Day 50 Paringa to Hay

First thing we did this morning was plug in the computer and connect to both Victoria roads and New South Wales roads that showed the flooded areas we then mapped out a route home using both these resources

This is what we initially came up with - A rough itinerary typed up in word and saved into dropbox

Stopped off at the entrance to the caravan park to say goodbye to Jenni and saw the Avery

Jenni told us about all the birds in the Avery

And I took a photo of Bill with this big bird outside the Avery

Out onto the Sturt highway heading for Mildura

Stopped off at this point of interest to get a good view of the flooded area

And took photos of these information boards

And this Basalt rock from the Stone pinch quarry nearby

On the road again and were passed by this bright shiny classic car

Drove past flooded plains either side of the road

Passed under the big tyre

at the moment not sure of it’s significance

But we did very soon pass this sign signifying the end of the Murray region

Past the quarantine checkpoint on the other side of the road checking for fruit and vegetables being carried into South Australia and the River land area

Just a bit down the road we came across this sign reminding us that we were entering Victoria.

This jogged my memory to look out the map from our travels yesterday as I realised that the border fence must be right there

And it was at this point that we came across the end of the Border Fence Road where we would have come out had we continued on that road.yesterday

Travelling next into Victoria

And the Mildura region

Continuing on the Sturt highway to Mildura

Some roadworks on the way

Fascinated by the existence of this road sign along the way obviously not going to be dust storms for a wee while yet

Warnings of a quarantine area ahead

Where we pulled up and read the sign as we were unaware of this requirement and wondered why as there had been a quarantine section on the other side of the road going the other direction

By reading this sign we saw that it was for the Sunraysia region

The countryside that we travelled through here was low and flat with very few trees

Didn’t stop here kept going

More fruit orchards and grapevines in this area

Counting down the mileage to Mildura

We didn’t turn off here as we had decided not to go back through Broken Hill

Probably don’t need this so much now as there is so much water around however I guess the water that is available is untreated

We turned off at Morbein to follow the Murray River around through Mildura but discovered the water had gone right over the road and the road was closed

We stopped at one point beside the river and went down a walkway but it ended up in the water

I stopped and took some photos up the river towards the town

To see the volume of water that was in the river

We drove past some of the houseboats where people would no longer have access to as the road to the house boats was flooded

We then drove around the outskirts of the town through some of streets along the river

Heading towards lock 11

We parked on the top of the cliff where there were some art works

And then walked down some steps into a park below the cliff

To a section of the road that was clearly closed

Having walked along the the waters edge and around the park we then headed back up to the cliff top

We then noticed a cafe across the road from where we were parked that was located in the arts Centre

So we headed over there for some morning tea

Observing some of the artworks along the way

Having enjoyed some coffee and some snacks we headed back out on the highway

I took a record of where we walked in Mildura using AllTrails I didn’t turn it off till after we had had morning tea so it also shows us going to the art Centre

Checked out station as we drove past

And a fountain in the town

Past the wharf

Turning off on the A 20

noticed another swing bridge with lots of houseboats along the rivers edge on our way out of Mildura

The other side of the bridge over the Murray we entered New South Wales

Passing through towns along our way

Continuing on the Sturt highway towards Balranald

We came across a small group of cyclists under escort wondering where they were going from and to and if their cycling was for a specific cause

More interesting places to stop at and see as our compulsory rest stops along the way

Constantly passing flooded areas beside the road on our route

We bypassed Robinvale

Sadly passed the turn off to Mungo National Park as we realised there was definitely no way we were going to get to it this time. My initial plan was to visit Mungo

To amuse ourselves and to make the most of rest stops along the way we used WikiCamps to highlight points of interest - this dig tree point of interest was actually on the wrong side of the road but we found it and updated Wikicamps with the information

it should be noted that Dig Tree is a lot of very interesting spades hanging off the tree

We finally found a rest area where we could pull up and sit and eat our wraps under a shelter

Didn’t stay long as there were so many flies and there was threatening rain clouds aroun mm

We pulled up to refuel at Balranald as we didn’t know where else we would be able to get fuel on our travels

Interestingly as the sign said somebody came out and filled the car with fuel for us

Sites as we drove through Balranald

On to the Sturt Highway again to Hay

Over the flooded Murrumbidgee River

Still a way to go before our destination for the night

The highway was very straight with flat plains either side

There was a bit of traffic on this section of the road

With threatening clouds either side of the highway

Still a way to go to Hay

There in these uninteresting flat plains is a lone tree ahead

This tree has even made it onto WikiCamps as a point of interest to relieve the boredom of looking at treeless plains

And the tree is in fact halfway along the road between Balranald and Hay

Next we turned off the Sturt highway onto the Cobb highway towards Hay

On arrival into Hay there were some gorgeous sculptures of emus that I took photos of but that I took better ones the next day

We crossed over the Murrumbidgee River

Drove through the Main Street of Hay

Checked out the campground in the Showgrounds first and then went to check out the campground at the services club the services club grounds looked much more inviting plus we could have dinner there which we did - a most enjoyable meal and with a drink of course