Hello again and this time from Adelaide – or just out a little bit in McClaren Vale.  We have had roughly a 12 day trip from Canberra to get here.  The trip from Canberra was pretty relaxing and we were able to travel around 240 km’s per day so it wasn’t to stressful.

From Canberra we travelled to Wagga Wagga and stayed for three days at the Wagga Beach CP.  I was a bit surprised that they had a “beach caravan park” in Wagga but they did.  It was on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River and there was like a beach on the banks of the river.  With the grass area around it was well set up for locals and visitors.  I was very surprised as to how cold the river was to swim in, it did make your skin feel funny when you dived in and the current was a lot stronger than I was expecting.  Wagga is a nice place but there didn’t seem to be a lot to do that we could find so it was just going to be a lot of reading and spoiling princess.  The main street was very picturesque with lots of trees and wide footpaths. They had a pretty good aviation display that I found interesting as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we had exhausted ourselves in Wagga Wagga it was on the road to Hay.  We decided to do some free camping in Hay as the area was beside the river and only about a kilometre out of town.  The camp is excellent and would be one of the best free camp areas we have stayed in.  The area is huge and at this time of year we had a multitude of spots to pick from and set up camp.  There were even toilets there and a grass area with bbq’s that were very popular with the locals on the weekend.  It would seem that the accessory to have when living in Hay is a ski boat as this was very popular.   The difference between Hay and wagga in water temperature was huge.  The Murrumbidgee at Hay is a lot warmer with a lot less water flow.  You also can feel the yabbies having little pecks at your feet when your standing in the water.

We did visit the Shear Outback centre they have set up in Hay.  This was set up as a history of shearing in outback Australia.  Not sure if they have picked a winner here with this one.  Shearing is not all that exciting and you can only display so many shearing combs, shearing implements etc before it starts to get a bit boring.  It feels like they have tried to do something similar to the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach but it really doesn’t live up to anything and the $20 fee to get in is probably double what it should be.

The old gaol in Hay was well worth the visit.  This old building has been very well maintained and the displays inside we quite well organised.  The only charge for entry to this display was an honesty box at the front, it was a good thing for Hay that Kaye was with me.

One thing we did see that was unexpected was while walking along the river one afternoon  to look at some river art displays and seeing an attractive young girl looking around the base of a tree.  When we got near her and asked if everything was OK she pointed to a 2 metre python on the ground and then told us it was her pet and they were travelling around.  Every day she takes the snake out for some outdoor activities so it doesn’t get to cramped up in the travel box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Hay we drove onto Ouyen for a night stopover.  As it was starting to heat up a bit we thought a night with the air conditioner on would be nice.   Ouyen is a place that describes itself as being in the middle of nowhere and that’s a pretty good description.  Not long after getting there it got very overcast and then we had a huge dust storm.  It tried to rain but all it did was make everything look dirtier than it already was.

We decided to eat out at the local club which ended up being a nice meal and we did manage to chat to some of the locals as well.  Ouyen also is home to the biggest root in Australia, apparently.  I thought I had seen  and met some big ones before this but there it was on display, the biggest mallee root in Australia.

After Ouyen it was off to Wellington for a few days.  This was making Kaye happier as we were getting into some wine country and so the planning was being done to do a bit of travelling and tasting.  Just before Wellington we had to cross the Murray River by punt.  This was a bit different and added a bit of interest to the trip.

While at Wellington we did a day trip to Old Tailem Town.  This was a great display and a walk back in time into an old town set up around the turn of the 20th century.  There were around twelve streets set up with buildings and displays.  There was even a house made of cow dung that was something to see.  The pub at Wellington is also a great place to have a drink, watch the river and forget about the share market for a while. They also do good meals so if your ever in the area we can recommend the stop.

Our wine tasting took us touring through the Langhorne Creek Region.  This was an easy drive around with some very good wineries as well.  I actually got to do some tasting myself this time and Kaye offered to do the driving so taste away and buy away I did.  What a day!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a nice 12 days to get to Adelaide so we are hoping that the bike riding will be as good as we hope.  There are also a lot of wineries where we are staying so I don’t think we will get to bored if TDU isn’t up to scratch……….