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‘Pre retirement’ trial

We are taking 6 months leave from work to see more of this beautiful country we call home.
Will we return…….. Read more

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🇦🇺 The Rock, Australia
‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 6 (100)
Feb 17–21 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C
🩵our 100 day vaniversary 🩵🥳

138Km Tallangatta Vic to The Rock NSW
Sunny and blue skies with high 33☀️

🏡Home for night
The Rock Recreation Ground ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Donation campground - payment details in toilet block
Toilets and showers, bins, dump point
Flatish sites, some shade
Optus reception

🏃🏼15km trail run
🤸Pilates session

👍🏻 100 days adventuring with MancHester on this trip- going to treat ourselves for reaching that milestone 🥰
👎🏻 We’re def feeling some different muscles after a few days of strength/pilates training 😩

Early start to the day saw the Seagull soaring up 610m of elevation to Mt Granya Summit on a 15km trail run 🏃🏼 within the Mt Granya State Park whilst Justine set down the mat for another Pilates sesh 🤸

Then it was pack up, fill up 💦 and back on the road
We’ve loved our base in Tallangatta, so much that what was planned as a 1 night stopover ended up as a 3 night stay.

But now we are officially starting our tour of NSW 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

First stop ………..
Coles 😜 to restock on fruit and veg having crossed the border

Next stop-The Ettamogah Pub, Table Top NSW
We have had this pub on our ‘must visit’ list ✅
It is the original iconic pub (built 1987) in a series inspired by the cartoons of Ken Maynard and feature distinctive, cartoonish sloping walls with a truck perched on the roof.
There is camping available on site but we headed on our way after popping in for a drink 🍻, looking around👀, signing the visitors book ✍🏻 and having a good chat with barman Amos 💬, mainly about trail running 😜

As we drove through Yerong we both immediately said ‘no ye right’ 🤣, think it’s having the same stupid sense of humour that keeps us together …. or perhaps others away 🤔

Final stop-The Rock
We’ve stopped here as we wanted to visit The Rock Nature Reserve - Kengal Aboriginal Place and hike to The Rock summit lookout ⛰️. But felt it was way too hot when we arrived (32 degrees) to embark on what we believe is a pretty strenuous hike 🥵, so we’ve decided to camp up and tackle the hike in the morning when it’s a little cooler 🙏🏻

Nothing better than sitting back after setting up camp, relaxing and listening to the leaves rustling in the breeze 🍃, the birds singing their songs 🦜 and a generator running in the distance 😠- let’s hope it doesn’t go all night 🤞🏻Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
🩵 It’s our Vaniversary 🩵
February 17 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
We have reached a wonderful milestone on our ‘Pre Retirement Trial’, where to next tour……

100 days adventuring with MancHester 🎉🥳

And we have loved every day 🩵

We have learnt so much about ourselves, what works for us and how we like to travel

So what’s next…..
This trip was planned to help us decide what was next for us
It has, and we are very excited for what is to come 🥰

But this current trip isn’t over yet, we still have so much to see and do before we head home, so we are continuing on our adventures

And of course we will celebrate our milestone ……
Not with a fancy hotel and west end show
But with a night in a caravan park and a stand up comedian - much more us 😍

Here’s to the next chapter in our lives 🥂Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 5 (99)
February 16 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Sunny and blue skies with high 33☀️

🤸Pilates and strength training sessions

👍🏻 Dipping our toes in the crystal clear waters of the Murray
👎🏻 Seeing the devastation caused by the recent bush fires

More exploring today …..
This time an epic 283km drive through the stunning Australian High Country 🏞️
Our plan was to head to Corryong, Man From Snowy River Country, then follow the Murray River back to Lake Hume

But after chatting with the lovely lady at Corryong tourist information office we detoured to the Kosciuszko National Park, the start of the Murray River.

First to Khancoban (NSW), nestled at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, to see Khancoban Dam and Spillway then to the Murray 1 Power Station, both part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
The original scheme was constructed between 1949 and 1974 and was an engineering wonder consisting of 7 power stations and 16 major dams connected by 80km of aqueducts and 145km of tunnels. During construction more than 100,000 workers from over 30 countries worked on the scheme, with a reported 121 loosing their lives.

We then followed the Murray, back to Lake Hume, stopping at the Jingellic Pub (NSW) along the way.

We were so amazed by the crystal clear waters of the Murray we couldn’t resist dipping our toes in, we are so used to seeing it brown and muddy but here you can actually see the riverbed 🤩

Unfortunately a lot of the area we drove through has been impacted by the recent bush fires, with recovery works in place.
We have travelled through fire affected areas previously working with recovery teams but nothing quite prepares you for the devastation. Fire affected properties, scorched earth, blackened trees, all the green erased from the landscape 🪾. But even at this early stage there are signs of the green returning, grass is peeping through and trunks and branches are showing signs of new life
It was quite heartbreaking and humbling to witness 😔Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 4 (98)
February 15 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Sunny and blue skies with high 30☀️

🚴🏻 24.5km bike ride
🏃🏼 14km trail run

👍🏻 Finding vert again, there’s been little elevation in recent trail runs ⛰️🏃🏼
👎🏻 All this bike riding is great for the legs, but not so great for the derrière 🍑

More exploring today…..
First we jumped on our bikes and the High Country Rail Trail ⛰️ 🚴🏻‍♀️🚴🏻, which has a gate from the Showgrounds, and rode from Tallangatta to Huon, crossing the Sandy Creek Bridge, out and back (24.5km). The 600m bridge would normally cross the lake when full and is sat on the original rail pylons from the bridge that services the Cudgewa branch line, which was closed in 1981
As an added bonus there was a wild apple tree overhanging the trail offered its wares to those passing by 🍏🍎

Later, following advice from locals, the Seagull took to the trails. Heading for Mount Tallangatta ⛰️ - 560m elevation, 7km straight up and 7 km down.
It was a killer, not for the faint hearted, some serious climbing which felt like 5600m - not helped by 30 degrees full sun ☀️

Dinner tonight was veggie pasta 🍝, a concoction made from all the ‘stuff’ that needed to be eaten - left overs and things needing to go before we cross the border into NSW. The aromas coming from camp SOTR were awesome, if only smell-o-vision was a thing, tasted just as good 😋

Then we relocated to sit and watch the sun set over the hills with a glass of yesterdays bubbles 🥂- it’s definitely leftovers day today 😜

And got to play with the sprinklers 💦Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 3 (97)
Feb 14–17 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
♥️ Valentine’s Day ♥️
Dads heavenly birthday 🤍🕊️

24 Km Ebden to Tallangatta Vic
Sunny and blue skies with high 30☀️

🏡Home for a couple of nights
Tallangatta Showgrounds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
$25 pn power & water,
showers, toilets, dump point
Flatish spots, some shade
Lovely caretakers Mel and Lee
Next to rail trail
Optus reception

🏃🏼5km Park Run
🚶🏼5km walk

👍🏻Tallangatta- most friendliest park run so far 🥇
👎🏻Live music wasn’t on after we had walked to the pub ☹️

Some very mixed feelings today 😕
Thinking about the holes that are left when those you love are no longer around, whilst trying to enjoy and take advantage of everything the day has in store

Another early start with another beautiful sunrise 🌅 this time to move on and head into Tallangatta in time for Parkrun
And we are so glad we did, it has to be THE most friendliest Parkrun we’ve been to so far 🏆.
Everyone was so friendly and were welcomed to join them for breakfast at a lovely local cafe - The Yellow Picket Fence which did fantastic coffee and breakfast wraps (but everything looked awesome) ☕️
Amazingly we met people who had relocated from our own neighbourhood, including someone who had previously run with PTR- small world 🌎
We learnt ALOT about the trails, hikes and camps around the area 🥰 and the Seagull is already planning his next trail run adventure 🏃

Once set up at camp we went off to explore more of the area, this time by car and a 90km scenic drive around Lake Hume 🚙
The lake is fed by the Mitta Mitta river from the south and the Murray from the North 🏞️
Tallangatta is known as the ‘the town that moved’ as it was relocated to its current spot in 1956 to allow for the expansion of the lake.
So our first stop was the site of Old Tallangatta, then we took Lake Road to Bethanga, and couldn’t resist a stop at the Hotel for a drink 🍻and chat with their resident alpaca🦙 . Then onto Kurrajong Gap Lookout, through Belbridge and over the Bethanga Bridge. Somewhere along the journey we must have crossed into NSW as we crossed back into Victoria on our return via the Murray Valley Highway.

Back at camp we enjoyed a lovely cheese platter 🧀🥖 with a glass of sparkling red 🍷, perfect romantic dinner for two 😜💕
Followed by what would have been a lovely evening lakeside stroll through Tallangatta but was just a stroll due to the lack of water😜, but still the sunset over the hills was beautiful 🌅
On our way back we popped into the pub (only 1 currently open) and was disappointed to find no life music as advertised (perhaps they all go home early in the country 🤷🏼‍♀️) but despite that it was a very ‘interesting’ experience 🤪Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 2 (96)
February 13 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Friday the 13th 😳
Sunny and blue skies with high 28☀️

🏡 Home for night
We decided to stayed on at Lake Hume Ludlows Reserve

🚴🏻 23km bike ride
🏃🏼 5.5km run

👍🏻Getting back out adventuring on the bikes 🚴‍♀️🚴
👎🏻 We’re def feeling it, it’s been a while since we were last on the bikes 😩

Early start to our day courtesy of the early morning fishermen, but we were rewarded with a spectacular sunrise 🌅

We’re getting back into the flow of being on the road so decided to get out and explore a little of the area ……..

First we got on the bikes 🚴‍♀️🚴
Our destination - the Hume Dam wall, 23km there and back.
We set off around Lake Hume using the High Country Rail Trail but that didn’t take us the whole way there and we found ourselves on a 100km/hr section of road which was not ideal 🛣️
The dam however was amazing, built in 1936, it was the biggest in the southern hemisphere and one of the largest in the world, holding 2982GL but currently only at 26% capacity 💧

Then the Seagull headed out for a short 5.5km run around Lake Hume 🏃

We received a lovely unexpected call from a friend who we hadn’t been able to coordinate meeting up with whilst home and it was great to catch up on their news and recent holiday. Catchup calls and messages with friends and family mean so much to us as they help us to stay connected despite not being around ☎️

At camp we settled in for a relaxed Friday evening with cocktails and home made pizza 🍕🍹 and was able to enjoy being outside with no bugs to spoil the night for the first time in ages 🙏🏻

Those camped up nearby were traveling with a cat 🐈‍⬛ and took it for a walk on a lead, now that got us thinking 🤔…….Read more
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Day 1 (95)
Feb 12–14 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
We are so happy to be back on the road 🥰

417 Km Home to Ebden Vic

Cool and rainy start to the day at home 🌦️, 25 degrees and sunny on our arrival at camp 🌤️ with wind in the evening off the lake 💨

Rain and road closures impacted our initial plans, so we’re currently on plan B

🏡 Home for night
Lake Hume Ludlows Reserve ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Free RV stop
Toilets, bins, BBQ, boat ramp
Limited flattish spots suitable for vans, gets busy
Just off the Hwy so some noise from passing traffic and from those accessing the boat ramp
Next to rail trail
Optus reception

👍🏻 After 2 weeks at home we’re back on the road 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

👎🏻 We were late setting off from home and, having decided to head towards the NSW border, we got into camp later than expected with slightly numb bums ⏰

👎🏻 Our camp had a little noise from those accessing the boat ramp but not too bad 🚤Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
💙 Back adventuring with MancHester 💙
February 12 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Our return home was not planned 🏡, but having it as our base whilst working was great as it gave us the opportunity to get other stuff done ✅

Whilst being home we swapped over the roof rack🚙, applied for a UK passport🇬🇧 (thanks to gov changes 🤬), run some awesome peninsula trails🏃🏼, checked out our new van……

It has also allowed us to catch up with family 🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏻‍♀️🐈 🐈 🐈‍⬛ and friends, including those that have traveled from overseas🇬🇧, meet up with old work colleagues, welcome new arrivals 🧑‍🍼, acknowledge birthdays 🎉………

We have loved spending time with family and friends 😍 but sad that timings didn’t work for some 😢

And now we’re excited to be back on the road adventuring and exploring new places 🥰Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 35 (94)
January 29 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
398 Km Dimboola to Home Vic
Cooler and overcast with high of 27 🌥️

Home is our 🏠 for the next few nights, and looking forward to our big 🛌

We feel we made the right decision to leave the Riverland as the temps remain high and there are now fires in the region 🔥

And returning home has given us the opportunity to…….

#️⃣ Spend time with our family 🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏻‍♀️🐈 🐈 🐈‍⬛
#️⃣ Attend a remembrance service for a colleague 🤍
#️⃣ Meet up with friends travelling from the UK 🇬🇧
#️⃣ Get out on the trails with Maso 🏃🏃
#️⃣ Get in a local Parkrun 🏃
#️⃣ Catch up with friends who’ve reached out knowing we’re home 👫🏼
#️⃣ Tame the garden 🪴
#️⃣ Clean the car & van, inside & out, incl solar panels 🧽🧼🧹🫧
#️⃣ Exchange the current roof rack with a rhino rack 🚙
#️⃣ Confirm details for our new van 🤫
#️⃣ And fit in that pesky work 👨🏼‍💻Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 34 (93)
Jan 28–29 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 34 °C
407 Km Renmark SA to Dimboola VIC

Low of 23 degrees at 7am and top of 35, sunny and cloudy ⛅️with wind gusts up to 50km/hr 💨

Our road trip along Australia’s greatest waterway, the Murray River, has come to an end and we’ve loved every minute of the adventure 💙

With another hot day expected in the Riverland we’ve packed up and on the road early, today’s journey taking us south avoiding the worst of the heat 🙏🏻

Lunch stop at Bordertown with a walk around the lake to stretch the legs

Crossing over the border into Vic, and losing 30 mins by doing so, we made an unexpected stop at Kaniva for the silo art, and sheep 🐑 , but were so intrigued by the puppet shop that we had to pop in. And WOW, it’s an amazing place 😍
As a result we have fallen in love with the world of Sam and Julia 🐭 🐭 and the Mouse Mansion, and can’t wait for grandchildren to share it with 😜

We travelled as far as our numb bums would allow, and our home for the night is one we have stopped at previously on this trip

Dimboola RV camp ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Free camp
No facilities, shade available
Dump point & water tap within town
Toilets & showers available behind library
Town (shops/pub) in walking distance
Optus reception

🚶🏼1km walk around Bordertown Recreation Lake
🚶🏼‍♀️ Walk around Dimboola and along river

👍🏻 Interesting arty trail around Bordertown Recreation Lake
👍🏻 Kaniva Puppet Shop is just awesome, we couldn’t resist the tiny 🐭 🧚 door 🚪
👍🏻 Our little family of ducks has grown 🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤
👍🏻 Much more pleasant day and a better nights sleep 💤 with cooler temps-would never of previously thought 35 degrees could be pleasant 😜

👎🏻 Worst fuel consumption of the trip today with 18.7l/100kmRead more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 33 (92)
January 27 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 48 °C
The heatwave broke records today 🏆

The low of 27 didn’t hit until 6am
Sunny with blue skies, reaching 40 by 10am and a top of 49.6 😳, only dropping to 30 degrees by midnight
Wind picking up in the afternoon with gusts of 67 km/hr💨
A new record high for Renmark 🏅

Our adventuring along Australia’s greatest waterway, the Murray River continues 😊

Into the Murray River National Park to enjoy the trails early before the heat of the day 🏃

And ended the day with drinks and dinner overlooking the river at Renmark, unfortunately by then the winds had hit to create a dust storm

🏃 10km trail run

👍🏻 Great to get out on the trails before the day got too hot to move 🏃
👍🏻 As members of the Renmark Club we scored a $10 joining voucher, $10 birthday voucher and member special meals, made for a cheap date night 🏆
👍🏻 We’ve survived our hottest day EVER at 49.6 degrees
👍🏻 We have really enjoyed our unexpected/unplanned stay at Echo Holiday Park, would def revisit out of school hols/PH

👎🏻 49 degrees sucks 🥵
👎🏻 Another day of doing nothing because it’s too dam hot ❌
👎🏻 Starlink had a meltdown in the heat 📡Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 32 (91)
January 26 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 43 °C
Australia Day 🇦🇺
Miss Tillies heavenly birthday 🤍🐶🤍

Another hot one 🥵
The low of 21 didn’t hit until 6am
Sunny with blue skies and top of 44 ☀️, only dropping to 33 degrees at midnight

Our adventuring along Australia’s greatest waterway, the Murray River continues 😊

Another early start to the day to get in a run around the trails in the Murray River National Park 🏃

🏃 10km trail run

👍🏻 Great to get out on the trails before the day got too hot to move 🏃

👎🏻 We haven’t been able to do much of anything today as it’s so hot that doing nothing is too much 🥵Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 31 (90)
January 25 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 38 °C
A low of 21, which unfortunately didn’t hit until 6am
Overcast and a little cooler than predicted ⛅️ with high of 39 but only cooling to 30 degrees by midnight

Our adventuring along Australia’s greatest waterway, the Murray River continues 😊

Being camped close to the Murray River National Park, we took advantage of the cooler start to the day and cycled in for an early morning mountain bike ride on the trails around Paringa Paddock and Goat Island 🚴🏻🚴🏻‍♀️

Then we crossed the Historic Paringa Bridge, passed the Paringa Silo and followed the Murray to the Woodshed Brewery at Murtho

🚴🏻 12km mountain bike ride

👍🏻 Great MTB ride on the trails of the Murray River NP 🚴🏻‍♀️
👍🏻 Yummy, not very healthy breakfast 😜
👍🏻 Afternoon drinks at the Woolshed Brewery 🍻
👍🏻 Cocktails and music on the river 🍹🎶

👎🏻 Mossies spoil a beautiful evening 🦟Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
💙 3rd month wrap up 💙
January 24 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 43 °C
VIC - NSW - VIC - SA

Can’t believe we have been back on the road for another month (4 weeks) already 😳

We 💙love💙 adventuring with MancHester
When we were home over Xmas we made a few small changes which have worked really well for us and made life just a little bit easier 🥰

💙 New loves - car & van solar/battery set up, roof rack for bikes, Drifta wind break for Webber, Stratus chair caddy

We have had a few ‘oops’ moments but nothing too drastic 🙏🏻 -flat car battery AGAIN!🪫, leaking tap 💦, spilt coffee 🫟, broken fishing rod 🎣 and trip to emergency for a dog bite 🏥

👍🏻 Highlights - too numerous to list them all but incl our first night back on the road 🪵, catching up with friends, camping along the Murray 🏞️, swimming in the Murray 🏊‍♀️, catching a BIG fish 🎣 , being so isolated we can leave blinds open and take in the night sky and sunrise from our bed 🛏️ , DIY winery tour 🍷, Monarto Safari Park 🐘, night at the speedway 🏁 and all the places we have run/walked/hiked/cycled🏃🚶🏼🚴🏻, the people we have met, the fabulous sunsets/sunrises🌅 and clear starry skies🌌…..

👎🏻 Lowlights - wind 💨💨💨, bugs preventing evenings outside 🐜 🪰, the welcome we received at Mannum 🛑

😥 Challenges - cliff clambering to find Punyelroo Cave 🧗🏻, dealing with a few 40+ degree days 🥵

🍻Pubs visited - not as many as we expected 😜 but we’ve been back to our fav - the Historic Overland Corner Hotel 😍, others worth a mention/revisit incl Victoria Hotel, Dimboola (interior/welcome), Royal Oak Hotel, Penola (food), Pretoria Hotel, Mannum (beer garden/location), Swan Reach Hotel (view)

Next- we need to survive the current SA extreme heat wave, a week of high temps currently predicted at 42-48 degrees 🥵. Then we will decide where to next ……

Stats for trip:
#️⃣ 11440 km covered (8996 km towing), including 2607 km (2056 km towing) this month
#️⃣ 668km of dirt road (602km towing)

#️⃣ 16.45l/100km average fuel economy (from FuelMap Australia)
💰$3997.93 for 1881l diesel
💰 Highest fuel 2.99l (William Creek & Pink Roadhouse Oodnadatta SA)
💰 Lowest Fuel $157.9l (Glossop SA)

🏃🏼331.6 km run, including 7 parkruns
🏃🏻‍♀️75.1 km hiked
🚴🏻 272 km cycled

💰$70.80 highest camping costs - Kings Canyon Resort (with discount 😳)
💰$0 lowest camping costs
🏠 This month we have mainly split our time between free and low cost camping, with only 5 nights spent at caravan parks and only 2 with power (for aircon during a heat wave)
88 nights incl 43 caravan parks, 25 free camps, 1 pub camp, 4 donation camps, 15 low cost camps (showground/RV parks etc)

💵 $3150.50 spent in tourist activities (incl replacement fishing rod 🎣, posting wine home 😜and $1540 for flight✈️)

💰$46 spent on laundryRead more
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Day 30 (89)
Jan 24–28 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 43 °C
48 Km Overland Corner to Renmark SA
Low of 22 and high of 46, only cooling to 30 degrees at midnight ☀️

The period of extreme heatwave in SA has started 🥵

We were up and on the road at sunrise as we decided to relocate from our beautiful spot on the Murray at Overland Corner in search of power to help us survive a week of 42-48 degree temps
Given it’s a public holiday weekend we had limited choice for power so we’ve done the unthinkable and checked into a caravan park, thankfully they had a few cancellations
Lets hope we survive the heat AND the caravan park 🙏🏻

Home for a few nights (to get us through the heatwave)
ECHO Holiday Park, Renmark ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
$43.63 p/n P&W- not too bad for a last minute booking on a PH long weekend
Site 55- backing onto the wetlands
Access to the river
Showers toilet, laundry, dump point, camp kitchen
Optus reception
Onsite activities planned over the long weekend -coffee van, food van, cocktail van, gin tasting, music….

Our adventuring along Australia’s greatest waterway, the Murray River continues as we move a little further along the river to Renmark, then return later in the day for a music festival at Overland Corner.

🏃 Renmark Parkrun

👍🏻 As we are heading to Renmark we thought we would get there early to do the parkrun and a little activity before the heat kicks in 🏃
👍🏻 Our early start rewarded us with a beautiful sunrise 🌅
👍🏻 Enjoyed great coffee at Arrosto Coffee, Renmark ☕️ and a catch up with people we have recently met through parkrun which was lovely 🥰
👍🏻 Soundfest, a one day music festival at Overland Corner featuring multiple bands from the Riverland across 2 stages - the pub and the quarry. It was soooooo hot but the sprinklers helped to cool us down 🎶
👍🏻 Heaps Good gin tasting brought direct to our door 😜, picked up a great tasting margarita flavoured tequila liquor 🍹

👎🏻 Oops the ducklings didn’t survive their try at skitching and we’ve lost 2 ❌ 🐥🐥❌
👎🏻 46 degrees sucksRead more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 29 (88)
January 23 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C
It’s warming up again, preparing us for the heat wave ahead 😳
Sunny, blue skies with a high of 35 degrees at 4pm ☀️

🏃 12km run around the Overland Corner Nature Reserve

👍🏻 Cool down in the river 🏊🏻‍♀️
👍🏻 Dinner at the Historic Overland Corner Hotel 🍴
We love it there and the meals are so huge we now have dinner sorted for the next few nights 😜
👍🏻 Beautiful sunset over the Murray

👎🏻 Pesky mossies out in force 🦟Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 28 (87)
January 22 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
A little respite with a cool 27 degrees 🙏🏻
Blue skies and sunny ☀️

Our adventuring along Australia’s greatest waterway, the Murray River continues 😊

We took advantage of the cooler temperatures and headed to Berri, via Lyrup and another ferry crossing, to access the Murray River National Park.
The park has a few walking and MTB trails that run along the river as well as day visitor areas and camping.
Taking to our bikes, Justine was very impressed that she stayed on the whole way as she tackled 7kms on Panky’s track, even when 2 young kangaroos popped out of the scrub to criss cross the track in front of her, and the Seagull tested his skills on the Rodeo Trail for 10km.

🚴🏻7/10km bike ride on trails through the Murray River National Park

👍🏻 Great afternoon spent on MTB trails in the Murray River NP 🚴🏻‍♀️🚴🏻
👍🏻 Wonderful service and advice from Spot on Fishing Tackle and Outdoors, Berri. Now the Seagull has a new rod to play with to replace the one he snapped 😳- hopefully it will help 🎣 and it did 😜

👎🏻Pesky mossies 🦟Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 27 (86)
Jan 21–24 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 30 °C
25 Km Barmera to Overland Corner SA
It’s was soooooo windy overnight that neither of us slept😴, and it will continue to be windy, with gusts increasing throughout the day 💨
Sunny and 30 degrees ☀️

Home for a few nights
Overland Corner Reserve - Heron Bend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Free camp on the river
No facilities
Flatish sites, some shade
Optus reception
Boot ramp
And walking distance of Historic Overland Corner Hotel 🥰

Our road trip along Australia’s greatest waterway, the Murray River continues 😊
Today we back track slightly to Overland Corner

We have stayed at Overland Corner Reserve before, and we are returning because ……
1. We love visiting the Historic Overland Corner Hotel when we are in the area 🍴🍻
2. We have tickets to Soundfest 🎶
3. It’s a public holiday weekend, and as we have nowhere else to be we are getting in early to grab a spot 😜

🚶🏼7km hike within the Overland Corner Nature Reserve
🏃7km run within the Overland Corner Nature Reserve

👍🏻 Stop off to see the ruins of the Lake Bonney Hotel and Napper’s Accomodation House, the Nappers left there to run the Overland Corner Hotel
👍🏻 Having the reserve to ourselves we had our pick of camp spots, hopefully we chose a good one to cope with the strong wind, high gusts and 44 degree temps we are expecting over the next few days 🏕️🤞🏻
👍🏻 Great hike incorporating the Herons Bend, Heritage and Floodplain walks into one big loop, taking in the old cemetery, old mine, ochre pit and new cemetery, with a stop mid point at the aid station (aka Overland Corner Hotel) for a cool drink 🚶🏼‍♀️🚶🏼 🍻

👎🏻Wind wind and yep more wind 💨Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 26 (85)
January 20 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C
Clear blue skies and sunny ☀️ Calmer start to the day and a little cooler with a high of 36 degrees 🙏🏻
That was until late evening when the strong winds kicked in and stayed all night 💨

🏃 6km morning run around lake
🚴🏻‍♀️ 9km afternoon cycle around the lake
🏊🏻‍♀️ In and out of the lake to cool off
Another triathlon completed 🏃🚴🏻‍♀️🏊 😜

👍🏻 Bike ride into town for ice cream sat beside the lake watching the world go by 🚶🏼🍦
👍🏻 Beautiful calm evening, so different from the previous night of strong winds rocking the van💨

👎🏻 pesky flies and bugs 🪰🦟
👎🏻 Disturbed sleep with strong winds rocking the van ALL night 💨Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 25 (84)
January 19 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 39 °C
Its going to be a hot one, high of 40 degrees with predicted winds of 32 and gusts up to 55km/hr in the afternoon/evening ☀️ 💨

Last time we were heading into these temps we set ourselves up at a winery with power and air con 😊 this time we’ll have to sweat it out with a sirocco fan 🥵

We had Nganguruku Campground booked for just one night but we love it so much that we’ve extended, hopefully the lake will help us cool down from the heat of the day 🙏🏻

🚶🏼7 km sunrise walk before the heat kicks in
🏊🏻‍♀️ Constantly in and out of the lake in an attempt to keep cool 😜

👍🏻 Interesting walk into town for coffee, spotting arty stuff hidden on the trail along the way 🚶🏼☕️

👎🏻 Trying to stay cool and survive 40 degrees with no power/aircon 🥵
👎🏻 Strong winds that persisted from early afternoon into the early hours of the next day 💨Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 24 (83)
Jan 18–21 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C
61 Km Waikerie to Barmera SA
Sunny, blue skies with low of 20 and high 35 ☀️

Home for a night
Nganguruku Campground- site 8 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
On the shore of Lake Bonney, Barmera
$7.50- book via council website
Self sufficient with no facilities
Limited shade, sites level L to R but significantly slope front to back
Optus reception

🏊🏻‍♀️ Just in and out of the lake to cool off in the water 😜

Our road trip along Australia’s greatest waterway, the Murray River continues 😊

Leaving Waikerie we headed to Kingston on Murray with a plan to visit the Banrock Station Wine and Wetland Centre, for the views, walks and of course the wine, only to find it appears to have closed down 😢

We took a slight detour through the Mooroock Game Reserve to check out the Kaiser Strip Campground sites for futures trips 😜 before arriving at Barmera and Lake Bonney, a freshwater lake fed by the Murray River.

👍🏻 Beautiful quiet camp spot on the shore of the lake - ours one of only 3 available spots 🏕️
👍🏻 Lake Bonney is perfect to cool down from the heat, walk in access, shallow with a sandy bottom 👌
👍🏻 THE most amazing sunset 🌅 and night sky 🌌 incl a glimpse of the Aurora Australis

👎🏻 Site very sloped and requiring alot of extensions on the BOS jockey wheel 😳
👎🏻 Sad we didn’t bring our canoe with us 🛶
👎🏻 Planned to cycle the Lake Circuit but it’s too hot to be so exposed on the 22km trail🚴🏻‍♀️🥵Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 23 (82)
January 17 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Much calmer today, clear blue skies with a top of 33 degrees ☀️

🏃Waikerie Parkrun
🚴🏻‍♀️ 9 km bike ride
🏊 Swim in the river, well more of a float
Triathlon completed 🏃🚴🏻🏊

Our adventuring along Australia’s greatest waterway, the Murray River continues 😊

Today an adventure on 2 wheels, a 9kms ride along the river, through trails leading to camp spots, around Hart Lagoon and through the wetlands 🚴🏻‍♀️🚴🏻

Then a cool off in the river, which today seems very calm 🏊🏊🏻‍♀️

👍🏻 Waikerie Parkrun 🏃, up there as one of the most friendliest we’ve visited 🥰
It was also their 1st birthday and we were invited to join their breakfast celebration 🎉 egg and bacon rolls, juice and coffee courtesy of the rotary club 👏🏻👏🏻
👍🏻 Bike ride along the river and around Hart Lagoon, only 9km but the rutted trail, soft sand and overgrown track made it a work out for the legs 🚴🏻‍♀️
👍🏻 Came back to camp to find it surrounded by a mixed group of young adults set up for an afternoon of fishing . Could have been uncomfortable but it wasn’t, they were very polite and there was lots of laughter, singing, food and fish caught 😊
👍🏻 Warm welcome and cool drinks at the Waikerie Club, originally built as a coffee palace in 1918 🍻
👍🏻 Wonderful street art trail 🎨

👎🏻 NothingRead more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 22 (81)
Jan 16–18 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
71 km Swan Reach to Waikerie SA
Calmer start to the day with gusts up to 41km/hr, overcast then sunny, 30 degrees ⛅️ ☀️

Home for a couple of nights
Holder Bend Reserve ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
Free camp with river access
No facilities
Shade, flattish sites
Optus reception

Our road trip along Australia’s greatest waterway, the Murray River continues 😊

Leaving Swan Reach we headed towards Blanchetown, and oops we did it again 😜
Murraylands Road turned unmade in front of us, again, so on with the carafan

We have previously taken the ferry at Morgan and passed through Cadell, so this time we crossed the bridge at Blanchetown and made our way directly to Waikerie.
We’ve stayed here before and the camping spot is so good we couldn’t resist returning on this Murray River adventure 🏕️

👍🏻 Waikerie laundrette, clean and huge machines 🧺
👍🏻 Our faith in Tourist Information has been restored by the lovely lady at Waikerie 🙏🏻
👍🏻 Another relaxed evening at camp by the river 📖 🎣
👍🏻 The seagulls caught a fish 🎣, actually 🐟🐟🐟, corn is the way to go 🌽
👍🏻 Beautiful sunset on the river 🌅

👎🏻 NothingRead more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 21 (80)
Jan 15–16 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 25 °C
39 Km Walker Flat to Swan Reach SA

Overcast, high of 26 and windy with gusts up to 62km/hr ☁️💨

Home for night
Tenbury Hunter Reserve ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Free camp by the river
Toilet, bins
Shade, flattish sites
24/7 ferry crossing
Optus reception

🚴🏻🚶🏼‍♀️9km bike and hike adventure to Punyelroo Cave

Our road trip along Australia’s greatest waterway and through the Murray River International Dark Sky Reserve continues 😊

Our journey from Walker Flat was a little more eventful than we had anticipated, first we missed our turn, then the road turned to gravel and became unexpectedly bumpy and dusty- cue a quick stop to switch on the carafan 🙏🏻
On arrival our planned overnight stop was already a little busy with long term campers but we did find ourselves a spot. With the high winds we positioned ourselves away from trees and the river bank, not the most amazing view but it did give us some shelter 😊

Once set up we took ourselves off to explore by bike 🚴🏻🚴🏻‍♀️. On the ferry over the river⛴️ then following it along the cliff tops, the tallest along the entire Murray, in search for the Punyelroo Cave.
It was an adventure that took us well out of our comfort zone.
In high winds we walked along the cliff and scrambled down the rock face to the rivers edge, continuing
through scrub, over rocks and fallen trees until we found the cave entrance. It would have been much easier to reach by boat 😜🧗🏼‍♀️

👍🏻 Another Murray River ferry crossing by bike ⛴️🚴🏻
👍🏻 Punyelroo Cave adventure 🧗🏼‍♀️, a little scary but great 😜
👍🏻 Well earned cool drink at the lovely Swan Reach Hotel 🍻
👍🏻 Thanks to Gloria’s recommendation (long term camper) our camp had a little shelter from the relentless wind

👎🏻 Wind, Wind and more Wind 💨Read more
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Traveler
Day 20 (79)
Jan 14–15 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
78 Km Mannum to Walker Flat SA
Sunny, clear blue skies and 31 degrees ☀️

Home for night
Hattner Landing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- currently ⭐️ as a result of the smell

Free camp with direct river access (dead carp currently dumped on the riverbank- what is wrong with fishermen 😳)
Toilet, bins, picnic benches
Shade, flattish sites
24/7 ferry crossing
Limited Optus reception

🏃🏼 8 km run along the Murray and Lake Bywaters

Our road trip along Australia’s greatest waterway, the Murray River continues 😊

And we are also now traveling through the Murray River International Dark Sky Reserve, from Purnong to Blanchtown. Australia’s first and one of only 21 DSR sites in the world.
With exceptionally dark skies across the region we are expecting some wonderful starry nights 🌌

First stop Bowhill for a coffee at the fabulous General Store ☕️ -currently for sale if you fancy a life change 😜
Another ferry crossing over the Murray at Purnong ⛴️, then drove along Lake Bywaters to access the river at Walker Flat

👍🏻 Another ferry across the Murray ⛴️
👍🏻 Beautiful peaceful camp with only the plopping fish, birds and odd boat disturbing the quiet 🐠 🦜🚤
👍🏻 Another relaxed evening at camp by the river 📖 🎣

👎🏻 Officially the smelliest camp site we’ve stayed at ever (due to the dumped dead carp on the river bank 🐟) 😳
👎🏻 Despite the MANY fish, the Seagull still hasn’t had a bite 🎣Read more
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