Mildura is our first weekend destination. We left Bendigo around 5pm on Thursday and arrived in Mildura at 9ish. I had made egg and bacon sandwiches late in the afternoon so we could stop beside the road and have them for tea as l didn't think there'd be much choice of eating places along the way...and l was right!

We are staying in the Mildura Quest apartments which are really lovely. It has a seperate bedroom, dining and living area.

Mildura is located in the far north-western corner of Victoria, on the banks of the Murray River, around 400 kilometres from Bendigo.

Originally a rather lifeless area, the region around Mildura was transformed into a rich agricultural oasis due to the work of the Chaffey brothers from Canada in the late 1800s with creating irrigation settlements.

On Friday we went to the nearby town of Wentworth which is situated on the junction of the Darling and the Murray rivers, to visit the Old Wentworth Goal. It was built in 1879-1881, and is a small single storey brick gaol with bluestone trim. Very much like other small town goals. We also looked at the 1880's court house, the gorgeous St Johns Anglican church which is constructed of brick with rubble stone infill, in Gothic style with an entrance porch and steeple, and is classified by the National Trust (it was locked so couldn't get a look inside), the old cemetery, Lock 10 and the wier which was constructed in 1929. We then went to Junction Park which abuts the junction of the Murray and Darling rivers. We climbed up the lookout and stood watching the wildlife for around 20 minutes. I reckon we counted at least 8 kookuburras sitting in an old gum tree at one stage. We also saw fish jumping out of the water. 6 k's out of Wentworth is the Perry Sand Dunes. These red, sandy dunes reach heights of 20 m and are remnants of past geological times. We didn't spend much time here as there wasn't a lot to see so we headed off to Mungo National Park which is about 180k's from Mildura. The Mungo area was recognised in 1981 because of the importance of both its geological past and its record of Aboriginal settlement dating back 40,000 years! Near the entrance to the park is a woolshed which was built in 1869 of Murray pine and Craig said there was still smell of the sheep which had been shorn in there. Mungo occupies much of an ancient lake bed, Lake Mungo and to the east of the lake bed are the remains of the sand-dunes called The Walls of China, named after the Chinese workers who constructed the shearing shed on Gol Gol in the late 1860s. The sand-dunes are over 40 m in height and stretch in an arc for approximately 40 km. They have been eroded into fascinating shapes of pillars and gullies and have colours ranging from red-orange, red-brown to cream-yellow. We took a walk along the boardwalk but decided not to go on the walking tour as it was getting quite late. It was a totally awesome park. Along the roadside were kangaroos and emus. We headed back to Mildura around 5ish along a dirt road - the only way in and out - and arrived back around 6ish, just in time for dinner which we had at the Spanish Bar & Grill. I had the most awesome steak....it just melted in my mouth....soooo yummy. Craig had fish - yuck! Afterwards, we bought an icecream from one of the local icecream shops and wandered up and down the main street before heading back to the apartment. What a busy day!

On Saturday we uncovered Mildura's rich history by following the Chaffey Trail - a self-guided historical tour covering 9 focal points. First, we went to the Old Mildura Homestead in Cureton Avenue, built in 1847 and known as the landmark where the vision of irrigation evolved, then onto Rio Vista House, a Spanish masterpiece built in 1890 in Queen Anne style architecture and was the home of the Chaffeys and has been restored to its original condition. The Mildura Wharf provides a first-hand experience of 19th century river travel on a paddlesteamer and where we were lucky enough to see the locks operating. Then we drove past Mildura's Grand Hotel which began life as a coffee house in 1891 until it became the town's first pub in 1918. We drove onto Chateau Mildura, an 1888 homestead which was the catalyst for the set up of the region's wine industry. We wandered in and out of the vat rooms and l had a little wine tasting before we headed to our next destination which was King's Billabong, home to majestic River Red Gums and a large variety of birdlife, the Psyche Pump Station where the Chaffey Brothers installed huge pumps and began pumping water from the Murray to Kings Billabong. The original pump house still stands at Psyche Bend, complete with the still-operational pump, and is the oldest pump configuration of its type in the world, Bruces Bend Marina and Kings Billabong Lookout, then our final destination was the Merbein Rotary Lookout which is the district's highest point and sits above the white cliffs of the Murray - beautiful. Afterwards we decided to head back towards Wentworth to have a look at Buronga, the Australian Inland Botanic Gardens which feature arid land plantings as Mum had said there was a Woolemi Pine there but we couldn't find it but we did have a quick look at the rose garden but we didn't stay very long as we're not into plants. We drove back into Mildura and had tea at Pizza Cafe at the Grand then headed back to the apartment and watched a bit of tv before heading to bed.

On Sunday we left Mildura and travelled about 10 minutes down the road to Red Cliffs, past Big Lizzie, a 45 tonne steam tractor which started clearing the surrounding land for farming in 1920. Then we went along Pumps Road leads to the Red Cliffs Scenic Reserve where we went to the Cliff Top Lookout to check out the views over the river and the red cliffs of the Murray. That was pretty good - better than the white cliffs. On our way again and we stopped in Ouyen for lunch at a bakery that was recommended to us but l wouldn't rave about it. Finally we arrived back in Bendigo. Wow....what a fabulous weekend and pretty jam packed as well. The weather was cold but it is winter after all.