Albury

Pat Callinan tackles the roads, parks and food of the mighty Murray

I wish I was a cow. Not for the hooves, the udders, or that wet moist nose either. Nope, I wish I had three stomachs.

When I started this drive, His Editorship Isaac said to me, "Pat, I want you to sample all the best things the Murray has to offer, and let our readers know what's good and what's not." When you use the word 'sample' that can only mean one thing - food. And never let it be said that I'm not a hard worker.

I 'sampled' just about every delicacy the Murray had to offer until my shorts were busting at the buttons. Isaac never actually said to conduct a Murray River Degustation tour, but I just know that he meant to - didn't you mate?

Albury

It started off as not such a problem. Albury was the kick-off point for my journey, so I exercised my legs hiking around town and taking in the Botanic Gardens (now there's a hidden jewel!) and the historic Albury Railway Station. It's the fourth-longest railway platform in Australia (460 metres long), due to exceptionally long trains being used in the 1930s, like the Spirit of Progress. The Albury Railway Station was also the place where people changed trains, thanks to the different rail gauge being used by Victoria (160cm) and NSW (143.5cm) in those days.
  From the station in town, I drove out to the Hume Dam and the weir, where the Murray really starts kicking into action. You can walk along the dam wall, or stay at the tourist park which looked packed, but clean. It's also got a nice big slip 'n' slide, but it wasn't in operation while I was in town.

 

Albury

Pat Callinan tackles the roads, parks and food of the mighty Murray

I wish I was a cow. Not for the hooves, the udders, or that wet moist nose either. Nope, I wish I had three stomachs.

When I started this drive, His Editorship Isaac said to me, "Pat, I want you to sample all the best things the Murray has to offer, and let our readers know what's good and what's not." When you use the word 'sample' that can only mean one thing - food. And never let it be said that I'm not a hard worker.

I 'sampled' just about every delicacy the Murray had to offer until my shorts were busting at the buttons. Isaac never actually said to conduct a Murray River Degustation tour, but I just know that he meant to - didn't you mate?

Albury

It started off as not such a problem. Albury was the kick-off point for my journey, so I exercised my legs hiking around town and taking in the Botanic Gardens (now there's a hidden jewel!) and the historic Albury Railway Station. It's the fourth-longest railway platform in Australia (460 metres long), due to exceptionally long trains being used in the 1930s, like the Spirit of Progress. The Albury Railway Station was also the place where people changed trains, thanks to the different rail gauge being used by Victoria (160cm) and NSW (143.5cm) in those days.
  From the station in town, I drove out to the Hume Dam and the weir, where the Murray really starts kicking into action. You can walk along the dam wall, or stay at the tourist park which looked packed, but clean. It's also got a nice big slip 'n' slide, but it wasn't in operation while I was in town.

 

Rutherglen

So far my stomach was surviving well, yet my undoing really started when I hit Rutherglen. First stop, Valhalla Wines. Chief Winemaker Anton Therkildsen is part of the new breed of grape crushers. A graduate of Charles Sturt University, he marries good science with age-old sustainable principles in his straw-bale winery. The vineyard is set up using organic principles, which goes from using no chemicals or fertilizers, through to having worm-powered toilets. So what's the wine like? Bloody tasty if you ask me.

So after a few 'samples', I was determined not to get pickled, so I headed off to find a wicked virgin called Olive - just don't tell the missus. Okay, that's only slightly true. I drove around the bend to Wicked Virgin Olives to sample some of their wares. They not only press their own olives to create extra virgin olive oil, but they press others farms' olives too. You can 'sample' the different flavours too, and it's amazing how different (and delicious) they all are. Oh yeah, an interesting bit of information for you. I learned that some of the so-called extra virgin olive oil that's imported into Australia and sold in supermarkets has up to 95 per cent canola oil blended in! Sounds fraudulent to me but, apparently, the government only tests the amount of fatty acids contained in the oil, not what type of oil it is.

Well, the clock beat me for more tastings, so I retired to the comfortable Rutherglen Caravan Park, situated smack-bang next to the town pool (complete with a diving board, yippee!) and just behind the main street. Park Managers Gary and Sue have struck up a deal with the local pool to get park patrons in at half price (about $1.60). Plus, you can get a pass that entitles you to move in and out of the pool all day. I can tell you that I used that pass a couple of times to escape the parching summer heat. Oh, the other thing I should mention about Gary and Sue is that they run winery tours around Rutherglen. At about $25 for a five-hour run, they're good value too. But make sure you bend Sue's ear while you're in town. She's a dead-set mine of information, and knows where to eat, what to see and what's new in town. It was on Sue's recommendation that I fronted-up at Parker's Pies in Rutherglen's main street the next morning.

 

Parker's Pies

I'd already had brekky but on my erstwhile editor's insistence that I 'sample' the goods, I felt I should do my duty and taste the local pies and pastries. Parker's Pies have received truckloads of awards over many years, and yes, like most Aussie travellers, I consider myself somewhat of a pie aficionado.

I tried the venison pie with juniper berries in a red wine jus. It was quite simply the best pie I have ever eaten - by an absolute mile. Fred Parker, the man behind the pie, I dips me lid to you old mate. I later tried a more traditional steak pie, and it was no less amazing. One of the keys to the Parker's Pie success story is the fact that all pies are baked fresh each day. If they're not sold, they're thrown out - not re-heated again for use the next day like many other pie shops. I tell you, if the trip ended right there out the front of Parker's Pies it would have been declared a success.

 

Corowa

From Rutherglen I trundled on in the Volkswagen Caddy down the Murray Valley Highway. Next stop was Corowa, and what an amazing little gem this place is. With plenty of caravan parks on offer, you can take your pick - and thankfully, most are on the banks of the river.

Corowa's claim to fame is that it's the 'birthplace of Federation' in Australia. It's the place where all of the states met before deciding to become one. The meetings took place at Oddfellows Hall. I trekked up to check it out, but it was closed-up, and recently refurbished. It was slightly disappointing I must admit, feeling more like a modern red-bricked hall than a historic landmark. Still, there are plenty of other great buildings around town (like the Court House); the best way to check them out is via a self-guided tour, available from the tourist information office in Sanger St.

While there were plenty of great-looking cafés on offer, I feared that if I sampled their fare I might have also involuntarily sampled those Parker's Pies again - I was that full. Damn I wish I was a cow.

 

 

Lake Mulwala

Like the mighty Murray itself, the road meanders along, taking you past the shores of Lake Mulwala. This is one of those 'love it or hate it' bits of scenery, which can be viewed as either eerily artistic or environmental devastation. Thousands upon thousands of dead trees poke up from the lake's bottom, a stark reminder of the healthy forest that was once there. When the government decided that the area was to become a lake, they drew a boundary, and told the locals to 'go for it' and fell as much timber as they wanted.

The locals hooked into it, but without hi-tech machinery it was slow, hard work. So when the deadline passed, the floodgates opened and Lake Mulwala was born. Of course now all of those trees and semi-submerged logs are an angler's dream, and Lake Mulwala is the host of many fishing comps each year.

After all of that not-so-healthy food I'd been devouring, I opted to 'sample' some healthy stone fruits from an orchard outside of town. Yellow peaches, blood-fleshed nectarines - they were all full of juice, super-fresh and beautiful.

 

Echuca

The next stop was one I'd really been looking forward to - Echuca.

Drive into the main part of town, and it's like any other thriving Victorian country town. Yet swing into the tourist district, and it's a step back in time. Each and every building has been faithfully restored to its former glory; from hotels and cellar doors to ice cream shops and museums. It's like no other country town I've visited. And, of course, the highlight is the old port, which is home to a flotilla of restored paddle steamers. The main wharf sits unbelievably high, ready to unload goods even when the river is in flood.

Back in the old days, the river boats were the main source of transport to Echuca. It was so busy, in fact, that the giant main wharf is now only 1/6th its original size. Yet even after road and rail transport eventually made the journey quicker than the paddle steamers, the boats were still often used to transport delicate goods like glass, and passengers still preferred to ride up the river on the boats than brave the bumpy roads or the clattery railway. Of course, we all remember the film All the Rivers Run which romanticized this form of river-bound transport.

 

The Emmylou

I jumped on-board the Emmylou, a restored 1906 vintage paddle steamer, and a stunning beauty at that. I opted for the 7-10pm cruise, and we smoothly chugged up the river, watching the light change from orange to pink and then purple, and waving to houseboats all the way.

Yet the surprise came with the dining experience. A three-course meal fit for a king, and cooked fresh on-board by the team from one of Echuca's finest restaurants. We're talking fresh prawns, succulent steak and, well, I had to 'sample' the lemon tart with double cream for dessert, didn't I?

You know how sometimes when you look forward to something for so long, the reality isn't as good as you thought? Well, it didn't happen here. That paddle steamer cruise on the Emmylou is one that I'll never forget. And I'll be taking the family along next time too.

From Echuca I passed through great little towns like Cohuna, Kerang and Swan Hill. There are some great attractions and campsites on this leg, but I had a deadline looming and had to get going. My last night on the Murray was spent at the Buronga Riverside Caravan Park, on the Victorian side of the river at Mildura. The park is an absolute cracker, with green lawns (as opposed to those on the other side where water restrictions are in place apparently), wide open spaces and heaps of river front powered sites. The amenities block is new and super-clean - in fact, it was the best I experienced all trip. Park Managers Clinton and Gay Trood are doing a fantastic job keeping everything in tip-top shape.

The Murray surprises you around every bend, and gives you a freedom that harks back to yesteryear. You see, because the riverbank and the land surrounding the river is crown land, the red gums grow high, and your progress is unimpeded. There are plenty of free camping spots and the maze of dirt tracks surrounding the river enables you to grab a nice secluded spot all to yourself. The dirt road caravan brigade will love the freedom, as will the off-road motorhomes. Of course, the ground is pretty hard-packed in summer, so non-4WD vehicles should cope just fine.

My advice? Start planning your Murray River run now! Oh, and don't forget to pack your extra stomachs.

Words by Pat Callinan. Photos by Pat Callinan and Vision Victoria. Published in Caravan+RV magazine, Autumn 2008.