Day 48 – October 18 2012

This morning we took the Scenic Drive in Echuca from the old port area downriver following the riverbank.  The bushland is reasonably dense & the dirt road in reasonable condition, we only drove slowly, we saw lots of small birds & glimpses of the river through the large river red gum trees. We stopped at the junction of the Murray River & the Campaspe River & had a walk round, a person was fishing off an old fallen tree & having no luck.  The Murray River is flowing strongly at this location & the erosion of the riverbank on both rivers is very noticeable & pronounced.  We continued the Scenic Drive, this time following the Campaspe River upstream, a noticeably smaller river with no discernible flow, until we reached Echuca township again.  A pleasant drive.

We parked at the old port car park & watched 2 paddle steamers arrive & dock, the “Canberra” & the “Emmylou”, they do sound & look good, with the thumping of the paddles as they hit the water & the blasts of their steam whistles.  We walked around the old port shopping precinct looking at some of the period style shops before heading off to “the best fish & chip shop in Victoria”.  Well it wasn’t, we were very disappointed & know not to go back there again.  After lunch we walked around the “new” part of Echuca, admiring some of the old buildings & window shopping.  We then headed off on the “Riverbank Walk”, a short walk along the Campaspe River from the old port to the bridge that marks the crossing place of the first punt used on the Campaspe River in the mid 1800s.

Then back to the old port & we sat on the bank & watched the paddle steamer “Emmylou” labouring up the Murray River & docking.  We sat there for a while looking at the passing river & goings on as wood was brought in & crews tied up for the night.  It was very peaceful & relaxing, apart from the odd wild duck squabbling over mates.  Back to camp & we sit listening to hundreds of corellas settling in for the night, squawking & squabbling & flying from tree to tree, they are really very noisy.  Another pleasant day.

Yesterday while sitting outside in the sun eating our lunch 2 crazy ladies walked up to us telling us how much they admired Ron’s hat with the feathers & asked if they could photograph it & off they went clicking away while Ron was proud as a peacock.  Today a school girl thought his hat was cool.  The feathers are certainly a conversation starter with complete strangers.

We had a great time in Echuca, it is a nice & interesting place.  We had an absolutely lovely trip, we have seen & experienced places & had a lot of laughs & the weather has never been bad enough to stop us from doing the things we wanted to.  All good things must come to an end, tomorrow we are packing up & leaving for home.  It will be a long 7 – 8 hours drive but we want to be home for Jacksons 9^th birthday dinner.  It will be great to see everyone again.