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Directly opposite the caravan park in Ouyen is a train line … a very busy train line, especially on a Friday night. We suspect they were doing a lot of shunting backwards and forwards loading grain carriages. Then early Saturday morning more train noises. This challenged our belief that trains no longer operate in much of rural Australia. Maybe this only applies to SA.
This together with the noisy bikie, who made regular trips around the caravan park, made for quite a noisy evening. Thank goodness all was quiet by bedtime.
Our next stop was Loxton via Pinnaroo. Our GPS was not keen on this idea directing us to Pinnaroo then back to Ouyen, up to Mildura then down to Loxton. Suspend navigation was the only option … besides we really did know the way and didn’t need help at all.
A coffee and sticky something at the Pinnaroo Bakery gave us time to contemplate times gone by. How often these days do you see a pipe loaf on the shelves in a bakery? Would they even know what they are? Pinnaroo bakery does! We didn’t buy one but wondered if we
did would it live up to the memories.
For Joan it was strange being back in hometown Pinnaroo. So much was the same and yet so much was different. The business centre had moved to the other end of the main street. Like many rural towns old shops had been deserted, disappeared, been renovated or had reassigned uses. It was good to see the 2 pubs standing proud and obviously still in use. Sadly the thriving Border Shoe business Joan’s Dad operated back in the ‘80s has long gone and even its replacement computer business appears to have died.
Heading north on the Loxton road our rig thumped and bumped around as the road was in pretty poor condition. Probably the worst road conditions of the trip.
After a wild goose chase in Loxton we eventually found the Big4 Caravan Park set in idyllic conditions on the banks of the Murray River. A birthday phone call to Gwen and Greg’s weekend TA note done we could stretch our legs walking along the banks of the river. So beautiful and peaceful!
Having a lunch date back in the Barossa
on Sunday, we headed off with plenty of time to spare. The dreaded Accommodation Hill ascent was the biggest challenge for the day. At the best of times this can be a slow climb when towing our caravan, so we didn’t need the strong head wind which blew up just as we arrived at the base of the hill. Still we weren’t the slowest. We cruised past the B Double truck that we had allowed past us earlier. Thank goodness for passing lanes.
After enjoying a birthday lunch for Gwen at Company Kitchen, we unpacked and cleaned the caravan ready for an early getaway Monday morning. After all we had a booking with a plumber to replace our hot water system that afternoon.
How glad were we to see him arrive on time?
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