SUNDAY 2 MAY MILDURA TO LOXTON 182kms
We were up in reasonable time, and the packing up and departure were routine. There was no great sense of urgency because we were not going that far. I made us a packed lunch of avocado sandwiches, to use up the last of that.
It was a very pleasant day for driving.
All the new fruit and vine developments to the west of Mildura were interesting to see – the whole irrigation area seems to be fast expanding.
We stopped and had a final fruit eat-up, just before the border. The inspector at the Yamba check point was very pleasant. I asked him if I could take garlic into SA – and had to hand it over! He checked inside the van – but only a visual check over what he could see, and inside the fridge. I’d hoped they would not want to go through every storage area, because we carry all the loose stuff, including the TV, on the bed when we travel – and moving all of that off to access the big storage area under the bed would have been a real pest!
While we were stopped at the checkpoint, another traveller came up to ask John about the Trakmaster, as he is considering buying one. They are still very much an unusual van to see out and about, with still less than a hundred having been made, to date.
We did not go as far as Renmark, but turned off the highway, onto a road that runs direct to Loxton.
We reached Loxton about lunch time. Booked into the Riverfront Caravan Park – $13.50 a night. The caravan park has, as the name suggests, a frontage to the Murray River, but with a public camping area next to it, so it is a bit open and “public”. But the sites are nice and grassy. We were told not to drink the local water – there are rainwater tanks for drinking water.
We did not put up the awning roof, as we are only staying a couple of nights, and the weather forecast is for fine weather.
We drove to J and B’s about 4.30pm. We’d changed time zones at the border, so it felt a bit later, to us.
We enjoyed an excellent meal with them, and a really good catching up session, as it is years since I have seen them. J is still really fit and active – though she is no longer teaching Phys Ed. B is on long service leave but will not return to teaching. They suggested we look up other former colleagues – J and U – who live at Hawker. Apparently, they are very involved in the life of the town and also do lots of outback travel – and play bowls! So that sounds like a good idea.
We made arrangements for J and B to come round tomorrow afternoon and see the rig.
A most pleasant evening – it is good to meet up with old friends again.
