Murrayville, Victoria

 We are in Murrayville, Victoria, in mallee country.   Mallee country refers to the semi-arid region of southern Australia.    It is named after the small multi-stemmed eucalyptus trees that grow in this region.   Much of it has been cleared to make way for growing crops.    The down side to this has been the rise in salt, which the mallee trees kept below the surface.    In the 1980s we had open fires in our house and burned the mallee roots as they threw out tremendous heat and also burned for hours.   This cannot happen anymore, thank goodness.

I was not going to write another blog, as we were on our way home.   However, Murrayville is such a fascinating little town I cannot resist just one more blog.

The name Murrayville reminds me of books written by Dr Seuss (the village of Whoville).    No connection!   This town was named after the Premier of Victoria (1909-1912), and the ville (French for town) was added to give the settlement a legal name of town.    A bit pretentious, I know.   

Murrayville has not got much going for it these days, as most shops are closed, even the police station is boarded up.    However, there are many lovely homes here and a prosperous looking school.

An added extra.   We stopped because cattle were crossing the road..    There was no one with them, but they followed each other, very dutifully, except for a few that realised it was easier to stay on the left hand side and head off to their destination in the distance.   But most of them crossed from the left side to the right side, then walked along the edge, then crossed over to the left side again.   And then walked to their destination in the distance.  Some of the cattle stopped in the middle of the road and stared at the cars that had stopped.   It was fascinating. 

Back to Murrayville.  There is a beautiful caravan site here, council owned, with an honesty box for the fee, which is $25 a night, and that includes power, water and a waste water drain, plus a dump point, a camp kitchen, and a luxurious ablution block, with large showers, shower curtains and toilets. plus washing machines.   Everything is spotless.   

The sites have green lawns, and no burr weeds.    Next door is a well kept playing field, with open access to it.    And no rules on the walls!    I guess the council hopes that visitors will spend some money in the town, but as mostly everything is shut that is a difficult task.

I forgot to add the swimming pool next to the caravan park, not open at this time of the year.

The camp kitchen, ablution block and laundry.

Our caravan and car sitting in the sunshine.   And Piper posing in front.   I think she is waiting to go on a walk, or waiting to catch the ball.

There is a sign warning people not to drink the water.   I did not look into this, as it could have meant in the ablution block only.   We carry our own drinking water, so not a problem.

The main street, which was a busy hub once, a very long time ago, when local shops were important.   But all the shops were closed, even the pharmacy.

The old newsagents.

The milk bar.   We all loved a milk bar, with its delicious milk shakes.

The pub was still open and seemed to be thriving, but then maybe not.   It offered meals at the weekends.

The Post Office with a grocery store beside it, recently opened after being closed for the past two years.   The lovely woman whose family have just bought the shop is determined to make a success of it.   The community members are appreciative of being able to pop  in to buy forgotten grocery items, instead of travelling 28 km to the next town.   I bought two packets of biscuits to help out, which cost me $9.   Very expensive biscuits, but hey ho, all to a good cause.

The service station, with fuel pumps at the front.   Long closed.   Fuel prices were cheap as well.

The old Post Office, not occupied.

The old railway station, which according to the sign is now used as a coffee hub.   When we visited a year ago, there was no sign of coffee then either.

The railway line is still used, probably to cart grain.   A silo stands to attention in the background.

An old church, now a renovated house with a lovely garden surrounding it.

Another beautifully renovated church, now a house.

And now I must walk to the ablution block and try the showers.   I hope there is hot water.   Just a thought.

And before I go, I must write about the redback spider I found dangling from the front A frame, between the hitch and jockey wheel.   I was about to hitch the caravan onto the tow ball.   Sadly for the spider, who was obviously enjoying the early misty weather, and minding its own business, I could not leave it there.   As well as being poisonous it has a very painful bite so I knocked it off with the broom, and stood on it.  Boots on of course.   Poor redback spider.  

How many more redback spiders are there under our caravan!