May 22, 2023
Day 12: Swan Hill to Wakool.
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After a good meal in Swan Hill we decided on a major change to the route. Instead of continuing along the Murray Valley Highway and visiting Echuca, we were going to cross into NSW and head across the Murray Downs. Rather than head to tourist spots we thought it better to go to the sort of places that we enjoy, little remote towns with nothing but an electric BBQ and a toilet, plus the roads would be more pleasant. I knew that the Murray Downs would be open with no protection from the weather, particularly the wind, but the forecast was favourable so we went for it. The only settlement for camping was a town called Wakool, about 90km away, other than that it would be a bush camp. Although 90km was a long distance for us, it was completely flat with a favourable wind, very doable. We set off quite late after doing some shopping, Annette wanted a new sleeping bag liner and towel, we needed gas and a few groceries. Also the bridge over the river was raised to let a boat through which held us up.
Once we hit the road with a wind behind us it started off quite quick but, unfortunately, Annette wasn't feeling too good and we had to slow the pace. With frequent stopping it didn't look like we would reach Wakool and as there was nothing else I was anticipating a bush camp. Water was clearly going to be an issue with nothing in between us and Wakool and not a farmhouse in sight. The ride across the Downs was interesting, a great expanse of nothing interspersed with some beautiful creeks and bush land that you would barely notice travelling in a car. Water was on the back of my mind all day so when we came across a NSW RFS (Rural Fire Service) shed and an old school it seemed worth checking out. We parked the bikes on the concrete entrance to the shed and found a tank and tap at the back. No water came out of the tap so I turned on the tank. Still no water coming out of the tap but I could hear water running somewhere and turned off the tank. We went across to the old schoolhouse which was now used as a community hall and had a couple of locked tanks. I could probably have got water out of them but they seemed to have gone to some trouble to prevent this so I didn't bother. When we went back to the shed water was running out from under the door, whoops. I don't know what sort of set up there must have been in there but it seemed strange. I'd turned the water off so, hopefully, no harm done. Still no water.
We finally stopped for lunch and Annette was feeling a little revived, with about 35km to go and favourable weather, we could still make it before dark. We rolled into town at about 4.00pm. The only place in Wakool besides the pub was a post office, needing a sit down we went in and Annette managed to get a cup of coffee. We sat talking to the lady who owned the place, when the school bus turned up kids came in to collect the mail on the way home and exchange small talk with the post mistress, it was the sort of thing people imagine of rural life. We got directed to the football oval to camp.
The football oval camping was something of a surprise, there was a football oval, new looking netball courts and clubrooms as good as I've seen anywhere. The main part of the rooms were closed but we had access to the shower, toilets and quite a large undercover area with electricity to charge the phones. When we arrived there was a bloke who was camping further down the river charging his chainsaw. We had a shower and set up camp undercover. The shower was the best we had all trip, highly recommend, in fact it was so good a young local woman came along during the evening to use it.
Today's ride: 86 km (53 miles)
Total: 732 km (455 miles)
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