Arrived at the camping site Tocumal early afternoon to be greeted by 40 degs in the shade and lots of flies. Got the awning up quick smart. Camp was fairly loaded and many people swimming or sitting in the Murray river. One group had their camp chairs in the water and were sitting back drinking stubbies !. Nothing wrong with that. Unbearable inside the van so we retired to the local pub to cool off outside and inside. Chris met up with a scrapbooking friend and we spent a pleasant arvo around the table in the coolest bar.
Tues 3 Nov (Melbourne Cup day)
Overnight the temp dropped dramatically and is now 21.5 with a firm wind from the southeast - that's a big relief and it has just started to rain. Two weeks ago in this same spot it was freezing. The little wood duck family of chicks that we saw then have all grown up and are flying with their parents. A lot of the campers are moving out this morning making it less crowded. Tomorrow we move on to the Echuca area of the Murray, ie Tongala 30kms south. The camping prices around this popular tourist area (Echuca) over the Cup weekend have skyrocketed (call it gouging) with tent sites costing up to $50 a night, so we are staying well out of it. Motorcycles: there are more of them on the roads than ants. Not hundreds but thousands. After the recent races at Phillip Island, the roads were choked with them returning home for more than a week.
