21st September 2014
We have been waiting for some time to do the River trip and at last we are ready to go as I am now feeling much better thanks to my Rheumatologist. The van is packed and the weather good, so we headed first to Mannum to see our grandchildren there, before taking the ferry across the River Murray. We noted that the river is referred to as the River Murray in South Australia, but once across the border it is called the Murray River, just one of those differences between the States, and there are quite a few that we have noticed on our travels.
This trip we want to visit some of the small towns that we have driven through but not stopped in on previous holidays.
The roadside was looking very colourful with beautiful golden wattles in flower, and scattered also with Native Pines. As we continued on to Karoonda the roadside vegetation changed to Mallee. We had lunch at Karoonda and had a look around the small town, but as it was a Sunday there wasn't much open, but we did get some home made apricot jam at the local Community Craft Shop. Karoonda is another small town that we haven't spent much time in but we did go to the Karoonda Farm Day some years ago.
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| The Big Ram at Karoonda |
From Karoonda we went through Lameroo to Pinnaroo and got ULP fuel there $142.9 cpl. We thought we might stay at the roadside stop at Pinnaroo but when we arrived at the area that was indicated in our Camps book, it didn't look as good as we thought so we continued on to Murrayville and found the Community caravan park at $10 per night and the sites were grassy and a good amenities block, although we usually use our own ensuite. By the time I had poured our first drink, several more vans and camper trailers had come into the park so it soon was quite full as it is only a small park. Murrayville is another of the towns we have not stayed in but just drove through.
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| Murrayville Caravan Park |
After the first day travelling you start to realise just what you have left at home and I discovered that we have left the Internet Modem back home so when we get to a larger town we will have to purchase a monthly package of some sort.
Ron went for a walk into the township of Murrayville while I did a short walk around the park and then prepared our tea.
The end of our first day and we are feeling very relaxed and are looking forward to a good sleep.
Day 2
22nd September 2014
We left Murrayville after a good night's sleep as the park was very quiet, and we headed to Walpeup, another small town not far from Murrayville. We had a look at the Caravan Park there which is another Community park and would have been another option for an overnight stay but I think the Murrayville park was the best choice for us. From Walpeup we drove to Ouyen for fuel ULP $150.5 cpl.
The weather is nice and sunny today and a bit warmer too. We continued on and stopped at Nyah, over the border in Victoria. We have never stopped at Nyah before so we are already spending some time in the little towns. Nyah is situated on the Murray River and had some lovely camping areas there. We stopped along the river to have some lunch but unfortunately the level of the river has been dropping and resulted in an unpleasant stench because of the mud left on the banks. We then found the park area behind the Harness Club where we could see a few vans already there, so after a drive around we decided to stay as it was lovely with grassy areas and eucalypts, but enough area clear between the trees to make it safe from falling branches.
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| Nyah campsite near the Harness Club |
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| Eastern Rosella parrots |
Day 3
23rd September 2014
We left Nyah and drove to Swan Hill, stopped at the Info Centre to find out about caravan parks here and also where the Optus shop was. Luckily it was not too much of a walk and we finally got things sorted for our internet but had a bit of trouble getting the SD card to fit into the Samsung Tablet, but eventually the sales person managed to get a special little tool to encourage it into the slot. The joys of technology!! We decided to look at the caravan park at Pental Island which is about 5 km out of Swan Hill. Ron had remembered hearing about this park when we were last in Swan Hill. It was a great little park on a working farm, was very well set up and maintained. We had the choice of sites and decided on one at the back of the park. All the sites were grassed. We went for a walk down to the river which was accessible through a gate about 100 metres from our site.
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| Pental Island Caravan Park |
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| Shearing Shed at Pental Island |
As it was on private property some of the areas were out of bounds, but the river area was open and we were able to walk to the old shearing shed but weren't able to go inside.
We drove back into Swan Hill and had afternoon tea at Spoons Café on the riverfront. Took a few photos, some of the Paddlesteamer Gem, which we remembered from our trip when the kids were little when we had dinner on it and I had Wichety Grub soup - oh the memories.
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| PS Gem at Swan Hill |
Day 4
Wednesday 24th September 2014
After leaving Pental Island caravan park we headed off again, looking around Lake Boga then on to Kerang for fuel ULP $155.9 cpl.
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| Kerang |
Had a look around Kerang then drove on to Koondrook and Barham. The caravan parks at Barham were pretty busy so we went back to Koondrook to a little park there. Koondrook is another little town that we have not been to before. It had been raining on and off most of the day and after getting organised in the caravan park we decided to have a walk around the town and river area as the rain had eased off. Along the banks of the river were carvings of local identities and wildlife done with a chainsaw and were very interesting. Further along we came to the Sawmill which had a long and interesting history. It had been owned by the Arbuthnot family since 1889 and Ron did the tour of the sawmill.
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| Arbuthnott Saw Mills |
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| Redgum logs at the Arbuthnot Saw Mills |
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| Ron at the Sawmill |
Day 5
25th September2014
The weather has cleared this morning and we left Koondrook after a good stay there. The town has some very interesting history and I think it is probably overlooked by some tourists as it is so close to Barmah which has a few Clubs with Pokies etc. but we don't look for those places when we are on holiday as you can always go to clubs and pubs in the city. From Koondrook we drove to Cohuna, bought some fruit & veg. and had a look around the town which has a very attractive riverfront area, then on to Torrumbarry Weir.
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| Koondrook Goods shed near the old railway line |
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| Torrumbarry Weir |
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| Torrumbarry Weir |
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| An interesting mailbox near Torrumbarry Weir |
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| Horse & Cart ride in Echuca |
We found a Pizzeria at the old Star Hotel and sat outside in the sunshine, then had a walk around the wharf area. Echuca is one of our favourite river towns where we have spent holidays in the past so we decided to keep driving and then found a good camping area at McCoys Bridge.
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| McCoys Bridge |
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| McCoys Bridge camping area |
Day 6
Friday 26th September 2014
We left McCoys Bridge around 10 am and headed to Cobram for ULP $147.9 cpl. We stopped for morning tea in a rest area about 22 km out of Cobram but as it had been raining here overnight we didn't walk very far and decided to go to Yarrawonga, another town we haven't been to before. The scenery around here was fruit trees, grape vines and some wheat crops, very pretty scenery. Yarrawonga and Mulwala are across the river from each other and after we had a drive around we decided to stay in the caravan park at Mulwala which is on the lake.
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| Lake Mulwala |
Day 7
Saturday 27th September 2014
We did a day trip to Rutherglen and Chiltern. Rutherglen is a wine region and a lovely old town to wander around. Chiltern is another old town with many heritage buildings. We had lunch at the Bakery and walked around looking at the old shops and antiques and managed to find a few bits and pieces to add to Ron's blacksmith shed. I even found a metal basket which was originally used for picking grapes & I think I will find a use for it in my garden as a planter for some petunias.
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| Rutherglen |
The weather was lovely and sunny and by the time we got back to the caravan park we were ready for a drink & a rest before going out to tea at the Services Club in Yarrawonga.
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| Yarrawonga Services Club |
Sunday 28th Septembeer 2014
Before leaving Mulwala and Yarrawonga, we went to the foreshore markets. We thought we would get some cheese from the local area but didn't expect to pay around $45/kg but I suppose that is because it was from a boutique cheesemaker, and then I couldn't say no to the strawberries, organic and very special too at $8 a punnet when we realised we had been short changed but too late to go back! Its very easy to get carried away at the markets, everything looks so fresh and appetising.
Back on the road we headed for Tocumwal where we had been told by a neighbour at the Mulwala CP that there was a good camping area on the river. We found the Town Beach camping area and it was lovely, but there were quite a few campers along the river bank. We drove along to the end and decided we could fit in without squeezing in too close to the others. Ron set up our "choofer" and then we went looking for some firewood which we managed to find without too much effort, so I then prepared a beef dinner to cook in the camp oven. During the afternoon the wind came up and some of the campers on the river bank had sand blowing into their vans, but we were lucky as we were on the grass away from the sandy river bank.
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| Town Beach, Tocumwal - our van is at the far end |
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| Checking dinner |
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| What is this? |
Monday 29th September 2014
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| Tocumwal Rocks blowhole |
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| Blowhole at Tocumwal |
There are 2 caravan parks in Corowa and we booked into one for the night but it was a park full of "annuals" and we were put on a site between them which wasn't much of a site and were disappointed to find that they had really nice sites by the river. It has happened a few times that if we only book for 1 night we get the worst site.
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| View from our van!! |
I don't understand why this happens, don't they realise that we might wish to come back or even stay longer if we thought the site was well located, especially when there are good sites that are vacant and in off-peak. Anyway, enough whingeing, we will in future see if we can check the site before paying and unhooking.
Day 10
Tuesday 30th September 2014
Left Corowa and headed to Howlong to find a dump point but had no luck so headed to the Hume Dam and stopped there for lunch. It was a lovely drive around Lake Hume and we looked at a little camping spot at Huon but decided to continue on in the hope of finding another spot but that wasn't to be so we continued on to Corryong.
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| Hume Dam |
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| Hume Lake |
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| Hume Lake |
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| Colac Colac Caravan Park |
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| Colac Colac CP |
We decided to stay at a caravan park at Colac Colac just out of Corryong, and before we could ask to look at the site the owner Phil offered to show us some sites for us to choose, so we were more than happy with that. It was a lovely park, very spacious with large trees throughout and lots of parrots. The weather has been good so far but after we got organised for a bbq tea, the wind came up and then the rain, but we managed to cook outside and eat inside.
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| Colac Colac CP |
Day 11
Wednesday 1st October 2014
We left the van at the Colac Colac CP and drove to Kankhoban to see the Murray 1 Power Station. On the way we stopped at Scammels Spur Lookout, beautiful views and then continued on to Geehi. Took more photos here of the Geehi hut, kangaroos and parrots. Drove back down to the Murray1 Power Station and had a coffee at the Visitor Centre and went through to the Theatrette to watch a video of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. The weather was perfect for viewing the snow capped mountains, sunny and warm and no wind.
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| Scammells Spur Lookout |
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| Scammells Spur Lookout Named after an Upper Murray pioneer family who once ran cattle in the area, Scammell's Lookout has a large platform area with a picture board which indicates the names and locations of the Snowy Mountain peaks in view. The highest peak seen from this vantage point is Mt. Townsend. |
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| Geehi Hut |
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| Tyrrells Hut at Geehi |
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| Geehi Hut |
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| Kangaroo & Joey at Geehi |
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| View of Snowy Mtns from Geehi |
Day 12
Thursday 2nd October 2014
We left the van back at the caravan park and headed to Bluff Falls via Cudgewa North Road then onto Bluff Falls Road. This was a lovely drive and once we got to the parking area it was just a short walk to view the falls. There was a longer, steeper walk up to the falls but we were happy to see them from the base.  |
| Bluff Falls |
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| Tintaldra General Store |
From Bluff Falls we drove back down and had a look at several camping areas as we may be back this way again, and then on to Tintaldra.
We had a look through the old General Store where Betty, the owner, was more than happy to show us all the old ledgers and other memorabilia from the past. We then had a wander around the old Bakery which was also on the property and then Betty and her daughter served us a very delicious Devonshire tea which we enjoyed sitting in her garden with beautiful views of the valley and the river. Betty had so many interesting stories to tell of her life and every now and again she would recite one of her poems as she told us about the history of Tintaldra. I think she would be a candidate as one of Australia's National Treasures. I hope we will get back to see Tintaldra again before too long.
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| The Old Bakery at Tintaldra |
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| Devonshire Tea |
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| Cattle grazing on way up to Emberys |
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| View on way to Emberys Lookout |
After a long, and at times rough, drive to the top through some lovely grazing properties and nearer the top some heavily timbered areas, we arrived at the parking area which had tables and bench seat and bbq hotplate. We had brought a picnic lunch so we made use of the table.
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| Panoramic view from Emberys Lookout |
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| Emberys Lookout |
We set off up the hill on a fairly rough walking track and ended up climbing over rocks and finally we got to the lookout area and what an amazing view, it was well worth the effort.
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| View from Emberys Lookout |
The climb was probably not too bad for someone younger and fitter but I was pleased that I even made it and the view was magnificent, we could see right across to Corryong in the distance.
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| Wildflowers |
On the way back to the caravan park we stopped at another lookout called Farrans Lookout which also gave great views, then back to the caravan for a well earned cuppa. For dinner we were told by Phil that the Cudgewa Pub was good so we drove there only to find the pub was closed on Wednesdays, so back to the Corryong Pub for their "fish night". It was very busy there with only 1 table left by the time we arrived and we had to wait almost an hour for our meal but it was a good meal.
Friday 3rd October 2014
We reluctantly left the Colac Colac Caravan Park after 3 days but before leaving we stopped in at Corryong to look around the Corryong Museum. We hadn't realised just how large this museum was and spent well over an hour there. The building inside had many interesting exhibits with the most interesting being a rug knitted by a WW1 veteran from Corryong while he was imprisoned at Stalag. It was quite amazing and the video gave us a better understanding of this man's life before the war, during and after.
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| The picture doesn't do the rug justice |
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| One of the outbuildings at the Museum |
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| Burrowye, the perfect camping spot |
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| Cattle drinking from the Murray River at Burrowye |
Monday 6th October 2014
After 3 very relaxing days here at Burrowye we reluctantly left and headed on through lovely countryside along the Murray River which converges with the Hume Dam. We stopped at Albury Info Centre to fill our water tanks which were almost empty after our stay at Burrowye.
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| This lapwing patrolled the riverbank all day |
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| View from our van at Burrowye |
We headed to Yackandanda and, after looking around this pretty little town with lots of "arty" type shops, had lunch at the Bakery.
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| Lace on tree at Yackandada |
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| Yackandanda |
Day 17
Tuesday 7th October 2014
Overnight was very wet and windy but the morning was calm and a bit chilly and the park maintenance team was out cleaning up the branches and leaves. We went for a drive out to Woolshed Falls and
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| Woolshed Falls |
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Kangaroo Crossing on way to Eldorado
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| Lake Sambell, Beechworth |
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| Lake Sambell, Beechworth |
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| Beautiful old Beechworth buildings |
Wednesday 8th October 2014
We left Beechworth and headed for Myrtleford then Bright. Myrtleford is a pretty area with quite a few farms still growing hops. We decided to book into Riverview caravan park at Porepunkah only a few kms from Bright, and a good value at $32 pn. There was only one other caravan in the park, although some of the cabins were occupied, but our site was right on the Buckland River with beautiful views and no neighbours near us, very peaceful setting. After setting up and unhitching our van we went back into Bright for a coffee and then drove out to Harrietville, looked at the Tronoh Dredge hole in a lovely little park and took a few photos before going back to the van.
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| Harrietville Park |
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| Waterwheel, Harrietville |
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| Harrietville |
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| Joops Jetty, Tronoh Dredge Hole |
Thursday 9th October 2014
Another beautiful day and we drove up to Mt Buffalo National Park. A lovely drive up and a sunny day. At the top we had great views from the lookout areas and then we were able to walk around the Chalet which is in the process of being renovated. Took some photos as it may look a bit different next time we are here.
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| View from lookout at Mt Buffalo |
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| Info on Chalet re-opening |
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| The Old Chalet |
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| Sign to Dingo Dell & Lake Catani |
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| Waterfall Mt Buffalo |
On the way to Dingo Dell we came across some puppies which we thought might have been alpine dingos but couldn't get any photos as they headed into the scrub before I could get the camera. While we were at Dingo Dell we spoke to the owner there and as we were telling him about the puppies we spotted one of the half grown dogs running up the side of the hill. Apparently they haven't seen any of these dogs close to Dingo Dell, although they said they are known to be in the area at times.
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| Waterfall on Mt Buffalo Drive |
We had morning tea and Dingo Dell and then headed down and stopped to have a picnic lunch about halfway, then stopped a few more times to take photos of the many waterfalls before getting back to Bright.
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| Waterfall on Mt Buffalo Drive |
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| Waterfall |
We drove around some of the back streets hoping to find where we had stayed here some years ago but things have changed a lot and our memories have faded more than we realised. We drove out to Wondilogong, an old historic town and then to see the Chinese Bridge there but we would have had a bit of a walk and I didn't feel up to it so we decided to go back to Bright for an ice cream instead! |
| Time for a wine at Porepunkah CP |
Day 20
Friday 10th October 2014
We left Riverview caravan park at Porepunkah and drove through to Milawa, Oxley and then to Glenrowan. It was another nice day, a bit overcast but no rain. We stopped in Glenrowan, Ned Kelly country, and did a walk around all the Ned Kelly memorabilia and found the Blacksmith Shop in a street behind the main tourist area. In fact the Blacksmith shop was on the site where Ned Kelly was captured and right next door to the old Police Station. We had a great chat to Garry, the Blacksmith, who gave Ron a lot of information about his blacksmithing and also told us about the history of the area. I promised to "like" him on his Facebook page. He was a really nice bloke and his blacksmith work was amazing and we are so happy that we were able to meet him.
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| Garry's Blacksmith Shop, Glenrowan |
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| Garry's Blacksmith Shop |
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| Garry's Blacksmith Shop at Glenrowan |
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| Garry & Ron |
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| Glenrowan |
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| Glenrowan |
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| Glenrowan |
After leaving Glenrowan we headed to Benalla, but couldn't get parking for the van so continued on through Violet Town and then Murchison where we stopped for a coffee at the Bakery. On to Rushworth, but the caravan park there was full and it appeared that it was mainly for permanent onsite vans, so we continued on after looking at our Camps book and decided to stop at a free camp area on the Campapse River at a little town called Goornong. We eventually found it after a bit of consultation with our Navman and a map. This was a lovely spot right on the Campapse River and just 3 other vans there so I was happy to stay. A few Utes drove through and we wondered if we were going to have a quiet night but they ended up camping further along and although they had their music up very loud the only time I was a bit concerned was when they decided to fire their guns late at night, but thankfully it didn't continue for long. I know that firearms are a part of the life of country people but they're not part of our lives and when you don't know who is using them it can be rather frightening. Anyway, we had a good night and it was a lovely area to camp and I felt ok knowing we had other caravans around.
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| English Bridge campsite on Campapse River |
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| English Bridge camp site on Campapse River |
Saturday 11th October 2014
We left the English's Bridge camping area at Goornong and headed to Bendigo where we got ULP $138.7 cpl. As we have been to Bendigo before we didn't do any sightseeing.
So far on this trip we have done 2,800 km.
From Castlemaine we drove on to Maldon and spent the night at Butt's Reserve at the base of Mt Terangower. This was in the Camps book and was a lovely area and quite a few campers there but still plenty of room for everyone. We cooked outside on our "choofer" as it was a lovely evening and we sat outside to eat and enjoy the night sky.
Day 22
Sunday 12th October 2014
We left Butts Reserve and drove back into Maldon for a look around the market and a browse through some of the shops that were open. After our last market experience we were not sure what to expect here and we found that the prices of the food was quite expensive and as we couldn't take fresh fruit or veg back into SA we continued on to Maryborough, Avoca and then Stawell. We decided to keep going after looking at a camp site called Canadian Gully which was quite close to the road. At Dadswell Bridge we decided to stop at the Halls Gap Edge Caravan Park. This was a lovely park with excellent facilities, even heating in the bathroom.
Day 23
Monday 13th October 2014
We left the Halls Gap Edge Caravan Park and drove to Horsham, got fuel and Ron went to Supercheap while I did a quick shop at Aldi. We drove onto Keith and had a coffee there, which is our "coffee stop" on other trips, and then drove around to the lake behind the silos at Keith as there is a camping spot there, but decided to continue on. At Culburra we found a camping area so stopped there and after a while another van pulled in. We were quite close to the railway line so did a walk along the trackside and
Ron found some iron to add to his collection. During the night about 5 trains came through, but the first one nearly had us jumping out of bed at about 11 pm, it sounded like a plane landing on top of us! Must remember that for next time.
Day 24 - the last day of our trip.
Tuesday 14th October 2014
We left Culburra and headed for home. We came through Murray Bridge and decided to call in and see Luke at State Flora before going home.
We arrived home safely after a great trip. Its always good to get home, but we are already planning another trip.
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