FROM VICTOR HARBOUR TO THE FLINDERS RANGES AND BEYOND!


When we left Victor Harbour for Hahndorf the weather followed us. We arrived in Hahndorf in pouring rain and nearly got bogged on the caravan site! We could not recommend the caravan park to anyone. Expensive at $28 per night, poorly maintained and on a steep hill!

Hahndorf is a gorgeous little place though. We strolled the streets, dining in the German pub and shopping in the butchers for very different types of smallgoods. Walter was in German heaven. From there we also drove into the Adelaide Hills and up to Mt Lofty above Adelaide. On a fine day the view would be magnificent but again it was raining! Such a pretty and green area though.

On leaving Hahndorf we went north to Birdswood and visited the National Motor Museum. This is the most amazing place, so much to see and so much history. Even Tom Kruse, the Birdsville mailman’s original truck is there. We travelled onto Clare from there. This is the most beautiful valley, and so many wineries. We stayed in a lovely van park there on the edge of town and went for some lovely drives. Didn’t really go to too many wineries but two stood out. One was Skilogalee that is in a lovely old stone cottage and has a well renown restaurant there. We dined there for lunch and tried some of their wine. Very, very nice! The other was Paulette’s winery. Neil and Alison Paulette used to be at what was Mt Pleasant Vineyard at Sandy Hollow. They now have a lovely winery and vineyard just outside Clare. The view from their balcony was sensational and so was their wine! (We found no wine has any keeping qualities with us though so you’ll have to take our word for it!).

We travelled on from Clare heading north to the Flinders and decided to stop overnight at Orroroo. This is the loveliest place, so much so that we stayed 2 nights. Here we went on a walk to the dam alongside a creek and also found history and poetry along the way. In the late 1800’s a guy etched a poem into the rock before heading back to America. (see photo). Also outside Orroroo was Magnetic Hill. This is the craziest thing! It is actually an optical illusion but the road definitely looks like it runs up hill but if you place your car in neutral and turn off the engine it “runs up hill”! We did it a couple of times to prove it! Orroroo is part of the Central Flinders so has some lovely drives through the valleys and the hills.

From Orroroo it was on to Hawker then towards Wilpena Pound. However, each and everyone we spoke to advised us not to stay at Wilpena but at Rawnsley Park. We did and were very glad we did. Rawnsley sits right under the Wilpena Pound, under Rawnsley Peak. It was a much nicer caravan park and had its own lovely walks also. Walter and I undertook quite a number of the walks there including Pines Cave as well as driving up to Wilpena and walking into the old homestead. The wildlife and birds were fantastic. We also undertook a 4WD 75 km trek at a place called Willow Springs. The trek itself was called Sky Trek. It was a full 8 hours and some awesome scenery and 4WD road. We climbed as high as 950m above sea level to Mt Carnarvon where you had an amazing view over Wilpena Pound. It wound back down and into a place known as Skull Rock that just looked liked something out of the Phantom comics!

We left Rawnsley and headed further north up past Parachilna and into the Northern Flinders and the Gammon Ranges. We left the road north at Copley and headed towards Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. This is 140 kms from Copley and very remote. Arkaroola has a motel type village as well as a caravan park. We found a spot in the park opposite the amenities and next to 2 other couples that we had met at Rawnsley. We all went out to the restaurant that night to the carvery and then played cards after dinner.

This is also known as “the wild side of the Flinders”. It has been in drought now for over 7 years so most of the waterholes are dry and the scenery is wild and arid. It is also the home of the endangered Yellow Footed Rock Wallby. There are many drives – mainly 4WD recommended – that take you to really interesting areas both historical and geological. There are many old copper mines and uranium was discovered here back in the early 20th Century.

Whilst we were there Walter and I both gained work. We thought it a good idea as the weather just wasn’t right at that stage to travel down to the Yorke Peninsula. I was cooking in the kitchen for the A La Carte restaurant and bus tour groups including Banquets in the Bush. (These were 5 course Cordon Bleu menus for elected bus tour groups). Walter was employed to repair a 40 yr old Caterpillar loader and to repair the many, many flat tyres they get in the workshop. His work was for 4 hours a day but mine ended up being many 14-15 hour days – 6 days pr week! Money was good though and really nothing (other than the bar) to spend it on. Neither of us are bar flies so we saved quite a bit of money whilst we were there. It came with some problems though. In the first week, the exposed site we had at the caravan park caused the van to be hit with a freak wind that blew the whole awning off the van, wrapping around a tree on the far side. It smashed the TV aerial and the shower hatch on its way over as well as mutilating all the awning and poles. Walter then had to drive the van 600 kms to Adelaide to have it repaired under insurance! As they needed me as the cook they put me up in one of the motel units whilst he was away. When he returned we then moved the van to a less exposed position over near the staff quarters. However for the rest of the time at Arkaroola we left the awning rolled up!

We had quite a few really bad red dust storms that came off the Simpson Desert and even though we taped up the vents, the fine red dust seemed to filter into everything! We did make some lovely new friends there in Janet and Mary and working with Sian for the Banquets in the Bush was fantastic. However, small communities like this and being so remote also find many “misfits” who want to work in places like this. It was good that we had the solace of our own van and friends like Janet and Mary to keep us sane and laughing! We will never here the Italian term “That’s a nice” now without going into gales of laughter!

After 2 ½ months we left there on 29th October and drove to Port Augusta. We ended up being there for 6 days getting carpets cleaned, van and car washed, curtains all washed and ironed before heading south into the Yorke Peninsula. Also high on my list of priorities was a visit to the hairdresser!

We left Port Augusta on Melbourne Cup day and it’s the first time ever I not only never had a bet, I didn’t even know what was running and never saw the race run either! We arrived in Ardrossan a pretty little seaside town on the eastern side of the Peninsula. We strolled around the town and down to the wharf. From here and south is where you can catch Blue Swimmer crabs. But here, instead of using nets you walk through the shallows with a rake! We have now bought our own crab rake and are about to try our luck.

We decided to take a drive south from Ardrossan and look at some of the other small places where we might like to stay. We called at many including Black Point, Port Vincent and Stansbury. Black Point is a tiny place only about 20 kms south of Ardrossan. No shops but its Adelaide’s “millionaire’s row”. However we found it had a tiny little caravan park right on the beach with great views north and along the coastline. Port Vincent is lovely but the park was totally booked out and told us their next vacancies are about February/March! Stansbury however had a beach site available until 14th December and is a lovely place. Also had another site, one row back that we could have over Christmas. So we have booked this as everywhere else also appears to be booked solid so it will be a nice place to base ourselves until January and is central enough for us to drive out from there to explore the rest of the Yorke Peninsula. This a lovely area.

We are currently at Black Point (with crab rake) overlooking the most beautiful view and move down to Stansbury next Wednesday. It is quite windy at present and overcast. Have not had much rain though.

We are now going for a walk on our long beach here before having a glass of wine…..ho hum, life is tough!

Until Stansbury when I will update you again on our travels,

Cheers Rob & Walter

MANNUM TO VICTOR HARBOUR

From Mannum we continued following the river through Taillum Bend and Williamtown. Although we didn’t stop, Williamtown looked fascinating and the ferry there is the oldest continuing service in Australia. The buildings, particularly the old court house built of stone was fantastic. We arrived in Goolwa and found the caravan park after missing a turn that took us firstly across the Hindmarsh Bridge onto Hindmarsh Island. A quick turn around put us back into Goolwa and into the park. Even though school holidays had begun it was very quiet, in fact we were the only van in the park when we arrived.

We travelled across to Hindmarsh Island again to explore and to reach our goal of following the Murray to its mouth. It is from Hindmarsh Island that you can view the Murray Mouth (or what is left of it). Hindmarsh Island is 15 kms long and 6 kms wide and is unique as it faces fresh water on one side and salt on the other. For some years (since October 2002) they have had to continually dredge the mouth to keep it open as there are NO flows coming downstream. You can see the dredge in one of the photos. However even though there are no flows coming down, the landscape is so green down here.

Goolwa is such an interesting town with such a colourful past. It was surveyed in 1840 and settled in 1841. Goolwa was one of Australia’s most important river ports with paddle steamers towing barges from NSW and Victoria laden with wool and other produce and returning with produce and building supplies. The Steamranger Cockle Train runs between Goolwa and Victor Harbour. It is a heritage train, picturesque and historic and only takes 30 minutes between towns and is the oldest public railway in Australia. You get a ¾ hour break before its return journey! Originally it was a horse drawn tram. Why called “The Cockle Train” you may ask? Well in the early days of settlement, local residents would take the horse drawn train to Goolwa to collect cockles from the beaches near the Murray mouth. We had a great day out on this, and it was a cold wet and windy day where there was not much else you could do anyway! Walter had a ride in the engine with the volunteers too! (Big boy’s toys!)

During the week in Goolwa we also took a drive up to Strathalbyn, a lovely heritage town with lovely old stone buildings. We then drove out to Langhorne Creek, tried some great wine and found a winery that also grows and sells fresh horseradish! Walter has been trying for 3 years since we were in Austria to find fresh horseradish here in Australia and this is the first time we have been successful! We then drove home along the edge of Lake Alexandrina through Milang. Now this is where you really get to realise the seriousness of the Murray-Darling basin. Check out the photos of the jetties, the water level is now well past the ends of them.

Another day we drove into the outskirts of Adelaide then down the west coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. Again lots of rain showers but the scenery is spectacular! And it is so green.! We drove right around into Rapid Bay and to Cape Jervis. Cape Jervis is where the vehicular ferry to Kangaroo Island leaves from. From here you can get good views of the island. We decided not to go over this trip as it is quite expensive. $89 for your vehicle then $1.50 for each 10 cm! Add that up for a one-way trip with a 23’ caravan!!

We also drove out along the Sir Richard peninsula to view one of the Barrages. There are seven barrages that have been constructed in the 1920’s to keep the fresh water from the Murray catchment separate from the salt inflows. These stretch across the rivers and outlets from Goolwa and Hindmarsh Island. Whilst we were out there enjoying the view we viewed our first seal frolicking in the water.

After a lovely week we then travelled a whole 23 kms to Victor Harbour to stay for another week. Now this is one gorgeous town and so much to see and do here. In summer months there would be even more. We have really copped some wet weather whilst we have been in the area though. I would love to come back here again in the warmer months. However, that aside we have been busy seeing and doing so much here. As we arrived to a partly sunny day we didn’t want to waste it, so we walked from our caravan park (facing the beach) up into town. We purchased tickets to go across to Granite Island in the historic horse-drawn tram and off we went. The causeway was built for the port in the late 1800’s and the tram transported goods to and fro from the ships coming into port. Now Granite Island is run by the Parks and Conservation department and has a colony of fairy (or little) penguins that have made it their home. There is a great walkway (1.5 kms around the island) which has great views of Victor harbour, The Bluff and Port Elliot and Middleton. Also when the whales are around it is a prime viewing spot for these magnificent creatures. We decided we would also take in the night penguin tour where you get a chance to view the penguins as they come home after a days fishing! They also have a Penguin Centre there that rehabilitates injured penguins so you get a chance to really see them close up. When we visited this we were lucky again that we were the only ones there so the penguin carer took us to show us a female with 2 lovely little chicks!

We took a drive down to Deep Creek Conservation Park and took the 4WD track down into Blowhole Beach. This is the prettiest area I have seen for some time! It overlooks Kangaroo Island and the valleys were filled with Arum lilies and kangaroos grazed and slept in the hollows. We had packed a picnic lunch so we ate that there overlooking this magnificent view. The Heysen Trail also runs through this place. The Heysen Trail is a walking trail that runs from Cape Jervis to the Flinders Ranges some 1200 kms. After lunch we drove north towards Victor Harbour to find the Newland Conservation park. We had read about a walk from there to a waterfall. It was a 3.5 km return walk and sounded pretty good. We headed off about 2 pm into the park along a wide trail. We had walked about ¾ km when the trail sign pointed to the left and stated it was 800m down to the waterfall. The track suddenly went to rock steps that went straight down for the 800m to the waterfall. Of course when we got down there we had to climb the 800m straight up again! It was a lovely walk but quite strenuous and we both had sore muscles for the next 2 days! Some beautiful wild flowers along the track though, many I have never seen before.

This is a big area for whale watching, nearly as big as Hervey Bay here in the south! Before we arrived there was a sighting of a mother and calf but since we have been here there has been nothing. So we went to the Whale museum instead. Really well done and definitely worth the visit.

One other highlight for Walter here was finding the equivalent to an Austrian Wuerstal Stand – (hot dog stand). Served only German sausage with sauerkraut, cheese and onions!

Tomorrow we will leave the coast and head north to Hahndorf for a few days before going on to the Barossa and Clare Valleys. From there it will be onto the Flinders Ranges. We initially were going to go over to the Yorke Peninsula but we are sick of the wet and cold weather so going north to hopefully have a change of weather.

We hope you are all well and life is treating you gently. We are both well and enjoying this life.

Until next time,

The Happy Travellers
Rob & Walter

RENMARK TO MANNUM

We still had a bit to see before leaving Renmark.

We headed first to Headings Lookout about 12 kms out of Paringa. These are beautiful red cliffs overlooking the Murray and are spectacular at sunset. We actually visited them twice as the first time was a bit overcast and so we did not get the sunset reflection that they are renowned for. As you can see from the photo it was worth the second visit. Further out of town (about 30kms) we also visited the Customs House. It is run as a house boat agency and general store now but the building was built in the early days of the paddle steamer trade and all boats coming from NSW or Victoria had to stop and declare their goods and pay duty. A bit disappointing that it hasn’t been kept as an historical building though.

Another day we visited Rushton’s Roses. This is the largest rose farm in Australia and covers 25 acres and has 50,000 roses. Even though it is winter there were still enough roses out to see their beauty. It would be a spectacular place to visit in October during the rose festival. There are also large old fashioned display gardens and lovely nooks and crannies to explore. A huge avenue of David Austin roses and a corridor of ‘specials’ Such as roses dedicated to special people such as Princess Dianna, Grace of Monaco and even Ian Thorpe. They have a lovely cafeteria there too with a great old classic car collection and even some old outboard motors!

Within the town limits there is Olivewood House. This was the original home of Charles Chaffey – one of the Chaffey Bros. An orchard of very old olive trees stands in front of the house and even the old olive press is on display in the museum behind the home. Run by volunteers, it gives a fascinating picture into life in those early days. The volunteers are in the process of re-constructing the processing plant at the rear of the house showing the original methods of olive processing. They have sourced much of the original equipment and are currently putting it all in place.

After a week at Renmark we headed just 39kms down the road to a tiny place called Kingston-on-Murray (KOM). The village has only a population of 200 but again right on the river. We had picked up information on a number of things to do and see from this location. One was a river cruise called Loch Luna and the second was to visit Banrock Station winery and wetland centre. Banrock was only 5 minutes drive down the road and the winery overlooks their wetland. It is in a beautiful situation and they run a truly remarkable wetland conservation program and have been the recipient of many awards for this program. Their wine is pretty good too and in fact one of the rare wineries where we found the wine cheaper there than in the bottle shops! They have good walking trails around the wetlands but so bird lovers can see it in peace (no ankle biters running around making a lot of noise) you have to book. This way they leave at least an hour between walkers. We made our booking for the following Thursday, picked up some nice champagne at $7.50 per bottle and had a nice cup of coffee and wattle seed scones with Quandong Jam and cream….yum!

We also rang and booked our cruise (3 hour duration) on the Loch Luna cruise boat for the Monday. The weather was a little cool on Saturday and Sunday and Walter had a cold so we spent the time going to the Berri Farmers Markets on Saturday, also did some shopping there at Coles and then onto the Mallee Fowl restaurant which has really whacky décor and their signature dish was Quandong Cheese Cake!

On Monday we walked the 5 minutes down along the river to the cruise boat. The fog was thick but beginning to rise as we reached the boat. Blue skies were showing promise of a nice day. Cal was the boat owner and tour guide. He purchased the business about 8 months previously, quitting the bank for a ‘sea change’. He had a real passion for the river and its’ wildlife. His afternoon cruise cancelled just as we boarded so he said if it was alright with us we wouldn’t hurry and spend a bit longer then the 3 hours out there. It was a marvellous day with heaps of bird life and some quite rare sightings. We had homemade bikkies for morning tea and ended up spending 7 hours out along the river and the back creeks, arriving back after 4 pm. We certainly got our monies worth!

Banrock Boardwalk was 8 km s long and wended its way right around the billabong. Lots of black swans, Eurasian Coots and Purple Swamp hens around the water, but also Golden Rosellas, and many Mallee birds through the bush. Too many to list! We had packed our lunch and so just spent about 4 ½ hours wandering our way around.

We also took a drive ‘down stream’ to Loxton. Again a town of about 3,000 people has a pioneer village and lovely park areas along the river. We didn’t bother with the Pioneer Village as it didn’t look anything like the great one we saw at Swan Hill.

After a week at KOM we then headed further along the river (another 40kms) to Waikerie. Another nice park across the road from the river. It’s a town of about 5,000 people and like Renmark and KOM, rich in agriculture, particularly citrus and grapes, both wine and table. There is even a fresh orange juice factory here. Along the lovely cliffs along the river there is a cliff walk, and outside of town the Maize Island Conservation Park. Also the lovely Murray River Queen Paddle steamer resides here. You can even go on board during the day as they run a café/coffee shop on the back deck. We did this but also found that that evening (Saturday) they were running a 5 hour dinner/dance cruise. We jumped on that opportunity and booked. Gee now I had to go and work out what I was going to wear! Hadn’t “dressed up” for a while! We were treated to a couple of hours cruising down the river before sun set and then called into dinner. A lovely 3 course meal was served and they had a live band playing as well. After dinner (still cruising) everyone got up to dance. The cruise travelled for 2 ½ hours downstream toward Lock 2 before turning around and cruising back to Waikerie.

In Waikerie there is also Haverhand Chocolates and local place that hand makes chocolates mainly for the Adelaide market but also sell hot chocolate made with Belgian chocolate and also Chocolate fondues. We opted for a hot chocolate and a chocolate cookie only!

We drove out through Ramco towards Morgan through citrus orchards and vineyards. Morgan was one of the busiest river ports in the southern hemisphere during the Paddle boat era. Many travelled by train from Adelaide and caught the passenger boats to go along the Murray to Wentworth and then either along the Murray further or up the Darling. Morgan is also interesting as it is here where the BIG BEND is in the river. From its source, the Murray travels west until Morgan and it is here it turns south to the mouth. Geologists believe that many millions of years ago the river did disgorge itself into St Vincent Gulf, north of Adelaide but there was a great volcanic upheaval of the land forming the Adelaide Hills and blocked the river so it then found its way south.

Morgan had another great little museum run by volunteers which we found interesting. We drove back to Waikerie via the top road visiting Lock 2 on the way home.

From Waikerie we also spent a day driving up to Gluepot Reserve. This is about 65kms north of the town and owned and run by Birds Australia. Gluepot Reserve is Birds Australia's first publicly funded Reserve. Located in the semi-arid South Australian Mallee it is considered by many to be one of the crown jewels in the nation's reserve system. This 50,000 ha large area of virgin Mallee scrub contains no less than 6 nationally endangered bird species and a unique flora and fauna adapted to the harsh conditions. Purchased in 1997, Gluepot is rapidly becoming a centre for scientific research. Its accessibility means it is one of the few areas in Australia where birdwatchers can relatively easily observe otherwise hard-to-find species. So we packed another picnic lunch and went and visited and walked. Saw some amazing birds we had never seen before. If we come that way again we would go out and camp for a few days

From Waikerie we decided to drive as far (61 kms) to Swan Reach. This is another very tiny town on the river but we had a reason for going there. We wanted to drive up to Blanchetown where the first Lock is on the Murray is and just outside of Blanchetown is the Broomfield Conservation Park. This is one of the known habitats for the threatened Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat. They are only located in a few spots in Australia, another being along the Nullabor. So we packed up a picnic lunch and the Thermos and headed to Blanchetown. It’s another small place on the river but as we were having a cup of coffee in the café the girl told us we should go out to Portee Station. Portee Station was originally settled as a sheep grazing property along the banks and flood plain of the River Murray, the station took its name from the French verb PORTEE (to carry) caused by the need to unload and carry vessels and freight over the Moorunde sand bar at times of low river flow. It is 20,000 acres and now run as a B & B. However, the Australian Shearing team was there for this weekend to practice their craft. The team was punching through 3,000 sheep in order to get their time down so they can get their hands on the Golden Shears World Title being held in Norway in October. They were trying to raise money for their team so the public was invited. Well it was only 8 kms out of town so we made the decision to go. It was fantastic watching this team work. The roustabouts, Debbie Chandler from West Australia, and Mel Morris from Tasmania are wool handlers that are also part of the team heading to Norway. They made us tired just watching them! The current World Champion, Shannon Warnest, says this is the only time the team had to practice together. He told us that "This was pretty unique. This was the first time the Australian team had ever got together before the World Champs." The station owner and his daughter Liz invited us both back to their Gourmet BBQ dinner that night in the ground of the old homestead. So we went wombat hunting out at the reserve, finding plenty of warrens and holes but no wombats and then returned. It was a beautiful night with white tablecloths and crystal under gas heaters in front of the homestead. When Liz asked if we found any wombats and we said no, she told us a track on the property to drive on before returning to Swan Reach. Sure enough we saw three Southern Hairy nosed Wombats so all boxes and then some were ticked for theWe then left Swan Reach and drove another 69 kms to Mannum. It is a beautiful and historic river town with lovely stone buildings and good museum and lovely views across the river. We have driven further down to Murray Bridge (shopping and fuel cheaper here) and came back on another road crossing the free ferry back to the caravan park. The beautiful Murray Princess Paddlesteamer leaves from here for 4 to 7 day river cruises. It would be lovely to do but does fit the budget at this point in time.

Yesterday we travelled down to Monarto Zoo. This is jointly run by the Adelaide Zoo but is an Open Plains Zoo. We arrived early at 9.30 am and were on the first Zoo bus leaving for the Grasslands. This took us through Barbary sheep, Bison, Przewalski's Horses and varied Antelope including Bongo. We had never been up so close to some of these animals, even though they are at Dubbo Zoo. We got back to the Centre to be able to jump on the African Bus. Again so close to Giraffe, Hyenas, Zebra and then amazing Cheetahs and lions. Absolutely a different zoo experience. Very different to Dubbo.

Today is cold and miserable and tomorrow we leave for a longer trip (150kms) to Goolwa and the Mouth of the Murray. From all accounts the mouth of the river and Lake Alexandrina is quite sad with no water flow coming down at all so the salinity is rising and wildlife and aquatic life dying. We will report on this in our next bulletin.
We hope you are all well and happy,

Love to you all
The Happy Travellers

Rob and Walter

SWAN HILL TO RENMARK

As we last advised we attended the Swan Hill Rural Field day. Very interesting with load of farm machinery indicative to the area. Things such as mechanical pruners for the vines we had never seen before! I had my shoes cleaned twice to demonstrate a leather cleaner and we bought stain remover spray, tried wonderful strawberries, could buy yabbie burgers and we could view much of the craft work in the community hall. All in all a very interesting day!

Whilst in Swan Hill we visited the BIG COD and the Burke and Wills tree. This tree was purported to have been planted at the beginning of the fateful expedition of these two well known Australian explorers. It is now listed as the largest one of its type in Victoria and of historical significance.

From Swan Hill we drove the 139 kms to Robinvale. This is another cute little town beside the Murray, rich in vines, olives and citrus. There are over 40 different nationalities now residing in Robinvale. We had a beaut site right on the bank of the river in a lovely park. Bird life was prolific and we also tried for that big cod! On booking in the owner told us that the guys camped just down from us caught a 90cm cod the day before from the bank with a yabbie! Well that got us excited and gave him a customer for bait too! Needless to say over the week we only caught a carp each and taught a lot of worms to swim!
We went on lovely rambling walks along the river first one way then the other. Whistling kites haunted the river early each morning and on nightfall hunting for their dinner and during the day herons and egrets along with purple swamp hens stalked their prey. Lovely golden rosellas and white wing chuffs populated the trees around us. We had a fire bucket (an old beer keg cut in half) and the owners of the park provided us wood for a small sum, delivered to us on site.
We had heard about the Robinvale Olive grove and their variety of products so we drove out of town through the asparagus, vines and citrus to visit them. Their olives were great and so was their hand cream. 3 jars of olives and one hand cream now live in the van.
One area that we both had read about for a long time and never visited was Mungo National Park. The park lies 110km north-east of Mildura and150km north-west of Balranald. So we left the van in Robinvale and with the 4WD, tent, wine and necessities we travelled the 150 kms north to camp for a couple of days.
Mungo National Park covers most of an ancient dry lake bed on the plains of south western NSW. During the ice ages, Lake Mungo was one of a chain of freshwater lakes strung along Willandra Creek, then the main channel of the Lachlan River. These dry lakes preserve one of the longest continual records of Aboriginal life in Australia, dating from around 50,000 years ago through to the present day. Dating of ancient burials shows that these are the oldest known fully modern humans outside of Africa.
We set up camp in the main camping area. Basic facilities there, only pit toilets. We had taken our change tent with us so we could boil the billy for warm water and wash down! We first visited the Information centre where we found we could also buy cheap fire wood and picked up the maps for the following days tour around the park. There are many interesting features in the park, but none more so than “The Walls of China”. These are also known as the lunette. It is a crescent shaped sand dune developed over thousands of years. The layers of soil and the different colours typify another era and time frame.
The Pink soils at the base is the Gol Gol unit, laid down between 120,000 and 100,000 years ago, a dry period.
The brownish cream and white sands are the Upper and Lower Mungo units, 60,000 – 37,000 years ago, formed when the lakes were full.
The grey clays which cap the residual pinnacles are the Arump/Zanci units 37,000-18,000 years ago, a period during which the lakes filled and dried out several times.
Within the latter 2 units extensive evidence of Aboriginal occupation can be found. Then beyond the main lunette are the white dune crests which have formed over the period since the lakes finally dried some 15,000 years ago.
Early next morning we packed our lunch and drinks and drove the 10 kms across the old lake bed to the lunette. The vision of the lunette and the fantastic shapes makes you feel that you have landed either on the moon or Mars! We spent 2 hours wandering over the lunette, discovering old bones, shells and fossils. Then back into the car for the drive the 70kms around the lunette, through the Mallee country, the white sand dunes, the old water tanks and evidence of station properties. There are even old wheel ruts where the old Cobb & Co coach used to pull up regularly at a perennial well. We ate lunch at the other camp site (no camp fires allowed here as it is Mallee country).
After getting back to camp we had afternoon tea but arranged to drive back to the lookout over the lunette for sunset. Check out our photos for the amazing colour changes – it was definitely worth doing.
Back to Robinvale where we then spent a day washing and ironing ready for our trip into Mildura. We stayed on the NSW side of the river at Buronga. Another fabulous caravan park, again on the river bank, with a fire bucket and this time the wood was free. We had a great view across the river to where the Paddlesteamers left for their cruises. Two friends, who used to reside at Cobar, now live in Mildura so we were able to catch up with Peter and Chris. They arranged to pick us up on the Friday night and we went out to the Coomiealla Club for dinner. Lovely club and nice meals. The following day again picked us up and drove us around the area. We visited Woodsies Gem Shop, the old Pysche Pump House, around the river to where old barges have been just left to rot, a great old country pub for hamburgers for lunch, then on to Red Cliffs to view Old Lizzie. Now how to describe Old Lizzie? It is a monster piece of machinery made to clear the paddocks of stumps etc. It was planned to take her across the river but it was found that she was too heavy for any of the river vessels at the time, so she stayed on the Victorian side.
On another day we met Pete and Chris at the boat ramp to go with them on the river. We drove up stream past many houseboats and amazing river front properties. Bird life on the river is great and this time we saw Mum and Dad swan with 6 little cygnets. We pulled up about 32kms up river and Pete was prepared with the Eco Billy , the BBQ for a sausage sizzle, coffee, tea and bikkies. After relaxing for an hour we then headed back down to Mildura.
On the Friday, Pete again picked us up (without Chris as she had Grandmother duties) and drove us north of Wentworth to where his son is Production Manager in the Gingko Sand Mine. Tim had organised to show us around the mine. It was about 1 ½ hours drive to the site. Now this is one big sand pit! With big boys toys too! They extract the sand and then they are able to separate it into about 8 different minerals including titanium. Most of the finer breakdown is done at Broken Hill after being trucked there. We left there and drove the 60kms to Pooncarie, had a drink at the pub before heading back down the Pooncarie road to Mildura. Two other friends who also used to live in Cobar, now have “retired” to a property on the Pooncarie road, 23 kms north of Wentworth. So we opted to drop in for a cuppa on the way through. Sheryl and Allan have a lovely 105 acres right on the Darling. They gave us a quick look around and we had coffee with them and arranged to bring the van up and stay for a couple of days.
We left Mildura and headed towards “Sullivan’s Run” on the Pooncarie Road, via Dareton. We arrived at lunch time, set up the van and Allan & Sheryl decided that we would have lunch on the “party boat” on the river. Lovely sunny day so we loaded up the boat and headed off up stream. Here the Darling looks quite healthy as the water is still under the influence of the lock at Wentworth. Check out the difference of the river at Pooncarie though. It was so lovely cruising slowly up the river. Again the bird life was great. Whistling Kites, egrets, herons and even a Royal Spoonbill and a juvenile Rufous Nankeen Night Heron.
The next day we repeated the exercise but this time down river after the horses were fed and the chooks released from their pen, allowing them to roam free. Sheryl and Allan are living in their “up market” shed at present. Their plans for their new home are lovely and the building of it is just about to commence.
The following day, Sheryl & I dropped into Wentworth to pick up the mail and get a few provisions. She took me down to where to two mighty rivers, the Darling and the Murray meet so I was able to get some photos of that plus the memorial to the Fergie tractor. These tractors built the levee bank that saved Wentworth from a flood. On return we again packed up the boat with the BBQ this time to go further downstream and find a nice bank where we could pull over and cook lunch. About ¾ of the way down, it was discovered that not one of us remembered the matches. Having No smokers certainly can have its disadvantages! We cruised on until we found some habitation and Allan went up to the house and begged for a box of matches – otherwise no BBQ! From now on they will have matches or lighter on the boat and we will have one packed up with the BBQ! Much laughter over this I can tell you.
With a bit of sadness we left their lovely property on Friday and crossed the border into South Australia. Whilst in Mildura we did pick up a brochure about what you could and couldn’t take into the S.A. Riverland area. My herb garden that has travelled up to Cooktown and back was a casualty. So I left the herbs with Chris in Mildura for her garden – just taking the empty pot with me. When we arrived at the border, it is a mandatory stop at the Quarrantine station. The inspector went through our glove box, our frig in the car and everywhere in the caravan. I had cleaned out just about everything at Sheryl’s but found I also could not take in my garlic or the chilli! So first stop in Remark after setting up the van was to the shops to re-stock for fruit and vegies!
One of the reasons we had timed our run into Renmark for the June long weekend was that it was when the Riverland Balloon festival was on. So Saturday after picking up the info at the Information Centre we drove out to the No 2 oval where they were launching. As the winds were in the wrong direction, they decided to launch at another site called Talda about 27kms from Renmark. So we dutifully tailed the procession out there. It was well worth it. Nine balloons of varying sizes being unloaded, laid out and going through the procedure of getting them inflated for flying. After they all flew off we went back to Renmark where again we are camped right on the river. The river is huge here and so much houseboat traffic. We overlook the old 1927 built Paringa bridge that opens twice a day to let the river traffic through.
At 6.30 pm we headed back into town to the No 2 oval for what they call “Night Glow”. All 9 balloons are again inflated but this time do not leave the ground. They use a yellow flame to “glow” the balloon. Very spectacular at night, with the varying balloon colours, all glowing in the dark! All this made us decide to opt for a flight the next day. So up at 5 am in the morning, down to the oval for the briefing, then back out to Talda, as again the winds were in the wrong direction. We had to help get the basket and balloon ready for flight, then into the basket and away. It wasn’t anything like I expected. It is very calm, quiet and amazingly serene. Initially we were travelling about 30 knots about 150 metres from the ground then we often dropped down to within 10-15 feet of the ground to cruise at lower speeds. Cruising over properties, trees and stock. The flight was about 1 ½ hours before we landed, packed up the balloon and treated to Langhorne Creek Champagne and chocolates. Then we were driven back to Renmark and the Renmark Hotel for a slap up breakfast. This didn’t finished until 12 midday! The Renmark Hotel has amazing history. Built by the Chaffey Bros. they only allowed it to supply meals and accommodation and NO Alcohol. This surely must be the original Pub with NO Beer!
We had a quiet afternoon as the weather came in and overnight we have had about 1 inch of rain. So today it gave me a chance to update the web site before we go off rambling around this beautiful area tomorrow. So much to see here including 25 acres of roses, over 50,000 of them, wineries such as Banrock Station, and Angoves. Berri with its almond shops and fruit juices, lookouts and lochs, old homesteads of the Chaffey Brothers. And so on, and on……

Until next time, enjoy life as we are
The Happy Travellers Rob & Walter

Birds Eye View of the Landscape from the Balloon