Day 10. Mildura

Cruisin' the Murray

A beautiful fresh morning greeted us in Mildura. Bec and Scarlett didn't wake up from their slumber till 8:30am, what a sleep in! We ended up having a relaxing breakfast outside the van watching all the other 'grey nomads' heading back out onto the open road, while we enjoyed our morning cuppa listening to a chorus of native bird calls.

It was then straight into another 'challenging' school lesson with Scarlett, before exploring what Mildura had to offer. After a visit to the local Information centre, we headed down to the wharf district for a walk along the Murray River. Then it was over the road to a local park where Scarlett played on the 'monkey bars'. We came across a police awareness campaign in the park, and ended up with a free lunch of sausages on bread for nix! Sweet!

We voted on what we would do next, and it was unanimous - we were off to cruise the waters of the Murray River on the P.S Melbourne, an original paddle steamer that does morning and afternoon cruises every day. We were lucky enough to find the Murray 'up' an extra 4 meters, so we bypassed the river locks and cruised down a section that's not normally able to be accessed by the paddle steamers.

We saw some lovley properties lining the shores, and some amazing bird life - the Whistling Kites had a huge nest in a majestic river gum, and we were lucky enough to see them swooping down to catch fish right beside the paddle steamer. It was a very relaxing afternoon, sitting back and enjoying an ice cold drink, while savouring the sites of peaceful river life.

We soon returned back to the van, and Bec started dinner. I think maybe we should of researched our trip a little better, as when we were in Finley Bec decided to buy a 5kg bag of Potatoes. Today we found out that just over the South Australian border is a quarantine check point where no fruit or veg is allowed to pass. As we will be crossing into SA on Firday, you guessed it, we are eating fruit and veg now until it is seeping out our pores! Bec decided that 'Shepard's Pie' would be on the menu for dinner tonight. Little did I know the 'pie would be 2/3rds Potato, and 1/3rd mince? Mmmmmmm.............

After dinner Bec and Scarlett went for a swim in the Big4's park swimming pool. When they left is was very warm, but by the time they returneded the weather had cooled down some what and they were both freezing! :-)

Bec was going to finish the night relaxing with a hot cuppa and watch the new series of "Farmer Wants a Wife", but we just discovered that the only channel we can't get is WIN (9) and guess what channel "Farmer Wants a Wife" is on?? You guessed it!