June14th  2017

Another cold night at 2.5 deg with a very bright moon. The day has warmed very quickly to 22 deg. so is very comfortable for driving. 
Menindee was only 40 km away and the road was much better. After Menindee and the turn off to Wilcannia we enjoyed a much better quality gravel road on the north/west side of the Darling River. With a clear blue sky we had a good view of a flock of swans then later a flock of pelicans as they flew over.
The country is very dry with only low vegetation. This is a great comparison to the wet weather of 2016. when all dirt roads were muddy and closed. 
We had lunch on the side of the road then walked across to see the River which has quite a medium amount of water in the deep channel. The river Red Gums are huge and majestic and of course many years old..maybe 500 years.

Looking down stream on the darling River south of Wilcannia

The birds along the Darling are many and varied. We are lucky to be camped on a Billabong at the Warrawong Camp Ground. The birds are very busy..pelicans, darters, corellas, spoon bills, egrets, cormorants and even 2 emus which launched into the water and swam across. I has never seen emus swim before. They climbed the bank not far from us and went on feeding. they didn't even shake their feathers. It all happened so rapidly there was no time for photos.
The park has a lot of visitors and we joined a large group around a camp fire for drinks and nibbles.
Another cold night ahead.

A magnificent old Red Gum On the banks of the Darling River