It’s a long way from Port Lincoln in SA to Sydney, nearly 2,000kms in fact, but that is what faced us in late October 2018. We broke it up into bite sized chunks and added in a rest day in Renmark. At times it was a boring ride, but it certainly gave us some pointers for when we resume out travels in February. 

We travelled from Port Lincoln to Sydney (North Narrabeen) between 30 October and 04 November 2018.

Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia

Getting There

Port Lincoln > Wilmington (383kms) > Renmark (361kms) > Hay (434kms) > Gundagai > (340kms) > North Narrabeen (404kms) ~ 1,922kms

Why?

We had been thinking of taking a break in our journey – over 8 months so far –  and sit out the peak of the southern summer at home. South Australia and Victoria can be wickedly hot in summer.

Then Kerry’s daughter, who lives in San Fransisco, rang to say they were coming over for a visit in early November, bringing their lovely 4 girls with them. That completed the argument, and we made our plans to return home.

We broke the almost 2,000km drive up into bite sized stages and gave ourselves a rest day in Renmark.

Day 1 – Tue 30 Oct – Port Lincoln to Wilmington

There was a very heavy morning dew, and everything outside was very wet, including Kerry’s good shoes. But it was a lovely sunrise. We got away at 7.30 with Kerry driving. We had got into a routine of Kerry taking the first 1.5 to 2 hour shift.

Leaving Port Lincoln, we saw initially small rural blocks quite close to town, then open farmlands in rolling countryside. The farming was mostly hay, but we passed some funny looking striped crop fields.

We also saw some large silos, such as at near Tumby Bay. But they were not painted – shame.

Further north, the land started to flattened out. We popped into Arno Bay for a toilet stop and change of driver. It was really a nice little place, with a good sized pub on the corner.

Out near the long jetty, a couple of ladies doing yoga asked me if I would join them. The jetty was good although there was lots of weed on the beach.

Further along we came to an areas where salt flats seemed to abound.

Cowell looked pretty as we drove in, but the main road went around the town. Very blue waters in the bay. The landscape changed again – straight stretches of road through quite rolling countryside. Golden fields stretched for miles.

Near Whyalla, we passed a massive mine that looked like it was taking out a small mountain.

Further north we start to see low mountains appearing in the distance. Then we passed a large silver coloured lake. But we were unable to stop and have a look.

We skirted around Port Augusta before turning south east. It began to feel like we were actually turning for home. Twenty kms from Wilmington a sign told us we were 1,552kms from Sydney. After that we crossed over a pass which was quite steep.  I don’t know how less powerful cars do this sort of trip.  It was a bit of a slog for the cruiser lugging the van up this pass… the road just kept going up, and up…. and up.

At Wilmington, not a bad town, we saw a few interesting buildings in passing.

Then we filled up with fuel – it took 85.3L after we had travelled 398km, at $1.609/L. The economy rate was 21.4L/100km, which was pretty good.

We stayed at the Beautiful Valley CP. The man at reception told us to pick any site – power and water for $29 a night. Out in the park it is hard to pick out the sites. It is like a vast open space with power and taps placed randomly throughout. It took us a while to pick a flat site we would easily drive through. We remained hitched up, and did not hook up to their water as Kerry had read somewhere it was not so good.

The facilities were quite clean and all ok. We showered there as our water tanks were below half full. The place had a real bush theme about it and there were sheep and ponies, chickens and other animals wandering around. We found it a good stopover.  This was quite a good place to chill out for a few hours…. the ewes brought their lambs over to play which was nice to watch.

Day 2 – Wed 31 Oct – Wilmington to Renmark

It was a hot day with mostly clear skies. We got away nice and early at 7.07. If you stay hitched, you can pack up and get going very quickly. But we always waited until we were confident that the kangaroos were not a major threat.

When we looked at the Hema map for this area we saw a maze of roads going in all directions. We would have to work our way across this maze. So generally the roads we were on were secondary roads, bouncy and narrow – but much fewer trucks. But they also tend to go through all villages, so the speed limit is low.

We started down the Main North Road heading south, through rolling hills, and farmlands. There was a really nice ridge to our right.

We loved some of the wonderful old trees along the road.

We drove through a string of what looked like lovely old towns, although a couple looked a bit bedraggled.

Melrose: A lovely old town with a great looking pub and old buildings.

Murray Waters – much smaller village, looking a bit old and unloved.

Wirrabara with a couple of old pubs.

Laura also – a larger town with a tree lined road to welcome us, an old mill and a lovely looking main street.

Gladstone appeared a smaller town, not much there except for a large silo (unpainted). 

Georgetown was hardly a dot on the map but had a stone church and a nice looking pub.  Some of these old stone buildings are really beautiful.  So good they made use of the (presumably) local limestone.

We turned onto the B64 at Gulnare, into some flatish country.

At Spaulding, we stopped for a break and swap drivers. There is a gorgeous pub there and some other lovely old buildings.

From Spalding we went to Barra through farmlands on rolling hillsides, often with not a tree in sight. But we did see the occasional wind farm, this one near Burra.  South Australia obviously have their act together with renewable energy.  Pity NSW Govt. isn’t showing the same initiative.

Burra looks an interesting town.

After Burra we we were back on the B64 heading for Morgan. Still rolling hills with hay and an occasional windmill, and even some emus.

A convoy of 20 or so 1960s/70s cars came against us, heading for a gathering somewhere. Most of then were Falcons, mainly GTHOs, but a few Holdens were amongst them and even 1 Mini. But that was towards the back where it belonged.

Just before Morgan we came to the quarantine bin where we were instructed to not bring any fruit past that point. This is aimed at keeping out fruit fly. There is a big bin there for dumped fruit. There were also warnings of on the spot inspections to make sure people were doing the right thing.

Morgan appears a good historic town, with a lovely primary school. We would have liked to explore that a bit.

Past Morgan we were mostly in scrappy country, but then suddenly we came to massive vineyards and orchards We passed more vineyards on the run into Renmark onto the A20. Isn’t it amazing what a regular supply of water from the Murray River can do?

We went through Renmark town to get to the River Bend Caravan Park, which has a very awkward driveway entrance. This comes off the abutment for the Paringa bridge and requires a very sharp turn. 

We checked in easily for the 2 nights, happy to hear we had a site right on the river. With our discount it was $36 a night. We reversed in easily. The site was a bit damp from the sprinklers, so we put the groundsheet down. We did not connect up to the water as it was not treated.  Straight from the river apparently and the Murray was quite “brown”.

To see a short video of the river from the drone, click here.

After setting up, we went into town to find an op shop for a champagne glass. Kerry asked 2 ladies where this could be, who thought it was so funny. But they directed us to the shop and Kerry got 2 replacement glasses – to be sure, to be sure.

Roses abound in this town, with a large display on the main street – reds and pinks of all shades. They were a little past their best but still beautiful,

Drove to Paringa on the other side of the river, across the clanking historic bridge.

Back at the CP, we had nibbles on the riverbank and we put the drone up. This is the first time for ages as the wind has been so strong and we were in mostly National Parks where drones are not allowed. Of course the drone went way out of sight behind trees, but we quickly got it back. My poor cataract affected eyesight does not help. Maybe we should have got a black drone.

We had Kerry’s excellent pizzas for dinner

Day 3 – Thu 01 Nov – Renmark

It was a hot day with clear skies. Opposite us, a large house boat backs out from its moorings, and heads to the bridge. After a while this opens with one span raising up the supports. Opened on 31 January 1927 the Paringa Suspension Bridge is one of only four suspension bridges across the Murray River. The bridge opens twice a day.

We began our day in Renmark at Lock 5, just across the Paringa Bridge and down to the right.

After the establishment of the River Murray Commission in 1917, river flow control structures, including weirs and locks, were constructed along the River. Weir & Lock 1 at Blanchetown in SA was the first to be completed in 1922. Others were progressively constructed, with Yarrawonga Weir, close to Hume Dam, being the last to be completed in 1939, and the only weir which does not have a lock.

The purpose of the weirs is to (i) store water for uses such as town water and irrigation, and to control river flows downstream; and (ii) to provide a raised river level upstream of the weir so that vessels can navigate past the weir via the lock.

There are now 14 weirs along the River Murray. The weirs at Mildura, Torrumbarry and Yarrawonga were constructed primarily for water supply, rather than navigation.

To read more abut the weirs and locks of the Murray River, click here.

On the short drive to the weir & lock, we passed many houseboats nestled against the river bank just waiting for someone to come along and hire them. We are fascinated with locks and their operation after seeing the operations of so many in Scotland. Unfortunately Lock 5 is not in operation when we were there. There is a good flow of water through the weir, providing the agreed share of the River water to SA. The lock is at its high flow level, waiting for a vessel seeking to go down river.

We looked at the 80 ton barge the Bunyip now placed on the shore. It was launched in 1962 and ceased service in the early 2000s. It was taken to Lock 5 in 2013.

We also wondered at the flood level indicators board at the Lock. The 1956 flood mark is above Kerry’s head and she is standing above the bank. What an incredible amount of water that would have been.

From there we went to see the Black Stump at Paringa. This is a huge root system of a 600 year old red river gum, measuring over 8m across. It may be one of the largest surviving tree root systems in Australia.

We crossed over the road to go to the Cammies Antiques and Collectables. What a massive collection of just about everything. But we came out empty handed.

We went into Renmark town to look along the river from on Murray Ave. The roses are amazing, but the Harry Clarke Fountain does not really impress.

Further along was the paddle steamer the Murray River Queen. This large cruise boat really drives home to us that we are in another world, one of river boats, locks, weirs, house boats, and one with a very long history. We are really looking forward to exploring this when we return and travel the Murray.

At the Tourist office we went out to look at the PS Industry, a real working boat. The P.S. Industry was built in Goolwa and commissioned in January 1911 as a workboat for the SA Water Department. It played a major role in keeping the river open for traffic by removing snags, and later in the construction of locks and weirs. In 1968, the P.S. Industry was decommissioned and opened as a static museum in Renmark in 1975.

The Friends of PS Industry worked for years to make the boat serviceable again and in 1995, it was re-commissioned as an historic passenger type vessel. The Friends now run cruises and take charters so as to repay a State loan.

Just along the bank is the historic barge The Argo. This is recognised as the largest barge to ever ply the Murray, and was built in Mannum in 1915-1916 as a floating pumping station. It was retired in 1964 and purchased by Renmark Council in 1993 for the very modest sum of $2,000. It was restored and re-floated in 2001.

These really are amazing old boats and it is great to see them being preserved.

We drove out to see Rushtons Rose Garden. Surrounded by more than 4,000 rose varieties planted in 26 acres of rose gardens, there is a cafe and restaurant with a good reputation. Unfortunately it was closed when we got there so we could only look at a few roses at the front. But they were magnificent.  Renmark has a nice feel to it… a very comfortable town to stay in for a few days or longer.

Day 4 – Fri 02 Nov – to Hay

At about 6.00pm a storm had come in – thunder and lightening, and then light rain. We packed away the ground sheet, the table and de-flappers. While we had no real rain though the storm, it rumbled around for an hour or so.

We got away at around 7.20. Getting out of the van park was a bit tricky as you cannot turn left as we needed to, but you have to turn right, head back towards town until you can do a U-turn so as to head east. Fortunately there is a small turning lane on the road and good vision of on-coming traffic on your right, so it was not so bad getting across. We did the U-turn at the entrance to the next van park a couple of kms away.

We crossed the bridge and were soon into a mix of flat hay-based farmlands and grapes.  It felt a bit hairy crossing the bridge – there only seemed to be such a small amount of clearance on either side of the van, but if b-doubles can do it, so can we.

About 27km east of Renmark we crossed into Victoria. Nearing the Victorian border we saw a massive half tyre forming an arch. We think that was the SA/Vic border.

It’s soon very flat country with a long straight road, a bit bouncy. We seem surrounded by vast fields of what looks like hay.

We saw a number of warnings signs about fruit fly – and the fact that we can’t carry fruit across the barrier line. Large bins are provided to drop off all fruit. There are also warning of spot checks once past the bins. Lake Cullullerine had a fruit inspection point but it was closed. There were many vineyards and fruit trees past the town.

Mildura is a large and very interesting looking town, with many old buildings. There are also many houseboats on the river. We mark that as a place to which we would like to return.

We were welcomed to NSW. The sign does not quite match up to the half a tyre we had seen on the SA/VIc border.

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The Sturt Hwy is pretty good and we were happy to see lots of rest areas. NSW does seem to have a better system of these and some even have toilets – finding a toilet at a rest area in SA to WA was a rarity.

Past about Euston, the land was looking a bit bleak – a few sheep with hardly any grass. Yellow dirt and a bit of stubble.

We stopped at Balranald for a break. At the park, 2 men from the UK working out here for an energy supply company on a temporary visa tried to talk Kerry into changing our electricity supplier.

We then crossed the Murrumbidgee River, which looked pretty small compared to the mighty Murray River we had left behind to the south. But it is the largest river in NSW after the Murray.

We had seen a cheap fuel place just outside of Balranald. However, it was not staffed, 2 pumps had no shut off, and 1 was out of order. We still had half a tank, so we pushed on.

The landscape was just flat dry scrub, which seemed to get even flatter as we drove east.

Then out of nowhere, as we approached Hay, we saw 2 very long travelling irrigators. The water can only have come from the Murrumbidgee River.

We refuelled at South Hay, taking on board 94.27L at $1.619/L. Our fuel economy rate was a pretty good 21.52L/100km.

Our campsite was also at South Hay and it was pretty good – the Hay Plains Holiday Park. It was a pretty good site with a paved area for under the awning. We reversed in without any issues and left Mobi hitched. The cost was $30.60 for the night with our discount.   There was a pub right opposite the van park where we had a good dinner AND played pool again (which I won).

Day 5 – Sat 03 Nov – to Gundagai

Another nice day on the road. We left at 7.20 – a cool morning, but clear skies. It was quite an uneventful day.

Initially we were in vineyard and fruit tree country, then we saw lots of sheep on pretty scrappy country. At one point we saw so many rolls of hay wrapped in plastic.

Closer to Darlington Point we saw some irrigation channels – vast area of lands ready for watering. We did not go into the town.

We skipped Narrandera as it is off the Hwy, but will come back there on the next trip. There were some lovely trees along the road.

A few rolling hills emerge as we approached Wagga Wagga. Some were quite green too.

Pretty soon we were on the Hume Hwy on a 4 lane road heading for Gundagai.

Having made the early start, we got there about lunchtime. It was a bit strange to be in a genuinely hilly town, quiet steep in places.

We wanted to fill up again for the last leg to Sydney, so went to find the service station before going to the van park. But the one we came to at the start of the town had a very low awning over the pumps and there was no way we could get in there. We drove up the main street to try to find another, but failed to see one. We were not that worried as we had plenty of fuel remaining, so went to our van park, the Gundagai Cabins and Tourist Park. This was close to town and looked to be nice and green.

We checked in quickly ($32.40 with our discount) and then asked about the weigh bridge. When Kerry booked the site, as she did with most places we stayed, them mentioned they had a weigh bridge and we could use it for $19, which we thought a steal.

They gave us a code to activate the weighbridge, which is right next to the entry/exit. We also got a sheet of paper to record our various measurements. The weighbridge consists of a pad about 1,200mm wide – enough to get both axles of the van. There is also a central pad ahead of this where you can let the towball down to measure the van on its own.

• First up we did the front axel: 1,488kg – last time is was 1,440kg and the legal limit is 1,630kg
• Next is the rear axel 2,038kg – last time was 2,060kg and the legal limit is 2,000kg.
• Then we weighed both axles of Mobi, which is the GTM: 2,998kg compared 3,040kg last time and the legal limit of 3,280kg.
• We then kept the Mobi axles on the bridge and dropped the jockey wheel, this is the ATM: 3,326kg compared to the legal limit of 3,500. 
• We calculated our GCM at 6,524km compared to the legal limit of 6,800 before the Lovells upgrade, which I recall increased this to 7,200kg.

It was a relief to know that we were all quite legal, after a few adjustments to take some load off the rear axle.

There was nobody on the grassed powered area and we checked out our allocated site. But there were a few awkward looking trees for our exit so we took another site and informed the office. We remained hitched.

That afternoon we walked into and around town. What a fascinating place. We quickly came to statues of 2 Aboriginal men who had saved the lives of many people in the big flood of 1852. Wiradjuri men Yarri and Jacky Jacky risked their lives to rescue a third of the town’s population.

There are a great many old churches, pubs and other buildings that we will have to come back and spend some time getting to appreciates its history and its buildings. There is also a major bushranger connection. Captain Moonlight was finally captured and jailed here.  The Old Gaol is now a museum but we didn’t visit it this trip….

We had dinner at the large hotel in the centre of town. The whole place seemed to be busy with a 60th Wedding Anniversary – it was a Saturday night. It was a pretty good meal.

Day 6 – Sun 04 Nov – to North Narrabeen

It was a cold night, and we woke to a very cold but clear morning. We departed at 6.45.

As Jugiong we went off the motorway for some very cheap fuel, but the place was closed. It would have been 10c/L cheaper than the other service stations.

Ww went into the Yass Service Centre for fuel – putting in 100.94L at $1.639/L. Our economy rate had been 22.58L/100km, which was pretty much as expected for a mostly flat road.

Uneventful drive on the Hume – it was a drive we had done a few times so were quite familiar with the rolling hills and quite pretty countryside of the area.

But it did get busy the closer we got to Sydney

As it was a Sunday we elected to go to Narrabeen via Bankstown and Ryde – we would never try this on a weekday, when we would have paid the exorbitant tolls for the M7 and M2. The drive was actually pretty good and we were at the caravan park (Sydney Lakeside) by lunchtime. We were back where we started in mid-February, which seemed an awful long time ago.  So different driving a van through heavy traffic though.  Thank heavens it was not weekday traffic though.

It was all ok at check in – with the NRMA discount we paid $53.50 a night. Reversing onto site ok, thought we have done better. We then had to level the van, and unhitch it. However, the van lurched when it unhitched and the trailer mate got stuck – I gave it a shake and it plummeted to the base. I had to get out the car jack and lift the front frame, realign the trailer mate and pump up again. Funnily, the little kids in the van next door piped up “Dad did that too”… 

We spent the rest fo the day getting everything out of The Cruiser and into storage as we began preparation for our visitors. They will need to use the Cruiser. We also picked up Kerry’s car – luckily it also fitted onto our site.

The Lakeside is a very good, though expensive van park, and we know the area well as we live just up the road at Newport. When we arrived we saw that the council is doing a lot of dredging of Narrabeen lagoon – an ongoing issue. But it was well underway and it was amazing to see the excavators and trucks drive into the middle of the lake, seemingly on the top of the water.

We filled up The Cruiser to complete the trip, putting in 64.71L at $1.639. The economy rate was a very good 19.32L/100km, given it was all towing.

We also had The Cruiser serviced, gave it a thoroughly good wash and vacuum, and gave it a new set of tyres. We had been thinking about different tyres but in the end went for the same as we had. They had done 63,000km and had taken us over some extremely rough country. The tyre place also said that we had the tyres too low – we were using the Toyota recommended 30psi. The man said that this was to give a nice soft ride for city drivers. But inflating to 45-50psi will help the tyres last longer, especially on the edges.

That completed the first half our trip to drive around Australia – an incredible experience.

 

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To see photos from this post, click here

To see video of the Murray River at Renmark, click here

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