We finally hit the road in our Ultimate again after much difficulty in Ian finishing his work commitments. This will be our last trip in the camper before we upgrade to our new off road caravan which we hopefully will have delivered before the year is out. The Ultimate has taken us places I never thought we'd experience, from the Simpson Desert to the Kimberleys to Arnhem Land and Cape York.  We even took it over the Bight to Tasmania through the mountains. It is rather sentimental thinking this will be the last time we head off in it, but it is going to a good new home at Bowral with Ian's brother & wife where it will have many more adventures. Our plans have changed and we are to head south to Albury and the Murray River for a few days.

Rutherglen on the Murray River

8am Monday we at last we hit the road on our way after a very long night of packing up. Glorious sunny day, clear sky and to make things even better, school hols have finished so the roads weren't chaotic this morning. 10am Coffee break at Gunning, amongst stunning autumn leaves falling in brilliant reds, yellow and amber around us. So pretty. Listened to The Shirralee on our iPod to pass the time on that boring Hume Highway driving. We have the feeling we are travelling the wrong direction as there appears to be a mass exit north of Victorians! Rutherglen is our first night stop, camped beside the mighty Murray River at Policemans Paddock. Drizzling rain hampers our first high out, but doesn't eventuate to much and we can have our first camp fire in peace and solitude with only 4 other campers. Kookaburra's wake us from restful sleep and a misty haze over the fast flowing river. Time to explore the area of The Murray with a game of golf in mind whilst we are here. In search if the Killawarra State Forest the next day we nearly have our first domestic. After wandering the many sheep paddocks of the Indigo area we still haven't found it! Never mind plenty of other nice spots to camp beside the river for future reference. I think we have fallen into holiday mode already as 5 days have passed and we are still here on the Murray. it is so easy to forget the hustle and bustle of home and become very relaxed. We played 18 holes of golf at Rutherglen yesterday and Corowa today, but I'm not mentioning that I beat Ian by 5 shots! A very pretty golf course and just glorious day to be out enjoying the walk. This glorious weather can't be wasted! Tomorrow we'll take in Music on the Murray at All Saints winery and then head off again on Sunday towards Barham also on the Murray. Nights are very cold around 5 degrees but we are warm and snug inside our camper. we have a camp fire every night, an obligatory port to watch the burning embers, and a sound sleep amongst the enormous river reg gums here. Last night we enjoyed our first baked dinner in the camp oven - Ian's speciality.