Another week has passed already.  We spent 6 nights at Buronga Caravan Park (just opposite Mildura on the Murray River).  We went on a day trip to Wentworth and found the lookout for the junction of the Murray and Darling rivers.  There is a lot of water in the Murray at the moment – so much in fact we couldn’t go on a lunch cruise we wanted to because the water was too high to dock the paddle steamer at the restaurant. We were told when the river is lower there is a distinct difference in colour between the Darling and Murray rivers but today they both just looked muddy! We then found a walk on the island between the two rivers which took us to the confluence of the rivers.

One of the things we both wanted to do was a Riverboat cruise on the Murray.  We went on a two hour cruise that included going through one of the locks. It didn’t take long for the water level to rise, maybe 10-15 minutes. We spent a lot of time just sitting around our campsite as it was a very relaxing spot to be but all things come to an end and we headed for Echuca for 3 nights.  We took our time getting there stopping at Swan Hill on the way for lunch. Driving through the Murray River valley at the moment is very pretty as all the blossom trees are in bloom.

At Echuca we went on another cruise, this time on the Pevensey which was used in the 1980s mini series “All the Rivers Run”. This was only for an hour but it was powered by a steam engine which one of us was enthused by.  Of course when you are staying in a town that is advertised to have “the best fish and chips in Victoria” you just have to have fish and chips for dinner – that was our excuse anyway.

Now we are in Albury for 3 nights after driving into a number of smaller town city centres along the way.  There have been so many smaller towns that we have bypassed along the way that we could easily return down this way and spend much more time wandering around these towns – what did travelers do before the GPS was invented? Yes, I know, the passenger could navigate…..

We planned the rest of our journey home yesterday so that really emphasised the fact that we are nearly home but we are trying not to think about the end of the trip just yet – still lots to see and do.

I had a turn of “captaining” the Rothbury.  I was surprised at just how hard it was to turn the wheel – it took me all of my limited strength to do this

This family of ducks entertained everyone at happy hour.

On the road from Swan Hill to Echuca we were surprised to come across this crop dusting and see how close to the road he was flying.  He crossed the road after each round of dusting, did a u turn and back across the road to continue the dusting.

Echuca Wharf