Next stop Balranald!

I was becoming much more adept at curbing my impatience with myself the further west I headed. I did know deep down I wouldn’t Make Mildura and so I was more relaxed about it all. Not only that but I also knew it was only about 140kms to Balranald where I could at least pull over for the night, even if it had to be beside a motel somewhere so I didn’t stand out too much lol.
I really enjoyed the journey this time, feeling really upbeat from the exploration of the Shearers Hall of Fame and the lovely, knowledgeable shearer as previously mentioned. Up went my music, the road was not all that busy as yet so no stress builders there and sung away to my favourite songs. As it got later in the afternoon, the traffic (maybe it was the area lol) went up a notch, though the amount of trucks were surprisingly few compared to the trip to Hay.
By the time I pulled into Balranald it was dusk. I was ready for a little break as I looked up the amount of road left to Mildura. A long bloody one as it turned out and so I decided one way or the other I was staying the night here. I parked in a long vehicle bay at the Discovery Centre, deciding it wouldn’t hurt to see if the Information centre was open; luckily for me it was. I popped in and asked the lady if there were any places I could legally free camp and I am so glad I did! Turns out around the back was kept especially for motorhomers and caravanners to stop over though it had a strict 24 hour limit. There was another in town so if I wanted to explore the town and surrounding areas, I could spend up to four nights! I just had to swap those two places around, though the lady in the coffee shop I headed for next reckoned no one would mind if I spent a few days in the park behind them, as long as I was respectful and kept it tidy. Easy peasy lol… I never leave a trace. After all its an honour to be able to do what I do and those who leave their rubbish or bad attitude as a memento are the antithesis of true travellers anyway.
After an iced coffee, I parked the motorhome around the back and headed for the ladies toilets and showers. I had also been told that I could have free showers if I liked though they do have a donation box and a request. Not compulsory but naturally I put in a couple of bucks each time. The showers AND the toilets were pretty new, the shower cubicle not only lockable but as large as a small bathroom! Oh what luxury lol and they are cleaned every day! Just what I needed to wash my hair in, so much easier than my little one and besides it does help me to free camp more as I don’t use my water up on the showers that way.
Talk about feeling human again lol… the days were still bloody hot and the dust from the places I stopped(visited lol) had combined to make me feel clammy. Now that was gone so was my fatigue! Off I trotted back to my little home and turned on the gas, heating up one of my precooked frozen stir fries and some cauliflower rice. After I washed up I headed back to my little bedroom, cup of hot tea in hand, to watch some telly. A lot of the shows are a tad boring (I am not a reality show fan) so its the perfect way to wind down. The phone was off and as my body slowly began to relax, the night marching onwards and the town noises disappearing, I turned of the TV, rolled over and slept soundly until around 6am the next morning. I felt completely refreshed and longing for a coffee… as I sipped on the deliciously energising brew I pondered what to do that day. Well the place was really little, I mused. I might just take a walk around, grab a few groceries and head out. Well that was the plan anyway.
As it happened I did spend 4 nights, one of which was at the local caravan park. There was much more to do than I thought and the frog sculptures made out of recycled steel was my first inkling of that fact! I had to laugh when I noted that from the first frog I saw (lawnmower in hand lol) to the next were these little painted frog feet heading down the footpath… ahh a frog trail. I was really intrigued, no idea why frogs were so big in the town at that point. It was only later that I learned this area boasted a very rare and now endangered frog. It is a bright green with gold spots on its body and is known by two names. The more common name is the Growling Grass Frog (due to its call); the other ‘proper’ name is the Southern Bell frog. I was enchanted!
I made a pact with myself that before I left I would find and photograph all the funky sculptures around the place, having realised almost immediately that they depicted the shops/places of interest they were outside of.
But first there was the Men’s shed, which just happened to be open to the public that day, to check out. The men were down the back but the front was devoted to knick knacks they had made and the beautiful art work of the lady who sat doing her stuff while talking to curious travellers such as myself.
We spent quite awhile chatting and before too long one of those males down the back came up, to check out what was causing our laughter no doubt. What a character he was. A retired bus driver, he had lots of entertaining tales to tell and revelled in the willing audience he had found in me. I sat perched on the stool in the corner and laughed along with the other lady at his yarns. He had obviously been a rather naughty boy when he was younger though he tried to pretend otherwise and I tried not to laugh outright when he did! I must have been in there a good half an hour and the rain clouds that had been gathering sneakily all morning were now dark and foreboding. Well, why not stay another night, I thought. I headed back to my motorhome and went to the other 24 hour spot, relieved it was on a gravelly type of parking space. I knew there would be quite a bit of rain coming this way and since I didn’t know the area, was concerned about bogging. After all, it is a wetlands area and when it rains the nearby national parks are closed to the public because the roads there literally become unpassable.
Anyway it was safer to be off the roads if you can when the weather closes in and again, I had no set time limits to push me into risking it. There wasn’t as much to do, it being a huge parking area behind the local pool so I put up my privacy blinds, grabbed one of the books my lovely friend had gifted me and kicked back on my comfy bed to read and rest. Gotta love the excuse eh? I still had frozen meals left from my big cooks at Taree so the lounge lizard thing via the bed thing lol, was to be taken advantage of while my mind came to terms with the fact that I really was on holiday time and that too was ok!
The night was a little less relaxed due to the constant lightning but restful nonetheless and the next morning, though still grey, the rain seemed to have headed off to other parts. Yep straight for Yanga and Mungo National Parks! Just where I was toying with visiting. Never mind I thought, there were still places I hadn’t seen and a night in the caravan park starting from early morning so I could blog, would be just the thing. I rang up the only one in town, praying that it wasn’t fully booked out. I had seen how many caravans had headed out that way so wasn’t overly confident I would be lucky. As it turned out, there was an emptying out from the previous day going on and yes they had room for me.
Off I drove, GPS on because I can be hopeless at times with directions, and stopped into the reception at the front. I mentioned I didn’t want a boggy one if possible and she smiled indulgently at me. Well the rain had made them all a bit boggy, she said, however there was on just next to the laundry, women’s loos and showers that is pretty solid. Great! She checked it was available, gave me the map of where to go and where I was etc. and I dashed out through the returned downpours to my bus, grinning at the ‘archway’ that was the entrance. Everything about this town had that touch of ‘different’. I cannot explain it to you, seeing is understanding in this case and I urge you to think about coming out rather than staying by the coast.
I set up, almost walked on a poor, stunned bee the high winds and lashing rain had all but put an end to. Aw poor little thing, I thought sadly, looking around for something to lift it up. I had already been stung, by my own stupidity I might add, on this trip and didn’t really want a repeat. Luckily a couple of hundred gum leaves had fallen off the nearby tree also. I picked them up and used them to scoop up the poor bee on my step, carrying it over to the riverside and out of reach of unwary humans, who might just step on it as I had done to another one the other day!
It really made me feel happy to have helped another of nature’s creatures, knowing full well how much we need them and that though we might hurt for a little while after being stung, these poor things pay with their lives!
I set up my laptop, checked my emails, played on facebook for awhile (talk about procrastination lol) and finally settled in to blog. After that it was lunch time, more blogging and some exploring before I popped on a dvd and shut out even this beautiful part of the world to rest a tired mind. Funnily enough being online drains me if I stay for more than an hour so you will, I hope, forgive me for my frequent stopping and starting of this journey’s blog 🙂
The next morning I had an early shower to wake me up and a short walk to clear clear any lingering fuzziness to the mind lol. It was on this walk that I noticed a steel swinging bridge inviting people to cross into the lush wetlands on the other side. Of course you had to cross the Murrumbidgee, where I fancied other more intrepid explorers did so long before me… or the bridge! Hmm. I decided it would make a great walk, its signs informing one of the many wetland birds to be found, in particular the yellow breasted rosella! Too there were echidnas, emus and kangaroos who inhabited these lands and though I was determined to explore it, I secretly prayed not to run into the emus or the male Kangaroos, both of whom can be quite aggressive when the mood took them. I would be walking alone and am only a little being lol so I decided discretion just might be the better part of valour, should I happen to spot either. On the contrary where the others were concerned I fervently prayed I WOULD see them close up.
After I had parked out on the street, duly vacating in plenty of time to allow the next lot of travellers in, I opened that gate and walked the steel bridge (swing it did by the way, groaning and grinding in a way that made me feel a little apprehensive I admit) into the cool, lush wetlands that followed the Murrumbidgee River around. There was a trail, 2.4 kms apparently, that I could walk so I decided that for now I would stick to the trail. It wouldn’t do to veer off, run into something less friendly and not be able to be found lol.
I needn’t have feared though. I saw so many beautiful birds, including the Yellow Breasted Rosellas and Golden Honeyeaters, kookaburras, swallows, magpies and many different species of finches and robins. What a gloriously alive place this is. The air was so clean here and no, there were no emus or roos in sight. Maybe my noise scared them off as I tried in vain to capture those gorgeous rosellas on camera. No Echidnas either sadly. I stopped at one of the many picnic tables in there, checked under the seat for spiders, sat and just soaked up the serenity that only the communion with nature offers.
After a couple of hours, I reluctantly left my ‘happiness break’, knowing it was time to make a decision on whether or not I was going to head out again. The weather was still patchy and I really didn’t feel like it so I went back to the 24 hour stop behind the Discovery Center, preparing to settle in for the night. A great excuse to sample some afternoon tea in that lovely little café .. doesn’t take much to convince me to enjoy some decadence, especially when they cater for my need to have Lactose free milk and grain free treaties lol.
As you may have guessed I was procrastinating again and that hot shower in the BIG cubicle was calling me. Once again I settled in for dinner and chill time, enjoying a good night’s sleep and deciding that this time I had to go!
Ha! I went into the Information Centre to buy a present for a very special friend who had decided she would go back to her home country soon. I found one that was to do with friendship, of all things a beautiful green frog with gilt outline. I know she loves frogs so it was really a no brainer and I was spending again in a town that made me feel so welcome and asked nothing really in return. That’s another thing about coming inland. The towns welcome our custom, do not treat us as merely dollars on legs and are catering more and more for the growing swell of travellers like myself.
Next up I decided to do the historic trail, snapping pics here and there, which I followed up with a visit to the Discovery Gallery. What an eye opener it was in so many ways, home to Australia’s first phone (what a cack when compared to the modern ones), a font of factual information on the beginnings of this area and the Aboriginal Dreamtime stories. One side of the gallery was completely taken up with an amazing print type mural of an aboriginal in a redwood boat he had made himself… hope I got that right lol… there were posts that had ear pieces on them through which when held up to your ear, you could hear stories of the dreamtime and yarns about the men that abounded in the early days of pioneering. I learned that Balranald is where Bourke and Wills crossed the Murrumbidgee River on their way to the Simpson Desert, where some of their men deserted the expedition and where Sturt finished his exploration of the Murrumbidgee, mistakenly believing the wetlands were the end of it until much later when he came back to investigate the doings in the region. I could go on but again, its a discovery that’s best made yourself. Second hand telling isn’t the same as being where it happened. There is a feeling here still of the sacredness of this land, the deep respect that the Aboriginal tribes of the Mutti Mutti and the Nari Nari had for it and the strength and determination of the white men who settled here. One thing that made me feel quite proud was they way that Sturt, as opposed to so many other whites, treated the Aboriginals with gentleness. What a lovely change eh?
The next day I knew I had to go, sadly my hanging back had not produced the longed for opening of the roads to the National Parks. I vowed I would be back, hopefully on the return journey and hopefully they will be dry and open by then.
My next stop yet again was not Mildura. The weather had chilled yes but the sun was shining and though I had planned to at least get to Euston, just 15 kms out of it I saw a sign announcing Lake Benanee Area. I could see the lake from the road and so on impulse I turned off, deciding it would be the perfect place to have lunch. As I pulled in next to the little wooden fence that separated the cars from the sands of the lake, I suddenly felt a deep longing to walk alongside it. There was a caravan there that had shared my freecamp a couple of nights back so I felt ok about wandering off leaving my bus so easily seen from the busy highway. It was sheer heaven down there, she oaks, weeping willows and huge old gums dotted both the shoreline and farther up the sands. On the tree directly in front of me a Blue Crane sat nonchalantly regarding me as I slowly approached. I stopped and took a photo of course and then continued on, the crane no doubt having felt he had done his duty by posing, likewise moved on. In the sunlight, the lake looked a milky white. Mysteriously beautiful and for a coastal girl like me, a most unusual sight. There were dead trees in the lake and now and then a fish jumped out to have a look at the world, me included, before retreating back to its watery world beneath the surface.
I had already talked myself into staying at least one night. I didn’t know what or if Euston had anything I would be interested in, though if my journey thus far was any indication, no doubt it would in some way fire my imagination if not my senses. This lake was so peaceful I couldn’t bear to tear myself away so quickly.
As if to seal my fate, there was one of the biggest old Gums I had ever seen up ahead and on its highest, starkly bared branch sat a raptor that I had grown to love as it made its appearance in and out of my life all along the inland highways. It was of course the Little Eagle. As I have previously mentioned, eagles whether sea eagle, wedge-tailed eagle or little eagle all spoke to my spirit on what I was to do next and this one was urging me to rest lol. Of course I hadn’t rested much so far 😉
I quickly took a pic and was startled when it left its nesting place and flew straight for me. He came in low and flew directly over my head in a tight circle, obviously checking me out before retreating once again to his vantage point on the highest part of the old tree. I grinned away to myself, admitting that at first I was a little scared. I am sure he grinned too in his eagle’s fashion, knowing full well that he had come out the victor and highly amused at the reaction his antics caused the little human on the sand.
People came and went, one couple coming in to peruse the layout of my home to gain ideas for her project with a similar bus and yet another who had apparently free camped beside me one night in Balranald, adding to the coincidence when she announced to my prattling about Yeoval that her uncle had been the policeman in that town for 40 years! It really is a very small world. In Balranald itself the young woman who served me in the local IGA turned out to be a Kempsey girl.. pretty much like me! What are the odds!
All up I spent three nights there and as the sun was less of a visitor than it had been, I finally had to move on to Euston in search of a caravan park where I could plug in to recharge !the batteries and to do the washing. There is only one in Euston and no supermarkets at all. The man who runs it was lovely and so I decided on doing the one night there where I could not only do the washing but once again do some blogging.
I was lucky enough to be given the site right next to the Mighty Murray River.. what a joy! The winds were challenging, trying to steal the clothes I had pegged on my little clothesline, not to mention the sheeting rains that came on and off with no warning but in the end I only needed to put my clothes into the dryer for 10 on warm to take the last of the chilly damp out of them. I did some blogging, lost it accidentally, started again, lost it again and finally got smart enough to save it on and off as by now I recognised my mind was sick of focussing on the blogging and wanted only to play lol.
Like now, that was when I realised it was time to stop though I will do my best to bring you up to date this time. I did have to shop and again, I could not afford to buy fruit and vegetables because I would only lose them before I could eat them, to the quarantine stations. Funnily enough I had to go to Robinvale in Victoria.. 3kms away! … to shop. I did get some cauliflower to make up my cauliflower rice that I love so much though.
The next day I took off to Mildura, this time making it all the way. Personally Mildura is not my space, so unfriendly compared to where I had been before and the lack of places to park up in the CBD for larger vehicles, especially close enough to get the shopping, was ridiculous for a city where many travelled through in order to get to South Australia.
There was a very friendly girl down by the wharf serving coffee and eats from a little caravan there and one other guy who remembered to smile but that was it really. I did one train in the gym and took off next morning, having spent a sleepless night parked on the road. However during this time I had been contacted by my eldest grandson’s mum, asking me where I was and would I like to come for a visit. They are in Lobethal in South Australia. Of course I said yes but did mention I would probably be a while since I do not know the area and would most likely need to stop quite a few times.
They came to meet me on the road between Renmark and Grangetown so that I could follow them the rest of the way back. We did stop at a lovely little roadhouse where the coffee was almost as good as the view. I really didn’t like having to go through so quickly. The only stop I made was to cook that cauliflower as I knew I would not be allowed to take it in and hate waste. I had a feeling about it and so I waited for the cauliflower to cool and popped it into the freezer. Thank goodness I did because that was the only way they allow it through. Apparently freezing is the only safe way to be sure that it was safe to bring into South Australia. AT least I got to keep my precious raw honey… I am still in Lobethal as they show me the beauty of the place they call home and my grandson proudly chauffeurs me to places he is familiar with, including the Burwood Motor Museum where he did a year’s work experience. I could see how much they liked him, telling him to come visit them more often now he has his P plates… so proud of him. He is growing up too fast though as they always do. Well that’s all I wish to share for now, family time is so precious especially when there have been misunderstandings and distance both physical and emotional.
As always, may your journey be blessed until we chat again.