It rained heavily overnight and was still raining moderately at departure time this monring. That made the 130km from Hay to Balranald uncomfortable and completely destroyed any thoughts of photographs on that leg of todays journey. Fortunately after Balranald the weather started improving and by the time I got to the little town of Euston the sun was out. Which was fortuinate as Euston is spectacular in a modest way. Just before the town the road passes Lake Benanee a sizeable lake on the south side of the road which is accessible by a large picnic and over-nighting area. Euston is situated on the Murray River and the town make good use of the situation with a large and up-market recreation club right on the river bank.

Mallee

After Balranald the country is what is called Mallee, ( see here). It is a form of eucalypt forest where multiple trunks come from a single root ball. I tried to get a good photo of the characteristic.

Mildura

Mildura was originally my destination for the day but I was there sufficiently early to be tempted to push on. In a way this was unfortunate as Mildura is also situated on the Murray River and has many access points to the river and many pools and lagoons. Mildura is also well developed and finding my way through the town was surprisingly difficult. That probably explains why I forgot to take any photos of the town and the river side parks.

Lake Cullulleraine

Between Mildura and Renmark the roadside highlight is Lake Cullulluraine. It is very close to the road, on the northern side, and has a very nice campground adjacent to the road.

Renmark

Renmark, which is in South Australia .. duh, is clearly a Murray River playground town. Approaching the town from the east one passes a number of upmarket riverside camping grounds and once in the old part of town one finds the riverside area has been dressed up very nicely.