The day started with one of our travelling companions deciding to push bike ride the 75k's from Bright to Wangaratta. The day was hotter than expected and she was exhausted at the end of this early morning start, while the "Rail Trail" here is all sealed, with 100k's of off road rail trail track, which includes the branch off up to Beechworth. This is very popular with push bike riders.
Having picked up our rider, we continued onto Glenrowan.
The drive to Echuca saw us hit further bushranger territory, Glenrowan, the scene of the famous Ned Kelly shootout with the police and his eventual capture. We stopped and had an enjoyable lunch at Cathy's Cafe in Glenrowan, wonderful food, including gluten free, very enjoyable.
Glenrowan has preserved the Kelly history very well, there is a theatre re-enactment (we didn't do) and the town has a free walk around history walk. Here are some pics of Glenrowan, the Kelly's last stand where Ned tried to de-rail a 'police train' with the purpose of injuring or killing the Police. While the gang looked imposing in their suits of armour they had especially prepared for this crime, thankfully for his lack of forethought, he didn't fulfill his plan and though the outcome was tragic for the gang, being either burnt to death in the Pub fire or shot, Ned hung for his crimes. "Such is Life" became his immortal words.
That afternoon saw us into Cobham, a town on the Murray River about an hour shy of Echuca. Some wrong GPS coord printed in one of the books on Murray River, saw us exploring some unplanned areas near Cobham. Finally we hit the river camp spots we were looking for, to be totally disappointed with the number of 'bogan' campers, all geared up with speed boats and slabs of beer, a recipe of a bad camping experience.
So we continued exploring the banks of the Murray, looking for that perfect camp spot. This saw us exploring many kilometers of the banks of the Murray. Speaking to a local, I think he was a bee keeper, as he was near quite a large bee hive site in the bush, he pointed us to some spots, but this also saw us hit a point in our travels.
While most of the Murray River had silty banks and the camping area under the trees can be quite dusty, (the roads certainly were), we found ourselves at a small creek crossing, about 200mm deep, 2 meters wide on a track that takes you out to Stewarts Beachs 1 & 2. Our travelling companions decided they were not impressed with the Murray River camping choices and left us to cross the stream, and they went in search of other camping spots. Meanwhile, I found the perfect spot, just what I was looking for, for my Murray River Camping experience. Here are some photo's of us enjoying our camp.
Campsite: Stewarts Beach No1 - Free
GPS: 35 51'43.97"S
145 37'28.56"E
Which in the 'Camping and Carvaning Guide to the Murray River by Lewis and Savage, they use a different GPS system they use GDA 94, which is not used by Tomtom.
They give 35 51.766S, 145 37.436E
Elevation 150m
Weather: Hot, very hot, 37 degrees on the day, nights pleasant about 18 degrees.
Wildlife: Cockatoo's, lots and lots, various water birds.
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