Designed by
12 day Follow the Rivers tour, May 2011.
Murray, Darling & Murrumbidgee with It's Easy Tours
. DASHING TO THE DARLING WITH DARING DAVID ( Orchard that is) calling on the Murray along the way
Thirty one brave passengers left a little late on a recent Tuesday morning for their trip to the Murray and Darling Rivers as the "Bus" had decided it had a headache. However, after Hilde had spoken sharply to it that was the end of this misbehaviour and we had no more problems.
The first day was a very pleasant easy drive to Cooma -
lots of sunshine, cool breeze and only light traffic. Next day it was
off to Jindabyne noting a little snow on distant hills and anticipating
travelling along the Alpine Way. This was not to be as the Information
Office informed us that, due to snow this road was closed. A slight
backtrack saw us arrive in Adaminaby in pale sunshine to have a quick
cup of tea. Before we had all got a cup, we were suddenly in light snow
so back to the bus we went. From then until we were almost at Talbingo
we travelled through a veritable winter wonderland. Snow lay heavily
on the ground, hung in great bunches on the trees and shrubs and gilded
the fallen branches. Where the country opened out we could all
appreciate the phrase 'snow fields' and at the call "photo stop" the bus
rapidly emptied, cameras clicked and snow balls thrown.. .
At Swan Hill we spent a very interesting time viewing the Lake Boga Catalina Base and Museum where an incredible number of planes, Australian, American and Dutch, were serviced during the Pacific War at this little known lake in the middle of what was then 'no where'
Later in the day we visited the excellent Pioneer Village wandering along the streets, going into the various shops and houses, riding in a horse drawn carriage or a vintage car and feeling glad we had a few modern conveniences back at home. An evening "Sound and Light" show brought the village further to life for the visitors. and it was most revealing to hear the comments of those long gone.
At Mildura disaster hit our river boat when its rudder cable broke just as we were leaving the wharf so our trip on the "Rothbury" had to be abandoned. Instead we drove to Lock 11 and saw at first hand how boats were transferred up and down the river Murray via the Lock. The lawns and gardens spoke loudly of the value of ample water.
On Monday after a comfortable night in Mildura we were
off to Lake Mungo National Park. It was a beautiful clear sunny day
and so we were able to walk with our local guide Tanya out onto the sand
dunes to inspect the ancient fire sites at present revealed by the
shifting sand and to hear of the various discoveries that have been made
in this stark land. We heard of Mungo Man and Woman, of the relics of
animals and shells found in the fire sites and were able to climb up one
of the great sand hills and see something of the size of this incredible
site. which is constantly changing hiding some sites and revealing
other.
Another
magical morning!
On our way to Menindee we made a brief stop at Pooncarie where we were warmly welcomed and where we saw some of the largest river gums to date. After dinner at the pub in Menindee the games people too cover the dining room and soon canasta, crib and 500 were all under way while patient non-paying spouses read or just went to bed. Next morning when we came out to our out of doors breakfast the temperature was a tingling 4 degrees so warm coats, caps mittens and the odd scarf were the way to go.
As the day progressed the sun came out and it was another lovely day. We all enjoyed a boat trip on this part of the Darling with locals Malcolm and Pat (accompanied by their small poodle smart in his red coat). We saw many birds and their nests, learned of the different plants of the river and details of flood levels over the years.. After lunch we saw more of the Menindee Lakes, the Burke and Wills Tree and then visited Kinchega National Park. The size of the wool shed and the details in the accompanying photographs told us much about the life of this enormous station property which in one year produced 1,000,000 pounds of wool all transported out by bullock dray and then river barge to local and overseas markets
Some roads were still impassable after the more recent floods though even more water is expected to come down river from Queensland so at times our driver David had to change to Plan B and even Plan C to get us to our next destination. This occasionally meant a long drive, the odd dusty and corrugated road but there was always something to see and he had an endless number of stories to tell.
Finally, we reached Bourke where we found it was Chinese for dinner and dinner again.. Thursday morning we collected a local guide, Stuart Johnson who had lots to tell us about farming, politics, growing cotton and how to solve the water problem = all we need ever is RAIN = He was a fund of information on Bourke and on the cotton industry showing us cotton being harvested and packed into huge 'modules' in the fields before being carted to the cotton Gins These 'modules' are transported by huge machines or 'moon buggies' and at the gin the cotton is separated from the valuable cotton seed and trash and the final product is baled. This we found to be a fascinating process even though very noisy and dusty. Later that day we all enjoyed a quiet ride on the paddleboat Janda seeing lots more birds and learning a bit more about the trade along the river by the old river boats and the regular floods and droughts that affect the area.
Passing through Brewarrina we saw the aborigine stone fish traps from an earlier time, while from there through Walgett to Narrabri we saw miles and miles of cotton modules waiting to be taken to the gins. This year has obviously been a bumper harvest but while the cotton growers do not want rain until they get the last of their crop in there are others who desperately need it so they can plant their winter grain crops. One young man we spoke to had 50,000 acres just waiting for seed. We thought we saw a lot of cotton near Bourke but coming towards Narrabri there was so much more.
And so home tired but feeling we had seen so much, towns and cities, birds including emus and eagles, lizards, a snake and even a naked lady (that was an exception to the rule) as well as kangaroos. We had learnt much
of this vast land, travelled more than 4,000 ks. and not lost a soul. One infected finger necessitated a call at Bourke hospital, one off balance called for the use of a walking stick and one sore leg needed to be up on the way home, but, all in all not bad for 31 recycled teenagers who felt they had had a great trip.
Our thanks go to our Travel Committee who put so much into the organisation, to David who drove us there and back and saw us fed even though at times it was Chinese and to
our fellow travellers who were such good company all the way..
Story by Gwenda Welsh.
Photos contributed by Brian Smith, Traute Samios, Dave Isaacs, Miriam and Colin Beveridge