Deniliquin and the Grey Nomads
This town is buzzing !! from the 11th April the CMCA (of which we are members) is holding a week long rally to celebrate the clubs 25th anniv ALL sorts of activities are going on during the week culminating in a Grand Ball. Sadly we will not be able to stay due to warranty commitments in Orange NSW .1200 Motor homes will congregate in this small country town and TWO of these events are held Australia wide each year.The next event will be held in Kalgoorlie in October and we are hoping to make this one before we set sail for Tasmania.Deniliquin also hosts a yearly UTE muster and currently holds the record for the most utes in attendance ( see Ute on a Pole Pic ) We have arrived at a very picturesque country town in NSW Narrandera and is only a couple of hundred Kms from Canberra we will stay here a few days
We leave Moulamein and head for Deniliquin
We have had a great time here in Moulamein,the terrain is terrific & house prices with huge land plots is cheap..The local community paper advertises lots of activities & the town even boasts a retirement village situated on the Edwards river bank.The flooded river displays an eerie but exciting view of trees sticking out of the water !! An old wooden bridge leads across the river to the old court house that is set up with life size dolls depicting a jury and a judge !!The bridge is full of Golden Orb spiders ( probably climbing high to escape the floods) the spider is named because the web it has spun resembles golden thread ! We have to move on because of warranty commitments BUT the pleasant tranquillity of Moulamein could see my return one day Photos are plentiful so I will do as a slideshow
Ive added a short movie on the right to show the beauty of this place will take it down after a week
Moulamein People & Travellers
Today was interesting as we met 2 Bikers on their customized “trike” put together by Volkswagen.It was very bright metallic red and the rear end sign said it all for these intrepid grey nomads (Old Fartz Luv Shak!).Bobby was (is) an established Adelaide Rock singer travelling with his wife.Both are nearing their 70s and an absolute delight to talk to.Bobby said his kids wouldn’t leave home SO he and his wife moved out,they have now sold their home & bought aBoat house in Adelaide Annie n me have been invited when next in the area,Bobby still does gigs ( Jerry Lee Lewis/Little Richard etc) The other bloke in the pics is 80 yr old Billy who was a sheep shearer for 40 yrs after the war ( No soppy air conditioners or water coolers for those fellas in those days !! What a tough breed!) People like these are what this trip is about (and all the interesting AND uninteresting places too) They ALL have stories to tell,me & Annie included
Moulamein NSW Our three day stay
We travelled further east passing thru quaintly named towns like Manangatang,Tooleybuc and yes a place called Goodnight !!!this route brought us to our present destination for the next 3 days in Moulamein NSW It is the oldest town in the Riverina, a community was established in 1852 and serviced by steam paddle boats until the railway arrived early 1920s Moulamein has the oldest court house and gaol in the Riverina (pop now is 420) Houses and riverside land is exceptionally cheap here (Annie at one stage considered buying here !!) Our bus is backed on the edge of a HUGE man made lake The drawings I have included on this blog are by a local artist and IF you have been to Moulamein the drawings will make sense (Ah I love it here !!)Sadly there is only ONE pub here now
Travelling on towards Sydney
We drove further East passing thru a lovely little town named Lameroo in South Australia (nr the border of Victoria) The buildings are pleasing to the eye,the streets are very clean yet there is only a population of around 350 !! Foxes are major problem here and there are signs on how to get rid of them everywhere (Ive put a couple of Posters in the blog as a reference) The Community centre is surrounded by a lovely floral display. We are stopping overnight at Ouyen (pop 700 ish) a rather desolate place,boasting a cinema (The Roxy) and world famous Vanilla Slice competition (very scrumptious they are too !)
Onwards towards Pinarro (SA) and Goondiwindi
after 2 days here in Tailem we will be heading towards Pinarroo in South Australia (I,ll hopefully end up in the West Australian Pinarroo for eternity as it is the Cemetery there !!)We had a great day on the Tailem Golf Course & managed to get lost whilst playing !! We had lunch in Subway and the premises overlooks the Murray with spectacular views enhanced by the to & fro-ing of the car ferry,our camp-site is on the banks of the Murray & Tailem Bend is well worth a visit, Easter is approaching and we have booked in advance in a place named Goondiwindi in Queensland !! we will also be there for ANZAC day and there will be plenty of activities during our stay
Tailem Bend SA (yes thats its name !!)
We have now left Annies brothers and heading towards Sydney & have stopped over in this sleepy settlement that boasts a population of 1500 !! And the Bakery is well worth a visit !! This place is called Tailem Bend and apparently its name is derived from aboriginal language and literally means Sharp Bend (and the Murray River does just that here) We are once again meeting new people daily & getting back into the Grey Nomadic routine.We will probabaly hang around here for an extra day while we plan for our journey that will take us to Orange NSW where our bus has been booked in for warranty work on the 14th April
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 