Saturday 18^th August

Sometimes at car boot sales or garage sales we are able to secure “gems” for either Bob’s collection or the caravan.  The Anglican church promoted their monthly sale around town so we went armed with bags in which to bring home our goodies.  No luck – however we did enjoy the sausage sizzle operating from the entrance. As this expedition did not take very long we had time to spare before the afternoon activity, so we asked at the information office for something to fill in a few hours.  The lady suggested a bus trip around town and for an hour we saw most of the suburbs and surrounds complete with commentary from a local 82 year old.  She had been born and bred in Swan Hill, did family day care for children until she was 75 and was like the local historian.  What a bonus for us and certainly appreciated.  I do think that the pleasure was shared and I am sure by telling visitors on the bus about Swan Hill her mind remains active and alert.  She had a very sweet nature and engaged so willingly with us.

We booked a trip for the afternoon which included a guided tour of the Murray Downs homestead, a trip on the paddle steamer Pyap and Devonshire tea.  The trip was very popular with the locals as the homestead used to be open to the public however the owners since 1996 have kept it closed. 

This was the only day it had been opened since then and it was especially for Pioneer Week. The homestead was magnificent and housed much of the original furniture from when it was built.  At one stage it was owned by Sir Sidney Kidman, the cattle king and pastoralist who owned about 3% of all the land in Australia. The current owner’s wife is an expert in cross stitching and her craft is displayed throughout the house, particularly these stockings from a recent “Christmas in July”.

The finale for the day was the half hour trip back to Swan Hill on the paddle steamer.  

The afternoon was not too cold, so we sat outside for part of the trip and listened to our caravanning neighbours play their music to the gathered crowd, while watching the banks of the Murray River pass us by.