Safari 2018 June19th

June 19th  Darby's Falls Reserve

We left our caravan at the Darby’s Falls Reserve and back tracked to see the Wyangala Dam Reserve which is large and interesting with many cabins for accommodation and many caravan and tent sites. The Dam Wall is quite huge being 1.5 kms across. Unfortunately we were unaware that we could have walked along it…maybe next time!

We tracked back to the caravan, hooked up again and traveled on to Cowra which is quite a hilly town with a population of a little over 10,000 people.

The country continues to be hilly and undulating with a dominance of granite boulders which vary in size but would certainly make it practically impossible to cultivate for cropping. Sheep are the main farming pursuit. 

Windfarm overooking the out flow of the Cancoar Dam.

From Cowra we have traveled north east to the Carcoar Dam. This is much smaller than the Wyangala Dam. The Cancoar Reserve is available for camping. It is cold and breezy this evening so we will be glad of our generator to provide for some heating.

Across the Dam there are 7 large wind towers turning in this evening’s wind. They make a constant hum in the background but not enough to stop us sleeping I am sure.

Safari 2018 June 18th

June  18th Oura Beach campsite on the Murrumbidgee River

Murrumbidgee River at Oura Beach

After  a lengthy walk along the Murrumbidgee at the Oura Beach campsite  we left about 10.30 am. We headed north through Junee, Cootamundra, Harden, Boorowa to Darby's Reserve on the banks of the Lachlan River near Cowra. It is a pretty spot with tall eucalypt trees which we have not identified.

The drive today took us through undulating farmlands. I thoroughly enjoyed it as the sky was blue after yesterday's rain. Some areas have had rain while others looked quite dry. Sheep and grain crops are obviously the main farming pursuits.

Stripping bark near our van

Bridge over the Lachlan River

Safari 2018 17th June

June 17th 

Our trip has begun on a very cold winter day. We left Milawa a little before 10.30 this morning with a temperature of 7 deg. At about 3.30 pm we settled on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River a short distance north east of Wagga at a place called Oura Beach. The temperature is about 8 deg. and rain has been falling all day. Most country has had some earlier rain and it is good to see that the pastures have turned green.

Correa blooms

I have 3 tiny correa bushes in my home garden
They all have bright orange flowers on them at present. I wonder whether they will still be in bloom on our return. Luckily John has made protective screens of plastic mesh to place around them to protect them from white cockatoos and/or pale headed rosellas.

Safari 2018 #1

May 29th 2018

We are again  'readying' ourselves and our van in preparation for our annual trip north. It is a week or so until we leave but, because our family is visiting next week I feel the need to do as much preparation as I can. We will be away for about 8 weeks. This year instead of posting a blog each night I plan to post one at each new camp. Hopefully this will make the overall blog a little shorter and easier to read. Late autumn rains have arrived which will leave our garden with a head start.

August 16th 2017

We had the first rain for our 9 week safari. It seemed to rain nearly all night. At Deniliquin there was a good fall because we could see a lot of roadside water as we travelled eastward. Paddocks were quite flooded in places. When we arrived in Milawa the gutters either side of the road were full of water and to our amazement our garden was flooded and 2 ducks had taken up residence. They looked very contented catching their afternoon nibbles from our lawn. But weren't we lucky to have so many dry days with a clear blue sky while we were away.

Our home lawn flooded

John had arranged to go via Rutherglen to do a small task for his niece, Angela, at All Saints Winery.
This did not take long so we wandered around All Saints and enjoyed the lawns and gardens. The display of iceland poppies was most attractive. I have not seen poppies for a very long time. Angela had booked a table for us to have lunch at 'The Terrace' Restaurant. This was delightful..a special change from my regular holiday 'cut lunch'.

We are home this evening sitting in front of our home fire. It sounds wintery outside with rain still falling. The winter has been severe while we have been travelling. Frosts have caused a lot of damage which is disappointing but hopefully plants will re-shoot when Spring comes.

The van has had everything removed from it...cupboards, drawers and refrigerator have all been cleaned out. The mess inside the house has now to be tidied and the van cleaned. and the clothes washed. It will all gradually happen.

We are most thankful for a warm and dry, healthy and safe holiday. Now after a few days John has mapped out our trail of over 10,000km.

Our trail for Safari 2017

August 15th 2017

Yango Homestead

There was a small amount of rain overnight but not enough to make the grey banks of the Murrumbidgee River slippery and boggy. We set off to see the historic Yango Homestead which was built during the 1870s. The beautiful decorative and quite well tended gardens, overlook the Yanga Lake. There are many buildings to walk around and through..including a wonderful old Carriage Shed and the Cook's Cottage which overlooks the Tennis Courts, and now houses a fascinating display of artefacts, photos, films and memorabilia. The wide verandas and gardens would have lent themselves to some very generous entertaining by the families who lived here.

John enjoying lunch on the banks of the Edward River

The rain was intermittent but we were able to enjoy lunch on the banks of the Edward River. However the rain increased so we eventually decided to abandon our last night of camping among the red gums and opt for a Caravan Park in Deniliquin. Now, at 8.30 pm, the rain is steady so we are pleased to be on dry, hard ground which will have no chance of bogging our rig.

The road between Moulamein and Deniliquin has long been declared a 'Stock Route'. We drove these 88 km today. It is a road with very wide verges. One side was fenced quite close to the road and the other fence was some distance away, we could not easily see it. We came upon a large mob of black cattle. They were happily feeding and then we realised that they had 'minders' or drovers..not with horses and dogs but with a couple of utes and a 4 wheel motorbike. Further on there was a caravan plus a couple of other vehicles which, I am sure, were providing cooking, eating, sleeping and general living conveniences. Modern droving is far removed from the old days of droving with many horses and dogs, plus a food wagon and a cook. Your bed would have been the ground with your head on your saddle. Because of the many dry areas in Australia, these cattle have, most likely, been taken out on the road to find food/grass to eat because they are suffering from the drought conditions on the property to which they belong.

August 14th 2017

My day began, around 7.00 am,when I looked out the window and saw the most colourful sunrise.

Sunrise at my front door

But there were dark clouds to the south. This disturbed us a little as we planned to travel to Pooncarie on the east side of the Darling River and the road is mostly gravel. Luckily for us the road was very good and the rain came only in very light sprinkles. Some sections had been sealed since we travelled this way before. The grey soil of the Darling River continued but, sadly, the water flow was weak and low in the channel. We saw the Darling and Murray Rivers in flood last November when we visited Mildura... what a sight it was with these two major rivers merging during a flood.

On going through Pooncarie we thought of our friend Doug as we saw a white Peugeot truck, high on a pole.

Gradually as we travelled south we left the red sand dunes behind us. Usually I find some plants of Cunningham's Parrot Pea in bloom while we are travelling through dunes but not this year...I was disappointed not to see them! Murray Pines began to appear as we went south and closer to the Murray River.

Coming south down the Darling we passed by the Tolarno Wool Shed where shearing was taking place. The yards were full of sheep..some shorn and some unshorn. It was an interesting comparison to the old sheds we have seen. From the distance the scene was similar, I think.

Luckily the rain did not come our way. We are told that gravel roads, following the Darling R. will be closed after as little as 4mls of rain. The bitumen was welcome and made our trip much easier as we planned to travel nearly 400 km today.

Murrumbidgee River

Later this afternoon after settling our camp into Yango National Park we inspected the old Yango Station Shearing Complex which was supposedly the largest shearing shed in the Southern Hemisphere at its peak. In the 1922 shearing season there were over 93,000 sheep shorn with 40 shearers working together. I cannot image the number of workers employed to support such a team...these would consist of men to pick up fleece and throw it on the sorting table, men pressing the wool and men quickly sweeping the floors ready for the next sheep to be shorn....and do not forget the meals to be cooked...several buckets of potatoes would have been peeled each morning.

A section of the Yango Shearing Shed

The Shearing Season would have been a huge and exciting event!