Boarder Country

16 to 23 February
After a couple of nights in Euston on the NSW side of the Murray we headed off to drive the Old Mail Road from Mildura to Boarder Cliffs, to camp near the Old Customs House.

Old mail route

The Sturt highway would have been easier, but the fun was in retracing the route of the old mail delivery ... all on dirt roads, no houses there anymore and didn't pass another vehicle in the 2 hours it took drive the 120km.
The route skirts the Murray sunset national park. The landscape is flat, dusty and very dry, unless under irrigation, the contrast is stark. We spent a few days bush camping just over the SA boarder by the old customs building, and along with bush walking, we found a fabulous brewery on the Murray built in an old shearing shed.

Murray sunset national park

Camping Lake Bonney

 After a quick stay and dip in Lake Bonney, and a delicious long lunch at Banrock Station Winery we headed to Mannum to catch up with Bev & Gary at their weekender. Surprise guests were supplied, in our netball friends Josie & Mark, so it was some weekend.

Peach picking

The view from the Mannum balcony was over wetlands, very pretty, and it was a weekend of eating, drinking, laughing and even a trip to the local orchard to collect peaches for preserving.

Kev, Bev and Mary

River Red Gums

9th to 15th February
The Murray river is Australia's largest at 2,375kms in length, forming much of the boarder between NSW and Victoria, eventually flowing into the sea in South Australia. Red River gums line the banks, and plenty of state forests for free camping.

Murray river flow

We met up with Sonya and Gary our camping buddies for the week, and headed out from Rutherglen,.. no time for winery tours, we were on the red river gums drive.
Base camp was in Barmah National Park VIC, alongside the Murray, the area was previously grazing lands and there were still remnants of old stock yards, fences and even feral horses which we got very close to on a morning walk. Very exciting.



The river provides habitat for plenty of bird life including kingfishers and egrets. the Wetlands boat tour took us up the narrowest part of the Murray, current was at about 7km/hr, all heading to South Australia.

Red river gum drive

The surrounding paddocks and forests were extremely dry, considering the volume of water heading down the Murray.
With Environmental flows in place, and regulators fitted to creeks, every bit of water goes down the river and isn't diverted unless allocated. Being in drought currently, the difference was stark




Once we reached Gunbower state forest we camped on the creek, and the boat ramp allowed us easy access to the water for a swim,.... much needed once we'd run out of shower water. Plenty of forest walks to do including the search, successful after the third attempt, to find the 'Eagle Tree' estimated to be between 800 and 1,000 years old.

Sonya and Gary, dwarfed by the Eagle tree

 Eagle tree

Wee Jasper to Jugiong

1st to 8th February
After spending January circling Sydney whilst Kevin waited for the specialist to give his shoulder the all clear, we finally managed to point the camper southwest and head out for the big trip in February.

Micalong creek reserve

Wee Jasper was our first stop, camping on Micalong creek which feeds into Burinjuck dam. It's only about 60kms from Yass, with the last few km's windy and steep to get down into the valley.

We were the only ones camping there, so had the place to ourselves, hot & cold showers and flushing toilets.. luxury!




Wee Jasper is a well known fishing spot for Trout, and we saw at least half a dozen brown and rainbow trout as we walked along the creek banks. Didn't try fishing, they looked too clever... but the water was refreshing, and we swam in the creek each day.

Jane testing her croc sandels

Kev heading back from a creek swim

After a few days we packed up and headed to Jugiong showground to drink champagne with Michelle and celebrate Phil's 'special' birthday. That afternoon and evening we had about 10mls of rain, didn't break the drought, but made packing up next day a muddy experience.

birthday gathering

before the rains