15-JUN-2007
In the late afternoon sunlight
Again at Meadows, we're nearly home with this shot, so its the last of this series, though I have a few shots taken at the resort - which I'm put in a gallery of their own attached to this gallery. To read about Meadows, hit the "next" button.
By the way, I was standing in the main street taking this shot while Dick went to the butchers to buy himself something (not vegetarian) for tea.
15-JUN-2007
An old derelict dairy in the late afternoon sunlight
We're nearly home now, another 30 mins of driving through the winding hills roads and we're driving in our driveway.
**Meadows sits within the Adelaide Hills and boasts several historic buildings, craft shops, a winery and excellent bakery. It is a thriving community with a wonderful lifestyle. Every year, the town hosts the famous Meadows Country Fair and Meadows Easter Fair.
Nearby, Prospect Hill Museum tells the story of the regional dairy industry and includes a re-created milk room. Or head to the 5000 hectare Kuitpo Forest for bushwalking, cycling and horse riding. The land incorporating Meadows was part of the Seventh Special Survey undertaken by Charles Flaxman on 31 January 1839.
15-JUN-2007
The reedy entrance to the Wellington punt
We decided to miss the main arterial roads and drive home via the Wellington punt. We had quite a wait, so many others had the same idea! We shared the tiny punt with 4 trucks, one being a big semi-trailer and several other cars when we eventually had our turn. The punt crosses over the River Murray - which we needed to do.
** Remnant wetlands of this region have high conservation value and are considered to have national importance as a regional group, with a listing in the National Directory of Important Wetlands. The larger remnant wetlands are particularly important for waterbird nesting, breeding and feeding habitat, and smaller wetlands are of importance as habitat for small fish, frogs and macroinvertebrates. Sitting at the junction of the Murray River and Lake Alexandrina, Wellington boasts one of the oldest working hotels in South Australia – licensed in 1848 – with the dining room offering a divine, panoramic view of the river. Wellington's heritage courthouse was rebuilt in 1864 and has since been fully restored to house a museum.
By the late 1890s Wellington was almost swallowed up by sand! Tens of thousands of grazing animals passing through on the droving route from the south coast exposed the sand dunes that began to drift into the town. East Wellington, on the approach to the ferry from the Princes Highway, still has ruins of buildings from early settler days.
15-JUN-2007
The rail-line through the tiny Mallee Town of Karoonda
Blink your eyes and you nearly miss the town it is so small, but its the way we prefer to go en route to and from Mildura.
**Located in the Murray Mallee in the eastern half of SA. The township of Karoonda, proclaimed on 11th December, 1913 is the district's major service centre for the surrounding agricultural community. The economy of the area is agriculture based with primary industries including broadacre production of wheat and barley, breeding of sheep predominantly merino and poll merino for their meat and wool. Secondary industries include; breeding of pigs, beef cattle, alpacas, production of sorghum, oats, lupins, beans, olives, onions, potatoes, pumpkins, Paulownia Trees breeding of horses and various breeds of dogs. Karoonda became a household word in scientific circles because of the meteorite which fell to earth 3.6 km away at 10.53 p.m. on 25th November, 1930. A rare event, and to have been observed was also uncommon.
15-JUN-2007
A Riverland boutique winery
We called in here and bought a couple of cartons (dozens) of their shiraz after a tip from our daughters that this was a good buy. We had to sample them first ofcourse!
**These vineyards are in the heart of the Murray-Darling Basin, which is one of Australia’s most important wine grape growing areas. The region has a low incidence of vine pests and diseases. It also has the lowest annual rainfall of any major wine growing areas in Australia. Tandou currently produces Chardonnay, Verdelho, Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz and Sangiovese grape varieties.
15-JUN-2007
A quiet spot on the Murray River
It was a delightful spot to stop and have a warming cuppa by the side of the mighty Murray. There's a pelican just appearing from behind the tree...
**The Paddle Steamer Industry holds the oldest boiler in a paddle steamer, which was built and installed in 1934 and is still in operation.
15-JUN-2007
A water feature in a little river town
This is in the park where we stopped to take a breather and have a warming cuppa. The parks run through the middle of the dual-roadway & edge the parking lot.
**The township has survived memorable floods (such as 1956), droughts (as in 1914) storms and threat of bushfires. All of these in just over one hundred years.
Renmark takes its name from the Aboriginal word meaning “red mud”. The town was founded in 1887 following a joint agreement between the state government and Canadian engineers George and Ben Chaffey. The brothers were instrumental in helping to establish the system of irrigation still in use on the Murray today. Renmark is Australia’s oldest irrigation settlement.
15-JUN-2007
On the river banks of the Murray
We stopped here en route from Mildura on our way home. A delightful winter's day once the frost melted & we enjoyed a hot cuppa and took a break in this delightful little river town. This photo shows moorings for river boats, though not many were moored the day we called in. Note the beautiful blue sky in these Renmark photos! Today (Tuesday June 19) we have a blue sky just like this, but the wind has a chill straight off the south pole!
**Hamilton Hume and William Hovell were the first white men to travel its banks in 1824, but it was Captain Charles Sturt who named the “broad and noble” waterway the “Murray River”.
The Murray quickly became a crucial communication and transport link for Australia. River ports sprung up to service the trade and passenger traffic that travelled its length. In the 1880s, at the height of the river trade, several hundred paddle-steamers and many more barges were operating on the river.
But the journey could be fraught with danger: the mighty riverboats could be rendered powerless when the river dried up into a series of ponds, or when it flooded and made the charts useless.
15-JUN-2007
A young river red gum on the banks of the Murray
Once these grew the whole length of the Murray, both sides, but a lot died and have been replaced by young saplings as seen in photos already featured in this gallery. With settlement came the weeping willow which quickly spread the whole length, but recently these have been removed so the red-gum can do what it did before settlement. Note the blue sky! This appeared the day we left Mildura and were heading back home. We drove back through Renmark where this photo was taken because Dick wanted to call into a winery.
**From its source in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, the Murray River flows 2,530 kilometres west then south to meet the Southern Ocean in South Australia.
The Murray is continuously navigable for 1986 kilometres from Goolwa to Yarrawonga Weir. In this length there are thirteen weirs incorporating locks.
From millennia Aboriginal people have relied on the river’s abundance. The many various groups included Ingalta, Moorundie, Goodwarra, Parrian-kaperre, Tongwillum, and Yoorlooarra. In the Riverland, the Ngarrindjeri people lived on and along the lands around the Murray and the Coorong and are, today, South Australia’s largest Aboriginal community.
14-JUN-2007
Some fronds of ferns & palms
You know me, I just have to photograph plant life where-ever we happen to be!
14-JUN-2007
The resort where we stayed
The main entrance into the resort. Featured are masses of palm trees and ferns.
14-JUN-2007
Moored paddleboat on the Murray
We didn't actually see any paddleboats in action, only a couple of moored boats. After such a prolonged drought parts of the Murray is still too low for many of the boats. This particular boat was moored alongside at Trentham Estate, a winery where we stopped for lunch. We sat on the balcony of the winery restaurant in the fresh air and had a delightful meal after a tasting to choose which wine we would accompany our meal with. What a pleasant way to spend the afternoon!