Par for the course

Well on Saturday we moved here to Echuca, we thought we would find a free spot on the Murray by the river but not to be, we found the area but were disappointed, very muddy in places and lots of campers and after wandering around we decided it wasn't for us, we headed for the Golf club in Moamba on the NSW side of the river and they allow caravans to camp at the back of the resort, lovely spot, about 5 other vans here and it wasn't until we had unhooked and were settling in that I suddenly thought do they allow dogs here, a quick check of Wiki camps says No Dogs..... Oops I missed that didn't I, well felt in a bit of a panic, we had had a long day, it was 4 pm and we didn't want to move, so kept quiet, did think of hiding Bentley under a blanket and only taking him out when it was dark but that was a bit extreme, anyway saw that one other van had a dog, so relaxed a little and thought if anyone tells us to move we will but otherwise just enjoy. It's a great spot, actually a resort, spa, pool, motel as well as the club rooms with 2 bars, bistro, coffee shop and of course gaming room, it's like camping at the Burswood Casino.

Sunday we enjoyed in the port area of Echuca where all the paddle steamers are, we had coffee at the Beechworth Bakery, which is a well known bakery in this area.

Today we went on a paddle steamer for a cruise and they allowed dogs, so Bentley came too, even had his own ticket!  We decided on lunch at the club when we got back and then later back into town to pick up some mail ( thanks Deb) we had coffee and cake at the bakery, needless to say I'm not hungry for tea now.....

Beechworth Bakery

Lovely garden cafe in Echuca

Cruising down the river

Bentley keeping an eye on the engine, obviously knows this is the heart of things.

I'm sure Bentley is enjoying the trip all the othe passengers thought he was very cute ! 

View over the green while we were having lunch

Lunch, quiche for me fish and chips for Brian

Short stay at Mildura

Camped on the river outside Mildura, lovely spot we found yesterday, about half an hour after we set up camp and had put up the awning a storm came through, gusty winds rain etc, both Brian and I were hanging on to the awning trying to roll it up when a fellow camper came to help thankfully and we got it secured away, the rain didn't last long but the thunder rolled around most of the night.

Today Brian took a drive into town to pick up some water and have a Bunnings hit!! 

I stayed at camp making tuna patties for tea etc, after lunch we went a walk along the river, quite a few camp spots along the river most further up by the toilets, on the way back Bentley decided he was hot so went for a swim.... It's ok, he loves the water it's just that he rolls in the dirt after he comes out and by the time we got back he was filthy, so bath time we decided and got buckets of water from the river to wash him, he came up lovely and clean, must be good water this river stuff.

We will probably move on tomorrow as we plan to be in Echuca by Monday to pick up some mail.

View from the van this morning

Lovely spot

One dirty dog, notice his head isn't dirty

Getting water from the river

Bath time

Maybe a massage too...

One lovely clean dog

Leaving Cadell

Well it was time to move on, enjoyed our stay here, over the weekend we had a lot more campers, families with boats, nice crowd. 

We went to the op shop on Sunday, run by two very nice ladies, we asked about water as we needed to top up our 25 and 15 litre containers and one of the ladies took us to her property so we could top them up from her rain water tank! ! Amazingly friendly people.

We moved on Monday very slowly not before 11.30 am and drove to Berri, camped at Martins Bend campsite which is very close to town and free, no camping right on the river but close enough to be able to see the river. Had a quick trip into town for a look around.

Today, Tuesday we went for a bit longer to town, Brian walked along the walk trail, about 2 ks into town and I drove and we had coffee at a riverside cafe, did a little shopping, drove to the very big Berri winery where all those cheap casks of wine come from, not a very appealing place, masses of big vats. Wine was cheap if you bought in bulk but we just got a couple of litre bottles. 

Tomorrow we are moving again towards Mildura.....

Playtime for Bentley

Cadell club where we enjoyed a drink and some nice meals 

One of the weekend campers brought their Ferrets with them, Angus and Hamish, I was worried Bentley might attack them but seems they would have attacked Bentley first, going for his eyes, so the owner told us....

Our campsite at Berri, can't get to close I have my smalls hanging on the awning.

View from our doorway 

Cadell

Enjoying our stay at Cadell, they have a good community and a local club, we went for a meal on Wednesday night, blackboard menu, $12. Karen and Ron our neighbours joined us and we had a great social evening, we all chose the Schnitzel, Brian opting for the beef and the rest of us had chicken, also a nice fresh salad bar, great meal, run by volunteers.

We haven't needed Gennie the last few days as been hot and sunny but today I think she may come out, planning on a walk today and tomorrow a drive to Waikerie for supplies and may be pop down to the club for a drink 

Houseboat passing by

Brian going for a swim and Bentley not sure he wants to follow

Enjoying our night out

Brian's beef schnitzel, no room for the salad 

In and out of Morgan

After a lovely week at Walker Flats we moved on to the town of Morgan on Monday morning. We booked into the caravan park for one night as we needed the laundry for washing machines, as soon as we camped as I was in there, two machines on the go and sheets, towels etc  were out on the line before lunch. We had a look around Morgan, I was a bit disappointed with the town, not sure why, friendly people, two pubs opposite each other as seems the norm, lot of history in the town as it was a big inland port years ago. One of our reasons for being here was that the generator we bought of ebay was due to arrive at the post office, it hadn't arrived, but maybe tomorrow.

Tuesday morning we couldn't decide if to stay or move to a free camp about 12ks away at Cadell, finally decided to move so packed up and moved out, parked in town checked post office and still no generator so I rang the courier and it was on the van for delivery that day, we did some shopping and drove out to free camp about 20 mins away and the post office rang to say it had arrived, so it was a matter of setting up camp and making a quick trip back to Morgan. Took us a while to find this camp area but finally got the right road, two other vans here one looks permanent type and a not very friendly bloke, probably an ex crim, looks that way and a lovely couple Karen and Ron who are travelling around like us. After a quick set up we headed back to Morgan and picked up Gennie and bought her some fuel and Brian spent the afternoon playing with her! ! ! I thought you filled it with fuel and pressed a button and away she goes, obviously not, there is a fuel oil ratio,  a priming button, an air intake or something and a cord to pull, but away she purred and we attached her to the van battery and pumped in a few more volts, very pleased with ourselves we headed of to the local club for a drink, we thought we deserved it and had a great chat with the locals, it's a fruit picking area and pears have just finished, some grapes for picking but waiting for oranges to to ripen also a prison farm nearby, somehow I found it more interesting than Morgan....

We headed back to camp and Karen invited us over for a wine and it was about 8pm before we got back to our van to cook tea which was a simple chicken pieces and salad, all in all a busy day

Some photos of our camp site, Brian will have some great night shots on his blog

Our campsite at Cadell reserve

Looking towards the Murray, I love a camp where we can sit out and look at the river, and there is a lovely green lawn too.

Lovely picnic area, Karen tells me there was a wedding here last weekend

Gennie joins the family, she is a 1 kva and weighs 8.5 kilos for those that need to know that info

Moving on

After a busy and noisy weekend in Mannum we have moved on, enjoyed the town of Mannum but found the campsite at the long weekend not what we wanted, looking back on the weekend we seem to spend a lot of time at the bakery, had coffee and donuts there at least twice, bought cake to take back to camp, bought the best Artisan bread we have tasted, $3 a loaf, lovely sour dough taste.

We've moved to Walker Flat further up the Murray and found a lovely spot, other caravans here but nice and quiet. Walker Flat has a ferry crossing, riverside cafe and store and a general store.

Yesterday we stayed around camp but today we took a drive to Swan Reach a town further up the river, checked out the camping areas there in case we decide to stop there and had beer at the hotel. Brian is making a bread dough tonight, will leave it in the fridge and prove tomorrow and all being well we will have fresh bread!! Neighbours had their generator going today and allowed us to plug in to keep our battery charged

Looking over the township of Mannum

German Apple cake from the bakery

Campsite at Walker Flat

Riverside cafe, we got hot chips for our lunch here

Interesting facts about the Murray River

Big Bend lookout

A beer at the hotel Swan Reach over looking the Murray 

Enjoying Mannum

On Saturday morning we went into Mannum, took Bentley a walk and then found a shady spot and left him in the car while we walked the town, a few op and bric bac shops, 2 hotels and a community club and two bakeries, we bought some crossiants at one bakery and had coffee with a free donut at the second, there is a lovely foreshore where the paddle steamer Marion berths and also a museum. Enjoyed our morning and took an Artisan loaf from one of the bakeries back to camp for our lunch, lovely sour dough taste. Brian went back over to town to go around the museum and I relaxed at camp, which has got very busy, had an easy tea of bacon and egg mcmuffin  and watched TV, we were watching Midsomer Murders and became aware of the smell of campfires, which are allowed in campfire pits and then flashing lights of the fire engine and police at the camper next to us, seems the young boys there had lit a fire somewhere and fire and police were called, the boys about 10 years old got a good telling off, a caution and were told they were lucky not to be going to court. When the police left  the parents were very upset with the kids, very embarrassed with the police being called! We went to bed about 10.30 and had loud music playing till about 11.30 and then except for the gun shot about 4.00am it was a quiet night! ! 

Sunday we thought of going on the Marion for a cruise and leaving Bentley in a shady spot but we could feel it's was going to be hot so decide against that, thought about a drive to Murray Bridge about half an hour away but again thought it would be hot there and  may be stay at camp and take it easy in the heat so apart from going to the bakery for some lunch we had a quiet day following the shade for us and the sun for the solar panel. Had a happy hour with our neighbours, the fire bug family left earlier, felt sorry for the parents, they were very upset about it all.

Busy camp site

Marion leaving for a cruise

Mural on wall at caravan park 

Busy on the river today

Temp been about 37 degrees today 

Mannum and Murray River

Today we left Clare, it has been a lovely camping area, and great people. We travelled towards Adelaide and through Gawler turning towards the town of Mannum which is on the Murray River, we saw some ranges ahead but didn't realise we would be travelling up and over them! But we did and the car and van went well, up and down, just when we thought oh we will be heading down there was another hill....

Mannum is about 100ks from Adelaide  and looks a good town to explore and we will do that tomorrow, we crossed on the ferry to the other side of the river and we are camped on a reserve opposite the town, it's a busy camping area, but it is long weekend here in SA so lots of people and dogs around, we have to keep Bentley on the lead here, hard on him as he has had lot of freedom to wander at the last few camps.

Bentley having a rest

Our van going on the ferry

Looking over to Mannum from our camping reserve

Our camping spot, I think we will be surrounded by this time tmw .....

Clare

Arrived in Clare on Monday, we are camped at the race course, took us a while to find a spot we were happy with but once we settled and got power and put the air con things looked good. We are surrounded by lots of luscious green grass, which Bentley loves, have spent the days relaxing, shopping and a drive down to Tarlee which could be our next stop... Maybe... Still thinking.

Last night two more vans pulled in making it a total of 5 vans and we had a very busy big happy hour, some people are here looking for details of their ancestors who came from this area, so they go around the graveyards, also another couple are here to do the markets, they make and sell antique jewellery and have been on the road for 7 years, so lots to chat about with people, where they have been, where they are going. Bentley is behaving beautifully, everyone thinks he is so cute and feed him biscuits etc 

The facilities here are in the Secretary office and we enter through the first aid room, past the weighing in scale for the jockeys, (yes I did use it), past the place to put my saddlecloth if I had one, around the corner and up the stairs to the toilets and showers, quite a trek! 

Today is Thursday and we are going into town, I have a birthday present to post and thought I might see if I can get a hair cut.

Not many photos this post,

Luscious green grass

Brian working on his blog which is briangill65.blogspot.com.au

Social weekend

Well we have spent the weekend socialising....

On Saturday Jim and Jenny came over bringing lunch of Chicken, rolls and salad and after a walk around we enjoyed the lunch and lots and lots of talking, good fun.

On Sunday, today we went to Warooka to catch up with Marie and Michael who are friends of friends, they treated us to a drive to Point Turton, it's good to have locals show you places, they know interesting facts etc and Marie was born in this area so lots to learn from her, we then had a lovely BBQ lunch at their house and left about 3pm feeling very full. Bentley enjoyed his day as he was spoiled by Marie feeding him bbq chicken.

We have been here in Port Julia for a week, very relaxing but thinking of moving on tomorrow towards Clare we think..... Maybe ... 

Brian and Jim chatting

Jenny and Jim

Point Turton

Pelican preening it's self, point Turton

Lovely rose in Marie's garden

Her garden also had lots of Monarch  butterflies, attracted by this particular plant which I can't remember the name of!

Michael and Brian, BBQ nearly ready.