If you got the impression in my last that we were delighted with what we found at Tooleybuc, you are indeed correct. But we were on something of a schedule and a single night here with a departure the next day was the order of that day!
I had been a tad concerned about the manner in which we would exit our site if we had a rear neighbour.....despite what mine host had said about enough swing room at the front, I don't think she was entirely familiar with the turning circle of a rig of our length.
I had been a tad concerned about the manner in which we would exit our site if we had a rear neighbour.....despite what mine host had said about enough swing room at the front, I don't think she was entirely familiar with the turning circle of a rig of our length.
As it happened, we spent the night in blissful isolation on our lovely site, and I was able to reverse out without incident onto the street in the morning.
That done and one final scurry across our now vacated patch to the heads, and we were off. With a tiny touch over 200 kms in front of us, our planned travelling time to Moama was in the order of an estimated two and a half hours, all things being equal.
This is probably a good point to explain why, when we wanted to visit the historic town of Echuca, we were heading for Moama. The answer is simple. These are twin towns....Echuca lies on the Victorian side of the river, Moama on the other. They are virtually one, with Moama offering us a better accommodation option that its counterpart. Not only that, the park we had chosen is actually closer to the Echuca CBD and its historic port than all those opposite. Indeed it was within comfortable walking distance. So there you have it.....Moama was in our sights.
In the words, well one word, of the irrepressible Mr Simpson......doh!!!! But I suppose the road authorities have to cater to the lowest common denominator!
Fortunately we were the only vehicle in sight and our crossing back into Victoria was free of any contretemps. For the first few kilometres we were backtracking along the route we had taken into Tooleybuc,
but the junction which would take us south-east to Moama was soon ahead of us. The B400 would be our route for the remainder of this leg.
We had been this way before, years and years ago, in the days of our little Coromal van when our attempt to visit Echuca was stymied by a rising River Murray. Then, in answer to my query some days before our planned arrival, I had been blithely told by the owner of the park in which we had intended to stay that, "There will only be 12 inches of water at the most through the place"....and she through nothing of it! Strangely enough we had no intention of wading about in ankle deep water for two or three days. We visited Swan Hill as a compromise where the rive was 'high' as the locals called it, but did not burst its banks.
As we made our way along the Murray Valley Highway, we were soon back into vine country as we passed through the little towns of Nyah and Woorinen and eventually left Swan Hill behind us.
Now we were in new territory. Some sixty kilometres 'southish' of Swan Hill we negotiated the quite large town of Kerang (we intend to re-visit this area in the future, but at our leisure)
and within another twenty minutes had arrived on the outskirts of Cohuna.
As we made our approach into the town
and progressed with caution along the main street (which is the highway) our intention to spend more time in what appeared to us to be a very pleasant part of the world was confirmed.
But not today. Echuca was drawing ever closer. This sign brought back very pleasant memories of the wonderful time we had spent with good friends at Yarrawonga at about this time last year. Now we were looking forward to seeing another significant part of the Mighty Murray.
By now we had well and truly left all vestiges of the grape behind us and were traversing 'hay country', where the sizes of the stacks of fodder dotted all over the paddocks
were significant to say the least. This went on for miles and did come to us as a real surprise.....we had no idea that this industry either existed here or was so clearly productive.
Our moments of wonder contemplating this bounty were not long lived. The township of Echuca was upon us, and it was time to concentrate on the road signs and the traffic.
Indeed it was! As we entered the city, it soon became clear that our route through it and on to Moama was not going to be straight forward, but with the aid of my navigator (s), both human and electronic, and a welcome plethora of directional signs,
I was able to weave our way successfully through the town traffic
and even managed to negotiate this challenging round-a-bout
which took us back into NSW.
Here the crossing is made much more simple than at Tooleybuc....this is a bridge of size and substance.....no single vehicle at a time for us here.
We were now almost there.
Some 400 metres beyond the NSW end of the bridge saw us making a sharp left turn into Blair Street, past a picturesque park complete with sound shell,
and arriving at the entrance to the Murray River Holiday Park, Moama. With the many parks from which to chose in this area, the inevitable question was now crossing our minds...."have we made a good choice?" We had read that the family who bought this place not so long ago were welcoming hosts and were doing much to improve the park grounds and amenities.
After checking in at the office our first impressions were good.
Whilst first impressions are not always reliable, in this instance they were entirely accurate. Mine host, Ken, personally led us through the boom gate and down the roadway lined with cabins,
past the more than adequate park pool
to our allotted site at the far end of the park where Ken very kindly guided me on to our beautifully grassed patch.
We had a choice....grass or slab. As we gazed over the slab sites opposite, which were new and very well designed, we remained content with our decision.
And what a trial it was to go to the heads. It was such a distance to walk! The ablutions here are well up to scratch
as is the large
and well equipped camp kitchen located next to the pool.
Cement paths abound throughout this relatively smallish park. Indeed we were more than adequately catered for in this department......one led directly from the rear of our van
wending its way thence right through several of the park cabins to the camp kitchen and pool area beyond.
Looking at these photos, there is probably no need for me to wax lyrical about the state of the lawns and the obvious effort which the owners are making to provide more than comfortable surrounds. All we had read about the Murray River Holiday Park was true.....this is a park which now sits high on our list of those we would happily recommend to one and all.
And it was indeed within comfortable walking distance to Echuca (not to mention the more than adequate shopping and infrastructure even closer on the Moama side) as we shall demonstrate in my next offering.
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