DAYS 110-112 Pilbara – Kimberley Trip
WENTWORTH to JINDABYNE via Mildura, Hay, Wagga, Tumut
We are on the homeward stretch. Can’t believe the trip is nearly over. It was amazing to have no mobile phone range between Broken Hill and Wentworth even though we are travelling along a well sealed road. Every so often paddy melons lined the roadway. The Darling River is not what it used to be.
Since we last saw it several years ago, it has really changed for the worse.
The Murray River was also really down.
From Wentworth we continued onto Mildura where we stocked up on dried fruit. Soon we were back on the road that we went along when we started the trip back in early March. Familiar well known sights greeted us as we continued along the road.
We pulled up for the night at Cooey Point Reserve, between Hay and Narranderra, alongside the Murrumbidgee River.
Cows were grazing nearby. An unusually large hay stalk was across the road.
We enjoyed a beautiful sunset as we relaxed at the river’s edge.
In the morning a stunning daybreak greeted us.
Soon we were on our way admiring the view that we had so often taken for granted.
We enjoyed the views along the way but the weather was getting colder and colder. I shouldn’t have been surprised, as it is mid June, but it just felt so strange after so long in the warm weather of the west.
We smelt grass for the first time in along, long time after stopping at Adelong for lunch. Never thought I would appreciate let alone notice the smell of grass.
From Talbiingo it started to drizzle. So we continued along the wet Snowy Highway toward Kiandra.
A decision was made to spend our last camp night at Yarrangobilly Village before returning to Jindabyne the next day. It is not really a village anymore as only one abandoned building remains – Cotterill’s Cottage that was built in 1848. The area around here is now a designated camp spot in the National Park.
The Post Office was officially closed here in 1969 and everyone has moved on elsewhere. However it was a beautiful spot to camp near a creek.
It was a time for a campfire and a toast to our last night in the Oka for a while.
We woke to find a drizzly, overcast day ahead of us. We commented on how different this area was from the landscape in the west.
Soon the familiar rock formations around Cooma came into view. Yes we are definitely on our last stretch of the journey.
Finally we were greeted with the fabulous view of Lake Jindabyne. But what a shock – the water was very down.
Before we knew it we had returned as far as Jindabyne after a most fantastic journey to be met by our daughter’s family and the next day by our youngest son’s family. Not long after our oldest son and family came down to Jindabyne as well. It was great to see them all. We were also reunited with our faithful dog who he couldn’t get over the joy of having his master back again.
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