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In the middle of the night a few bright flashes of lightning accompanied by some loud claps of thunder heralded the arrival of rain. It was so nice to be snuggled up in bed listening to the gentle pitter-patter of rain on the caravan roof. By morning the rain had largely stopped and an early excursion to the amenities block was exactly that, as one needed to negotiate your way around the large puddles so as to keep your feet dry. A spout of water pouring from the over-flowing tank provided another obstacle.
We left Murrayville Caravan Park knowing the $9.90 fee had been excellent value for money. As we proceeded along the Mallee Highway we noticed almost every town offered a similar deal. Some charged extra for showers, but even this gave good value. This arrangement seemed to be operated by the Local Council in towns where there was no commercial caravan park. What a fabulous idea to encourage travellers to take a break and to spend a little money in the local community.
Farmers who had not yet planted crops were busily doing so. We commented that those newly germinated crops about 4
The Mildura council mobile library truck was set up in Underbool.
Note Joan's artistic use of the gum tree branches to frame the shot. cm tall would surely be loving the drenching. We caught up with the rain again just out of Ouyen. In the rear view mirror we could see the edge of the cloud bank following us and by the time we reached Swan Hill the day was sunny and there was not a cloud to be seen.
We had planned to stay the night in Wood Wood, some 30 km west of Swan Hill as a walk through the nearby red gum forest had captured our imagination. With all the rain though we had changed our mind; settling on a night in Swan Hill instead.
With a riverside site in the Big4 Caravan Park in Swan Hill and everything set up we headed off on a walk into town. This time a mid-afternoon coffee shop caught our attention. Walking back in the sunshine along the river we watched birds being fed off the canoe launch site and others out doing similar walks to us. The caravan park which seemed pretty empty when we had arrived was suddenly almost full. We are constantly puzzled why in many caravan parks where there is so much room, they
nearly always seem to clump people together. This seems to be the practise in many places where accommodation is offered. Why do they do this?
A chug-chug sound attracted us to the edge of the river and along came a paddle steamer. We had barely taken our photos when a second much bigger paddle steamer followed, giving us a double show. Our spot right on the edge of the river was turning out very well.
As the afternoon sun got lower we settled into a pair of comfy chairs to soak up the last of the sun while we gazed at the river scene. Coots did their best to wow us by grazing along the river bank only a couple of metres from our feet. This really is a great spot.
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