CLARKE'S LAGOON CONSERVATION RESERVE DAYS 9 - 13

G'Day Fans! (tee hee) Technology is a wonderful thing.... I can catch up with my posting while mum and dad have stopped off in Albury/Wodonga for stores and that yucky long life stuff... Mum and dad also bought a shower tent and a solar camp shower.. yay! no more human icky feral smell!

It is awfully hot here on our little cement slab and the pebble ground make it even worse as it radiates up... we were thankful we had our air con for the van until an error message came up... Mum was not impressed and when we went to Jayco the poor man got a real mouthful.. and even copped it from dad (most unusual)... I am digressing, so I had better back track to our last free camp at Clarke's Lagoon Conservation Reserve.

A very pretty place, lots of wildlife especially native birds and lots of shade. We were lucky we scored a nice camp site that got the morning sun and was protected by shady trees in the afternoon. Mum and Dad set up and didn't take long before they found a nice swimming hole with a gravel bed we had to be very careful as the current there was strong and the last thing we wanted apart from free camping was free floating down the Murray past our campsite!

When mum and dad returned I informed them we had new neighbours a couple Dorothy and John both retired educated folk who had a nice big home on wheels, we sat over at their campsite at night and talked about fishing, this and that and the beauty and freedom of free camping. Tips were shared freely with both John and Dorothy and mum and dad gaining valuable info.... of course. I know all these tips and tricks in free camping, but sometimes a wombat just has to let his parents find out for themselves about these things.... hmmm sort of like parenthood.

I just relaxed here and wandered around by myself exploring old wombat holes and watching the water hens and the Galahs, and other native birds soar and call. Dad and mum wanted to fish but as they were told they would need a licence to fish in Victoria we had to drive into the nearest little town named "Walwa" to get some milk, bread and licences.. until we were told that as the Murray River is attributed to NSW, a NSW Fishing Licence is fine... it's if we decide to fish the lakes and dams, that's when we will need a Victorian licence... gee! I wish there was just one for all the States!
We returned home and mum even drove the Patrol! (Very Well I might add too!) Dad immediately set up a rod and line with a lure and got a horrible Carp... big ugly smelly things.. not native. Dad buried it as you are not allowed to return them to the water under any circumstances. He caught an even bigger one the next day and left it out to see if any animals would take it during the night... it was gone the next morning... no tracks, no drag marks nothing! We think an owl or a wedge tail eagle took it.

Not many photos this time as we just relaxed and enjoyed the site pretty much to ourselves. We all sat around the campfire at night and mum and dad cuddled (ick) as it was their 32nd wedding anniversary! We celebrated with cookies! (I had some nice green lush grass as it was part of a grazing land at one stage).... The reserve is a popular weekend camping area.. You really need to be prepared though, and provide EVERYTHING. including toilet stuff that you humans use. I poo cubed shaped pellets and they don't even smell... just like an Australian Wombat should! 

We set off for the Policeman's Paddocks tomorrow (the 15th of December) near Rutherglen Victoria... this is an important place for mum as it is where her dad was born on the side on a road in a covered wagon in 1913!
We are not sure if we will have internet coverage for my blog when we get there so this might be the last post until after Christmas.. so...  Wishing everyone a very safe and happy Christmas!! And if you are travelling down this way and you see a big patrol with a Wombat looking out the side window.. wave... because IT WILL BE ME!!!

until then.........

THE ANNEX WITH CAMP KITCHEN AND PANTRY

OUR MORNING VIEW FROM THE VAN

THE MURRAY RIVER

                                  WHERE THE STRONG CURRENT MEETS THE QUIET

                                                       OUR SITE UPON ARRIVAL

                                                          THE SWIMMING HOLE

                                            ROAD FROM SWIMMING HOLE TO VAN

                                                       HEY! I KNOW THAT GUY!

                                                     AT NIGHT.... WAS A BIT SPOOKY!

                                       DAD AND A CAMPFIRE, FEELING SECURE NOW.

                                                       GOOD MORNING WORLD!!!

                                                                 PRETTIES!

                                             VICTORIA ONE SIDE...NSW THE OTHER