The meandering Murrumbidgee
Murrumbidgee River, Balranald, NSW
On our trip through New South Wales last week we stayed one night in a cabin in the Balranald Caravan Park. The town of Balranald (population about 1200) is situated on the banks of the meandering Murrumbidgee River, one of the major rivers that flow into the Murray River.
The caravan park is at the south eastern edge of town and the bank of the river forms one boundary of the park. The photo above shows a part of the river next to the park. The photo below was taken in the middle of the park. It shows the lift section of the historic old bridge that once spanned the river here. One section of the bridge had to be lifted to allow the old river boats to pass under it. A new higher bridge has recently been built.
Balranald Caravan Park, NSW
Travelling from Lameroo to Balranald
Balranald Caravan Park, NSW
On the first day of our 2007 holiday in New South Wales and Victoria we travelled from home in Murray Bridge, South Australia, through to Lameroo where we had a picnic lunch. After lunch we travelled on into Victoria. We drove through the small towns of Murrayville, Underbool, Ouyen and Manangatang, where we stopped briefly to refuel. Several times we stopped on the side of the road for my wife to take photos of native plants flowering. I took the opportunity during these short breaks to take a short walk and to observe the birds along the way.
At Tooleybuc we crossed a very narrow bridge over the Murray River. This bridge allowed only one vehicle at a time to cross. Fortunately the town is rather small and the traffic is never heavy, so it would be rare to have to wait more than half a minute for the bridge to clear. Crossing the river meant we were now in the state of New South Wales. That meant we had been in three states of Australia in about three hours.
We pressed on towards our destination for the night. Originally I had planned to reach Hay by sunset, but our late start in the morning meant we would be about a hundred kilometres short of there. We settled for a cabin in the caravan park of the small river town of Balranald. This park is right next to a busy interstate highway. The heavy trucks roaring past all night were a little disturbing, far noisier than what we are used to at home. Despite that we managed a reasonable night’s sleep.
One disturbing sight just before reaching Balranald was a dead kangaroo on one side of the road and a dead Wedge-tailed Eagle on the other. This is the largest of our birds of prey and a magnificent bird to see soaring on high. This unfortunate bird must have been feeding on the carcass of the kangaroo and hadn’t flown away in time to avoid being hit.
Wildflowers of Geebung National Park, NSW
Orchid flower
Several years ago on a holiday in New South Wales we spent several days exploring the area around Parkes. One of the places we headed for was the Geebung National Park north east of the city.
Wildflower in Geebung NP NSW
Our interests complement each other; I go to places like national parks to look at the birds, my wife looks at the plants and flowers. I usually have my head up while she has her head down. Both of us also keen wildflower photographers. This trip, however, was before I had my Canon Powershot digital camera. The photos on this post were taken with our old Kodak digital camera. This old camera is still a very good camera and my wife continues to use it frequently.
Orchid flowers
All photos can be enlarged by clicking on the photo.
Wildflowers in Geebung NP NSW
To see more of my photos of birds, flowers, scenery and much more visit my family photo gallery here.
Wildflower in Geebung NP NSW
The radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales
Radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales
On our trip to Parkes in the mid-west of New South Wales we travelled the short distance north of the city to the radio telescope. This telescope has been there for many years and I had long wanted to visit it, but this was the first time for me. My wife argued that she thought that we had visited there early in our married life. It doesn’t matter who was right.
Radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales
During our time there we looked through the displays in the information centre. We then decided to have an ice-cream. While we sat eating it we had the pleasure of watching the dish slowly changing position. It is an awesome sight to see such a large structure moving.
This telescope played a key role in transmitting signals to the rest of the work during the first landing on the moon. The story of what happened is the plot of the movie called “The Dish.”
Historic mural, Ouyen, Victoria
Historic mural, Ouyen, NW Victoria
Several years ago we had a short holiday in Victoria and New South Wales. Our main objective was to take my mother-in-law to her sister’s funeral in Parkes. On the first day of our trip we stopped for lunch in the small mallee town of Ouyen in north west Victoria. This town is a service centre for a wide area of wheat and sheep farming in this district. It was beginning to decline but has had a boost in recent years due to tourism.
Historic mural, Ouyen, NW Victoria
We were fascinated by the mural painted on the side of one of the buildings in the town centre. This mural pictorially depicted the history, growth, development and industries of the town and the surrounding district. It also featured some of the wonderful flora and fauna found there.
Historic mural, Ouyen, NW Victoria
The mural tells of the struggles of the early settlers in this harsh environment as they attempted to make a living from the land. Early forms of transport are shown along with farming equipment and buildings. One scene depicts a steam train unloading water into an open drain. This water would probably have come from the River Murray some distance away. There are no natural river courses near Ouyen and water would have been essential for the farms to develop, as well as for the farm animals. The evaporation from the drains was enormous – probably as much as 90% in summer, so desperately needed pipelines were later installed.
Click on any photo to enlarge the image.