Day 37 Thursday 23rd February

As we were leaving Hay this morning we filled up with diesel, then discovered our second flat tyre on the van in two days (and it was the same tyre). The first one had a screw in it, this one was a piece of wire.
We finally left Hay and headed towards West Wyalong, 255 kms away. For the first 80 kms the landscape was unchanged and looked like this -






Suddenly we saw a crop of sunflowers on one side of the road and on the other, well off the road, were olive trees.







So there isn't a lot of spectacular scenery down this way. In the photo above, just below the horizon, the darker line is the olive grove.

John Oxley was the first European to investigate this area in 1817, saying "from want of timber, grass and water, it would never be inhabited by civilised man". (I can see why he thought this.) However squatters began to settle in 1833, introducing sheep and cattle. In 1893, gold was discovered. West Wyalong has a crooked main street, following the original bullock track that curved around trees and gold diggings.
These are some of the murals highlighting the pioneering past.










This second world war plane - a Douglas DC3 Dakota - is in the Lions Club park next to were we are staying. I couldn't find any significance of it being in this location except that it was donated to the West Wyalong Lions Club, so they put it in their park as a tourist attraction.





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Location:West Wyalong

Day 36 Wednesday 22nd February

We left Mildura this morning after going to church for Ash Wednesday. The font in the church was very different. The water flowed gently over the edge and onto the stones in the floor and obviously was being recycled.






The landscape remains much the same as we have seen most of the way - dry wide open plains, grain crops, grape vines, some sheep and cattle. As we got closer to Hay, it was very flat with very stunted growth.




Some of the grape vines were covered with white plastic and it went for miles. Each row was individually covered. Amongst these grapes some vines were growing, possibly pumpkins.





We arrived in Hay this afternoon, which is on the Murrumbidgee River. Three highways meet at Hay - the Sturt, Mid Western and Cobb Highways. Wool has been the major industry in the past, but these days there is a large range of crops grown, such as grapes, rock melons, pumpkins, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, wombok and garlic. Also maize, sunflowers, soy beans, wheat, barley and chickpeas are grown. In the 1990's rice started production and more recently cotton.
One of the 5 museums here is The Shear Outback. Unfortunately we didn't have a chance to go to the demonstrations. The shears in the gates were appropriate.




In the late 1800's Hay was the southern headquarters of Cobb and Co. This coach has been well looked after and is on show in the same condition as it was when the coach driver stepped down from his seat for last time.







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Location:Hay

Day 35 - Tuesday 21st February

We left cool Murray Bridge this morning but soon started to warm up and reached 30*. We travelled through many small settlements, Berri, Renmark and onto Mildura where we are staying tonight.
We are still travelling through very dry areas. Murray Bridge has an average annual rainfall of 9 inches, no wonder it is so dry. There are however some pockets of land where there are citrus, grapes, olives, almonds, pistachios and various vegetable crops growing.
This was just one of many citrus and olive orchards right next to each other.





This is the "big orange" but it is a bit deserted these days.




Of course, the Murray River is home to many paddle steamers and houseboats, as well as being popular for all water sports.
The caravan park is on the river here as well, so a nice view of either the river or a vineyard.





These are some of the views around Mildura.













And of course a nice sunset overlooking the Murray taken from the caravan park.







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Location:Mildura

Day 34 - Monday 20th February

The convention finished yesterday so I am back to doing the blog( I didn't do it Saturday and Sunday).

We left Adelaide this morning and had a short drive to Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills with a temperature of 17*. It is Australia's oldest German settlement, where 200 Lutheran migrants arrived here in 1838. There is still a huge German influence with German bakeries and small goods outlets throughout town. The streets are lined with 100 year old elm and plane trees, with many original stone buildings still in excellent condition.




Autumn must be just around the corner -some of the trees are just starting to change colour









A genuine German wagon just off the main street.







After a stroll around this beautiful town we went to Murray Bridge on the Murray River. The rolling hills were very dry.





Murray Bridge is the largest town on the Murray in South Australia. The first bridge to span the Murray was built here in 1879 and at the time was the largest steel structure in Australia. These days a rail and traffic bridge cross the Murray River.



We went for a cruise up the Murray this afternoon. The water looks very "milky" but they like it like that, as it means it has fresh water coming down from Queensland and apparently good for fishing. When it is clear it is stagnant. Unfortunately we didn't go on a paddle steamer as it was already on the water but we did pass it on the way.



This is the boat we went on.









The caravan park is overlooking the Murray River, so there is cool breeze and it's quite cool tonight.









I just went down to the river to take some sunset photos and it's not just cool but it is very c-c-c-cold! But I did get some nice photos.











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Location:Murray Bridge, SA.

Day 31- Friday 17th February

Peter had a relaxing day while I was at convention. There were some very informative and inspirational speakers, so was a great day. We finished by 5pm so Peter met us in town and we went out for dinner. These photos are taken from the 16th floor of the InterContinental Hotel where my cousin and friend are staying.








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Location:Adelaide

Day 30 - Thursday 16th February

We caught the bus again into town as I had to register for the Neways Convention today. It starts tonight with dinner, continues all day tomorrow,Saturday and Saturday night, as well as Sunday morning. I probably won't get much time to do much on the blog over the next couple of days.
This is the Adelaide convention centre where I will spend the next few days.






And some more views of the Torrens River.






And this is the Adelaide Bridge across the Torrens, built in 1877.







I have just arrived back from tonight's dinner. Doug Parkinson was one of the entertainers tonight.(some people would remember who he is!!)

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Location:Adelaide