Now: Through the Riverina and Across the Plains.
We arrived in Griffith for ANZAC Day and attended the community Remembrance Service with the local community. Our camp was 25 kilometres out of town at Woolshed Flat in Cocoparra National Park. There are fire rings, picnic tables and gas barbeques.
We celebrated ANZAC Day with Griffith
Cocoparra NP was a place visited by the Wiradjuri people during spring and winter when water flowed in the protected valleys and stone was available for tools. It was also on the Cobb and Co stage route in the early 1800s when people travelled from Melbourne to Queensland on the Whitton Stock Route.
Campsite at Cocoparra NP
From Griffith we crossed the treeless Hay Plain where water from the Murrumbidgee River is diverted to irrigate huge areas of rice and cotton. We saw broad acre ploughing following recent rain, crop dusting planes and our first wild emus! This was the day for emus. After setting up camp at The Willows, Yanda National Park we sat down for a cuppa as a pair of emus wandered through the saltbush and scrub.
Emu at Yanda NP near Balranald
We’d travelled the Kidman Way and ended our day on the Stuart Highway with a bottle of red wine from Yenda’s Berton Winery. Yanda was a working sheep station and the woolshed still stands with its worn timber floor and yard rails.
The noise of shearing has faded
The Willows Woolshed
A sheep’s eye view
Three states in one day – Balranald in NSW, through Ouyen in Victoria and into Parilla in South Australia! We also handed over an apple, a tomato and a cucumber at the Quarantine Checkpoint as we were entering the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area – citrus orchards, vineyards, rice paddies and wheat fields. The wind was up with the sun and raised dust was clearly seen for hundreds of kilometres.
Murray River Crossing
Another river crossing as we hit the mighty Murray again at Tooleybuc Bridge. Our last crossing of the Murray was on the river rocks at Tom Groggin! We stayed overnight at a free camp in Parilla with flushing toilets and a hot shower! AND it was Schnitzel Night at the Parilla Hotel. We’re using the Camps 8 Book and Camps Australia Wide on our Hema navigator to find our campsites.
Our free camp at Parilla S.A
NEXT: Victor Harbour and Adelaide.
See you On the Emu Track
Cheryl and David.
