Mildura Visitor’ Centre
We found the visitors centre in Mildura and got some local advice on activities for the day. On the list of things to do was to visit the Big Brekkie & Market at the Botanical Gardens, Orange World, Varapodio Estate, Gol Gol Hotel, Wentworth Gaol and the township of Wentworth, and Perry’s Sandhills. We were also proudly told that the No.1 tourist activity for Mildura according to Tripadvisor is the Mildura Visitors Centre. We thought this was amusing…
Our first stop was the Big Brekkie & Market at Australian Inland Botanic Gardens. We had already had breakfast so we wandered around the market, enjoyed the band playing music in the background and moved onto Orange World. Walking into Orange World is a distinct orange perfume in the air, and a cafe with orange products for sale. They have tours of the orchard you can go on at set times throughout the day.
Varapodio Estate Olive Oil
This is another cafe set up with a vast collection of oils and other products to try. After sampling some of the oils we bought a bottle of marinade and vinegar and decided to have a coffee on the deck outside.
The deck overlooks olive trees and is very pretty. A very hot coffee came out and we enjoyed the pleasant surroundings.
Gol Gol hotel for lunch
Getting close to lunch time we decided to go to the Gol Gol hotel for lunch.
There happened to be a colorful speed boat display on the grass at the back of the hotel which is something we haven’t seen before. We sat in the court yard and watched people coming and going and checking out the boats while we waited for our lunch. I ordered a grilled houlumi with zucchini and chutney which was delicious and Dave had Pork Belly. Lovely setting and great food!
Perry Sandhills
Just out of Wentworth is Perry Sandhills. We had heard from some people we met at the campsite that they loved going there and letting their dogs run riot across the sandunes.
Where is the tree?
We were told about a very old red gum tree – but not the bit about it being covered by sand. We couldn’t see any really really old trees anywhere.We realised after our visit we did see it – however just the top of the tree! The trunk was buried in the sand.
The vast sand hills are a lovely golden color and seem to go on as far as the eye can see. Perry Sandhills is located a short drive west out of Wentworth. It is a unique land formation of 822 acres has been created by wind erosion over thousands of years.
Old Wentworth Gaol
The Wentworth Gaol is a great place to visit and walk around.
I always hesitate to pay an entrance fee to see something however this one was $8 each so we decided to have a look. With a map in hand we wandered through the Gaol.
You could walk right into the empty cells with one tiny window and a small narrow doorway with where prisoners were kept. I found it to be very claustrophobic in the individual cells.
Darling and Murray River Junction and Viewing Tower.
The Murray and the Darling Rivers form a junction where normally you can see a difference in color. There had been recent rain which stopped us seeing this.
From the tower you can see just how massive these rivers are.
The lock
Not far from the Darling and Murray River Junction was a place called “Lock 10”. Must admit we had no idea what this whole area was for and we studied the sign and still couldn’t work it out. From what we could tell it was something to do with fish. We were partly right. When we went on the Paddle steamer we found out “The lock enables boats to pass from the upper stream to the downstream level of the Murray River and vice versa. It regulates water flow.”
Cooking steak for dinner
Dave loves steak. We cooked steak and chips in the frypan on the Coleman in the dark of the night.
