There was a distinct chill in the air this morning. Chris checked the temperature and it was 5C outside when we woke – as usual, it was a still morning under clear skies. Two pelicans glided gracefully up the Darling River as we sat enjoying breakfast in the warming sunlight. Other birds filled the air with birdsong while the occasional fish jumped in the otherwise still waters of the river.
It was a relatively straightforward drive today, from Menindee to Mildura. We first undertook this drive some years ago and were uncertain how much of the road would still be gravel (when we last drove the Menindee – Wentworth Road it was all gravel, with plenty of dust thrown in along the way). Today, however, we enjoyed travelling on our first extended section of sealed road since Mt Isa. To our good fortune the road was sealed the whole way, so we were able to set the cruise control at 100kph, sit back, and watch the country pass by our window.
It wasn’t long into our journey south when we went within a feather duster of hitting a large emu that ran in front of us. Fortunately it had the good sense (rare among emus) to turn away just before the point of impact and run at full pace back into the roadside bushes. A close call! Feral goats were also grazing in significant numbers beside the road and, while they appear to have better road sense than emus, it pays to keep an eye on them – if one bolts across, others are likely to follow. From our observations, emus and goats tend to thrive in the same sort of country and where you find one you will almost always find the other.
Over 100kms south of Menindee is the town of Pooncarie, a once-thriving port town that serviced the surrounding properties. The river transport declined in the 1920s as new forms of transport emerged, so the town these days has a diminished population from its heyday at the turn of the 20th century. The town still has a number of its original buildings, which were built in the late 1860s just after Burke and Wills passed through the area on their way north to Menindee.
South of Pooncarie we came across the first signs of cropping in what seemed like red sand country. At best guess it looked like wheat was being grown in broad acre paddocks. The cropping then gave way to acres and acres of grapevines, all in the early stages of shooting new buds as the days begin to warm. The vines were themselves soon replaced by orange orchards that stretched for kilometres, only broken up by plantings of almonds and other unidentifiable (to us) fruit trees.
Our journey took us over the Murray River and into Victoria for the first time since leaving on this adventure back in July. The river itself was carrying far less silt than the Darling; as a consequence it looked much healthier. Our usual camping preference beside the Murray was not available, as work was underway to remediate part of the park after flooding early last year. We have set up in another caravan park 3.5kms to the west of Mildura, but again on the banks of the Murray. We have shopped for a few essentials this afternoon, filled the Tvan water tank, and put the shopping away. We have bumped into a few other Track Trailer owners and have been invited to share their fire later in the evening after dinner.