20/06/2012 - Mildura to Adelaide

After 3 nights in Mildura, we set out for Adelaide along the Sturt Highway,  We had bright sunshine & a cloudless sky but it was quite cold.  The fields were enormous & stretched into the distance as far as the eye could see.  Fruit fly warnings cropped up regularly & I had to forfeit a grapefruit & an onion at a checkpoint as we crossed the border into South Australia! 

Border crossing between Victoria & South Australia

We drove alongside the River Murray, which afforded some lovely views as it cut its way through the landscape.  We crossed the river at Paringa & continued on into Renmark, which had lovely wide streets & an attractive riverside position.  Oranges grew everywhere & vineyards abounded - the whole area looked lush!  How life-giving water is - "scrub" soon became prevalent whenever we moved away from the river.  We saw numerous stalls selling pumpkins, oranges, mandarins, etc..  The river also supported tourism & we came across several holiday complexes close to the Murray.  Kingston-upon-Murray was reminiscent of Kingston-upon-Thames, but in name only!

View overlooking the River Murray

A road sign with the warning, "Stop Creeping" intrigued us & we thought that "Ollo for sale" was an amusing way to advertise olive oil.

Huge trucks shook us up as they passed, forerunners of the enormous road trains that we'll meet later in our travels.  A strong head wind also blew us about & created huge clouds of dust.

After much flat terrain, "Accommodation Hill" made a dramatic change as we laboured up it into higher country.  We entered the Barossa region & passed the Wolf Blass winery.  Vast wheat fields appeared again before we drove into Adelaide.  On arrival at our chosen caravan park, it was pouring!



Our flooded camp site!





We spent 3 nights in Adelaide so that Judy & Charlie could get their fridge checked over & we could get our air-conditioner attended to (in our case, it transpired that someone had inadvertently driven a screw through two cables!)  It rained for the whole time that we were in Adelaide - huge puddles lay around & several roads were semi-flooded.  We accepted that they needed the rain but did they have to wait until we arrived!!  We had intended to visit the attractive suburb of Glenelg, but the weather deterred us & we later heard that they'd had hail.  I left Adelaide Beachfront Park without ever seeing the beach & decided that the best parts of the visit were my cosy "Ug" slippers & our very comfy bed!