Sunday 17 March 2024

Part 3..............Heading home

All too soon, Monday arrived and it was time to head home. We decided to go back a different route and continue being tourists. We travelled the same road to Blanchetown and then went South along the river.........





We crossed the river at Walker's Flat on the ferry............ and in the photo below, you can see near the top of the pole the sign that gives you the 1956 flood level!!!

I took this photo from the ferry of the cliffs, which I hope to see from a boat one day!?

                              

We stopped at Mannum  and made lunch in the van, and watched the action of people getting on and off the Murray Princess.............


............and the Proud Mary.


From Mannum, we drove to Murray Bridge and had a catch up with Mum..........


.............before arrived back at Bordertown by 5.30pm. Time to unpack the van, put the washing on and get our head's back to reality.... well, until the next trip that is!!

Blessings, From Jude

Part 2.......A day trip...........

 Blanchetown and Lock 1

The next day (Sunday) was a free day so we decided to be tourists while we were in the area. On the following map you can see how the Murray River changes direction at Morgan. We were staying at Waikerie which is not actually marked on this map, but about mid point between the 2 purple dots t othe left of Barmera. We drove across country to Blanchetown and Lock 1..............


First there is a bit of history about the locks and weirs on the river which I have copied for a website...................and as a bit of trivia, Barry and the Randell family are on the same family tree.

After the establishment of the River Murray Commission in 1917, regulating structures including weirs and locks were constructed along the River Murray.

By 1922, the first Lock and Weir was completed at Blanchetown and was officially known as Lock and Weir 1, but was named the William R Randell Lock, after Captain William Richard Randell, the first river boat captain to navigate the Murray River in 1853. It was also the Murray’s longest weir at 168.5 metres long while the last one to be completed was at Euston in 1937 near Robinvale in New South Wales, while the last weir to be completed without a lock was at Yarrawonga in 1939.

The purpose of the weirs is to:

  • Store water for consumptive use and to regulate river flow downstream.
  • Provide a raised river level upstream of the weir to improve the navigability of the river (vessels can navigate through the weir via its lock).

The weirs and their weir pools – the water stored behind the weir – provide bodies of water at higher levels than would otherwise be present. This allows water to be diverted for agricultural, domestic and industrial use. The weir pools and locks also enable recreational activities.

There are 14 weirs along the River Murray – all except Yarrawonga Weir include a navigation lock. The weirs at Mildura, Torrumbarry and Yarrawonga were constructed primarily for water supply, rather than navigation. 

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This is Lock 1, at Blanchetown.



..and the bridge over the river at Blanchetown...........


We drove along the river at Blanchetown and noted the damage from the floods of 2022/2023 when all this area was under water. It was so sad to see some of the shacks that seem to be abandoned, although we noted a lot of rebuilding and repairs also.............


...........you can see how high the water came by the water marks on this garage...........


.....and this brick house where the walls are crumbling.........


I love the cliffs along the river, and would love to actually see these from on the water.......something on my bucket list!


The next stop was at Morgan, and we crossed the ferry to get to the town.......


The town of Morgan is rich with history...........





Our next port of call was Lock 2.............



This map was interesting to actually see the total area and other river systems that feed into the Murray river...



We were headed next to Lock 3, and along the way is the Overland Corner hotel, and if you zoom in the photo below you can see the 2023 flood level mark on the wall!!!


All this area was underwater also............


Here is Lock 3...........



Just further on from Lock 3 we came across Lake Bonney....... 


........and the camp sites along the water's edge, which we noted for future trips.........


From Lake Bonney we drove into Barmera, and came across the icecream van!! Note, there were many 'big' kids lining up for icecreams, and not the little ones!!


As we drove back into Waikerie we turned into a lookout and saw people camped down below......


This area was called Holder Bend and is a free camp area and a first come, best spot basis....................

Then it was back into Waikerie and we stopped for pics of the painted silos..........







At the quilting day I had met up with Nicky, who used to live in Bordertown. That evening we had a lovely catchup with her and enjoyed another meal at the Waikerie Hotel.


This post covers Lock 1, 2 and 3. We have visited at Lock 4 and 10 last year, so perhaps we might check out the remaining locks in future trips?? I love the river, it seems so peaceful, although those who saw it in flood and the damage it brought, probably wouldn't agree with me.

That's all for this posts, will be back soon with a report of our trip back home.

Blessings, From Jude












Saturday 16 March 2024

March happenings so far.........Part 1

 It seems like another month has past the half way mark, so perhaps I better post an update of newsfromjude for March.....

March 1st saw us pack up the van and head off again and this was the first trip with the new vehicle towing the van and we headed north to the Riverland of SA.  

                                 

Waikerie was the host club for the Riverland Quilting Gathering for 2024. (It was 12 months ago that Pat and I were headed to this same Gathering at Barmera and were stopped by a meeting on the road with a kangaroo.) Barry thought it was a good opportunity to make a long weekend for the occasion and stay at the caravan park for a few nights.

We headed north along the Ngarkat Highway and our first stop was at Pinnaroo. I headed to the chemist shop for some cream to put on my knee which was rather unhappy after I fell out of my chair the evening before. ..... don't ask me how I managed to do this!!

Our next stop was at Paruna, for a quick look at this little town..... I loved this cute little post office!!...


................. and the campground was very quiet..........


.......not much traffic in the main street either!!


.............and this is the campground...........



Next stop was at Loxton by the river and we made salad lunch in the van.


The weather was very hot and humid, and we were thankful that Waikerie had a max temp of 43 a few days before we arrived!! We got to the caravan park about 2pm and set up the van on our site............

                             

We knew of other quilters who were heading to the Gathering, among them Pat and Alan, Jo and Tony, Faye and Kim and Heather and Brenton. We all enjoyed dinner at the Waikerie Hotel that evening........it was a lovely catchup with friends we hadn't seen for awhile.



The next day was the gathering at the Waikerie High School and was attended by about 130 quilters from many areas of the state and some from Victorian groups too. Lots of chatter as we met up with friends, and shopped at a variety of patchwork shops who tempted with their goodies......





There were guest speakers who spoke on a variety of topics.........


.......including Heather Ford, who is SA Quilters State President and also Convenor of the Appraisal Panel. The red and white projects that the Panel made were on display. The members made a 40cm square quilt in differing methods and they were each valued. It was a good way to see how the different techniques contributed to the differing values.


This is the SA Quilters table where members were selling tickets for this quilt.



While the women were at the quilting day, the men folk did different things. Barry and Alan did a tourist drive across the river and surrounding area, and Tony drove to the Barossa.
That evening, Barry and I enjoyed a meal with Jo and Tony and friends at their van..........


...and helped Jo celebrate her birthday which was  few days later.



Then time to enjoy another night's sleep with much cooler weather. My knee was slowly improving..... (The next couple of days will come in separate posts.)

Blessings, From Jude.