Travelling with MM: Mathoura NSW to Burra SA

Travelled: 1795km/14 days from Melbourne to Mathoura, Hay, Renmark to Burra

In Shepparton we called in at the Furphy Foundry and bought a jaffle iron.

Just across the border in NSW we found a bush camp along the river at Poverty Point just out of Mathoura.

We drove up the Kidman Way and eventually ended up at Darlington Point on the Murrumbidgee River.

After a couple of days we continued our journey to Hay and set up at the showgrounds.

The town is located on the flat Hay Plains in the heart of the Riverina and is an important service centre.

The Australian Shearer's Hall of Fame showcases the shearers and the industry, honouring their achievements.

There are impressive historic buildings in the town including the railway station built in 1882 with its last run into town in 1983.

Bishop's Lodge was the residence of the first Anglican bishop of the area and was built in 1888.

We visit the Gaol Museum. The complex was built in 1879, closing its doors in 1915 to become a maternity hospital, to only return to be a prison in 1930. During WWII it housed POW's and then in 1961 to 1974 became a centre of incorrigible girls.

Further along the Sturt Highway we stopped at Yanga Homestead. It was built in the 1870's in the Murrumbidgee Valley and was one of the areas most productive pastoral station. We were astonished at the flood water levels marked inside the house, finding it hard to imagine the amount of water there would have been.

We spent the night at the dog friendly, Lake Benanee.

In the small town of Robinvale on the banks of the Murray River there is a memorial park dedicated to George Cuttle who was killed in France in WWI.

We parked up at the Apex park in Mildura and then went to have a look around. It is a major regional city and offers many activities.

Down near the Murray River we cam across the Psyche Bend Pumphouse built in 1891 to pump water from the Murray River to Kings Billabong and then onto the surrounding farms. We were lucky that it was open so we could have a look inside.

Down at the Red Cliffs area we spotted Big Lizzie who played an integral part in clearing up the land 100 years ago.

Located on the banks of the Murray River, William Chaffey, built the Rio Vista, a grand Queen Anne style home in 1889. It now houses a museum and Arts Centre.

The Old Mildura Homestead is a replica red-gum slab building that was the first built in the area.

The first paddlesteamers arrived in Mildura in 1853 and was the major means of transport for many years.

Further down the Murray River it joins the Darling River in the historic town of Wentworth. Unfortunately the recent rains have flooded the park where these two mighty rivers converge but we still manage to spot clay colour of the Darling meeting up with the sandy brown coloured Murray River.

Lock 10 was also underwater. It had been built in 1929 to ironically help maintain and control water levels specifically to help fish move up and down the river past the weir.

We watched an interesting video on the floods of 1956 at the Pioneer Museum which houses over 3000 items depicting the regions history from fossils, megafauna to folk memorabilia.

The impressive Gaol was built with 1 million bricks brought in from Malmsbury Vic and the slate roof from Wales in 1881.It was relatively small housing 10 male and 2 female cells.