Murray River at Blanchetown
We packed up in the rain. I wore only my shorts and sandals as it was pouring rain as we did so, and I was very wet by the time I was finished. We drove through rain for several hours, but it gradually got to be less and less, and it had stopped by the time we ate lunch at Mallee Fowl rest area. The country that we drove through today is very deserted, and for the most part, very wet. There were several spots where the water had been overrunning the road recently (probably last night). The fields look like lakes, and the ditches (though they are very shallow) are all full of water. We did see a number of emus in Yamba National Park.
By the time we crossed the Victoria – South Australia border the weather was very much improved and sunny. We had a few carrots left after lunch, so dumped them in the garbage can at a rest stop on the border. You can’t bring any vegetables or fruit (except canned or frozen ones) into South Australia, as they are trying to prevent several plant diseases. There was an inspection station just inside the border, and the guard checked our refrigerator, pronounced it OK, and so we drove on, but not before we had chatted with him about the weather. He said they had four inches of rain last night.
We stopped at a supermarket in Renmark, the first big town across the border, and restocked with fruit and vegetables. They had a very good selection, including the first cherries we’ve seen at what was a reasonable price. We bought a bunch of cherries and had them for dessert tonight. I remarked to Enid that they probably did a good business restocking the tourists fruits and vegetables in this town. We stopped at a self serve fruit stand just before we got here tonight and bought a big bag of oranges for four dollars. They are going to last us for a long time!
Rest Stop near Victoria - South Australia border
The weather here is warm and dry, and thank goodness for it feels so much more comfortable than constantly being wet. When we arrived at this cravan park I remarked to the manager that it seemed like the weather we have at home in the summertime. He asked what part of Canada we were from, and when I said the prairies, we began a discussion of grain farming. They had a bumper crop here last year. We drove by a lot of empty land today, and the soil doesn’t look very good, mostly red and very rocky, and for kilometer after kilometer not much except open scrubby looking grass. The farms must be huge as it is a very long way between buildings. Closer to the towns they do irrigation, and in the Renmark area grow a lot of grapes and citrus fruit. We saw a lot of fields that have been combined and a few large tractors out working the soil.
We are parked along the Murray River tonight, and it is starting to flood. The water is now running through the trees. The river here is about 1/4 the width of the North Saskatchewan in Prince Albert, and it is very muddy. The manager said they expect it will go up about one and one half metres more from all the water that has fallen farther north (where we have just come through). There are many birds here: pelicans and cormorants on the river, some ducks, rosy gallahs, and very noisy white cockatoos. They will doubtless wake us early tomorrow morning.