So…just a short trip, less than one hundred kilometres, from Mildura to Robinvale. Really enjoyed a simple tow on the bitumen after the trip to and from Lake Mungo on the corrugations and dirt. We waved to Trentham Estate as we went past; such a beautiful spot.

Robinvale

What an absolute little gem is Robinvale. Coming in from the NSW side of the Murray, you turn left after you come off the bridge to enter Robinvale Riverside Caravan Park. Robinvale is one of the smaller border-towns (on the Vic. side) and is paired with Euston, 4km away, on the NSW side.

It’s another agricultural  irrigation town surrounded by vineyards, which appear to be growing table grapes. The Murray river flows along the northern edge of the town and is a magnificent stretch of river, about 100m wide with a very gentle current that becomes mirror-like at night in the still Autumn air.

Robinvale Riverside Caravan Park

We both agreed that this is the best stay of the trip so far. When we arrived they could not find our booking but fortunately there were plenty of spare powered sites on the river’s edge and we think we ended up snaffling one of the better sites towards one end that had a number of empty sites either side allowing us to stretch out in comfort,

The view from our site was glorious and uninterrupted with a set of steps behind the van down into the river. It was a perfect spot to relax and completely de-stress. We both agreed that we could have spent more time here and have locked that thought away for a future time when we come back.

The weather was perfect, around 26°C each day with clear blue skies and cooler nights. The Murray was just too inviting and I took a swim both days. The water was cool and took a few minutes to acclimatise to but once submerged was refreshing and revitalising. Swimming in a beautiful river beats swimming in any pool any time.

The Murray put a show on for us each night with the full moon rising over the river painting it in hues of mauve and purple instead of the green/brown during the day. Then as darkness sets in it becomes a silvery set of silhouettes and shadows as the moon reflects in the mirror-like water.

Wild ducks populate the banks and the ever-present corellas perform their raucous opera for free. Photos, unfortunately, do not do full justice to the scenery when you’re standing directly before it.

Riverside Walk

As with most of the river towns, Robinvale has a river walk that starts outside the caravan park and follows the river bank. We followed the bank for a few kilometres, past a string of moored houseboats to the edge of town. From there we opted to turn back towards the town down a country lane that had a small vineyard with massive bunches of table grapes that looked ready for picking and were very tempting; but we resisted out of respect for the owners.

Once back in town we followed the grassy strips back into the main street passing some natty little public tables and seats that were private little booths. You could imagine a pair of spies from a Frederick Forsythe novel hunched over in them swapping secret information with each other.

Town Centre

There’s a few quirky shops in town. We stopped in at the Op Shop so Jo could grab a few more books (two for $2, so we paid $5 and still felt guilty). Then over to the bakery for a coffee and half an apple pie each. The pie was quite tangy and obviously baked on premises and the coffee was well above average. The staff were a mixture of Muslim and Islander folk. There appears to be a large Islander (Tongan) community around Robinvale, which we think provides the labour force for fruit picking. On the Sunday morning the Islanders were out on force at the local churches, most of them dressed in their ceremonial dress.

We made a couple of trips to the local Ritchies IGA supermarket. The big supermarkets are absent from these smaller towns and this is where IGA shows the way… The Robinvale IGA had everything you could want and then some. It was also very evident that they catered well to the local community as evidenced by the half pig’s heads ($7.95) and lamb flaps (a cheaper fatty cut of meat) in the meat section. I believe that the Islander community is very fond of these parts of the animal (and why not if you slow braise them).

Euston for Dinner

We’ve had an informal policy of having a club/pub meal on the evening before we leave for the next town. This allows us to pack up the van and not have any cooking mess to deal with before we leave the next day.

At the caravan park we met another couple (Kevin & Lucy) who were Supreme owners like us (and have owned five Supreme’s over the years. They have attended a number of Supreme Musters (gatherings of Supreme caravan owners) and also organise other events. Kevin & Lucy were a lovely pair and also a wealth of information to us, with tips and tricks for our ongoing travels.They also suggested we try the Euston Pub Royal Hotel/Terrace 31 bistro for dinner.

It was a new’ish little pub full of locals having a beer and a yarn after work. The Terrace 31 bistro was a bit quiet (read empty) when we got there but had a few diners by the time we left. The bistro was all brick and had a number of four-seat booths, enclosed by walls on three sides. Very comfortable and very private.

It was usual pub fare. Jo had Salt’n’Pepper Calamari, which was generous, tender and served with a very fresh salad. I had a beef schnitzel with gravy, chips and vege’s. This was good, honest pub food… well cooked and reasonably priced. The beer was cold and Jo’s Pinot Grigio was quite a nice drop.

After dinner we had a quick drive around the town noticing that the Euston Club also operates a ‘self contained’ (no power/water) caravan park behind the club on the banks of the river as well as their being a Euston caravan park. Another nice little town making a living from agriculture along the Murray.

Preparing to Leave

Sad to say that upon returning to our van after dinner, there was an ambulance at one of the vans across from ours with a camper down on the ground being attended to. It looked like it may have been a heart attack. Everything looked under control and nobody appeared overly distressed so we tried not to be nosy and kept our distance. We noted that, sadly, this is probably not too uncommon a sight with many of the caravan park campers being grey nomads a few years older than us. Just one more reason to get out and do our travelling while we’re still relatively young and healthy.

(It later turned out that the gent had not suffered a heart attack but had walked into the annex strut of his camper van, smacking his head causing him to fall down and fracture his hip. Still not good but probably better than a heart attack…)

On a positive note… the Murray put on yet another magnificent evening display on our last night. Very hard to move on from a place like this that calms your mind, soothes your soul and nourishes your spirit…