Day 34 Jerilderie to Numurkah 102 km

The wind continued to blow all night and was still from the north east. I packed up and exited the caravan park before anyone else was awake.

 A quick stop at the bakery and then on the road to Finley. 35 km done before 9:30 am. Stopped for a pot of tea - excellent 3 cup pot! Took the opportunity to have a chat with Lisa and my sister Anne on the phone.

Back on the road for another 25 km to Tocumwal. It went quickly - I stopped for another break. I bought some fruit and headed to park by the Murray River opposite where Simon, Tony and I camped when we paddled our kayaks through in 2015.

I was puzzled by the Air Force theme on this sign. I discovered later that the town has an airshow and is a center for gliding

Murray River. Simon, Tony and I camped on the opposite bank when we paddled through here  

While I was there I had a chat with Laurie a retired taxi driver. He used to drive for Dandenong Taxis and his father worked at Dandenong Saleyards. My 1st full time job was in Dandenong in 1979 and most of the last 16 years was also working in Dandenong so we had a lot in common.

Shortly after Laurie I met 2 woman who were interested in my journey. One of women has a son who has just completed riding from Melbourne to the top of Scotland. It took 2 years and he went via China, "the Stans", Georgia, Turkey and Greece. Apparently he like me is more wary of grey nomads on the road than trucks.

Big Strawberry at Koonoomoo

After an hour of chatting I was back on the road but not for long. Across the river and into Victoria - 12 km down the track I was at the Big Strawberry at Koonoomoo. Hard to resist a strawberry milkshake particularly as it was 30 degrees. Also an opportunity for another chat - this time a local lady and we had a good natter about everything.

Time to get serious. It was only 1:00 pm and I had already covered 58 km - where to next? Numurkah was another 46 km and the wind was blowing in the right direction. I rolled into Numurkah at 3:30 pm and decided it was far enough. I seemed to have cycled all around this area on various GVBRs but never been here before.

Irrigation wheel on display in middle of a roundabout in Numurkah

lake in Numurkah

Originally surveyed in 1895 it was the centre of the largest soldier settlement program in 1947. It is an irrigation area using water diverted at Mulwala.

Another pub room so I can watch the footy final tonight. This time $35 with a TV.

550 km in the 5 days - approx 220 km to Melbourne. Of course being Melbourne the weather is an issue - 30 degrees and sunny today - next few days cold and rainy.