As usual, the alarm was set for 6.30am and our day began shortly thereafter. The sky was overcast but it was dry. In the daylight we were able to look at the results of the storm on the previous night and the ferocity was demonstrated with tree branches lying on the ground and talk amongst the safarites that at least three awnings had been lost. When you consider that a warning had been given prior to the storm, one wonders why some chose to ignore the warning and expose themselves to the possibility of damage.
We had ample time to ready ourselves for departure as we were in the last group of vehicles to leave.
The drive today was just short of 300 kilometres and “She” was the captain for the first part of the trip. As “He” expected, the road was perfect and for the first time since Wellington and the drive was very smooth. What had actually happened was that we had crossed the Murray River and were now in Victoria.
Our instructions today were not all that clear and this resulted with us and a large number of vehicles taking the wrong route. We actually headed back into NSW and headed into Mildura and ultimately we arrived at the morning tea stop heading in the wrong direction but nevertheless, we all arrived. We were actually unaware that we had arrived from the wrong direction so by following the instructions for departure AFTER to stop, we actually left in the wrong direction. We had programmed our overnight stop into the GPS and we headed to Meringur via the Sturt Highway rather than the slightly shorter direct route. We arrived just before 3.00pm having travelled about an extra 10 kilometres from the planned route.
Happy hour commenced at 3.30pm before we headed in two groups for a visit to an historic village and the evening meal at the village. We retuned to our camp site after the evening meal and shared in the theme night which was “School Formal – Safari Style”. This was a lot of fun and we wonder how some of the safarites are able to carry the number of costumes that they have been wearing.
We were in the last group to leave the venue and returned to the motor home in light rain. The rain got heavier during the night but did not reduce the temperature in the motor home. We seem to be taking less care with the use of power as the combination of charge whilst travelling plus the solar panel is providing ample battery power for our needs.
Tomorrow will be the last stage of the driving part of the safari when we move into South Australia and the final destination of Swan Reach.
We have received an email from our friends in Melbourne and will be making a significant change to our travel plans. We will be leaving Swan Reach on Saturday with the intention of being in Ballarat by Sunday night. We will visit Soverign Hill on Monday before meeting our friends. We will spend Tuesday in Ballarat before heading to Bendigo on Wednesday. Thursday will be in either Echuca or Swan Hill, Friday probably at Jerilderie or further north east and from there, we will take two days to return home probably via Wagga and then either straight up the Hume (least preferred) or via Cowra and Bathurst.