MURRAY RIVER TRIP 2007
MURRAY RIVER TRIP 2007
Friday 26 October to Thursday 1 November
Sydney to Echuca
Blog 1
It was good to be back on the road again with our car and van perfectly fixed after our Tanami Road mishap.
The weather gods were good to us and the rain held off while we packed the caravan and it only started to rain once we were on the road.
Our main focus for this trip was to follow the mighty Murray River from almost its source in the High Country in Victoria to its mouth at Goolwa in South Australia. We considered the beginning of our explore to be Wodonga on the NSW-Victorian border. It was too difficult to take the caravan up into the mountains to the source of the river plus we had previously done the Victorian High Country on a 4WD tenting trip.
We enjoyed our familiar drive down the Hume Highway and were pleased to see new green growth after the recent rains.
We stayed at Boathaven Holiday Park situated on Lake Hume, 15km out of Wodonga and made it our base for the next 4 days.
We drove the 20km around the Lake Hume where the water levels were very low due prolonged drought and headed toward the mountains to Tallangatta, a small town which had been moved to a new site further from the lake in the 1950s. As a result of this they hold a 50s Festival each year and this was the weekend. We had a great time and enjoyed the local flavour especially Dean Vagus, the Australian Elvis Impersonator who happens to be the best in the world according to the largest Elvis impersonator festival in the world, in Canada. He was FANTASTIC.
We left Wodonga and headed west on the NSW side of the Murray River along the Riverina Highway. Our first stop was the little town of Howlong where we stopped at Lions Park for our 1st walk along the Murray River. The river was very low but the River Red Gums are magnificent. We then crossed the Murray to the Victorian side and drove to our 1st free rest stop along the mighty Murray at Police Paddocks. It gained this name as there was a bridge built from this stop on the river to an island which is where the police horses were kept and rested. We walked along the river, lit our fire and just sat and enjoyed the beautiful peace and quiet of the river. There were lots of sulfur crested cockatoos, kookaburras, magpies and lorikeets to provide the symphony while we BBQd dinner.
Our first stop the next day was at Corowa just 12km along the river.
We walked the lovely little town and stopped to look at all the old federation houses. Corowa is known for the part it played in the Federation of Australia. It took 50years from the beginnings of the movement of the League of Federation till Federation actually happened on 1 January 1901. Prior to Federation 6 separate colonies were each governed by its own parliament and they had no Federal Parliament to deal with common matters. This caused great confusion. In 1891 Federation Leagues formed everywhere and in 31 July and the 1st August 1893 Corowa Federation League organised the conference where Dr John Quick proposed a motion that to change the direction and the pace of Federation. We went through the court house and then drove on to Rutherglen. On the way we stopped at Morris Winery which makes the Muscat that Mike LOVES. The whole region has the most beautiful vineyards and even though the area is in a drought it still looks lush and green. We then stopped at Wicked Olives and Calico wines and of course bought some olives.
We then drove into Rutherglen and browsed through the fantastic information centre which had all the local produce for sale. We walked up and down main street stopping for lunch at Parker Pies renowned for their award winning pies.
We continued west along the Murray Valley Highway to Yarrawonga in Victoria and Mulwala in NSW both on Lake Mulwala which was formed when the Murray River was dammed. Both the Ovens and Goulburn Rivers flow into the lake as well. The lake is very large and we stopped to watch the swans with their signets along the edge of the lake. What a beautiful site. We decided to drive on the NSW of the river to Barooga and stopped for the night at Scott’s Beach near Cobram on the Victorian side of the river.
We had our first caravan hiccup and eventually worked out that the batteries needed replacing so we used our generator to power the van until we could get the replacement batteries.
After stopping at Cobram on the Victorian side of the river we crossed back into NSW to Barooga and onto Tocumwal further west along the Murray. It was a great drive through lush country of vineyards and fat grazing cattle. We drove back into Victoria and headed to Barmah State Park for a Wetlands River Cruise with Kingfisher Cruises. The area has the largest stand of River Red Gums and many water birds, trees, animals and plants. It was a lovely 2 hours and the pace was just perfect to nod off but we managed to stay awake.
Echuca was the largest inland Port in Australia in the 1860s at the height of the gold rush when most of the goods were transported along the Murray. There are still many paddle steamers & houseboats on the river at the Port of Echuca but now they are all tourist vehicles.
Friday 26 October to Thursday 1 November
Sydney to Echuca
Blog 1
It was good to be back on the road again with our car and van perfectly fixed after our Tanami Road mishap.
The weather gods were good to us and the rain held off while we packed the caravan and it only started to rain once we were on the road.
Our main focus for this trip was to follow the mighty Murray River from almost its source in the High Country in Victoria to its mouth at Goolwa in South Australia. We considered the beginning of our explore to be Wodonga on the NSW-Victorian border. It was too difficult to take the caravan up into the mountains to the source of the river plus we had previously done the Victorian High Country on a 4WD tenting trip.
We enjoyed our familiar drive down the Hume Highway and were pleased to see new green growth after the recent rains.
We stayed at Boathaven Holiday Park situated on Lake Hume, 15km out of Wodonga and made it our base for the next 4 days.
We drove the 20km around the Lake Hume where the water levels were very low due prolonged drought and headed toward the mountains to Tallangatta, a small town which had been moved to a new site further from the lake in the 1950s. As a result of this they hold a 50s Festival each year and this was the weekend. We had a great time and enjoyed the local flavour especially Dean Vagus, the Australian Elvis Impersonator who happens to be the best in the world according to the largest Elvis impersonator festival in the world, in Canada. He was FANTASTIC.
We left Wodonga and headed west on the NSW side of the Murray River along the Riverina Highway. Our first stop was the little town of Howlong where we stopped at Lions Park for our 1st walk along the Murray River. The river was very low but the River Red Gums are magnificent. We then crossed the Murray to the Victorian side and drove to our 1st free rest stop along the mighty Murray at Police Paddocks. It gained this name as there was a bridge built from this stop on the river to an island which is where the police horses were kept and rested. We walked along the river, lit our fire and just sat and enjoyed the beautiful peace and quiet of the river. There were lots of sulfur crested cockatoos, kookaburras, magpies and lorikeets to provide the symphony while we BBQd dinner.
Our first stop the next day was at Corowa just 12km along the river.
We walked the lovely little town and stopped to look at all the old federation houses. Corowa is known for the part it played in the Federation of Australia. It took 50years from the beginnings of the movement of the League of Federation till Federation actually happened on 1 January 1901. Prior to Federation 6 separate colonies were each governed by its own parliament and they had no Federal Parliament to deal with common matters. This caused great confusion. In 1891 Federation Leagues formed everywhere and in 31 July and the 1st August 1893 Corowa Federation League organised the conference where Dr John Quick proposed a motion that to change the direction and the pace of Federation. We went through the court house and then drove on to Rutherglen. On the way we stopped at Morris Winery which makes the Muscat that Mike LOVES. The whole region has the most beautiful vineyards and even though the area is in a drought it still looks lush and green. We then stopped at Wicked Olives and Calico wines and of course bought some olives.
We then drove into Rutherglen and browsed through the fantastic information centre which had all the local produce for sale. We walked up and down main street stopping for lunch at Parker Pies renowned for their award winning pies.
We continued west along the Murray Valley Highway to Yarrawonga in Victoria and Mulwala in NSW both on Lake Mulwala which was formed when the Murray River was dammed. Both the Ovens and Goulburn Rivers flow into the lake as well. The lake is very large and we stopped to watch the swans with their signets along the edge of the lake. What a beautiful site. We decided to drive on the NSW of the river to Barooga and stopped for the night at Scott’s Beach near Cobram on the Victorian side of the river.
We had our first caravan hiccup and eventually worked out that the batteries needed replacing so we used our generator to power the van until we could get the replacement batteries.
After stopping at Cobram on the Victorian side of the river we crossed back into NSW to Barooga and onto Tocumwal further west along the Murray. It was a great drive through lush country of vineyards and fat grazing cattle. We drove back into Victoria and headed to Barmah State Park for a Wetlands River Cruise with Kingfisher Cruises. The area has the largest stand of River Red Gums and many water birds, trees, animals and plants. It was a lovely 2 hours and the pace was just perfect to nod off but we managed to stay awake.
Echuca was the largest inland Port in Australia in the 1860s at the height of the gold rush when most of the goods were transported along the Murray. There are still many paddle steamers & houseboats on the river at the Port of Echuca but now they are all tourist vehicles.
posted by Mike and Carol at
9:00 AM
