The sun rose over the Murray River and everyone started the day reading and listening to podcasts.

The river area was tranquil as the sunlight filtered through the trees – the day was starting out to be a stunner!

We drove into town after a cooked brekkie to go to Sunraysia Presbyterian Church as it was Sunday – and Gordon and Kerry knew the minister Colin Morrow – they had been on an overseas trip to Israel a few years back with a group of friends and had met Colin and his wife on the trip.

Colin preached a great Gospel message – and did not need the microphone as he had a commanding voice…. Everyone was very attentive, except for Matt who kept nodding off in front of us much to the amusement of the bloke sitting next to him – no one could imagine how you could sleep through Colin’s thundering voice but Matt managed to… must be the carnivore diet and lack of carb fuel that enables him to fall asleep at the drop of a hat!!!

A quick stop to Woodies Gems was a must and despite the amazing variety of jewellery no one bought anything – although Gordie did contemplate the turtle…

The Purple Rock Muncher caught Klaus’s eye, and there were some great crystal formations on display.

After doing some groceries and getting fuel we went to Café 1909 on the banks of the Murray for lunch.

It was a gorgeous day – warn and still – and the views up and down the Murray were beautiful. A traditional paddle steamer passed by catching everyone’s attention with it’s loud horn.

The meals at Café 1909 were delicious – and Matt managed to order the largest option on the menu – hopefully the dose of carbs gives him some fuel for tomorrow!!

Branch had been laying low after the excitement in the Wells camp yesterday – however there had been a late development overnight at the Loveday van with a suspicious smell wafting around… as Trev had already made good use of the amenities at Hay, the conclusion was that we had a potential gas leak… so McGyver and Branch got stuck into it…

at one point Branch nearly succumbed to the fumes as he was placed in a very awkward situation…

but finally the cause was identified – the pressure relief valve was discharging fumes – potentially it’s proper function as the same could be seen on the Hunters valve… however McGyver was not entirely convinced… so watch this space.

Thus began a busy day for Branch as the rookie campers Matt and Sharon had a clip incident that could have spelt potential disaster for their hatch – fortunately Branch was able to assist Matt in rectifying Sharon’s faux pas.

On then to the Hunter camp where Gordon was desperately trying to clear his blocked valve on the Lotus so he could use the mains water instead of the pump…. After disassembling the line he discovered the problem – it was clogged with insects (yuk!) – Branch left in a hurry but Gordon was relieved that he had sorted the blockage finally!

That afternoon we rode the bikes along the Murray stopping to look at the historic Mildura Station Homestead built in approx. 1847. The area was the first pastoral lease established by the Jameison Brothers in 1847 and was used to farm sheep. The Chaffey Brothers from the US then established the Mildura Irrigation Colony and hence the grape and fruit farming industry was born.

We then crossed the Murray lock to Lock Island and rode to the weir. The Murray River system has been managed to ensure a constant supply of water all year round.

After riding back to camp, we spent the afternoon around the fire pit Gordie had just purchased…. planning the long journey to Port Augusta tomorrow.

Everyone was up early after another cold night and we were on the road by 0800 leaving Narrandera to get over the border to Mildura by mid-afternoon.

The first leg of the journey followed the Murrumbidgee for part of the way through farmland – almond trees, cotton and grains as well as very flat, barren landscapes punctuated by the odd tree here and there….

We stopped at Hay for fuel and a coffee at Robertson’s Hot Bread Shop which was very busy with the Saturday morning rush meaning that the stragglers Klaus and Beryl had a lengthy wait for their coffee… due to the fact they had previously had a lengthy wait at the petrol station as Matt had blocked up both bowsers by parking in just the right spot to prevent Klaus reaching the second bowser….

Nevertheless, we all enjoyed the coffee in the sun accompanied by the local mice who were having a field day in the garden next to the outdoor seating.

The group headed back to the vans but were delayed somewhat by Gordon and Trev who went to the local amenities and were gone an extended period of time – enough said!!

After loitering outside the local hotel – another fine country pub – we all headed out of town….

stopping momentarily to take some pics of the painted silos commemorating the local armed forces…

Travelling along the Hay plains was great this time – no wind at all and an amazingly clear day… Rose and Dave led the way between Hay and Balranald and alerted us to the many emus along the way.

One particular group walked casually out in front of Gordon and Kerry who had to apply the brakes quickly – the emus did not blink an eye and just strolled across at their leisure!

Next stop was lunch in Balranald in the local park….

where Kerry was able to demonstrate good hygiene practices to Gordon by rinsing their cups under suitable water!!

We drove on to Mildura going past more farmland and vineyards and crossed the Murray River into Victoria.

We were staying at Apex River Caravan Park and so all checked in there and went to find our sites.

Gordon had some issues getting onto his site and took so long that Dave had a slight accident waiting to get onto his site… or that was his story to Beryl….. however more came to light later to explain the “mishap”…

Rose did a great job guiding Dave onto their site – she gave better hand signals than a police officer on point duty however Klaus could not resist coming in for the final command to “stop”!!

After a slight hiccup with a screen door that would not come free (Branch gave them some leeway and did NOT assist), Rose and Dave settled in to setting up camp….

Dave was seen “cleaning” his water filters and assured everyone there was “nothing to see here” however Branch smelt a rat… and the distinct markings on Dave’s jeans indicated that there had been some water released under pressure from an unknown location….

Despite Dave’s dodgy earlier explanation to Beryl blaming Gordon’s delay in getting his van parked for his wet jeans, Branch soon discovered that somehow Rose and Dave had a hot water issue which had caused the release of water under pressure when Dave went to investigate… and found they had calcification in their hot water service which meant it refused to work unless they did a 3 hour purge of the system… Branch went over to inspect but was not welcome and so did not assist and left them to their 3 hour cleanse…

After enjoying a coffee….

we all cooked dinner and then gathered after tea in the cool of the evening…

Dave was still nowhere to be seen – and was located finalising the cleansing process…

which fortunately for them worked – and now they were back online with hot water…

Well… tomorrow is another day!

It had been a busy week… preparations for the next 3-month Wild Adventure were well underway… Branch was quietly excited and made sure he was present so as not to miss the next instalment…

The plan was to meet at Goulburn at 0800 on Friday 26^th but the Hunters had the brilliant idea of getting the jump on the rest of the team by free camping the night before at Derrick VC rest area free camp just before Goulburn.

Klaus was concerned about his weight so had decided to go early to Gundagai and stay at the caravan park there to get weighed in and checked…

We and the Wells decided to join the Hunters – thus Matt and Sharon were the last to leave Sydney on the morning of the 26^th.

The camp at Goulburn was great – but the night was really cold… ice all  over the cars in the morning…..

but as we were preparing to leave it was apparent that the Wells had the jump on all of us… rather they needed a jump as the fridge had not changed over to gas overnight and had drained their car battery… Branch could not believe his luck – an incident within less than 24hrs after leaving home… and Dave’s jumper leads just did not cut it.

Fortunately Gordie had purchased a Noro Genius – a bargain at $295 and it was worth every cent- the Pearl started without a hitch… and Branch was in his element.

We left and arrived at Goulburn, collected Matt and Sharon and after some legendary bacon and egg rolls at Trapper’s Bakery we were on our way to Gundagai.

Unfortunately there was too much singing “On the road to Gundagai”  in the Wells’ and Hunter’s vans and so they missed the instructions to turn off at the second exit into Gundagai where the Weiss’s were waiting for us on Nangus Road – the way to our lunch stop at Junee.

After making it back to Gundagai, they caught up with us and after hearing about Klaus being overweight by a couple of hundred kg in the car ( ??things had to be moved into the van – did that mean Beryl was driving and Klaus was left behind??) we went on to Junee… after another little misdirection we all met at the Laurie Daly Oval for lunch in the vans.

Rose and Dave found the prime parking spot near their favourite dump point… and Gordie ignored signs doing his washing up at the dump point much to Kerry’s disgust.

We drove on through many small country towns most with great looking pubs – the Coolamon pub was impressive.

Arriving at Narrandera we set up camp at Brewery Flats – a free camp on the edge of the Murrumbidgee River where there were ruins of the old Brewery.

Apparently you could see koalas in the area so we walked around for a while and saw none – so made our way back to camp… and there on the edge of the campsite Rosie found a koala asleep in a gum tree – he was so comfortable but sleepily opened his eyes while we were taking pics…

we saw a second one near the boat ramp… and Trev was in his element catching up with the locals…

Dave and Gordie started up the fire and we spent the evening relaxing and meeting our fellow campers. Gordie managed to befriend a guy named Casey who gave us his wood – he was on the way to Lightning Ridge so did not need any more – he came and sat around the fire with us sharing his life story….