Adelaide – Saturday
It was very relaxing having space to stretch out, a little lounge, a table and chairs already set up in their special spot, ensuite etc. No rain fell overnight and it promised to be a nice sunny day. We took our time packing our things back into the car then went to check out the junction of the River Darling and the River Murray. Over the years more and more water has been taken out of the Darling for irrigation so it’s nothing like the big old river and is quite muddy looking. The Murray too loses a lot of its flow for the same reason but South Australia has lobbied for years to get what it considers to be a fairer allocation of water coming down. Many water licenses have been sold back to the government so the condition of the river has improved. Standing on the tower today it wasn’t possible to pick out the mixing of the different coloured waters but a large river cruise boat came down the Darling just as we arrived so maybe that stirred the waters up.
There was plenty of bird life along the river. After we’d watched the birds for a while we went back to have breakfast at the Artback Cafe, we sat out on the upstairs balcony and enjoyed the scenery. We hadn’t made up our minds where our next stop would be though it had to be south and west. Leaving Wentworth we headed towards Mildura but when a sign came up pointing towards Renmark we took it instead and then knew we were going home today.
The rainforest of Far North Queensland was behind us and so were the drought affected areas of Central and Southern Queensland we were now in the irrigated areas. Acres of Almond, Citrus, Avocado and Olive Trees were around us as well as all the Grape Vines. At the Fruit Fly Checkpoint the people in front of us had to surrender their lettuce and other fresh foods but all we had were a couple of sprigs from a Pepper Tree. I didn’t expect it but I had to hand them over! After our required stop at the Bakers Shop in Renmark we continued until I saw a well stocked farm gate stall. We bought a big bag of Blood Oranges, and another of Mandarins then I had to buy half a kilo of dried Apricots, they looked just too good to pass up and they were much cheaper than I can buy in Adelaide.
Between Wentworth and Renmark we’d started seeing Gazanias beside the road, they’re a South African plant with lovely bright colours but they’ve escaped from home gardens and are now considered a pest plant in bush areas. I can’t help but admire them.
We arrived home about 4 o’clock and as usual it’s lovely to be back to the comforts of home and exciting to see the fruit trees blossoming etc but also disappointing that our jaunt is over. It’ll be another year before we can go off on a trek again.
Thanks for coming along for the ride. 🙂
2macstracks 
Recent Comments