Page 235 - Mit dem Wohnwagen durch Australien

The background music is supplied by the little Corellas, white parrots who screech as if their life was depending on
it. The gray/pink Galahs and the other multicoloured parrots, Cockatoos and lorikeets are much quieter but are
known to give an ear piercing whistle if a hawk flies over us. The Rainbow Lorikeets are most colourful. They have
a blue head, yellow orange breast feathers, green wings and tail. They love the nectar of the gum trees. In order to
get them out of the flowers, they have a little brush on the tip of their tongue.

AUSTRALIA DAY
A long four day weekend for the Australian National day. We feared, that we would not find a free spot for camping,
but this was totally unfounded. The Campground is half empty. We therefore also dare to go to the Roc k on the
River Festival on Saturday night. The Festival is organised for charity, namely to offer better conditions for the
cancer patients in the local hospital, or course we are there. It is a friendly gathering alongside the Bank of the
Murray with very good Rock-Bands. Everyone has brought their camping chairs and munches on one of the burgers
or hotdogs sold here or even enjoys Pancakes with Vanilla Ice cream, Cream and Strawberries. Guess who had
some? In between the Aquatic Club demonstrated their prowess on the Surf- and Kneeboards. They showed some
astonishing stunts on the river. Water-ski is apparently out.

On Australia Day, a free breakfast is offered in Luxton, accompanied by Music, Speeches etc. The only snag is the
time. They start at 7 am, much ahead of our normal wake-up time, but we bite the bullet. It was well worth it. Fried
eggs, bacon and sausages on bread, freshly cut fruit, home made fig- plum and orange preserves, orange juice,
coffee, tea and Milo is on offer. What a feast. Everybody sits around on their camping chairs and enjoys the
atmosphere. On this day all over Australia worthy people get honoured and receive praise and recognition for their
work for the community. After the hoisting of the flag by the local scouts group the guests are called to the Pavilion
and given their awards. They all have a more or less short recognition speech prepared. A lovely event.

We go back to the campground to have a little siesta and emulated the two herds of about 10 Kangaroos each,
which live on the Campground. They doze in the shade of the large trees during the heat of the day and during night
graze noisily around our caravan. They let us come very close and we can even watch a boxing match between two
young males. Some of the females have Joeys in their pouches. One of them is cheekily hanging out of the pouch
and grazes from a secure position.

In the evening we go swimming again in the Murray and watch ducks that swim around us, Cormorants who fly very
low over our heads, Pelicans which land closely and the ever present loud Corellas. This is how it must have been
in paradise.

WE ARE FLEXIBLE!
We had planned to move to the Flinders Ranges which are another 600 km to the North and even hotter. We think
that the normal 34 C with the periodic higher marks is enough, so we decide to move south to the Murray Mouth until
it cooled off a bit up north. We want to see where Pondi has cut a breach for the Murray to the sea. The school
holidays are over, so the beaches should not be so full any longer.

We plan to go the Lake Alexandrina, the delta of the great Murray River and there to go swimming again every day.
The description of the Campground sounds promising. It is directly on the shore and there is a boat ramp, we
ascertain this on Google Maps. Milang is a little town with a long history. It was the largest harbour on the lakes and
provided shipping services up and down the Murray through the lakes to the sea and had a railway station close by
to transport good from and to the hinterland. The paddle steamers were built here. Lake Alexandrina is so large, that
one cannot always see the opposite shore. It all sounds very promising and it is all true. But still, there is no
swimming. No, no crocodiles, snakes or Sharks. But also no water!

When we arrived we did see the lake, but due to lack of water over the decades, in large areas it was only about 50
cm deep.

You can walk for miles in it shallow waters, but you cannot swim. The big hope here is now, that New South Wales
will release some of the flood waters down the Murray from the torrential rains in January. The politicians have
promised this for March. Water is here already a hot political item.