Driving the Murray River

Robert Dempster

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Driving the Murray River
From Echuca to the Barossa Valley

22 May 2018

Cruising along the Murray river in a houseboat is great, no question. However what made it truly great was the quality of the accommodation and the company we had. From my perspective to really enjoy the Murray River you need to get off it, and we did that by cycling and walking from our houseboat base. Having said that I will now stick my neck out and claim that what we did next i.e., drive along the Murray river stopping off at various towns famous for the role they played in the Murray River Story was better.

After we left the house boat the whole party travelled first to Swan Hill , then to Mildura followed by Renmark. All these towns on the Murray River fitted the bill just described. Charles and Liz then left to start their long trek back to New South Wales while Blanche, Edith and I carried on, stopping at Blanchetown and the finally at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. While drives were interesting, the towns were much the same as Echuca, fascinating. We stayed in cabins right on the river and as we spent two nights at Mildura, we also got to walk and cycle there.

From Mildura we visited nearby Wentworth which is famous for at least two reasons. Here the Darling River flows into the Murray River. Wentworth is also famous for the role farmers with their Massey Ferguson (Vaaljapie) Tractors played in the construction of levies to save the town from serious flooding during the 1950's. For Charles who is an ardent fan of the Vaaljapie, it was in a sense the culmination of a pilgrimage. It is also a great story.

Unfortunately Blanchetown was a bit of a disappointment and so after a stop-over for some lunch we continued to Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. This was probably a good move as Tanunda is easily just as interesting as the Murray River towns. It also fascinated me because it, like areas close to my hometown, Pietermaritzburg, was settled by Germans. As such it was heavily influenced by German culture and still is to this day.

Would I do it again? I certainly would visit the Murray River again, but not necessarily to stay on a houseboat again.

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000MurrayRoadTrip.jpg	020ARiverRunsThroughIt.jpg	030PackemIn.jpg
040SAConnection.jpg	050LivestyleLiving.jpg	060Bridge.jpg
070StormWaterRecycling.jpg	080MurrayGums.jpg	085GumFlowers.jpg
110ForMyGreatGrandFather.jpg	120SwanHillWater.jpg	130PostCardsFromTheMurray.jpg
140BreadBasket.jpg	140EarlyMorningMist.jpg	150Reflections.jpg
160Reflections.jpg	170Reflections.jpg	180ForeverInfo.jpg
200HowWideIsMyRiver.jpg	210YeeHaa.jpg	220Capstan.jpg
230PaddleSteamer.jpg	240Locked.jpg	250ColourCoordinated.jpg
260MurrayDarling.jpg	270Vaaljapie.jpg	280Vaaljapie.jpg
300Reflection.jpg	310Blanchetown.jpg	320MurrayCliffs.jpg
330TharBeHills.jpg	340TanundaHomestead.jpg	350TanundaPatats.jpg
360TanundaHomestead.jpg	370Reflecting.jpg