Red Cliffs to Wentworth



Red Cliffs to Wentworth = 43km
Cummulative total = 560km / 19,466km
morning temperature = 14 degrees, daytime high = 24 degrees
Willowbend caravan park = $20 unpowered or $25 powered
I forgot to take a photo of our camp spot at Red Cliffs before I did the blog, the park is next to a vineyard and also the local sports grounds ...



 this morning we had a lovely sunrise, although I was very reluctant to get out of bed to enjoy it, but I did!

 here is a close up of the vines behind where we were camping - the plastic on top I think is to protect the fruit from the sun and to stop it from burning and marking the fruit, if that is correct then these grapes are destined for the supermarket for eating!

 we set off this morning and I was a little weary buy knowing it was a short day sort of helped me along.  We started off on the Calder highway and were looking for 15th Street to take to avoid having to go into Mildura itself ... well our map is just one out of a tourist book and is not to scale and when I had a look again the Calder flows into 15th street! so we took it to the end, as it gets closer to the township we loose our wide shoulder and it becomes a 2 lane road but that was no problem for us as the traffic wasn't all that bad.
From here we sort of zig zagged our way around Mildura following the tourist route and all signs that point to Wentworth.
Along the way we passed some grapes being dried on the racks - we think we have passed here before and taken a photo of this exact rack (coming across from South Australia 2011)

 there are literally hundreds of vineyards around here of all different types of grapes.  Neil tells me that 95% of the dried fruit comes from Mildura so they are primarily grown for eating - sultanas or fresh fruit.  There are heaps of little fruit stands selling some veges but mostly pumpkins and grapes - we did stop for one (just before Merbein) to pick up a bag of crimson grapes for $2 ... yummy!
We took a quick break at Merbein and I took a photo of Neil standing next to the sign - apparently this is where is grandmother grew up - he couldn't remember if she was born here.

 not realising where we had stopped we saw this sign ...

 we think it might be a sign for you Flo ... so get baking for the Vanilla slice bake off!
Riding through Merbein and onto Yelta was very scenic (hence why it is a tourist route!) and there are big houses with big vineyards!  At Yelta you cross over the Murray ...

 believe it or not but the bridge that goes across here is a one way bridge and is controlled by lights.  Off course we can never make it across in time and fortunately for us there is a small shoulder for us to see refuge in while the traffic from the other direction comes across!

 From here it is another 7km to Wentworth, by now I am feeling very tired in the legs - seeing the Darling river is a relief as that means we are at Wentworth.

 at least the bridge across it is 2 lanes and just as you get over the bridge there is a park on the left and this is what we saw ...

 sort of a bit like the Jeep up a Pole at Keith!  instead it is a tractor.
Wentworth is a population of around 1400 and is the first or last (depends on what direction you are going) before Broken Hill.
The campground is at the junction where the Darling River enters the Murray River - we will walk later on tonight to have a look at that.  But in the meantime we have an unpowered site and I tell you it is just the best site ever for $20...

take a look at that right on the waters edge and no one either side of us as it is unpowered!  Apparently this campground was absolutely chockers over easter and where we are camped was crowded.  There is alot of people turning up this afternoon but all in caravans and they all want power.
We are having a rest day here tomorrow.