18/3 Burra

 

    

    Leaving Lake Bonney , it was overcast but no rain , which was good . The drive was interesting , we've always said we'd like to see this area when it's green , but it's always been dry and parched when we've come through previously . The countryside was turning green , large open spaces were green , there was water laying around in places and all the vegetation looked like it wanted to be here , just what we've wanted to see . Arriving in Burra , we made our way to the showgrounds to stay for a couple of nights . You can see how much rain they've had here , water still lying around and mud from previous vehicles . 

   Next day I got the bike out to get some exercise . Burra is a funny town , seemingly split into 2 sections . I rode around , checking out the beautiful old stone buildings and pubs .  

    The stonework in these buildings is quite impressive .

    A lot of these buildings were for the copper mine that was just over the hill in this photo .

Another great example of the stonework .

  Here's one of the old smoke stacks from the mine .

    The mine looked to be an interesting place , so I rode up the hill and into the old mine precinct . Some parts have been preserved , others , well not so much .

    This is the section of Burra we are in .

   And this is the other side of town , where most of the shops are .

    This preserved building - Morphetts Engine House - is also a museum , you can get a passport at the visitor information centre , that gives you a key to access inside here as well as other places around town - I had forgotten about that , and it was a bit late to go and get one - I just rode around the old mine site instead . The engine house has been rebuilt , as a fire did a lot of damage to the old one .

The stone work is still intact , the timbers are slowly disappearing .

Powder magazines are always interesting , the lengths they had to go to to make sure the were no sparks , and limited access was amazing . The stonework here impeccable still !

These are some of the old building remains perched on the side of the open pit .

    This is the side of the museum building that the key gives you access to , through the locked gate and door.

                                     Beside this building is an old smelter flue tunnel 

    Another view of the Powder Magazine on top of the hill and various levels of buildings beside the pit .  

   The weather looked like closing in again , so I did a tactical retreat back to the van , another day down in our trek back west . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1oW2oaa5Y0yXbuMp642FGKYIKZkG6VQA&usp=sharing

16/3 Lake Bonney

 

    Leaving Mildura , we continue on our drive west . Having consumed what needed consuming or cooking , we went through the quarantine stop just east of Renmark in SA and had no problems , they were very thorough and pleasant as they checked everything . From there we found our way to the Woolworths in Renmark to shop and restock the van - WOW were we totally underwhelmed . The fruit & vegetables were average to say the least , which was a surprise especially for the amount of fresh produce that's grown in this area ! That made us think where we were ending up today , so we continued on to Barmera and Lake Bonney . The weather wasn't being friendly either with rain and showers to drive through - we don't like driving in the rain . We stopped at North Lake Caravan Park on the shore of the lake , it's in need of some TLC I'm afraid , but the owner just said park where you like , we don't have many bookings , so we did , parking with a view of the lake  - not quite as close as this though . The shoreline is sandy and the water was clear - nothing like the Murray River to which it is attached . Plenty of dead trees along the edges made for interesting photos .

   We stayed for 2 nights before heading off again . Here's map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1MkrS5Obyv3w8UmoiDLRD2066dfm5gT0&usp=sharing

14/15/3 To Mildura

 

  Did I mention things were changing , been a hell of a month , doctors appointments , scans , more scans , specialist appointments and more scans . One angiogram in Sydney later , and I'm good to go - got a better report than 1st thought , just have to get cholesterol & blood pressure down . 

   So after that little hiccup , we're off - did I mention the little invasion happening as well - diesel prices climbing , just as we go to drive 4,000 kilometres !! Topping up with fuel before we leave Moss Vale , we made it to Yass before we topped up again - figured we'd keep the tank as full as we could . Anyway we stopped for a couple of days at Wagga Showgrounds - time for some food shopping , oh yeah , the now obligatory visit to the chemist to pick up some drugs - prescription variety of course 😉 and to top up with fuel again . Saw a cheaper service station to fill up at and thought we'll do that tomorrow - hmmm price went up 10c a litre overnight to $2.29 - lesson learnt !! The chemist also suggested I have a shingles vaccination , and booked me in for that . Certainly wasn't my favourite , feeling like crap for the next 24hours or so . 

   Leaving Wagga , we stop for fuel again at Narrandera & Hay , before having a night at a free camp at Balranald . Still plenty of trucks and caravans on the road . Next day we headed to Mildura for a couple of days to use up food before going through Quarantine at Renmark . Time to unhitch the van and have a little look around Mildura . The Murray River figures highly here , for irrigation and house boats . Here's a few of the latter .

    The river is flanked by thousands of Red Gums 

    There's also a few paddle steamers going up & down the river doing tourist runs .

This is an old pump station building with murals of the river 

This old red gum is only dead on one half , still living on the other - the trunk is about 2m wide .

    Seems the main crop around here is grapes , both table and wine varieties and there are 1,000's of acres of them . Talking to the caravan park owner , and she said the recent rains had caused a lot of the grapes to split , and the watermelons were ruined as well on her brothers property , so goodness knows how many other farmers had the same problems with the storms .

   Next day we went down to Red Cliffs , beside the Murray River , on the way we stopped at Bruces Bend to check out campsites and also a house boat hire & storage area .

The hull and some timber are all that remains of an old barge or paddle steamer nearby .

    The campsites would be good , but equally bad if you got caught up in the rain , the ground is just fine river bank silt and turns to crap with the addition of some water . A camper I talked to had been here for 8 weeks , and relayed some stories of how people were getting bogged all over the place - he chose to stick it out , not sure why , but he did .

   Further down the road & river , we found Red Cliffs - an area beside the river with reddish cliffs and also a raised lookout .

    Houseboats were chugging up & down , with the odd fishing boat as well .

   The drone leapt out of the bag and took off for an elevated view . The lookout is just right of the middle of the photo , but didn't give a nice a view as this .

   I mentioned grapes before , here's some of them .

     Some of the river traffic .

    And some more grapes going off into the horizon .

 And there you have it , more to come . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1BVNZ0segK1VW8lS8Fqm8YBxuiL4X76g&usp=sharing

3/2/26 Day out in the mountains

 

   Spent some time down at Bungendore and surrounds . Took a drive out to Captains Flat - I went there with a friend over 45 years ago !! We took some back roads and found this old road bridge . It's  a single lane bridge now , with a structural steel beam across the top about midway across the bridge . It was quite well built back in the day , but like everything else these days it's seen it's best 

   About 40m away is a railway bridge , built with steel and concrete - could have been a lesson here !

     The approach to the bridge on the southern side looks like a wombat city - holes everywhere . Onwards to Captains Flat , arriving and driving through town . It was a mining town , with the town itself seemingly surrounded by mining activity . Predominantly Lead , zinc & pyrite , as well as some significant quantities of copper , silver & gold . There's plenty of remediation works happening at the moment . No photos sorry. We continued up into the bush , finding some of the old fire trails I had once been on , the forest is pretty thick .

 

    Following tracks , we made our way to Lowden Forest Park , where there's a camp ground and an old water wheel . When I saw it 45 odd years ago , the wheel was turning with water flowing down the sluice - it's a bit dry now , but still there .

     Had some lunch nearby , everlasting daisies growing happily .

    There'a an old timber jinker - used to carry logs to the sawmill .

Possibly pulled along with this old steam engine .

    Another day we ventured into Canberra to do some shopping and some sightseeing as well - the view from Mt Ainslie .

          And again

     Storms were also present , this is looking back toward Bungendore from the showgrounds .

     It's been a long time since we've seen Lake George full , this is the view from the southern lookout . Last time I was here , I towed up from the lake bed in my hang glider and flew back to Sutton Forest . Bit difficult to do that now !!

    And we had a few stunning sunsets as well 

         Our site at the showgrounds .

    Stay tuned , things are a changing . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1gDIsjq628W6aqxrVSKzUa1w-FtoHSYg&usp=sharing

28/1/26 Some local sites revisited

 

    Okay , back in Moss Vale for the doctors check ups and friend & family catchups , even a game of golf or 2 . Caught up with the family in Calderwood , hectic with all the kids there , but worth the effort .       We headed out via Fitzroy Falls and through to Belmore Falls , then to Robertson . Weather was turning into a beautiful summer's day , good for a drive to see how things have changed since we'd last been here . Great to see a lot of the countryside is still just that , and not overdeveloped . The roads have aged a bit without a lot of maintenance by the look of it . It was good to be out in the forest again , winding our way down to Belmore Falls . The water still crosses the road , and is clear as ever - something that is taken for granted over here ! Clear and running water seems to be restricted to the eastern states , except for flooding of course .

     There's plenty of new growth in the banksia's , as well as others .

    After a wander around near the top of the falls , then we went out to the falls viewing points , not disappointing at all .

    Banksia's in various stages of flowering were all around us .

     Scotch thistles also thrive here , and aren't really friendly , but look good .

    Time to find a good spot for lunch , preferably with some shade and running water . There's a spot I know , where the water flows down to the falls , nice and quiet . It has a natural bedrock causeway that the creek flows over .

   Plenty of tree ferns and natural bush.

    Lunch was consumed , and we attempted to catch up with Frank at Robertson , but he was busy , so we will catch up with him & Doris in a couple of weeks time . 

     Fast forward a couple of weeks and we caught up with them for a great catch up and cuppa . It turned into a busy day . From Robertson we headed out through East Kangaloon and into Bowral where we caught up with Wendy ( Hi Wendy ) for several more hours of chatting and laughing . 

  Corbett gardens were showing off a little - in this garden bed at least .

   In between these catch ups , we had another interesting Saturday at Berrima pub , a school reunion for anyone who was at the MV High in 1975 . From being unsure of how the day would pan out , to spending 6 hours catching up with many school friends who we hadn't seen for along time - some since 1974 !! 

  We are enjoying our visit this time , quite entertaining .