Our Mildura camp has again been on Murray, this time at Psyche Bends near Psyche Pump.
The pump is the oldest working steam driven pump in the world and was built by the Chaffey Brothers, pioneering the Mildura irrigation scheme in 1887.
The walks along the riverbank and billabong have been fantastic and there is no shortage of birdlife. We have been entertained by eagles which have a nest on the opposite bank,swans, pelican, black ducks and woodies, plus parrots, wrens, tree hoppers, pee wees, finches, miners, pigeons and magpies. Flocks of swallows feed over the river each evening and morning and land for cover when the eagles are overhead.
The river has been quite busy at times with river boats, house boats, fishermen and skiers. Despite the algae they seem quite happy to dunk in it.
A day trip to Wentworth included a visit to the junction of the Darling and Murray rivers at Lock 10.
It was here that the explorer Sturt passed in 1830.
The 150 year old hardware and general junk store was an eye opener and every floorboard creaked as we walked through.
Across the river at Buronga and Gol Gol I reminisced of the time in the 1960’s when my brother Richard and I picked grapes in this area. The old Gol Gol pub is now a modern affair with barely a remnant left of the old pub that I remember.
On The River Road at Buronga is the Australian Inland Botanic Gardens which included a really lovely rose garden and a surprise find of Sturt Desert Peas blooming.
Our stay here extended by almost a week as we were having water tank issues and needed bigger tanks fitted and plumbed differently in The Burrow.
Our neighbours camping here have been Colin and Glenda from WA and Phil and Maree from TAS. Happy hours and dinner around a camp fire have been enjoyed by all and have helped make this a special camp to remember.
After packing up we had to call into the fellow who fitted our new tanks as there were a few leaks in pipes which he needed to sort out.
We are now just north of Adelaide and when we connected to the mains water yesterday evening we produced a flood inside with saturated carpet. I pulled the fittings apart inside the wardrobe and found that they had no Teflon to help them seal. Subsequently rectified the problem spots and all seems OK now. As we enjoyed a hot shower after setting up the wardrobe was being sprayed with water. The towels used to soak up some of the mess are now in the wash and a blower heater is slowly drying things out. So much for using an expert to get things done.