On Top of the World in the Snowy Mountains

After spending so long in the inland and river valleys it's been great to get into the mountains.  From Rutherglen we joined the Hume Highway near Wodonga and drove north to Holbrook in New South Wales before heading into the mountains.  Our destination is 18km from Tumbarumba where we plan to spend a few days at Paddys River Flat.



Another lovely grassy free campsite on Paddys River.  Back to nature as there's no phone, WiFi or TV and limited radio reception.  There are only a few caravans and motorhomes when we arrive but this place will be packed out in another week when the Christmas holiday season is in full swing.  Regulars tell us that there will be close to 40 campers there between Christmas and New Year.  We've put this spot on our list to come back to and will make sure we're there well before Christmas to get a good site close to the river for the holidays.  Not far from our campsite are the picturesque Paddy's River Falls.

There's plenty to see around Tumbarumba and it's got good shopping facilities as well.  A few kms out of town is the Jolly Berries blueberry farm.  We call in to buy some of their berries and have an ice cream with fresh blueberry sauce - YUM!!








After the berry farm we drive into the nearby Sugar Pine Forest.  This is a 2.5 Ha reserve of American Sugar Pines that were planted in 1928.  The grove of majestic trees is a popular wedding venue.

The next morning we head further into the mountains and the Snowy Mountains National Park, checking out some campsites as we drive along Elliotts Way.  O'Hare's Campsite looks pretty good, on the river with plenty of nice big flat sites.  Travel is slow along narrow, steep and windy roads and we average about 50kph.

About an hour from our camp we arrive at our destination - Cabramurra, Australia's highest town at 1,488m.  There are great views from the lookout.  Cabramurra has many lupin plants, and they were all in flower and looking beautiful.  The residents are gradually removing these imported plants as they are spreading so quickly they are now regarded as a noxious weed.  Even so, they are very pretty. 

On our way back we stop off to look at the huge electrical substation, part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme.  This nation building scheme of the 1960s harnessed the power of the rivers of the Snowy Mountains and still produces large amounts of electricity for south eastern Australia.






One of the main reasons for our stop at Tumbarumba is to see the Pioneer Womens Hut Museum.  This hands on museum is focussed on everyday women and how they lived.  Visitors are encouraged to touch the exhibits and there are gloves provided to protect the fragile articles.  One room is full of archive boxes packed with all manner of things - clothing and everyday articles from bygone days.  This has been one of the best museums we've been to.  Robert has been here before and this was one of the museums he used in his Master's thesis.

The complex is also home to the National Quilt Collection with quilts dating back to the late 19th century on display.  Quilts here are made from rabbit skins, recycled clothing, various fabrics - anything that could be used for warmth.







Around the buildings are several sculptures.  "George and His Dogs" is silhouetted against the landscape and there are many garden sculptures too.

We decided to drive straight through to Canberra after our 4 days in the mountains.  We've struck very hot weather so opted to head for the air conditioned comfort of the EPIC Caravan Park in Canberra for a few days.  On our way we stopped to check out the Three Mile Dam campground near Kiandra - another good one.

We'll be in the Canberra area for a few weeks.  We're spending Christmas with family there and then will be doing a  house-sit for a couple of weeks.  Then we'll be heading north for the winter.

Along the Murray Valley

Our trip along the Murray River continued from South Australia's Riverland into Victoria.


We camped overnight near Mildura at Psyche Bend, a spot that had been recommended to us.  It seems that any campsite on the Murray with "bend" in its name is pretty good.

The next day we  headed south to Ouyen before making our way back to the river at Piangil where we had another overnight stop before proceeding on to Swan Hill and then to Lake Boga.

Lake Boga was an inland flying boat base in World War II and Australian and US Catalina flying boats were serviced and repaired there.  At its height there were over 1,000 personnel on the base.  We spent some time at the excellent and informative museum.  We sat through a 20 minute film about the Lake Boga Base after we had walked through the communications bunker which shows the rooms as they would have been during the war.




This time our overnight camp was at the Traveller's Rest Campsite in Leitchville, a small town just off the Murray Valley Highway.  This lovely landscaped site is maintained by the local council and we were serenaded by the many birds which call the trees and bushes home.  We had planned to stop off at Cobram as we  travelled along the Murray Valley but we decided to keep going and spend a couple of days at Rutherglen.


The Rutherglen Caravan Park runs alongside a waterbird sanctuary, and there were plenty of birds around.  Ducks, egrets, ibis, herons, galahs and even a tawny frogmouth were around.  Rutherglen is in the centre of a food and wine area.  There are many vineyards and wineries, olive groves with fresh olive oil and even a brewery and a chocolate factory.  No need to starve here - the hard decision is where to go next.

We drove into the nearby city of Wangaratta to do some shopping and drove back through the farmland.  It was great to have an extra day to explore so we had morning tea at the specialty Renaissance Chocolate Factory before driving on to Boorhaman to the Buffalo Brewery where we bought some of their boutique beers for later consumption.  Sunday morning was market day at nearby Yarrawonga so we checked out the markets in this pretty town where the eucalypts along the highway were in full bloom.


Monday morning we packed up and headed east to the Hume Highway and then north and back into New South Wales.

A Few Days in the Riverland

After our week relaxing with friends in Gawler it was time to hitch up and start heading east again.  We drove north through the Barossa Valley, through hills and vineyards until we reached the flat floodplains of the mighty Murray River.  We drove about 200km to Waikerie and into South Australia's fruit bowl.

We set up camp at Holder's Bend Campsite and had the place to ourselves.  After many weeks of fine sunny weather, we've got some rain so we just relaxed and watched the river go by.  While we were minding our own business a riverboat paddled past.  Boats are a significant tourist activity with plenty of cruises available and houseboats for hire.  The river is deep and slow moving and is home to many waterbirds here.

Rain showers the next morning as we packed up for the short drive to Berri, via Loxton.  Loxton has lovely dry country gardens as we drive into the town.  The countryside around Berri is picturesque with vines and fruit trees loaded with fruit - grapes, nectarines, peaches, oranges, lemons, mandarines, figs and apricots.  It's peach and nectarine season and we've bought some fruit at a roadside fruit stall as we take the scenic drive after we've set up camp.  Our campsite at Martin's Bend is great.  Plenty of room, with the river close by.

The scenic drive took us all around Berri and surrounding districts.  We were lucky that the Lavender Farm was open.  The aroma was beautiful as we had coffee in the cafe there before walking around the garden looking at the different varieties of lavender.  At nearby Monash we stopped off at the Adventure Playground.  The Chocolate Shop across the road was closed (possibly a good thing!).

The next morning we set off for Renmark, only about 20kms away and the biggest town in the Riverland.  Again we ventured off on the scenic tourist drive, following the informative brochure from the Information Centre.  Morning tea was at Ruston's Roses Cafe.  This rose farm supplies cut roses all over Australia from their 50,000 rose bushes.  Our drive took us past several wineries, vineyards and orchards as we wound our way around the countryside.

We detoured to Cooltong which was an ex-servicemen's settlement established after World War II before stopping off at the McCormick Centre for the Environment, a facility set up to support environmental education, research and nature based tourism.  The Rotary Lookout provided panoramic views from the highest point in Renmark.







We've done our bit for the economy here in the Riverland, buying plenty of fruit - fresh and dried, and almonds from the nut processing factory.  Plenty of yummy snacks for Christmas.


Next we're off to Mildura, about 160km away, on the NSW/Victorian borderland and we'll still be camping on the banks of the Murray River as we make our way along the Murray Valley Highway.  At least we won't have to make timezone calculations quite so often as we move out of the Central timezone into Australian Eastern Summer Time.

Barossa Valley

While we're in Gawler we have to visit the nearby Barossa Valley.  What a great day!!  First stop was the German Bakery at Lyndoch for coffee and cake for morning tea.

Then we moved on to the Yallara Winery with its castle-like buildings for a wine tasting.  The scenery is very picturesque and the green vineyards are a contrast to the yellow crops being harvested in South Australia at this time of year.






We drove around the back roads of the Barossa passed the property owned by Craig's family and now run by his cousin.  We stopped off at the Barossa Pioneer Lookout and saw the sculpture garden and memorial to the pioneers of the area.



















Lunch was at the Tanunda pub - excellent food enjoyed by us all.








Finally we stopped off at the Liebich Winery, owned by Craig's cousin, for another wine tasting before making our way back to Gawler.