Our visit to Nowra

We were back on the road again, but to go back to Nowra for a couple of days. It was very tiring as we travelled over night and it took 15 hours to get home. We had a great time catching up with family and friends. Mark’s dad, Alex is 90 years old next month so we had an early family gathering for his birthday. Janey and Justin did a great job cooking for us all and Kerry made a lovely fruit cake and decorated it with fresh camellia flowers on top. It looked beautiful. On the way home we travelled about 12 hours before stopping at Renmark at a motel overnight then another couple of hours to get back to Tanunda and picking up Beemer from the kennel.

Janey, Alex and Mark

Fiona, Alex and Justin

Alex, Fiona and Mark. Three generations.

Charmane, Trevor and Jane at Better than Menglers Lookout over looking 'The Valley'

Sun set at Better than Menglers

From Better than Menglers over looking 'The Valley'

Sun set somewhere between Mildura and Renmark

Sun set somewhere between Mildura and Renmark

Sun set somewhere between Mildura and Renmark. It was beautiful.

We stopped at Blanchtown to have a cuppa and fuel up. Blanchtown is a bit like Morgan but smaller. The lock and weir were interesting to see and the flood levels over the years was amazing.

Lock and weir at Blanchtown

Jane and one of the flood level indicators.

Lock at Blanchtown

Lock at Blanchtown

Flood level on one of the old buildings

Working in the Valley

At present we are at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley visiting Trevor and Charmane. We have been to Parham where Trevor and Mark went out on the boat and caught squid, King George whiting and blue swimmer crabs. We had a great few days around the fire cleaning, cooking and eating the catch. Now we are at work in the vineyard pruning. It is very restful being out in the open air with Trevor’s radio on a station that plays all the ‘old stuff we all recognise’. Beemer is having a great time running up and down the vines between us, then sleeping in the sun.

Beemer in amongst the vines

Some of the vines we pruned. There is still a lot more to do.

Jane and Beemer hard at work.

Resting after a hard day in the vine yard.

Keith and beyond

Keith was our next Port of Call. It is a small town on the way north towards the Murray River. We met up with Pat and Alan. Enjoyed their company very much. It was great to catch up after such a long time. We spent the evening with them playing cards and laughing. They moved on to Adelaide, on their way north to The Alice and we moved on to Berri, on the Murray.

Mark, Jane, Pat and Alan. Beemer in the front.

Jeep on a stick.

Berri is a nice place on the banks of the Murray River. There are lots of market gardens with almonds, orange groves and paddocks full of butternut pumpkins. We thought they were rocks to start with. Mark bought some off the side of the road. The farmers market was on in Barmera, so we went for a sticky. It was a good day out.

An old waterpump.

House boats on the Murray at Berri

The Murray River

Berri War Memorial

Mark's pumpkins for $5

The view of Berri from the look out

 

The view of Berri from the look out

Berri water tower look out

We didn't know it was dress up. Beemer felt naked

An unusual was memorial

The road was closed for the market in the main street

An old building

Morgan was our next stop, also on the Murray. There were lots of houseboats moored in a marina and a ferry which ran 24 hours a day. The caravan park was right on the river beside the ferry. A very nice spot to stay for a while. There was an aviary with unusual parrots in it. The old railway station and wharf are very interesting.

One of the many houseboats on the Murray at Morgan

Part of the old railway station

A paddle steamer they are re-building at the old wharf

Mark and beemer on the old wharf

The Morgan ferry at night

The pretty parrots

We travelled on to Burra Creek Gorge for a free camp for a couple of days. We were able to have a fire but it was very cold without the heater (no electricity) it is a very pretty place and the view from our front door was lovely. It was great to sit by the fire and watch the wallabies come down from the hills at sun set. There was a water hole and we were told there is always water there.

The view from our front door

Red River gums

Sunset from our front door

Red river gums

Jane and the red river gums

our camp fire

The water hole

Beemer and Mark at the water hole

Burra has been our favourite spot to visit, so we are back there to see the old stone buildings and check out Thorogoods Cider Winery. There is a really nice feel to Burra. The trees are starting to change colour with the weather starting to get cold at night.

Sunset at the caravan park in Burra. It's full!

Morning at the caravan park. It's empty!

Autumn trees in Burra