locals have seen or know about.
The name Waikerie means many wings from the emergence of the rain moth. One of the trees shows where a canoe has been
cut out. River red gums have a life span
of about 1000 years. They start to age
after 500years old and degenerate rapidly after 750 years. Calcification can be seen on the cliffs face
and was caused by weeping from early forms of irrigation. Now drip irrigation does not cause the same
damage. Holder Bend was a township
before the 1956 flood. Residents were relocated because it was no longer deemed
a safe place. Even the headstones from
the cemetery were moved; maybe 7 bodies still remain. Now it is a free camp
area. Reeds are an introduced plant that
can be seen in conservation areas, but not on the side that’s farmed since the
cows love to eat it. As the crow flies
in miles or kilometres it will be approximately three times for a river because
of its winding nature. Waikerie is 388 kilometres from the mouth of the Murray. Whistling kites are the most common form of
birds of prey along the Murray. Burrungal
is the name of the cruise boat they were on and it is the upper Murray
aboriginal word for pelican. This boat uses10 litres diesel an hour running the
generator as well (5 without), has a 26 inch propeller, is 4 cylinder and has
only 700mm of boat under water line (draft).
R & R so enjoyed the cruise, the tour guide and
the whole atmosphere of it all. Fortunately, they had a two for one voucher
from a local brochure which meant that they both got on for $40. Shortly after
2:00pm, they were having lunch before picking up some credit for the dongle and
heading back to Barmera. R & R found
the camper as they left it but the lake and foreshore had been invaded by a
group of kids on a canoe camp excursion. They certainly sounded like they were
enjoying themselves. It had been another scorcher for this time of the year,
37*C, so R & R had a really big swim to exercise in the heat before reading
a while, going for a walk and having dinner. After dinner RL was on the
computer with his photos and doing some surfing while RA wrote her diary. Again, they sat in the cool on the steps of
the camper in the dark to appreciate the night sky … and saw another shooting
star.
10/4/2018.
Tuesday. R & R woke about
6:30am and it was already 21*C with a promise of 38*C. They chatted for quite a while, before
leaving, with a guy who was a photography enthusiast, allowing him to show them
first his cameras and then all his tools.
The Hum picked the best line and the Ute dragged the camper through the
sandy patches and away from Lake Bonney.
They had really enjoyed their stay by the lake but it was time to move
on. By 8:30am, R & R were on the
road to Berri 12kms away as they felt they had only brushed over it on
Sunday. They did find a few treasures
like public art under the bridge and a monument to Jimmy James, an indigenous
tracker. They climbed the water tower lookout which, for RA was a highlight and
she would have regarded it her treat for the day. But more was in store. They headed for Renmark which means red mud at
10:40am. Only 18kms away, R & R
dumped the camper at Plush’s Bend free camping area and headed back a couple of
kilometres back to town. It was a scorcher
of a day reading 41*C as they walked a little down town and along the foreshore
before heading for Renmark’s famous fruit shop and then the Big W centre. Renmark is a really big centre supplying the
area. Already after 1:30pm, they sat
under a tree and ate lunch. On the off
chance that it might be working that day, RL drove to Bert Dix Park on the
eastern side of the Paringa (meaning big bend in the river) Bridge shortly
after 2:00pm. They were rewarded for,
right on cue, the lift-span bridge was raised to allow houseboats to move
through. Built in 1927, it is an
engineering masterpiece as are the locks by which RA was so underwhelmed at
Blanchetown. There are several on this
section of the Murray and they thought they should drive the next two
kilometres to see if all locks looked the same.
Sure enough, they do. However, as
R & R arrived the operator was excitedly preparing for the arrival of a
tiny craft, with his boss and some Federal Ministers to move through from up
stream. He entertained R & R for
about an hour talking about locks, his work and demonstrating the opening and
closing of the gates and the management of the water levels. R & R counted themselves really lucky to
have been there at that time. They
returned to the camper, still packed down, at 4:20pm and moved it about one
kilometre to be closer to the toilet block and the boat ramp which was a good
move as it turned out. All along the
river here, there are signs warning of the danger of swimming because of ‘holes’.
With RA literally going into melt down in the heat, they just stood near the
boat ramp and poured buckets of icy cold water over each other. It was a life saver! Within the hour, they were back into town to
see the possum parade which happens every evening on the foreshore at
dusk. R & R were early and waited
and watched for the first signs of movement on the branches of the trees or the
palm fronds. Sure enough, down the
possums came and were not at all intimidated by flash or even being touched. By
this time it was late so they headed back to the camper for dinner. Still 35*C, they sat quietly together for ages on the concrete
boat ramp contemplating the day … not for a moment had RA believed that she
would see possums … up so close and so fearless.
11/4/2018.
Wednesday. It was down to 15*C
when R & R woke at 6:30am which was quite pleasant. They read and did diary because RA had been
too tired last night. RL crushed some
nuts for breakfast and after breakfast they put another blog up so that it
would not get too far behind. It was
9:30am by the time R & R packed up and headed for Murtho Forrest Lookout
which is about 10kms north of Paringa.
It was a great view from the top and they were able to view, the way
there is a mouth between the river and many of the littler lakes and lagoons,
from this vantage point. On their way
back out of Paringa, they stopped off to look at the black stump (one of 11),
which isn’t black but is one of the largest stump/root systems known. More interestingly, the story of how it was
brought there by the “chook man” made for good reading. R & R were keen to see Yamba which is
just before the border but the fruit fly inspection point loomed large and they
were not prepared to sacrifice any fruit just to be able to photograph a Yamba
or Border sign. RL turned south on the
Stanitzke Rd 38kms towards Loxton which follows the Murray River more or less
closely to the west of the road. They observed
white patches near the edge of the river and guessed it to be salt rather than
sand. They also noted that in some
places it appeared that the very popular, poplar trees were being killed off and
thought that this may well have been because they are so greedy for water. AlmondCo has its hulling and shelling
facility along this road and the piles of shell look most like tailings at a
mine site. Surrounding this is a huge
almond orchard. R & R arrived in Loxton during the lunch hour and walked
around and popped into the op shops that were not open on Sunday. Loxton is a very neat centre supplying the
surrounding area and is about the same size as Berri but smaller than Renmark. Loxton and Waikerie share a council so
everything is marked LW Council. In the
37*C heat, with a strong wind blowing, they ate lunch on the Loxton foreshore
before saying goodbye to the Murray by having a swim. It was a really good idea as it kept them
cool for the rest of the afternoon.
South of Loxton there was one very large and attractive apple orchard
before returning to wheat farming. The
flat country side became undulating with the height of the orange sand ridges
averaging about 3m. Westbrook Feedlots looked like a profitable enterprise
north of Paruna, where they pulled off, but little remains of this tiny
community. Further south there were many
areas where irrigation from underground water (not from the Murray) supported
the growing of potatoes and pistachio nuts.
They saw a sign for Miolto Group which is a name that had already popped
up somewhere else. Here the wind blew
big balls of tumbling weed ahead of it until they came to rest at the bottom of
trees or a fence line. At 3:15pm in
Pinnaroo, R & R were too late to gain information at the tourist centre or
to see the display about printing of newspapers. Pinnaro is quite a big town with the most
successful businesses being big machinery sales and mechanical servicing. Continuing south to Bordertown, the drive
along Nagart Rd could be broadly divided into three almost equal sections where
the middle third consists of the Nagart Conservation Park on both sides of the
road. Here the sand is quite white with dense vegetation at a height of 140
feet above sea level. Interestingly, the Navigator indicated a square chunk of
cleared land called Kirra, which may well have been farmed, in the middle of
the park just next to the SA/VIC border. The other two sections north and south
of the park are generally wheat farming with again the use of irrigation for
feed, potatoes and nuts. There were
quite a few big stations in the area. The
clouds had been darkening, building and looked ominous but R & R got
nothing more than a couple of drops on the windscreen. RL turned left onto Dukes Hwy for the last
10kms into Bordertown. It was 5:00pm as
R & R set the camper up next to a lovely recreation lake. A popular gathering spot for locals, it has
walking paths around it, specific areas and a jetty for fishing and picnic
facilities. It was a lovely spot but so
hot they sat outside to eat dinner.
Unfortunately, it was just below the highway with the railway running
parallel which made it over bright and noisy.
That combined with the heat … all counted for a near sleepless night.
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