On the road to Mildura

We left Aldinga Beach, after saying a reluctant goodbye to Darren, Scott, Jay and Jespa, and set forth in the rain and gloom.  Aldinga Beach was not looking its best.

It took us two hours to drive into Adelaide, and then to Gawler.   But after that we made much faster progress, on the Barossa Valley bypass, and to Truro, a little settlement on the edge of the hills.

 All I can remember about Truro, other than that it was named after Truro in England, is reading a newspaper article about the bodies that were found on a farm there.  Not sure what happened, but I guess someone thought it a good place hide bodies. It is a settlement that you can easily miss. One blink and you miss it.

Once through the hills the land is flat, flat, flat and with very straight roads.

A road stop.  Hurray.  Just like in old times, lots of fried food, friendly staff, and a barn type room to eat in.   Loved it.   But now they serve very good coffee too. Great.

The Murray River, the main reason why we decided to come this way. And a lot dead trees too.  Sadly.   No doubt killed by the saline water.

The river comes down through three states.   It starts in the Snowy Mountains, and flows through New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, where it flows into the sea via a lake and sand bars, Lake Alexandrina and the Coorong.   The Darling River also flows into the river around Wentworth, NSW.

Once the river was used to transport goods up and now the river.   Then land was cleared and the river was used to irrigate farms, orchards and now vines.   The mallee scrub was also cleared to make way for grain growing.   Ecologically, not a wise move.  The lack of trees meant no roots to keep the saline levels below the land surface, and the water used for irrigation flowed back into the river, via the land, and it was no longer pure.   A saline mess!  I am sure that there are many anxious people working hard to solve the problem.

And what is more, the soil, newly tilled but not yet sown with seed, gets blown away in strong winds.  It was so dusty at times we had to drive with our headlights on.

Mildura.   Once the centre of fruit growing and now devoted to wine production.  The Murray River looking good here among the gum trees.

I can remember staying in Mildura years ago.  In the camping ground, right beside a roundabout.   We spent the night listening to the airbrakes of every truck that came through the town.  And there were plenty.

But I looked at Mildura through fresh eyes this time, and found it to be a charming town.   The Grand Hotel below started off as a temperance hotel in the 1800s.  In fact Mildura was a 'dry' town until the early 1900s. To make sure the workers did not go astray.

The eucalyptus trees on the main street have been pollarded and are doing well too. No danger of dropped boughs here.

We had dinner in the RSL Club, for me a delicious and freshly made tomato soup, and for Walter, fish and chips.   We were not tempted to try the pokie machines, preferring to hang on to our money and spend it on coffee.

And then back to our very comfortable motel, for a good nights sleep. No roundabout and no trucks.