Jugiong to home Saturday 23rd October 2010

We left Jugiong and dawdled as much as we could on the final leg to home. We stopped for lunch at Berrima, a favourite haunt of ours in the Southern Highlands. The old Gaol and Governor's house are only two of the beautiful heritage buildings in this lovely town. As it was such a beautiful day, there were lots of visitors enjoying the sunshine.

 Finally, after 24 fabulous days, we arrived home.

The trip has wetted our appetite for more motorhoming in the future. It is such a relaxing way to travel, like a snail, slowly and with your home on your back! 

Everything about the van was perfect. It fulfilled all our expectations and was comfortable and roomy. We discovered having power is the answer. If you have adequate power you can literally go anywhere and stay as long as you like. Water, which we thought would be a huge problem is everywhere and readily accessible. However, inadequate power makes staying in caravan parks a necessity which limits your freedom. A generator and solar panels will be high on our requirements list.

We feel relaxed and well rested and as the advertisement says; we have enjoyed every piece of Victoria as well as NSW and South Australia. We feel sad we know so little about this great country of ours and its many rural and coastal towns. We only just touched the surface of a tiny piece of this amazing country.

We travelled 5126 kms, stayed 19 nights in free campsites, 5 in caravan parks (by necessity only) and circumnavigated Victoria, with coastal NSW and South Australia thrown in.

The big question of course is when do we go again and where to next time?

Keep watching this page!!

Albury to Jugiong Friday 22nd October 2010

After leaving Albury, we diverted from The Hume Highway and headed towards Culcain and Henty. Outside Henty is a wooden man carved by an itinerant worker during the depression. It was burnt down in the bushfires and the town decided to restore it. It celebrates the men who had to travel from town to town after the war looking for work.

After passing through Wagga Wagga, we returned to the Hume Highway just before Gundagai. The old highway and the railway used to pass over the flood plains on wooden trestle bridges. These two bridges have gradually fallen into disrepair and have now been left as historic ruins.

 

Five miles from Gundagai,  is the famous dog on the tuckerbox memorial.

As night began to colour the sky in a spectacular way, we began our final night at the little town of Jugiong. Jugiong was originally on the Hume Highway and as a long straight stretch of the road it was a favourite spot for motorists to speed. Police used to sit behind the poplar trees and catch them in droves. Now, bypassed by the new freeway, it essentially has died. There is a beautiful old hotel, a store, a motel and a showground. The showground has been opened to travellers who are self contained. There is no power, but clean rest rooms and fresh water. An honesty box is supplied for donations to help keep it open. We were pleasantly suprised by the number of campers at the site and it seemed everyone was a return camper.

We decided to eat out at the pub and enjoyed the best wood fired pizzas and a glass of the local beer.

The full moon rose and bathed everything in its silvery glow. A fitting image for our final night.

Corbam to Albury Thursday 21st October 2010

The following morning, the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the river looked serene! These pictures were taken right at our front door whilst we enjoyed breakfast!

After passing through Yarrawonga, we crossed over into NSW again and stopped by the side of Lake Malwala, a beautiful freshwater lake system. The bridges across the lake stretch side by side with the water sparkling in the sun. This is a man made lake of some 6000 hectares allowing for bird life and recreational activities. Before the railway line extended to Yarrawonga in 1886, riverboats sailed their way as far as Albury transporting timber, wheat and wool. We then returned across the border back into Victoria.

After travelling through Wodonga on the Victorian side of the Murray we crossed over into NSW and arrived in Albury. We travelled on to Hume Dam which was once one of the largest water storage dams in the world. It is a vital part of the Snowy River power scheme. The surrounding paddocks were covered in a haze of purple Patterson's curse.

Sitting atop of Monument Hill is the Albury War Memorial erected after WW1 and is now one of Australia's best known. There are great views of Albury and Wodonga from this spot.

 We had found a good campsite on the river 10 kms out of town earlier in the day and had decided to come back later in the day. Whilst up at Memorial Hill we noticed a great park on the bend of the river right in town.

 We drove down and investigated the park. There were bar-be-ques, toilets and fresh water right beside the canoe club. Apparently, grey nomads (like us!) are welcome to stay overnight even though there are NO camping signs in abundance! We parked up and enjoyed a barbie and of course the local wine! The sun continued to shine and it was an effort to go indoors.

 Canoeists paddled up the river also enjoying the sunshine. It proved to be a popular spot for dog walkers, health fanatics and children.

 Still not a bad view from out the back door!!

Swan Hill to Cobram Wednesday 20th October 2010

 After leaving Swan Hill, we travelled towards Echuca. We had decided to overnight at Christies Beach, a campsite on the river, 20 kms from Echuca. However once again the recent floods had made the riverbank inaccessible. It seems most of these beautiful riverbank sites are dry weather only! On our way out to the beach we spied these great letterboxes and couldn't resist a picture!

Failing that campsite being available, we decided to travel on through Echuca and on to another riverside beach nearer to Cobram. On the way to Echuca we stopped at Lock 26 at Torrumbarry Weir. The original Torrumbarry Weir used 14 removable steel trestles that could be winched out of the river to allow the passage of floods.The structure operated successfully until 1992, when major damage to its foundations occured.
It was decided that a new weir structure was required, and the new Torrumbarry Weir was constructed between 1993 and 1996. The existing lock structure was retained.
The original trestle weir and lock chamber have been listed as an Historic Building in Victoria.

 

Around lunchtime we arrived at the busy river port of Echuca.  A number of paddleboats cruise along the river from this port. Steeped in history, Echuca is the home to the largest riverboat fleet in the world. Its claim to fame was as the background to the popular TV series "All the rivers run". PS Pevensey built in 1911 was seen as PS Philadelphia in this series. PS Adelaide, the world's oldest wooden hulled paddlesteamer was built in 1866, PS Canberra and PS Emmylou, the prettiest paddlesteamer on the Murray and the only wood fired paddlesteamer in the world still able to carry visitors.

The second riverside camping spot out from Echuca on the way to Cobram where we had arranged to stop was also not very good. Instead we drove into the forest at Cobram and stayed overnight at a great place right on the river's edge. Nearby were house boats and a beautiful old trestle bridge.  Another idyllic site and once again free!!

Wenthworth to Swan Hill Tuesday 19th October 2010

Our next river town was Swan Hill so named because Major Thomas Mitchell, camped overnight on the sand hills near the Murray in 1836. His sleep was disturbed by the constant noise from the black swans nearby.

At Swan Hill, there is a Pioneer settlement village where you can step back in time and see how the town was a century ago. It is a working village and is one of the best we have ever seen. The paddlesteamers cruise up and down the river and their whistles give a haunting feeling of a bygone era. The most famous steamer, the Pyap allows visitors to travel the river in a slow peaceful way.

We stayed overnight in the adjacent caravan park, enjoyed the facilities, did the washing etc and watched the world go by.

Loxton-Wentworth Monday 18th October 2010

 After leaving Loxton, we travelled along the Murray to Berri, which means bend in the river.
The old water tower has been made into a scenic lookout over looking the town and the river.

 Berri is the home of citrus fruit, dried fruit and the famous berru fruit juices. Next to the Berri Co-Op is a mural painted by the local school children and it is the longest mural in Australia.

 Our next stop was Renmark, where in October the Rose festival is held. We toured one of the local rose gardens which were beautiful. The roses have proper perfume and grow well in the rich river soil.

After Renmark we crossed the border from South Australia back into Victoria. On this particular day, we drove through three states, South Australia, Victoria and across the river into NSW. The Murray river itself belongs to NSW, however towns bordering it have a counterpart on the opposite bank.

After leaving Renmark, the next river town was Mildura. We began to see the famous paddle steamers and house boats plying their way along the river. We had decided to stay at King's Billabong in Mildura however once again the river banks were muddy. We found a suitable spot and then decided to explore Mildura and its surrounds. The NSW sister town to Mildura is Wentworth, some 20 kms across the river and upstream.

At Wentworth, the Darling river meets the Murray. Normally the confluence is bicoloured as the Murray is sand based and the Darling clay based. The meeting point is quite spectacular with the Darling flowing brown and the Murray flowing blue. As there had been floods upstream, the Darling river had been diverted to avoid flooding the already full Murray, and consequently the colours were missing.

 

At Wentworth, Lock 10 is located. There are 26 locks along the Murray allowing river traffic to traverse the river both up and down stream. These locks were introduced in 1920 and have allowed Wentworth, the oldest town on the river to become a recreational weir pool for water activities.The locks are gravity activated and take approx 20 minutes to traverse. They are free to use and are open to trafiic during daylight hours.

Next to the Lock is an Aboriginal meeting place known as Thegoa Lagoon. It is a magical place and has many aboriginal campsites and artifacts located within it. We were able to free camp in this idyllic location right on the water's edge.

 

 We lit a campfire, had a barbie and enjoyed yet another bottle of local wine. As the sun set, the river came to life with bird calls and frog sounds.

The lights from the nearby lock twinkled on the water adding to the magic of this special place. Free camping is allowed for an indefinite time and this is one site we will return to again and again.  (By the way we didn't get back to explore Mildura. Oh well there is always next time!)