This Adventurous Age

Adventures travelling and working around Australia.

Tag Archives: Mulwala


by Leave a comment

2019 Life and Travels July 14

SUNDAY JULY 14     MULWALA TO YOUNG   365kms

I had the usual early morning start, courtesy of dog. John stayed in bed until 8.30am. Given the still damp conditions outside, we did well to be ready to depart the park at 10.15. Only a little after the regulation departure time.

The annexe matting was wet, muddy and most unpleasant to pack up. My problem ankle chose this morning to be unusually painful, which didn’t help at all.

We had decided to head roughly NE, staying on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range, to intersect the Golden Highway around Dunedoo. That would then take us east to the coast at Newcastle, thus avoiding both Sydney and the steeper gradients to the north. We were not in a great hurry, and some of this country was new to us, so it wouldn’t matter if we took a week or more on this part.

Stayed on the NSW side of the Murray, taking Spring Drive towards Corowa. Even in dull weather conditions, this was a pretty way to go, with the trees of the river reserve to our right, all the way.

Following the Murray River valley towards Corowa

Refuelled in Corowa: $144.9cpl.

From Corowa, took a meandering way north, firstly through Howlong, then back roads to Culcairn, via a little township quaintly called Burrumbuttock. This was new country for us, interesting, and the back roads were quite good. This was good looking farming country growing crops and sheep, mostly. One lot of really frisky lambs briefly entertained us.

There was some mizzly rain on and off through the day. Saw lots of parrots flitting about the roadsides, and then apostle birds made their appearances.

Stopped in Culcairn – toilet stop for us and dog. Admired a beautiful old hotel there, and were able to give Couey a run and ball chase in a side street by the hotel.

Hotel at Culcairn – and nice quiet street for doggy ball games

From Culcairn, we were on the Olympic Way, which I think we might have travelled before, but ages ago. On through Henty to Wagga Wagga. From Culcairn to Wagga the highway was paralleled by a railway, maybe the one slated to maybe one day be the main inland north-south rail route.I had thought we might stay here for the night, but John was enjoying the driving and wanted to continue, so we took the bypass route around that centre, crossing the Murrumbidgee River – for the umpteenth time in our travels over the years.

Murrumbidgee River at Wagga Wagga

Ate our packed lunch at a roadside stop north of Wagga, then continued on through Cootamundra towards Young. Around Bethangra went through a low range of hills, an interesting change from the rolling farmland. The gradient was sufficient for there to be stretch of highway with passing lanes. Encountered one of the railway crossings where the road has been engineered into a big, sharp, S bend – to slow traffic right down – in this case, to 35kmh.

I hadn’t realized, until we came into large areas of orchards, that the Young region is a major cherry growing one.

John decided this would be far enough for today, so I did a quick scan in my caravan parks reference book and found the Young Tourist Park – the only one in the town.

The caravan park was not the easiest to find. We had to negotiate the centre of town, roundabouts and all. I was pleased it was a Sunday afternoon and not a weekday.

Having misread the caravan park book, I was pleasantly surprised to find the park had some en-suite sites, so we booked in for two nights. $50 a night was a bit on the high side, but there was no competition.

It was after 4pm by the time we got onto our site, which we were able to drive straight onto. By now John was tired, so we left the car hitched up for the night. The site had drive through wheel strips to park on, and a small paved area. The solid brick ensuite was spacious, clean and nice.

Took Couey for a quick walk, on lead, around the park. It was not very busy. Guess mid-winter would not be peak tourist season in these parts.

I made John a hamburger with the lot for tea. I had the same, minus the bread roll.

Watched MasterChef on TV, then had an early night.


by Leave a comment

2019 Life and Travels July 13 Mulwala

SATURDAY JULY 13     MULWALA

The morning was grey, cold, with drizzling rain.

Dog woke me at 8am. Suspect she may have been fed up with the snoring, too. Anyway, she wanted out, so we paddled off to the gravelled area at the side of the park and I gave her a ball chase. Put her on the lead to walk around the park. As we got closer to the foreshore, she really wanted to head for the lake, so we would need to watch her carefully from now on, now that she knows there is a giant sized “puddle” over that way.

It was too cold and damp to breakfast outside, as I prefer.

John got going mid-morning and after his breakfast, we set out in the car to go “into town”.

But first, drove slowly through Kyffins Reserve, adjacent to our caravan park. I’d read of this place as a popular camping area, for fully self-contained rigs, as there are no amenities provided. Could see why it would be attractive, in the warmer months, combining waterfront and bushland. At this time of year and in these conditions, there was only one lot of campers, newly arrived, setting up by the water’s edge. Optimistic people, I thought. It was evident, from campfire remains, that the No Camping edict in sections of the Reserve, had been ignored. The selfish minority in action again.

The main shopping precinct for the twin towns is Yarrawonga, so it was back across the bridge over Lale Mulwala. John’s priority was to find somewhere to buy a TV cable. That accomplished, drove around, looking, getting a feel for the place. Looked at the weir which dams the Murray River and hence forms Lake Mulwala upstream from it. Saw caravan parks that looked alright and would be more central than where we are set up. In the warmer months, I suspected our park would be dominated by the fishing and watersports/boating fraternities and not a peaceful place to be. So, if we were to return at such a time, think we would seek out one of the town parks to stay.

Lake Mulwala bridge

Had to go to Woolworths to stock up on fruit and vegies, having not brought any from home due to fruit fly restrictions. John decreed he wanted meals of ham steaks, skinless franks, and hamburgers, so I bought up the makings for those. No one will ever accuse him of healthy eating!

To a bakery for lunch rolls – rather a disappointing lack of interesting options there. Then, complete with the Saturday papers and a new Caravan Parks guide book to replace our outdated one,  it was back to camp.

While I made up the lunch rolls, John tried to get the TV recorder to work. No luck – the new cable was no miracle fix.

Although the rain ceased late morning, and the ground around our site progressively dried out, we largely stayed inside for the afternoon, as it was still really cold. I read. The dog slept. John spent more time fiddling with his TV set up but eventually decided that the TV and the new expensive recorder might be incompatible with each other – one a Kogan, the other a Panasonic. I could not care less.

I did venture out for a walk around the park, and took some photos of the lake.

Lake Mulwala at the caravan park

Cooked the skinless franks for John’s tea, which he had hot dog style inside bread rolls. I had some salad.

There was a really nice camp kitchen near our site. I took our washing up over there to do – easier than in Bus.

Our site with improved weather

Football watching on the TV for John after tea. I read some more and went early to bed, to try to get to sleep before John and the commencement of his snoring serenade.


by Leave a comment

2019 Life and Travels July 12

FRIDAY JULY 12     HOME TO MULWALA     245kms

By mid-morning, we were just about ready to depart. I made a tentative suggestion that, given the bleak day, we might consider a delay of a day or two. Nup. No way. John was in travel mode. End of story.

I had taken some perishables we could not use, to the neighbours on our other side. They had only moved in a couple of months ago, so we did not yet know them as well as the travelling ones. Gave them orange juice and milk, as those containers didn’t fit in the small Bus fridge, and some grapes – anticipating travel in fruit fly exclusion zones.

The man – G – came out to watch us hitch up the rig out front, after John had extracted Bus from the sideway, and I’d locked up the house. There was a D shackle missing from the car hitch – must have been “borrowed” for some other purpose, and not put back. So I had to unlock the house  again, to get the keys for the locked shed, so the missing item could be found. I think neighbour was slightly amused, as well as intrigued by the car hitch. He’d not seen one close up before. Our departure did not really paint a picture of efficient travellers.

So, almost 11am before we left. Still raining…

Great day for travel

We had not been to Yarrawonga or Mulwala before, so decided on those twin towns that straddle the Murray River, for our first night’s destination. Not too ambitious for the first day of travel. I was kind of determined to keep us to short travel days, if possible, as sitting for too many hours in Bus without any exercise was not great for my leg circulation. Whether I could rein in The Driver’s predilection to just keep driving remained to be seen.

As soon as we left home, I entered battle with the GPS, which wanted to direct us through the centre of Bendigo, and managed to persuade John to take a route via Eaglehawk. Eventually GPS caught up with the way I wanted to go, to join the highway at Epsom. Not often I win one, but my nemesis sulked away, plotting revenge.

Victoria’s solution to roads that need repairs…

The day was grey and drizzly when we left home. The rain grew heavier through the day. We passed a lot of wet and very miserable looking sheep along the way.

Wet and woolly

In Mooroopna, needed a comfort stop and then decided to eat our lunch rolls while parked up there. It was too chilly to wander about outside, so we ate in Bus.

Crossed the Goulburn River wetlands between Mooroopna and Shepparton, and then missed the angled deviation road that we should have taken. Not a peep of prior advice from the GPS! The resultant turn on to the highway in the centre of town was not easy, with traffic squashing up tightly. We do need to swing a little wide on sharp turns.

Goulburn River

Took the Katamatite road. I had it all plotted out on my paper atlas map. But the GPS had a brain fade – revenge? – and took us along back roads. I mean real back roads, just one step up from unsealed. I had no idea where we were. At one stage we seemed to be in an area called Boosey, which didn’t appear on my maps. Eventually we rejoined the road to Yarrawonga, east of Katamatite.

Back road countryside

I had booked us into the DC on the Lake Park at Mulwala, so we trundled through Yarrawonga without stopping, drove across the bridge/causeway into Mulwala on the NSW side and sought out the park. It was considerably further out of the town than I’d anticipated.

Bridge from Victoria into NSW

Our powered site cost $27 a night, after Top Tourist discount. The reception lady said the ground was sloppy – not surprising after all the rain – and we could go for a walk and select our own site. In the middle of winter, in the midst of a rain event, a waterside caravan park was not exactly bursting at the seams! In fact, there was no one else on any of the sites. If I believed in omens…

The park was dominated by cabins and privately owned permanent camp set-ups, it seemed. There was a foreshore grassed area but dogs were not allowed on that, which might have been annoying in fine weather.

We chose a site that had some gravel on it, that looked a bit drier, than the others around. There were no sites with cement slabs. The site was not far from the amenities block, a good idea given the continuing rain.

No need to worry about neighbours…

It was a bit windy, as well as drizzling rain, so we got set up quickly. John took Couey right off to the side of the park and gave her a ball chasing run.

John spent quite some time fiddling with setting up the new TV recorder he’d bought a few days ago, so he wouldn’t be limited to just “live” TV. He’d spent about $400 on this. Eventually decided that, to make it work, he needed a new cable, that had not been provided.

I’d planned that we’d go get fish and chips for tea, but John was pre-occupied with his TV issues, and it was a fair way back to town, so I fished a tin of tomato soup from my under-seat cache of tinned goodies. Cooked some pasta which we had with bottled stir-through sauce. It was an alright meal, but not what I’d been looking forward to.

Late in the afternoon really heavy rain set in. By dark, the ground outside Bus was flooded. Going to the amenities involved wading…

After tea, John watch football on TV. I read.

Through the night, my sleep was interrupted by John’s snoring, which seemed to have become much louder than the last time we travelled.

I was not enjoying this…