Free camping by the rivers

We left Deni, calling in to meet a couple of facebook friends whom we hadn’t yet met. They live near Tocumwell. It is great when you get to meet some facebook friends face to face. Wayne and his wife were very friendly and offered us a cool drink and when Wayne found out I had a lot of trouble using my tablet, he offered to try and install WikiCamps for me. Sadly we couldn’t get it downloaded after several attempts.

Free camping by the Murray River

Free camping on the Murray

Wayne knew we wanted to do some free camping and recommended a free camp site nearby on the Victorian side of the Murray River and they even drove ahead to show us just where to go.

Rob sitting in the Murray River Apex Beach

We are well and truly on our way now having spent 8 nights in the motorhome now and everything is working perfectly, even the fridge is keeping cold in the hot weather. Apex Beach is so lovely and peaceful there that we decided to stop another night there. We had an absolute water front spot, yet with afternoon shade provided by eucalyptus trees .It was very hot here at 37 degrees but with a bit of cloud cover and a slight breeze, it is still a hot day but comfortable.... esp if we sit the chair in the river just outside our door literally cooling our heels in the river and listening to all the birds.

We have enough solar power we can even cool off with the air con but we tend only to do that late afternoon early evening whilst cooking dinner or such else we'll never get out of the motorhome and see the nature around us or socialize and that would be a great shame.

In the dusk we go for a gentle walk through the gum trees after our camp neighbour informs us that the gum trees there are the type favoured by the koalas and that there are koalas in the trees. He has seen 2. Sadly we didn’t see any but we enjoyed the walks.

Free camping by the Murray River near Tocumwell at night

We need all the help to keep cool or else we would have to do it the hard way and turn the air con on & sit inside and that would be a shame. I am SO grateful to all those solar panels and lithium batteries that Rob installed so that we have that recourse if we need it!

Aysons Reserve on the Campaspe River

Next we move on to Aysons Reserve near Elmore for a few days R&R. Again we had water views.

Aysons Reserve on the Campaspe River

More water views at Aysons Reserve on the Campaspe River

The weather is not perfect as we've plenty of wind and a touch of rain overnight and much cooler temperatures. Still we make the most of it. I get to do some crocheting to consolidate the crochet lessons Elaine gave me when we stayed with them in Deniliquin. Rob decided to read Aysons Reserve relaxing_0087w Rob and I also spent some time playing cards together. We are so grateful to friends we make on the road for various reasons. One of them taught us the card game we play very frequently called ‘Up and Down the River’. It is easy but has a little twist in it that keeps it challenging. It does rely on luck as most card games do but there is a little technique or challenge to it to keep it interesting.

I love the twisted tree trunk here