Easter 2012 – Day 16
We decided on a leisurely day, taking in a few of the sites Mildura has to offer before going back to the camp for nibblies & Brendan to have a play & run around.
We walked to the local bakery which is located behind the park, we had a nice breakfast consisting on either sausage rolls or cheese & onion roll, coffee & milk. As we walked back we stopped at super cheap for a few things – including a new CB/UHF aerial. We also stoped in at a large variety place called Cheap as Chips, this is similar to our reject shop but was a lot bigger.
We firstly drove out to a place called Woodsies Gem Shop, this is one of Australia’s largest gemstone cutting & Jewelry manufacturing complexes.We saw a display of the casting process of jewellery manufacture (The Lost Wax Process) and then the cutting, grinding and polishing of the gems, The Aladdin’s cave look of the shop gave a spectacular display of the crystals, fossils & carvings from around the world. Out the back is the Garden Crazy Maze which is one of the largest mazes in Australia covering an acre of ground, Brendan decided he wanted to try, he took around 45 minutes, he was told that this was a good time by one of the owners, Chris Woods. We purchased a few agate caves, (a bluish/ greenish & pinkish coloured) for Brendan to put with his collection.
We then drove out to Trentham Wine Estate for a wine tasting & lunch, as it was recommended by the staff at the caravan park. It was an absolutely beautiful spot, tranquil & picturesque. Situated right on the Murray river, with its towering river gums scattered along the winding banks. We tasted a few different styles the winery had to offer then sat outside alfresco on the balcony overlooking the stunning river view for our lunch. David liked the “Petit Verdot Tannat” and I liked “Noble Taminga”, so we bought a couple each. Then with lunch David had a glass of “La Famiglia Nebbiolo”, which David also liked, so he got a couple of them too! We had spectacular weather, sunny & nice n warm.
Later we drove along the river road, on the Victorian side of the Murray, which followed the banks of the river along the out skirts of town. We came to the port of Mildura Wharf, where the house boats & Paddle Steamers are moored. We saw a family of Black Swans slowly making their way down the river. We then drove to the lock and weir- which is Lock number 11, we were in luck the Paddle Steamer Rothbury was coming in, we saw the water fill the lock so it could then continue its way up the river. Then a small tinny came the other way so we saw the lock go down for him to proceed down the river, the process was much easier to understand in action rather than theory at yesterdays lock which was flooded.
Brendan braved the ice cold waters of the pool for a while,
