Hello again everybody.  Since we last spoke we have been in Moama across the Murray River from Echuca.  The weather has been wonderful for us although the locals here are desperate for rain. 

Our first trip was to the Port of Echuca for a look at the paddle steamers.  The first one we came across was the PS Mary Ann so, of course, couldn’t pass up this photo opportunity.

We were camped right on the riverbank so managed to get some good pictures of the Paddle Steamers as the came up the river.  Here are a few, The Pride of The Murray, The Emmy Lou and The Canberra.   There was only one real drawback to being camped here and that was the cockatoos, this picture shows just a few of them but there would have been around a thousand or more roosted in the trees each night with your young ones and the noise was incredible.

We had our usual duck family who insisted on being fed every morning, there was one difference though, these were mutant ducks about four times the size of our usual visitors and not only that they ate about four times as much.  Keeping them in bread was a costly business

Motley enjoyed his bike rides around Echuca and Moama and made a few friends on his trips around town and along the river.  This pair were artists who paint pictures along the Murray.  He met them on one of his bike rides and stayed and enjoyed a beer with them.

We discovered from our next door neighbours that Moama Bowls Club was a nice place for lunch so we took ourselves along there to try it out.  if you are ever in Moama don’t miss it.   Huge sized plates and lots of food, choice of 5 different main courses cost $5.00 each.  When you pay for your meal you got a voucher for a free pancake.  They cooked the pancakes while you waited and there was maple syrup, lemon, jams whatever you wanted as a topping.  Absolutely delicious.  On our first visit Motley1 had bangers and mash and vegetables and I had fish and chips.   Of course, we went back again for another lunch a couple of days later, I had Lasagna and chips and salad and Motley1 had chicken casserole with rice.  The food was delicious.  Wish there was a Bowls Club like this in every town

We did the market at Tongala on Saturday and I had a strange man working on the stall….now when you’ve stopped laughing have a look at this picture because it got worse !   Chill, Motley1 says to tell you “Well. we are in “Howdy Country” , that’s his excuse and promises to get rid of the hat before we head back

Sunday, we did Moama market which was a good busy market although at the very end of the day a huge gust of wind upended our display and we ended up picking up bookmarks for a while and a few hours sorting them all out when we got back to the van.

On Monday, we worked all day getting out all the orders we had taken at the two markets and making some new stock and on Tuesday we set off again for our next stop.

We were driving along the Murray Valley Highway towards Swan Hill, this picture will show you how flat the area is, not a hill in sight for miles.  Dry hardly describes the place either and I think it has been many months since they saw rain here.   We were approaching Kerang when we took this shot at the level crossing where there was a major accident with a truck not too long ago, the amount of crossings here are amazing.

As we got to Kerang, we pulled into a parking lot opposite the Information Bureau, there was a large water tower which was open to the public.  Motley1 climbed to the top, I just admired it from ground level   Not that I couldn’t climb all those stairs you understand , just didn’t want too!

When we pulled into the parking lot there was a car parked there, just out of sight in Ben’s photograph which is a shame.  The guy was standing outside the car smoking a cigarette.  Leaving the centre we pulled back onto the Highway but decided to turn around and go back into town as we needed to find a post office and a bite of lunch.  We had only gone a couple of hundred yards when we became aware of a loud queaking noise and Motley1 thought that it was the wheel bearings so we pulled into a side street to have a look.  Three of the four wheel nuts had almost fallen out of the wheel, he tightened them up and we set off perplexed as to how that could have happened but we had only gone another few blocks when the squeak started again so we pulled into a mechanics yard to have him have a look.  The wheel had come off the hub so when he put the wheel and nuts back on everything was fine.  He was at a loss to explain how it could have happened and we knew the wheel nuts were tight when we left Echuca because Motley1 had painted the wheel the day before and would have noticed if they were at all loose.  We can only surmise that the guy in the parking lot had thought it would be fun to see a wheel come off a caravan or perhaps he had a grudge against all caravanners.

Save in the knowledge that the wheel would now be fine we headed to Swan Hill, I dread to think what might have happened if we hadn’t turned around for that lunch. 

We’ve had a couple of days here now and checked out the Pioneer settlement with the PS Gem, seen the Giant Murray Cod, had a chat with an ostrich and I finally discovered where Motley1 was going when he said he had to see a man about a dog !

We are off again in the morning, don’t quite know where yet but we’ll keep you updated when we can.

Oh, I forgot to show you my favourite paddle steamer at Echuca, so here it is.

Thanks for the emails Bev, we appreciate them even if we don’t get to answer all the time .