Up betimes to take breakfast at the 'BBB' (Barista, Baker & Brewer Coffee Shop) which despite the array of talents implied by the name, does not style itself as a 'providore'. Excellent egg & bacon toasted panini - 4 stars!
Thereafter the plan was to revisit some old childhood haunts of Mrs P who spent a very happy childhood in the Albury region. We were also keen to re-visit the now-closed Dora Dora Hotel near Talmalmo on the mighty Murray River.
So, we set forth in the direction of Holbrook the principal feature of which seems to be a submarine - HMAS Otway.
Disinclined to view an inland submarine and because the GPS instructed us to turn right at Woomargama we ended up on Tunnel Road, a poorly formed and precipitous thoroughfare which was supposed to take us to the Dora Dora Hotel.
After some time driving through heavily wooded country which neither the Prop nor Mrs P found familiar, we arrived at a fork in Tunnel Road.
As we were deciding whether we should turn left or right, another vehicle pulled up beside us. The friendly driver asked Mrs P, "Do you need some help?"
Mrs P paused momentarily and replied,
'Is your name Vyner...Vyner Smithwick?'
The driver replied ,'Yes, it is!'
It is difficult to say who was the more surprised, us, or Vyner Smithwick.
Vyner is the eldest son of Bob Smithwick, a former pastoralist/farmer at Talmalmo. Mrs P's father acted as accountant to the Smithwick family and, as a consequence, both families knew each other quite well - although Mrs P and Vyner had not seen each other for over 45 years!
Nevertheless, and without further ado, Vyner invited us to join him for 'tea and bikkies' at Talmalmo and, to stop off at the Dora Dora Hotel on the way.
Then for the promised tea and bikkies' at Talmalmo. But first, a quick stop to view some of all that Vyner Smithwick and his family once surveyed - which included 13 miles of the banks of the mighty Murray River.
After a splendid morning tea and a jolly good catch-up with Vyner we headed to Jingellic in the heart of the 'Upper Murray' and quite close to the source of the mighty Murray River.
Not being sure of where to head next we crossed the mighty Murray River into Victoria...
...and then crossed back into NSW...
...but not before pausing to take a picture of the upstream and downstream views of the mighty Murray River from the Jingellic Bridge.
It is a curious fact that the border between New South Wales and Victoria is NOT located in the middle of the mighty Murray River. Instead the border is located on the Victorian bank of the river. As a result, owners of land in NSW contiguous with the mighty Murray River have 'riparian rights' and may freely take water from the river. Victorian landowners have no such rights!
At Mount Alfred we stopped at a lookout and spotted what appeared to be some genuine billabongs adjacent to the mighty Murray River.
We then made our way to Thologolong, birthplace of the Murray Grey, apparently the only breed of cattle which originated in Australia.
Moving further along the Victorian side of the mighty Murray River we stopped at Tallangatta to take afternoon tea in the Tadpole and to observe Lake Hume (or the Hume Weir) the artificial lake created by the dam erected just outside Albury.
On, on to Wodonga and thence to Albury - back where we began (as the saying goes!)
1 comment:
Much of River Wye forms the border between Wales and England and I was taken how similar the landscape of The Mighty Murray looked in some of todays photos.
Post a Comment