Heaps of variety in our day today. Renee & Eamon kicked off with a stint at the water park and pool - although the weather this morning wasn't too hot, the park facilities are too good to miss! Almost everyone here is part of a family, most families have a boat, and every child has a scooter or bike so it's very, very busy compared to what we've been used to, but the children absolutely are having a ball.

We got out of the park at checkout at 10am, but spent the next hour continuing to enjoy the facilities, having coffee, etc before heading off to Mildura. It was a short drive, so no hurry - we crossed the border from South Australia into Victoria, and got rid of our small amount of fruit and vegetables as per the quarantine regulations. We had to add 30 minutes to our watches once we crossed the border, but Mum thought we might make it to Mildura in time to board a paddle steamer on a trip down the Murray.

We arrived with 10 mins to spare, and enjoyed a great 2 hour cruise on the PS Melbourne. We travelled through Lock 11 and Mildura Weir, a new experience for all of us. The Weir comprises 24 steel trestles and can be removed if required. Lock 11 is a concrete chamber with four steel lock gates. The lock is filled by opening four butterfly valves upstream. Water enters the lock chamber via two tunnels, accommodating approximately 4.5 megalitres. So, heading downstream, we were about 4 metres higher in the river, so we entered the chamber, the doors were closed behind us, and it took about 15 minutes for the water to drain down to the lower level. It was quite gradual but still a bit noticeable, then the doors in front of the boat opened, and we paddled downstream for a nice pleasant trip with commentary about the local Mildura area.

We did a U-turn, headed back upstream, and into the chamber once again. It was a bit different this time, as we were 4 metres lower. We entered the chamber, the doors were closed behind us, and it took about 5 minutes for the water to fill up to the higher level. It was much quicker and lots of water churning about. Then the doors in front of the boat opened, and we headed back upstream to the wharf. The Paddlesteamer itself was also interesting, with a wood-fired engine driving the 2 paddlewheels on each side of the PS Melbourne. The firey used lots of wood and the furnace was absolutely red hot the entire time. It was interesting watching the pistons turning in the middle of the boat, as well as the paddlewheels. The boat was plenty big with about 30 people on board and 2 stories front and back to enjoy the scenery, etc.

When we arrived back to the dock, we went straight to the Golden River Caravan Park and checked in. It's pleasant enough with lots of trees. It was still 36 degrees at 6pm, so we took a drive over to Wentworth, some 25 kms away where the Darling River (which starts in Qld) converges with the Murray (which starts in the Snowy Mountains) - the 2 greatest Australian rivers. We checked out the junction from the lookout, and drove over to Lock 10, a similar weir to the one we saw earlier today, though quite a big wider, and a permanent concrete structure.

As if that wasn't enough for today, our last thing was for Renee & Eamon to do some training for their Little Athletics Zone Championships which is on next weekend! It has been virtually impossible to train since we have been away - we are either driving, eating, shopping, surfing, sleeping, bicycling, swimming, playing, skyping, etc, etc or it's over 35 degrees or there's bushfires about!. We found the athletics field, and Renee did a decent 3km run on a good grass track, while Eamon did some fantastic discus throws.

Given the time change today, we're all a bit out of whack, so after an impromptu game of cricket with the neighbours, we had a nice (very late) fish dinner.