Entry 6 = Victoria north eastern corner - following the River Murray westbound.
Coming out of the Snowy Mountains National Park we were soon leaving New South Wales travelling into the state of Victoria. Stopping at the information centre at the township of Corryong where we assessed the obtained information for the area and the nearby Burrowa-Pine Mountain National Park caught our attention.
After about ½ hours’ drive we arrived at an out of the way Bluff Creek campground with only 5 camp sites. We weren’t expecting anyone else to be as silly as us showing up at a cold, wet cloud covered bush campground. We were a bit surprised to see another caravan set up and we utilized the site at the other end of the campground providing maximum privacy between camps.
We were in need of a refreshing walk and headed along a 2 kilometre track with a steady climb watching our footing on wet slippery rocks to the Bluff Falls waterfall. About half way to the falls the couple belonging to the other caravan were returning from the falls.
All four people instantly recognised one another with big grins. We had met Rob and Pam at a friend’s place twice over the last three years with our last meeting 26th January this year. We all excitably started chattering away so pleased to meet one another whilst caravanning at an out of the way bush camp.
We let them return to camp and we continued on to the water falls. The bush setting along with the walk and the waterfalls all provided a satisfying feeling justifying our visit to this location, even with the country side around us partially covered by low clouds and our bodies getting a soaking from the fine misty almost humid conditions.
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| Bluff Falls partially engulfed by misty clouds |
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| Falls lookout |
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| Cool down |
Back at camp we chatted merrily away with Pam and Rob for an
extended happy hour. By then it was time for tea and bed.
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| Steve, Pam, Rob & Mary |
After a couple of nights at Bluff campground we relocated about 30 kilometres north east, setting camp on the banks of the River Murray at Clarke Lagoon Wildlife Reserve. This was another great setting camped amongst some grand old red gum trees.
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| Clarke Lagoon with River Murray flowing by |
The water had been flowing quite quickly in the upper reaches along the River Murray. Steve was filling up the bucket with water and it was nearly pulled out of his hand by the force of the flowing water at Clarke Lagoon. We also noticed the height of the water level was constantly changing at the various campgrounds we had stopped at over the last week. On our previous entry 5 with the picture showing us sitting on rocks out in the water at Geehi Flats campground with some overnight rain at that location and the probability of even more rain further back up in the mountains during the night resulted with these rocks being underwater in the morning. Steve thought the water level had risen after our first night at Clarke Lagoon and placed a vertical stick in the ground alongside of the river. In the morning the river had receded about 10 centimetres showing the volume of flowing water was constantly changing.
After a couple of nights at Clarke Lagoon we continued west
along the Murray River Road viewing a few other no cost camp locations on the
banks of the River Murray. There were many splendid camping locations with
water views, all with a handful of campers present. After inspecting Burrowye Bend the flow of the river slowed as it started
to enter the upper reaches of the Hume Dam which stretches back from the dam
wall about 100 kilometres.
We camped the night inland a bit at Cotton Tree Creek
campground after travelling about 50 kilometres for the day. We had the
campground to ourselves but it just didn’t feel as nice as the camping areas
along the River Murray. At least there was a nice walking track to compensate.
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| Hume Dam - waters banking up some 100 kilometres |
We set camp and then sat in the waters of the River Murray
to cool off in the 34 C heat with a much more sedate flow now we were on the other
side of the Hume Dam.
To obtain a picture of our setting at times can involve
quite a bit of effort and determination to achieve the final presentation. The
below picture shows Steve’s effort and willpower to get that photo. With the 10
second timer set, finger on the button, button depressed, Steve making his way
as quickly as he can to the targeted location, sometimes can take several shots
with some supreme effort.
The night sky appeared clear of clouds and the heavens were ablaze
with stars.
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Waking up to beautiful scenery all around you was very satisfying
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| Morning mist on water surface |
Three nights at Stanton’s Bend left us about 6 days to get
home by our determined time line. A check of our considered route equated to a
travelling distance of about 1000 kilometres. Helped by the arrival of some cold
weather and the nice warm interior of our tow tug we drove to the township of
Echuca a distance of about 200 kilometres without stopping to explore other
locations along the way.
We set camp at Rotary Park where you are required to be
self-contained; a no frills low cost location. Echuca turned out to be a rather
large town too big to be able to walk around to view or obtain your needs. It
seemed by the volume of shops and business that whatever requirements you were
in need of it would most likely be obtainable at Echuca.
We came up with possible options A to D. Fellow travellers whom
we initially met during 2013 Mick & Jen lived at Deniliquin which was located
75 kilometres north. We were travelling west but we thought it prudent to make
the phone call.
After spending 5 minutes on the phone with Mick we
introduced option E. It was decided to return to the Echuca information centre
the next morning to seek out some extra information for option E.
The next morning we found ourselves wide awake at 3 am and
not going back to sleep. At 4.30 am we decided to get up and have breakfast. A
temperature check on the internet showed an outside temperature of 3 degrees.
Thank goodness for our diesel heater - a part of our equipment rarely used.
After about 20 minutes our inside temperature was a very comfortable 22 C and
we were both ready to return to bed but we needed to finish our hot cuppa’s
first.
Later in the morning which just happened to be later than we
had initially planned we returned from town to the caravan and were on our way
with strategies for option E. Mick and Jen were at Wallaroo, South Australia
and were heading home the next day. They were planning to stop overnight at the
township of Euston. Option E = Euston was about 300 kilometres away and along
our considered western travelling route about 25 kilometres past our proposed turn
off. We would allow two days to get to Euston so as not to overly exhaust
ourselves from too much driving and obtain a pleasurable social fix catching up
with Mick & Jen.
Our travelling route followed the River Murray where we
stopped for a look at a few possible overnight camp locations. These consisted
of dirt tracks along the edge of the river amongst river red gum trees.
Unfortunately all the tracks were quite dug up due to vehicle movement on them
whilst wet making them quite difficult to negotiate with a caravan in tow. We ended
spending a pleasant night with about 20 other caravans and motor homes in a RV
(recreational vehicle) parking area in the township of Nyah.
At Euston it was great catching up with Mick & Jen. They
were heading home from their annual pilgrimage, spending 3 weeks at Wallaroo
caravan park with about eight other couples. As it turned out 2 of those
couples were in Mick’s slip stream whilst heading home, driving about 650
kilometres for the day. Thus an initial thought of a quiet evening meal at the
local club ended up being seated at a table with 4 lively couples.
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| Steve, Kaye, Peter, Mary, Jen, Mick, Geoff & Kaylen |
About 50 kilometres down the road was the location of our
next destination, Hattah Kulkyne National Park where we set camp near the banks
of Hattah Lake.
On route to Hattah Lake we had initially looked at another
camp location on the banks of the River Murray, “The Boiler,” which did look
quite nice but you were perched near some steep banks about 3 – 4 metres above
the river. Yes it was a no cost location where you needed to be self-efficient
but we were on our last few days of this trip and we had enjoyed quite a lot of
time spent camping on the river and on this occasion we took a punt and
continued to Hattah Lake.
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| The Boiler |
We were camped amongst beautiful old knotty river red gum
trees accompanied by the constant sound from many different varieties of birds
calling out flying all around us.
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| Beautiful ancient large river red gum trees with our camp in the background between the trees |
Heading for home our next stop was at the Pink Lakes
campground part of the Murray-Sunset National Park. At this time of the year the
beds of the lakes are covered by dry salt. With the onset of rain with water
flowing into the lakes they change to a pink colour caused by a species of red
algae with growth triggered in the lake of the algae. It was a nice quiet
peaceful location.
From the Pink Lakes we drove home a distance of about 350
kilometres. For us this was a long tiring day which we had spent the previous day
preparing, psyching ourselves up for the days challenge.
We had spent 37 days away travelling with our caravan. This
was a short outing for us. From the very first day back in our caravan it felt
good, with our inner self-satisfaction growing each day.
For us the adrenalin generated from the experience of
travelling to many new locations, with the added bonus of relishing the
environment in the midst of these beautiful locations. Where we utilize the
home base luxuries provided by our caravan has contributed to improving our
lifetime wellbeing. We love it.
Over these 37 days our costs averaged out to about $45 per
day all-inclusive, while travelling a distance of about 3400 kilometres.
