Trip to the zoo

Four of us from the Probus photography group went to the zoo today with the aim of photographing butterflies. It was most interesting to see the new enclosures installed since we were here many years ago. The underwater viewing of the seals was quite spectacular.

Outback Oz

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Day 1

Sunday, 24 June 2012

We saw hundreds of corellas as we crossed the Loddon River at Bridgewater, then found a great camping spot 6 k north of Wedderburn, at Skinners Flat Resevoir. The pump in the sink has carked it, so we picked up some water at Bridgewater.

	Photo 1 [Map]		Photo 2 [Map]

Day 2

Monday, 25 June 2012

Woke up to very foggy and dismal day. We did rescue a (rather elderly) damsel in distress today. Her car had broken down so we drove her to Charlton. Admired the view of Lake Tyrrell from a lookout.

Bought a sink pump and got some caravan keys cut. Got the lowdown about Mungo from a nice lady at Wentworth. Arrived at Fort Courage in time for a splendid sunset. Had a chat to a man in a dressing gown. He seemed to think it was cold!

	Photo 3 [Map]		Photo 4 [Map]

Day 3 - Mungo NP

Tuesday, 26 June 2012

Quite along day. It took 2 1/2 hours to drive to Mungo via the Pooncarie road, the last 60 km being pretty rough. The Visitor's centre was interesting, after which we did a short walk up to the red sand dunes which were quite pretty. Then ate our sandwiches and tried out themes gas stove for a cuppa - very successful.

The drive to the 2 lookouts was good, the walls of China weren't quite as spectacular as expected, but weird and picturesque anyway.

Much smoother drive home along the Mildura road, longer, though. Pretty late back to camp.

	Photo 5 [Map]		Photo 6 [Map]

Day 4 - Fort Courage

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

Very frosty night resulting in a beautiful day. Long walk to the anabranch, taking 2 3/4 hours. The anabranch is flowing into the Murray- first time we've seen that. We stepped carefully through quite a lot of muddy patches and found a much shorter way back. A tree standing in the water had weird stripes from flood markings.

	Photo 7 [Map]		Photo 8 [Map]

Day 5 - Heron's Bend

Thursday, 28 June 2012

Another cold night at Fort Courage after which we set out for Renmark where a nice girl solved my IPad problem.

We stopped at the Overland Corner Pub where we had a drink and looked at their little museum (actually the whole place was a museum piece)

Then stopped at a wonderful camping spot on the Murray River with a lovely view.

	Photo 9 [Map]		Photo 10 [Map]

Day 6 - Orroroo

Friday, 29 June 2012

Easy trip to Orroroo. Visited Terowie where General MacArthur said, I shall return. We were made very welcome by Anne and Eddy.

	Photo 11 [Map]		Photo 12 [Map]
	Photo 13 [Map]

Day 7 - Orroroo

Saturday, 30 June 2012

Pleasant day with the Howells. We visited the giant tree, the old Ghan bridge and did a great walk along the Pekina creek. Ed told us about the Bradshaw paintings after dinner.

	Photo 14 [Map]		Photo 15 [Map]
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Richmond

Sitting in the car at Richmond, having walked all over the place. Photographed the bridge and churches, lunched on curried scallops, "done" the gaol (glad I wasn't a convict!) and looked in all the galleries and antique shops. Weather is fine again, although there is a cool wind. Can't believe how lucky we've been with the weather. Yesterday was the only really cold wet day. We got a mobile message to say our flight will be 1/2 hour late.

Market Day

Caught the shuttle bus into the Salamanca market, leaving our resort at 8.20. Did the usual pick-up from camping grounds etc and arrived an hour later. It's a huge market, mostly hand-made items, a lot of them wood turning, home-made jams, honey, paintings and photos, (no hand made books!). I bought some wooden buttons and knitting needles,Herb got some merino socks. Had coffee and toast or muffins, then went to Katmandu where they were having a sale, I got a jacket and Herb, a vest. Back in the bus via a lookout over the Derwent bridge, by then it had started raining. We heard how a ship (the Illawarra Lake) had wrecked the bridge in 1975 and it took 2 1/2 years to repair it. (It's the only river with a lake in it. The ship is still there). In the meanwhile they used several ferries for commuting and one of the owners made a fortune by selling alcohol during the crossings. 12 people died, 7 of them sailors on the bow and the others were in cars that went over the edge. One in a Holden Monaro survived and he's kept the car!

Bruny Island

A very pleasant trip to Bruny Island Caught the 11.05 am ferry and went to the northern tip where we had coffee and biscuits at a lovely new cafe overlooking the water. Ther were lots of terns which we recorded on the new SLR. Then travelled to the neck which is a very narrow strip of land joining north and south Bruny Islands. We climbed 182 steps to see the view - spectacular and still sunny. When we got to the southern tip, Bruny Cape complete with lighthouse, the sun had gone under and the landscape was dull and uninspiring. Travelled a very narrow rough road to Adventure Bay where Captain Cook landed in 1777 to get water and grass for cattle. By then it was drizzling so we had tea and cake at a little cafe and caught the return ferry. The trip fromKettering to Honart in the dark wasn't too pleasant with oncoming headlights, but made it ok with Herb's excellent driving.