Plan X

 Tuesday 27

We farewelled Hay, leaving behind 2 sisters feeling increasingly unwell as I coughed more. Not Covid as a couple of negative RATS confirmed. The only point of interest on the trip was another amazing storm front which we fortunately skirted around.

Once settled in Barham, another park on the Murray ( almost IN the Murray) we did a scout out of town. Even the caterpillars seem to be gathering above the waterline and the fisherman could only catch yabbies...which have to be returned to the water.


Wednesday 28th
Fortunately the water wasn't any closer to us this morning so we crossed the border for a walk along the Koondrook sculpture path. There are 18, soon to be 19 ,wooden  statues which depict the pioneer men and women of the district along with the iconic wildlife of the area. These works of art were carved out of local red gum by world renowned chainsaw carvers Kevin Guilders and Angela Polglaze.


The path took us through the middle of Arbuthnot Sawmill where we were invited to come in and have a look around. Michael ended up with a couple of bits of timber to put under the jockey wheel to replace the one he left somewhere. At the end of the path there is a pedestrian bridge over to Gunbower Island . Again we were unable to continue due to high water.


After lunch we visited the Barham Federation Botanical Reserve which covers 10 hectares.The diversity in the site allows a range of local plant species to be represented from a variety of landscapes.

To date there have been over 130 bird species identified by local birdwatchers. I saw about 10 of them.

The reserve contains three walking tracks with interpretive signage about plants and animals found there.

Just after returning to camp Michael received an email informing him that the Temora Airshow was cancelled due to excess water!
So time to go to plan X!

Thursday 29th September

After discussions with both Duncan and friends in Wangarratta we have rejigged our plans and will head east a week earlier than originally planned.
Next stop Echuca. We took a meandering route with the first stop at Kerang where Michael managed to get a haircut while I did a wander around the street. The line up of items for sale outside Betta Electrical is an indication of the demographic of Kerang.
We returned to travel along the Murray through Cohuna with a lunch stop at the bottom end of 
Gunbower Island, Australia's largest inland island located between the Murray River and Gunbower Creek. It is also internationally recognised as a wetland of significance for its importance to
 birdlife, native mammals and amphibians. Like many other places at the moment it is too wet to access so we had a walk and lunch overlooking it.

Once settled in to the park in Echuca we explored the Old Port Area. Echucas history is displayed in an excellent museum and recreated old world street. It was  Australia's largest inland port. Being the point of shortest distance between the Murray River and the major city of Melbourne, Echuca was both a key river port and railway junction. A number of paddlesteamers have been resurrected and now ply tourists on the Murray.One of them is  PS Canberra the oldest river boat in the Murray River Paddlesteamer fleet, having celebrated her century in August 2013.


Friday 30th Sept
After a night punctuated by lots of coughing I had a quiet morning reading my book while Michael visited the Holden Museum and Beechworth Bakery.
After lunch we took a ride on the paddlesteamer Alexander Arbuthnot the last paddle steamer built as a working boat during the riverboat trade era on the Murray River, Australia. The hour long ride took us downstream under the new bridge between NSW and Vic. The boat tied up at the wharf, PS Pevensey was renamed the Philadelphia and used in All the Rivers Run, for those old enough to remember one of Sigrid Thornton's early successes.

As we walked back to the park we noticed a fancy Ford Fairlane with well dressed people having multiple photos taken with a gold cup. When we asked a bystander what it was all about we discovered it was this year's Melbourne Cup doing its regional tour prior to the big race. The security guards and 'no holding without gloves' should have been an indicator. Michael was offered a glove but declined and was happy to just take a photo. 
Another glorious sunset to close the day.




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