.We will be be very happy to drive North today, as it is getting pretty cold down here. Our drive to Mildura is a bit over 500 km, but through some nice countryside in the Adelaide Hills and Langhorne Creek, before we are back out into broad acre farming country Much of this ground we have covered before, and finding a place to stop for our morning cuppa is proving difficult, either because the main road bypasses main towns, or because the smaller towns along the route are dead.
Eventually, we settle on Karooma, a farming town, which has a very impressive painted wheat silo, so clearly attracts passers by. We stop a Cathies Cafe foe a good coffee, before we walk acroass the road to get photographic evidence of the silo art to prove we have been here.
The artwork is so extensive that you need to photograph both ends of the silos, and the centre to get the full picture
The other highlight of Karooma, is we finally saw Sturt's Desert Pea growing in the garden near the silo. Despite our best efforts we had no sightings in the SA outback.
From here, there is not a lot to see until we get to Mildura, where on checking in, our host suggested a walk along the river, which s just near the motel. Also there is aq wide selection of restaurants within 2 blocks of the motel.
The river walk was a great suggestion, with a lot of effort having been put into park areas along the river here.
The paddle steamer Coonawarra is tied up along the shore
Along the riverside we see the usual history of flood levels, this time recorded on a building. Whilst the 2023 flood level was high by modern standards, it was still well short of the 1956 level, which was a very wet year leading record flood levels through all of the eastern rivers of Australia, including the Clarence where I grew up.
Alongside the flood level mural is some commentary on the flooding that year, but also information about a very well preserved pump engine that was used in the early stages of the irrigation in this region.
Mildura must have one of the most modern rowing clubs in Australia.
Mildura Rowing Club
As we walk further along the river towards the bridge that crosses the Murray into NSW, the river scenes are worth a few photos.
The bridge across the Murray to NSW
Houseboats on the NSW side of the river
We are surprised by the number of restaurants in Mildura and many are within walking distance of our hotel. Most are open on a Wednesday night. We ended up settling on the Spanish Grill, in the Grand Hotel Complex. Stephano de Pieri has some involvement is this. It was expensive, but the steak was excellent, whereas the side dishes needed a bit of work. Nevertheless we enjoyed our meal, and his message from a poster on the wall.
Narrandera tomorrow.
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