V is for Views of South Australia and Victoria

map highlighting borders of South Australia with an S over South Goolwa

 

Yes, this alphabet is a bit skewed! I lost effort during our move in and the holidays. Backtracking to "V". The map above is where we stayed in South Australia. Goolwa was very dry and sandy. Cool breezes coming up from the antarctic. One of the biggest sites of our visit was seeing the Murray River. We sped over it to enter South Australia (also getting rid of our fruits/vegs at the border- oh well). 

view from bridge as car is crossing Murray River

And then walked along it in the region to the east of Goolwa. They were dredging it during our walk. 

map highlighting mouth of murray river

boats dredging inlet









South Australia is in a different time zone - 1/2 hour earlier than New South Wales and Victoria during Daylight Savings. Mostly changed our arrival times at motels and discord video chats with the kids. 

Goolwa harbor:


We took a trip to see birds and the nearby harbor while over there - avoiding Adelaide following the coast a bit. 



We took a slightly more northern route on our return trip. The painted silos along this path are really cool and someone(s) have talent!

4 water towers painted

Other than that, it was pretty flat and dry. We did see some emus in the fields (not in this pic, though)
view of northern victoria

It was fun checking on the holiday decorations. This rest stop was done up in style

The town of Hay where we spent the night had a great birding park and some interesting statues
statue of sheep reading


We are currently in Victoria, sitting for a couple with a rottweiler named Doug, a cat named Pickles and two horses (Lenny and Carl). The family went with a cartoon theme. Doug is happy to hang out inside so doesn't really need walking. Plus he needs to stay away from the horses. 

map of Victoria, S over "Dederang"

Carl and Lenny have their own paddocks as Lenny can be a bit of a bully or annoyance to other horses. We found them both in Carl's paddock this am. Did I mention Lenny likes to jump?  Plus I think he rubbed down a fence wire. 
two horses in a paddock both with fly masks and blankets


Dederang is the cream source for the country, according to its sign. It is also the site of the Ranga pub that Shane Jacobsen (Kenny) purchased along with his director and others. No idea who he is but sounds like I should based on local tales. We ate there our first night. 

The area we are in is pretty rural; however, the cockies (sulfur-crested cockatoos) and corellas seem to love it. The "dawn chorus" is more like a bird playground during recess and after 5 days of rain. No sleeping in! Going to bed is accompanied by very loud frog rumbles. Not much car noise but I didn't realize a single frog could be that loud.
This recording doesn't do him justice, but you get a hint- frog rumbles

This tree is right beside the house -bedroom windows in the right side of image


tree full of white parrots

This was from the 5:15 wake up call- dawn chorus. Particularly ugly since Doug didn't enjoy last nights thunderstorms so no one got any sleep!
The local mountains were lovely though-covered in clouds.
view of mountains covered in mist and rolling hills below

Happy New Year and happy sleeping!









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