Day 1 – September 1 2012

A 7am start & all of the last minute things you can only do just before you leave home for 2 months.  We had the car & the Karavan mostly packed from last weekend with all of the dry foods in the Karavan plus all the tools & bits & pieces in the back of the car.  By the time we left home (at last) it was 10.30am  (we planned to leave 2 hours earlier but it was so cold, minus 6.5 C, so it was very hard to get out of bed & running in & out of the house to pack wasn’t pleasant).  A stop at Murrumbateman to check everything over, next stop Wagga Wagga to visit Tereza’s brother, Arpad & wife Shirley for a cuppa.  The countryside is amazingly green with water everywhere & all of the creeks flowing, so strange after so many years of drought.  After leaving Wagga Wagga the landscape changed to flat sheep country & cropping farms. The day was absolutely glorious & the drive uneventful, past Narrandera & finally stopping at the Birdcage Reserve Rest Area around 5pm to camp for the night.

This is a very pretty spot, right on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River with lots of big old gnarly flooded red gum trees full of nesting hollows & birds everywhere.  The sunset was blood red & very pretty filtered through the trees reflecting off the flowing river. We had a bit of a walk around admiring the scenery & taking some photos.  The birds quacked, twittered, whistled while the frogs didn’t want to be out done  so they croaked – what a wonderful serenade to eat our meal by.  As we finished dinner the beauty of the horizon to horizon stars were overshadowed by a huge red full moon filtering through the red gums as it rose.  A fitful end to a 468km drive for the day.  We didn’t reach our planned destination of Balranald – but forget clocks & planned destinations, we are on holidays.