Wilkinson Wanderings: Sydney to Burra

Tuesday 15 May

We set off, not quite as early as planned, with the goal of reaching somewhere near Griffith. We stopped at Lithgow Macdonalds for a late morning tea, and met David’s cousin Daph there – totally by chance. Next stop Bathurst to attend to squealing brake shoes on the camper – not happy. We abandoned our original plan to reach Griffith and stayed very virtuously at Holy Campground in the Weddin Mountains National Park near Grenfell. This area was the haunt of the bushranger Ben Hall, but thankfully his ghost was quiet as we were the only people camped there.

Lunch at Cowra

Bembrick Oval, Grenfell

Holy Campground, Weddin Mountains National Park

Wednesday 16 May

Our next stop was 50km west of Hay at the village of Maude. We had planned to free camp, but the campground next to Maude Hotel had more appeal to the driver, and for $10 and excellent showers it was worth it. Maude is on the Murrumbidgee River and we collected lots of driftwood from the recent floods which made an excellent campfire.

Downtown Maude

The Murrumbidgee River at Maude

Roadworks on the Hay Plain

Thursday 17 May

Today we crossed briefly into Victoria at Mildura, then into South Australia near Renmark. We stayed overnight at a locality named Overland Corner, camped by the Murray River at Herons Point. We arrived in the dark not realising we were so close to the river – less than 50 metres.

There is a historic hotel at Overland Corner built in the 1850s. It was from here that John McDouall Stuart procured his horses for his expedition which was the first to cross the continent from south to north in 1860. There is a campground behind this hotel, but it was closed because of the floodwaters in the Murray.