Wednesday, October 10, 2012

11 October 2012 - Albury All Seasons Tourist Park, Lavington, New South Wales


It is Melbourne that is supposed to experience all four seasons in one day, but here along the Victoria – New South Wales border it has certainly been happening over the past few weeks. We rose to greet a dismal day and although the rain was not yet heavy, it was most unpleasant packing up to leave.

We planned to only travel as far as Albury-Wodonga today, a distance of about seventy five kilometres or so. As we drove eastwards out of Yarawonga we noted the large numbers of relatively new homes and the on-going development along the lakeshore. Obviously the population of Yarrawonga-Mulwala will balloon out from the current number of about 7,700. It will become the in-place to retire to or to raise children.

Rutherglen lies on the Murray Valley highway just forty seven kilometres east, promoted as a wine growing region. Along the way we passed crops of bright yellow flowering canola and fenced paddocks of cattle and sheep, which soon gave way to acres of grape vines. A big sign at the entrance to Rutherglen states “Sydney has a great harbour but Rutherglen has a great port.” The vintners here specialise in fortified wines, a beverage that does nothing for gout sufferers hence we have not sampled any for some years. (Note that it is not I who suffers gout, but am happy to adopt the diet requirements for my husband’s sake.)

We stopped near the Information Centre because it seemed to be the only place suitable to park, wandered in to the Centre housed in a quaint old building manned by two equally quaint ladies, one of whom was keen to give us a pass key to the gold stamper “just up the road” so we could learn all about the gold industry of bygone years. Quite frankly both Chris and I are all golded out. I told her we really were only passing through however were entranced by this charming town and would pop back in if we decided to linger long enough to enjoy such wonders. We wandered up the street to the newsagent and back down the other side, admiring the wonderful old buildings, many built in the 1890s and also took note of the bike trail industry that the town also boasts. There are a number of cafes and antique shops in the main street and you get the feeling that it is a popular spot for Melbournians to come to for a cycling weekend. I took a brochure which details many of the cycle trails about for future reference just in case we ever get around to buying bikes. However seeing the bicycles lined up outside the Information Centre did encourage me to consider the possibility of hiring sometime in the future. Today was not a day to do so however, because while the weather had marginally improved, dry enough to enjoy our brief walk up and down the town, the dark clouds were still looking menacing.

Rutherglen has about 2,000 residents and lies several kilometres away from the Murray River. The town reminds one of those visited on the Kelly trail, and indeed it was one of the hangouts of that gang. Had the weather been less inclement I might have suggested to Chris we stay a day or two; it seems to have much more to offer than just a place to buy the daily newspaper.

We pressed on the last forty five kilometres, the vines once more giving way to dry stock farming. Low hills appeared to our south and to the north, the valley was at last becoming a reality. We joined the Hume Highway, the main route between Sydney and Melbourne and travelled on into Wodonga.

Wodonga lies on the southern banks of the Murray River in Victoria and across the river lies the sister city of Albury in New South Wales; the former with a population of 38,000 and Albury with a population of 53,000. We are back into seriously populated country.

We had found the Wodonga showgrounds advertising powered sites in our old CMCA bible, and so tried ringing them to confirm they were still in the business of accommodation. Chris’s cellphone battery was almost flat so I dug mine out, and would you believe it? There was no Vodafone reception ! If you have not heeded this advice before, I will repeat it here: Do not bother with Vodafone here in Australia unless you stay within the state capitals all the time. He plugged his phone into power and tried again only to hear a very garbled incoherent message. We drove to the grounds adjacent to the racecourse and found for ourselves a large board that explained that there was no camping until further notice. Obviously the caravan park association is alive and well in Wodonga!

Our second choice was this caravan park, found to be the cheapest after our Family Parks discount last night when I had done some homework on the net, and so here we are. We arrived in the rain, set up in the rain and spent the greater part of the afternoon hunkered down with everything shut tight and the electric heater blasting away. Hopefully the rain will have passed by morning because we have a full schedule of to-dos during the four days of our stay.


We have travelled by road almost exactly 1,000 kilometres from meeting the great Murray River at Wentworth to arriving here at Albury-Wodonga, including our detour a little north to Deniliquin while the river has run about 1,350 kilometres. Given the very winding nature of the river in many places, I would have expected it to be far longer. Perhaps we have tiki-toured about far more than I remember? 

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