Echuca and Along the Murray.

We leave Melbourne heading for Echuca on the Murray River. We drive out along the highway towards Bendigo, and it isn't long before we are at Heathcote. We stop at a wonderful bakery for early lunch. The place is packed. Now the wine lovers among you will be familiar with the Heathcote region. It is one of Australia's premium red wine producing areas, and the road is lined with the vineyards showing the colours of autumn. There is nothing much better than a Heathcote shiraz!


We drive on towards Echuca, arriving mid afternoon, and find the Echuca Top Tourist Holiday Park, situated at the end of the "old town" area. It is a big park, right on the banks of the Murray River, and with friendly staff we find our site and settle in. Driving into the park was a hoot! We think it is the friendliest caravan park in Australia, as everyone is coming out to look at us. We wind down the windows to acknowledge the waves, and hear the reason for their interest. Our newly serviced suspension is creaking like a 90 year old jogger!! The noise is deafening!! A quick call to the service company, puts us at ease, along with a liberal coating of lubricant!!

Restored Paddle Steamers at Echuca.

Echuca is a prosperous town, heavily reliant on tourism. The town itself is in two sections, the old port section, which is beautifully restored and even has the wharf undergoing a refurbishment, and the new business district. It has a nice feel to it. The old days of busy life as a river port are reproduced, with a number of restored paddle steamers offering lunch & dinner cruises, or simple 1 to 1.5 hour cruises, and even 3 night packages along the river. There are also dozens of luxury houseboats for hire, many of which are very large and very smart, with 4 double bedrooms, large entertaining lounges and BBQ's, plus huge ice chests for those that favour a cool beverage!

Lots of damage from the recent floods.

Also along the Murray are some of Australia's best golfing destinations. Here at Echuca, the golf is across the river in the sister NSW town of Moama. The golf club is Rich River Golf Club, which has a huge licensed club full of pokies, a motel to accommodate the golfers, and two magnificent Peter Thompson designed 18 hole championship courses. They are in great condition, and Carol & I enjoyed a social round together, and then later in the week John played in both the Thursday and Saturday member's competitions. Whilst the golf was average, the local members were great fun to play with, and a wealth of information about what's good and what's not, in the area. Lawn bowls is also big business along the Murray.They play for serious prizes including cash, and lots of people in the caravan park are drawn to the town for the bowls! If the golf doesn't improve, a bag of bowls may yet be purchased!!


We didn't travel far from town. It was nice just walking through the Old part of town. John got lost in two of the best caravan accessory shops he's come across, and there were plenty of shops where Carol could also be entertained. Add some great cafes and pubs, and it is a nice relaxing place to spend a week or two. We took a liking to the Star Hotel, drawn by the happy hour and two for one drinks, plus the excellent wood fired pizza, and some good live music on the weekends. 

A cruise on the EmmyLou.

We took a cruise on the Emmy Lou. It was a nice day and we just headed up river and back over a leisurely hour and a half. We were a bit disappointed at the lack of commentary. We were told the history of every paddle steamer tied up along the port, and then didn't hear another word! The river was showing the effects of the big floods earlier in the year. Lots of trees down, and the river bank badly washed away in parts. Still, it was a lazy way to fill in an afternoon, with the trees full of chattering Corella and sulphur crested cockatoos. There are so many of these guys along the river, and as the sun goes down each afternoon, the noise around the caravan park is deafening as the huge flocks relocate to their night time resting place. It is a terrific sound. Carol reckons they sound so happy!!

Lazing along the river.

So the week in Echuca has flown by. We leave on Mother's Day and head for Adelaide. I have arranged a Skype hook up with my brother Neil, so we can say hi to Mum on Mother's Day. We stop in the small river town of Cohuna, and call. As usual mum gets overcome at seeing our picture on the screen, but it is so nice to see her all dressed up and ready for Mother's Day lunch with the family. We also get to catch up with most of the family, who are at Mum's for morning tea, which is really nice. It is times like this we feel that little bit homesick. Soon, we get back on the road, heading for our overnight stay at Robinvale, right on the banks of the Murray. 

Fully restored Catalina Bomber.

Before arriving at Robinvale we pass through the lake district around Kerang. One of the lakes and townships is Lake Boga, and we are fascinated by a sign that points to the Catalina Flying Boat Museum. We take a detour and are gob smacked at what we find. Inside a huge hanger is a fully restored Catalina Bomber, with its 107 feet wingspan. The history of Lake Boga as a secret WWII flying boat air base is fully laid out. Once the Japanese bombed Darwin, a safe place to hide and service the remaining Allied amphibious aircraft. Lake Boga was selected, and a huge military camp was constructed servicing Australian, American and Dutch aircraft. Thousands of service men and women were based here.

Overnight drive thru at Robinvale.

Robinvale is a delightful caravan park and we note it down for a future longer stay. Next morning we cross the border into South Australia. All our remaining fruit and vegetables are confiscated at the border. Really strict about the dreaded fruit fly. We had eaten all the fruit before we got to the border, but the spuds and onions were deemed treacherous, so they went too!! We stopped in Mildura for early lunch, then on to Renmark and Pingara, which looked like really nice caravan parks, and again were noted down for a future stay. This country is so amazing. There are so many places to explore.


Now safe in South Australia, we stop at one of the many fruit stalls, and restock. New season oranges,apples, grapes and tomatoes. We even bought some home dried nectarines, which are delicious. Soft and juicy, and so full of flavour. Not hard like the supermarket stuff!! We drive through thousands of acres of vineyards. They line the road on both sides as far as you can see. Some of the bulk wine producers like Berri Estates and Banrock Station, have dozens of giant stainless steel tanks, standing as evidence of the volumes of Chateau Cardboard that goes into bladders and boxes, rather than bottles.


Mid afternoon, we arrive at the Barossa Valley, heart of Australia's wine industry, and check into the Top Tourist Holiday Park at Nuriootpa. We have a huge site alongside the adjoining playing fields and get settled in, for the coming week.