After what seemed like a long time away from home with all the countries and sites we have seen in the last three months, we finally arrived back in Sydney then boarded a plane for Canberra and back to Jade and Gordo’s to pick up the caravan and start back on our trek around this great country. When we got to Jade’s I didn’t bother unpacking my suitcase, just left it near the washing machine. Pretty much everything needed washing as was evident when most of it could stand up on its own.
We stayed in Canberra for four days then left for our trip to Adelaide where we were all planned to catch up with mum, Anika and Renae. The get together was for my 6oth birthday later in April. Yes, this year I became a senior citizen and apparently more mature.
The plan to get to Adelaide was to generally follow the Murray River all the way. Our first stop over for the night was a small town called Tarcutta. You can free camp on the oval behind the pub which was nice and grassy. That night we went to the hotel and had a nice meal beside an open fire. We had a very cold night in the van and was that a shock to the system. From Tarcutta we then went to Chiltern and stayed for a few nights. Chiltern is a very small and neat little town with a lot of historical buildings in its main street. We also did a day trip to Rutherglen from here as well. Rutherglen was a bit bigger than Chiltern and also had some great old architecture in the town. They had made a great effort to keep the main street looking old world and rustic. The drive and short climb to the top of Mt Pilot just out of town offered some great views of the countryside, well worth it. With so many older and historical towns being so close together the drives and countryside are really interesting to drive around.
From Chiltern we decided to free camp along the Murray and picked a spot about 10 kilometre’s out of Echuca called Casey Bend. As it was also coming up to the Easter long weekend we were expecting there to be a few people also camping out as well. We were very surprised to arrive and see only one other caravan in the camp area. This meant we had a choice of great sites to set up on and managed to get a spot right next to the river. We stayed here for three days and only had a few other campers come and stay in the area. There were other camping areas along the river not far from us and we did drive to these for a look. Not sure why but these were quite crowded and some didn’t even have toilets.
Echuca is a very historical town on the Murray and also were most of the paddle steamers are located and was Australia’s largest inland port. The wharf area and the street along the river, Murray Esplanade, have been kept in keeping with the period of the late 1800’s and does give you a feel for what life might have been like back then. Just out of Echuca they have the Beer Shed. This is a couple of large sheds that one man has filled a lot of different beer memorabilia from all over the world. It was very impressive and filled in a few hours The only real downside was that it was the Easter weekend and of course there were lots and lots of people around. We still really enjoyed Echuca and our camping alongside the Murray.
When you find a nice place to camp it is hard to want to leave but we had a commitment in Adelaide so we packed up our camp and headed off again from Echuca. We stayed one night in a very small place called Nyah at the Recreation Reserve. Nyah is a very small place and didn’t even have a service station which I wasn’t expecting. With a confident feeling I told the boss that we had enough fuel to get to our next stop which was Euston. The fuel god was kind to us the next day as we did make it into Euston with the fuel light on for the last 25 kilometre’s, you have to have some lucky days every now and then. We had two nights in Euston which was right on the river. They had a great club in Euston which was surprising considering the size of the town. We decided that it was good for a night out and so had the rest of the town. When we got there is was very crowded but it added to the atmosphere.
From Euston we then went to Renmark. Renmark is quite a large town and right in the heart of orchards where lots of different fruits and vegetables are grown. The extensive irrigation that has been developed over the years in the area. Most of the irrigation is done by pipes now and there are over 130 kilometre’s of piping in use. Breaker Morant also worked in the area at Paringa Station and joined the Bushveld Carbineers when it went broke. The rest we know is history. There are some great views of the Murray River from Headings Cliff Lookout which is worth the drive out to. We then drove into town and looked at one of the locks on the Murray – Lock 5 which also had a display of an old river barge that was still in use up until only a few years ago. We also did a small ferry crossing for something different as well. There are a few of these ferries that operate across the Murray River and are free. From the ferry we visited the Almondco Almond Factory. This is the largest processor of almonds in Australia. We were hoping to be able to do a factory tour but there was only a window for you to see through. The free almonds to taste were nice though. After this it then onto Ruston’s Rose Gardens where apparently over 50,000 rose bushes are on display. This may have been something once upon a time but it was looking tired and not well maintained when we arrived. There was only a small part that was maintained with the rest of the gardens sadly lacking in attention.
Adelaide was our next stop at the Brownhill Creek Caravan Park. We had a site right next door to the cabin that Anika, Renae and mum would be staying in which made it easier for us all. Anika and mum arrived a few hours after us and Renae flew in later that night. Anika and I went to the football that night to watch Carlton play Port Adelaide. Don’t know why I still support Carlton, they really haven’t improved much in the last 5 years. Still cant kick or handball to a team mate yet. We had a great weekend catching up with the girls and mum and it was good to see mum looking so well. Saturday we went into town and looked for Paul’s birthday presents. Very important mission that was hard for all the girls to go shopping and have to focus on me for a while and walk past lots of women’s shops. On the Sunday we drove up to Hahndorf for a look. This was very nice with all the trees turning for the Autumn. The main street was very picturesque. From Hahndorf we drove onto the Monarto Zoo. Monarto is an open plain style zoo that has a large range of African animals on display. We had a nice picnic lunch before the touring started. Myself, Anika and Renae did the walk while Kaye and mum did the bus tour. This zoo was a great day out and a pity we don’t have something like this at home. Monday was wineries and lunch for my birthday. We drove out to McLaren Vale for the day and visited a few wineries before having lunch at The Salopian Restaurant. We had a 10 degustation meal which was very filling and nice. Thanks girls for a fantastic day out. The Tuesday was fly out day for everyone from the west and sad goodbyes. But the goodbyes wont be for long though as we will be home in WA very soon.
Not long now and we will be back in WA for a few months. Kaye’s manager from Rio days rang her up and asked if she would be interested in coming back to work for a few months to do a project. As Anika was also looking for someone to look after her house for three months while she is off traveling the world Kaye said yes as it all seemed to work out for everyone. So we are just killing time in South Australia until Kaye flies home to start work. I will follow behind in the caravan and should get home a couple of weeks after Kaye. Then I will be a kept man, really looking forward to that. Sitting back waving the wife off to work is going to be great…………………………..
